This project is so close to my heart. In fact, Lori Leak is my heart. She is me.

The story we tell ourselves about anything is the reality we manifest in our lives. When you stay focused on your vision, you manifest it. The effect of that story can be seen in our lives in the reality we create for ourselves. With Lori Leak, I am able to tell a story from the heart about a father-daughter bond, a family, and exploring the world. 

Travelling, visiting, or living in other cultures is central to my heart. You learn so much about yourself and your origins when you spend time with other other people in their country and culture. Building bridges across cultures and between people is my mission, and travelling empowers me to accomplish my goal.

Books are treasures and I am in deep gratitude that in my lifetime I have been blessed with the talent  and afforded the opportunity to create a character who looks like me and a story/book that shows African-American family life. I am especially thankful to my talented and patient illustrator, Kristen Palana. gave my story rich and vibrant colors — like my vision.

Barrett Clemmensen Powell has travelled and lived in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East.  Her future travel plans include Africa, Asia, and Oceania. After working for  decade as a newspaper and TV/radio journalist, she took her communication background and graduate theology studies to launch a spirituality-based entrepreneurial business development consultancy and resilience coaching practice to help women in business. Barrett enjoys travelling learning languages (she speaks including French Danish and Hebrew), writing, crafting, playing guitar and hanging with Shalom and Shiloh.