L’Tomay is an educator, social worker, substance abuse counselor, consultant, coach, and survivor of child sexual abuse.
L’Tomay first disclosed her abuse in a restorative justice circle for healing. She was nervous at first since her own family members didn’t believe her. She felt validated in the circle for the first time in her life since she always looked at herself as if she was missing something, and at times, not feeling like she fit in.
In that healing circle space, L’Tomay says, “I felt supported. I felt heard. I felt seen. I felt normal.”
L’Tomay shared her story in this group space and shared how it affected her healing journey and what it was like to speak through the media about healing after child sexual abuse.
“On a personal level, I had some phone calls after a few family members viewed the article. Some family members apologized that they didn’t listen, that they didn’t notice, and that they were too caught up in their lives to even care. I think for me, the most impactful, was my dad and my mom. It really impacted them, and they were crying and their voices were shaking. They were really showing up in that way. I really appreciated it, even though my disclosure was years later.”
L’Tomay is now the owner and founder of Brand Me Beautiful. Brand Me Beautiful was created “to see communities woke, healed, leading with love, serving and learning through listening, and embracing all beautiful truth.”
L’Tomay shared how her company came to fruition: “I always had this vision of helping people and helping women to see their beauty no matter what they have experienced….I wanted to help women that were hiding their pain behind a smile because I know what that is like. I wanted it to be like a universal call, the brand me beautiful initiative because we are often labeled as survivors or as the woman who was raped or labeled as the girl who was raped as a child. However, if you are going to label me anything, just brand me beautiful because that’s who I am and that’s the message I want women and girls to know; they are beautiful despite whatever they experienced.”