In this heartfelt YouTube monologue, LJ the Hospitality Maven (approximately 59 years old) shares her personal journey through grief after the loss of her 92‑year‑old mother, while reflecting on the broader societal turmoil she perceives—rising violence, suicides, and a pervasive sense of collective stress. She emphasizes her unwavering faith in God as an anchor, urging viewers to trust divine control despite chaotic circumstances. LJ calls for a return to genuine human connection, describing hospitality not as an industry skill but as a compassionate, everyday practice: checking in on friends, making phone calls, and offering kind words, especially in an age dominated by screens and AI. She highlights mental‑health concerns, recommending grounding activities like walking barefoot on grass, and stresses the importance of prioritizing personal health to be able to serve others. Throughout, she expresses deep gratitude for the friends and family who supported her, differentiates true friends from casual acquaintances, and challenges listeners to actively serve and uplift those silently suffering. The video blends personal narrative, social commentary, spiritual reassurance, and actionable advice, aiming to inspire resilience, empathy, and purposeful hospitality.
Chapters
Hey, hey y'all, it's LJ the Hospitality Maven. I just wanted to pop on here for a minute. I miss y'all and I miss being vocal, you know. I have really been trying to bring myself out of grief, but you can't do that. Time take— it takes time when you lose somebody that is So important to you, somebody that's got your back, 10 toes down for you no matter what you got going on. It's hard. Oh my God. And I know so many people have sent me messages and they understand what I'm talking about, and I really appreciate that. But for me, it's like Missing my mom is like half my heart not working, you know what I mean? Because even though we had our differences, she's my girl and I loved her with all of me, you know. So I think I just wanted to come on here and say to everybody, because What we're going through right now is crazy. You know, we we've got sailors jumping off of ships. We got people just getting beat up for no reason. We got lynchings going on. It's so much stuff going on where people are losing the very people that they love. I know how that feels. So when I look at the news and I look at the platforms, I'm just like, Lord, please cover them, cover them, because this is not a joke. We in a— I don't know what reality we in, but baby, it is not fun because lives are just being taken down, children are being stolen. It's just too much. But you know what? There is God. God is always in control. I don't care what we go through, what we see in the natural. I trust God. I just have to trust him. My mom was 92 years old, but I heard some of those boys that jumped off that ship, they was in their 20s. They're younger than my kids, closer to my granddaughter's age. Stress is real. So anyway, this is not to bring anybody down, but it's just to just The realness, the human side of life is really happening. It's happening, and so I just want to send out love, peace, and comfort to those that are going through the hard times of life right now. It's hard right now, and most of it is affecting who we are as a being, who we are as a people, and it it. Really is not all about one race. Everybody's being affected. It's nuts out here right now. But you know, there is God, and we have to build each other up. We have to stay focused on each other and stay focused on the fact that, you know, there's a human side of life. And we seem to forget that because everybody's stuck on their phone, everybody's stuck on AI, everybody's stuck on things that Don't require human touch. We gotta have human touch. It don't mean physical. It means if somebody cross your mind, freaking call them. If somebody stay on your mind, find out where they at, go see them. We need to do that because people are suffering. They are suffering. They're suffering silently. Everybody got some silent screams going on right now. Mental health is at an all-time high. So just want to encourage you today to be aware. If you're feeling some kind of way, get outside. That— you know what, there is nothing like being outside. I don't care how hot it is, go put your bare feet in that grass and breathe. Just breathe, because that grounding is necessary. I am in a process right now of working on my health. That is what's at top of mind right now. 59 years old, baby. I don't want to go down. So I just want to encourage you as I encourage myself, put your health first. Yes, we got to make money, but we can't make money if we sick in the bed and can't work, or we sick in the bed and can't live out our purpose. That's not how it works. So I'm encouraging you as I encourage myself, put yourself first for right now. Do it for a little while, because I guarantee you the people that are suffering the worst are the people that put everybody before themselves. I know you can relate. I can relate. So, you know, I just want to pop on and say hey and say I love you, and I think About so many— how many people contacted me when my mama died. People showed up to my mama's service that I hadn't seen in years, childhood people. And it made me feel so good because quietly I needed them. When I saw them, I needed them. Thank God for my family. Thank God for all my friends, every job, every school teachers. It was overwhelming, and it's an overwhelming gratitude that I have right now. Because if anybody know me, they know my mama was my girl. No matter what she and I had going on sometime, she was my baby, my whole baby. So I have 4 aunts left, and I really want to be able to be a— just be something for them, you know, and let them know that they're loved because they are a part of her. I gotta do that. I gotta do better. We gotta do better, people. When you think about your family, you think about your friends, do better. You know the friends I'm talking about. I'm talking about the friends that's 10 toes down with you. I'm talking about the friends that when you call them, they call you back or they send you a message. I'm not talking about the people that you don't never see. I have a couple friends, I don't talk to them all the time, but I tell you what, when my mama got sick and my mama died, baby, they was right there. They was right there. You got friends like that. You don't have to talk to all your friends every day, the real ones, every day, because you know who they are, you know their character. I've been— I am so blessed. I got 2 or 3 friends that I've been friends with since I— well, maybe 4, 5— that I've been friends with since I was 14 years old, you know what I'm saying? And I'm so grateful because all of them except one 2 showed up at their funeral, or either they called me and let me know they was thinking about me. Be thankful for the real ones. You got to learn, just like my daughter had to teach me, about the difference between a friend and an associate. It's a difference. And I am such a loving, kind person, I considered everybody my friend. That's not the thing. That is not so. It is not so. You got to be mindful of those people that check in on you, that see about you, maybe drop you a text and see if you're okay. They go for family too. You just got to be aware we in some of the craziest times right now. You need to be ultra sensitive and ultra have your discernment on Top tier, because everybody scream they for you. They not for you. They not. They not. But those that are, you know who shows up for you. Call them people. But then too, let me say this. Let me be totally transparent. There are some people that I don't talk to often at all, but if they come across my mind. I got one in my head right now. I need to call them just to check on them to see if they're okay. Because we don't reciprocate sometimes. We can't just match energy with some people because everybody get busy. But if people have been kind to you and you don't hear from them, you take responsibility and you call them. You do that because we are kingdom-minded people. And so we need to make sure that the people are okay, you know. I, I heard somebody say that they— what did they say on LinkedIn? They said that, um, they couldn't help somebody and they wasn't gonna serve somebody. I said, Jesus washed feet. You mean to tell me that we can't pick up the phone and say hey to somebody? If we can't be of service to somebody because we don't feel like it— I don't know, I'm just all in my feels today. But I hope it makes sense to you because everything about life is service. Everything about being is service. It's service to others because some people cannot deal with what's going on. You see how many suicides is happening? The hatred that's going on right now. We don't know who need a kind word. You know, being kind and bringing humanity back to hospitality— not about hospitality industry, but hospitality as far as being hospitable to people. And we got to bring humanity back. You be the humanity. You'll be the one that say, hey, how you doing today? That touch— a robot, AI cannot do that for people. You know, so just be kind on purpose. Know that I appreciate all of you and I love you. Those that checked in on me and those that's been by my side all of this time, God bless you and I love you. Those that couldn't because they was going through their own struggles and I happened to call just to see how they was doing and they let me know, God bless you. People are Silently hurting. They are silently screaming. So we cannot judge anybody. We just have to be mindful of those that we know have been there, those that we know, you know, maybe going through something. Let me check on them.
