We recently connected with Tiffinnie Alston and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiffinnie, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is empowering and supporting families affected by life challenges and enabling them to embrace their full potential and find their true purpose. Through youth-based services, education, advocacy, and compassionate guidance, we strive to create a nurturing environment where individuals can break free from the constraints of adversity, gain confidence, find their inner strength, and embark on a journey of self-discovery.

The story behind that is, we (Tiffinnie and Norman) come from “Camden, NJ”. People outside of Camden have typically had low expectations of the those who where raised or currently live there. You’re not expected to be a high achiever unless it’s in sports which is far from the truth. Unfortunately too many people buy into the lie because they don’t know who they are. They don’t believe they can dream or have a future. Success is taken off the table and you fall into the trap of mediocrity. Some may call it a hood mentality. Each generation finds itself trapped in a cycle of hopelessness.

Our mother’s raised us to believe that we can achieve anything we put our minds to. We aren’t the exception; there are many families raised with the same drive and determination to achieve. However, the negative light and loudest voices can make it hard for others to see or believe it, especially if they have made a mistake. When people make mistakes they are made to feel that they can’t move forward. We have had to overcome that from time to time also, so we understand. The value of the power they gave up by making a mistake can be regained by placing their trust in someone else who is willing to help.

That is why we do what we do. We believe when people know who they are they can achieve their dreams, once they put their mind and energy into it. We were all made with a purpose. We are created for greatness. We help people recognize that, embrace the challenges they face, learn from it and move forward. When you have people who are healed you have better communities. Our motto is reconnecting families and rebuilding communities.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We were both born and raised in Camden, NJ and educated in the Camden school system. We just celebrated 34 years of marriage in May. We have been working with youth, families, and serving in the community in various capacities for about 60 years combined. Over that time, I (Tiffinnie) worked in the corporate sector for 23 years. Norman has coach several sports boys and girls from little league to high school. He’s a former police officer and worked in the school system for many years. We wrote our first production “Coming Home” in 1996, which ran locally for over 18 years. We wrote our second play Why Bully Me? because of the level of bullying Norman saw while he was helping with the Boys and Girls club. In 2008 we started the Love Lunch, feeding those in need between Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday. It was a sit-down 5-star meal where we had young people take their order, sit and have conversation and the guest were able to get clothing, toiletries and toys.

It was amazing to see the youth’s perspective change and our guest felt a sense of dignity. Eventually it grew into a community event and was later adopted by the local school where Norman worked. In 2018 we formed Kings Way International to do more and serve more people. In 2019 I decided to take the early out my job offered to focus on KWI and the additional productions we had written. My retire date was May 2020 which was a done deal. Theatre was no longer an option for obvious reasons, and we really didn’t know what we were going to do.

Norman contracted covid in March and was very sick. Thankfully he didn’t have to go to the hospital. During the time he was recuperating he started writing his first book, My Bully, My Friend. Norm said it was like the book was just downloaded to him and by December 24, 2020, he was published. From the book we created a bullying prevention initiative which includes a two-tiered program to break the cycle of bullying in schools and families. The book teaches lessons of how to handle conflict, learning to trust, believing in yourself and many more.

The more we talked to young people and their families we realized that we needed to go deeper than just the bullying and ask why a person is bullying. What is going on in that person’s life where they feel they need to bully another person. Are there factors in the home or the family dynamic where this is a pattern? Young people cry out and then act out. There were other things like adult trauma where an adult never dealt with being bullied and now they are acting that out. Bullying doesn’t just impact one person; it can impact a family and their community.

We had to starting looking at the connection between bullying, violence and mental health. This is where we are now. By partnering with schools and organizations we provide youth-based services, advocacy, and educational resources to individuals and their families. Having compassionate guidance is important for the person being bullied as well as the person who is doing the bullying. Our bullying prevention initiative called ” Why Bully Me? uses our books, programs “Bully Stoppers” and productions to build self-confidence, self-esteem, overcome trauma and develop life and social skills. By working with youth, their parents, and schools we hope to break the cycle of bullying, violence and care for our mental health.

We believe we bring a different perspective and our hands on approach calls attention to the root cause so individuals can get the proper assistance. Whether it’s therapy, professional counseling, or social services we have to address the needs of the family. Of course, there’s lots of information and policies around this topic, but our view and how we approach the topic is unique. Whether it’s an assembly, workshop, conference, our play, or book we can present this information in a way to have people think and then ask questions. Providing positive reinforcement, building character and sharing tools to resolve conflicts are more impactful, when people know they have part of the solution already.

One of the most impactful stories was a one on one meeting with a student in middle school. He was being bullied by a few guys over a period of time. The parent addressed it with the school, but nothing was changing. The student was accused of bringing a weapon to school, which was not true but he got in trouble anyway. The parent asked us to meet with them to potentially come as advocates to a school meeting. We talked to the student with his mother and grandfather. Listen to him, his concerns and offered some information we thought would be helpful. We left the meeting positive he had some action steps. We heard from the grandfather about a week later. The student took our advice, had a sit down with one of guys bullying him. The other student was dealing with issues at home. They started having lunch together and became friends. They took a page out of our book, My Bully My Friend.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Covid caused our first pivot. Our goal was building our productions and taking them on the road. We would use entertainment to share messages of hope. Well that hope seemed over when covid stayed longer and Tiffinnie was out of a steady job. When the book came that all changed and before we knew it we had created a whole program based on the book. Now we had to learn how to package it, how to present it to schools and organizations. We had the passion, but we are basically new in this arena of education. What we did know was not everyone was presenting this information using a book, let alone a book we created. The more feedback we got regarding the book, talking to parents, their children and adults who never dealt with their trauma, the more we evolved our program. Everything we are doing now is because we had to pivot.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the most disappointing times came when we had a meeting with a charter school to do our play and program. They told us their budget and the director actually told us we had the job. We met with all the necessary people to discuss the plan. We were getting our cast ready, putting things in place. Everyone was excited. This is what we prayed for, for so long. Three weeks later we got word that the school was actually shutting down the next school year so that meant the budget and plan was all but over. We questioned, did they already know it was happening? What did we miss? We had to now tell our cast and board what happened. It made us feel like failures not because of the school shutting down, but because we trusted what seemed to be good to be true and it was. We were ready to give up because that was a huge let down. Instead we got back up and started pushing again. We were able to do our play at a local theatre the following year and we are preparing to do it again in 2026.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.kingswayint.org
• Instagram: @kingswayintl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KingsWayInternational
• Youtube: @kingswayinternational5747

Image Credits

Norman Alston Tiffinnie Alston