Dr. Bridgette Arnett is an MD/PhD with more than 20 years of experience and Board-certifications in Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology and Sleep Medicine. She earned her B.A. in Neurobiology and Physiology from Northwestern University, a PhD in Neurobiology from the University of IL at Chicago, and her M.D. from the University of IL College of Medicine. Dr. Arnett completed her residency and fellowship training in Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology with an emphasis in Epilepsy at Rush University. She is also the Clinical Advisor of bytewellness.com, a text message-based wellness learning community for Black women looking to shift habits, cut disease risks, and boost wellbeing.

Dr.Mawusi Arnett is a physician-entrepreneur with a background in health disparities research and Board-certifications in Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine. Dr. Arnett earned a BA from Princeton University, a MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and a MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. After completing her residency training at Northwestern Family Medicine, she served the region as a Northwestern Medicine Hospitalist during the first phases of the pandemic. Dr. Arnett is the Founder/CEO of bytewellness.com

A former award-winning sports reporter and communications coordinator for the Houston Texans, who also happens to be the niece of country superstar, Dierks Bentley. Brooke Bentley is familiar with the toxicity of sports culture. In her timely debut novel Sideline Confidential (summer 2023), Brooke explores the challenges and discrimination women face in the male-dominated world of professional sports. I hope you’ll consider Brooke for interview this fall. She can discuss her own experiences facing sexual harassment while working in sports and with the NFL -- from being forced to ride a separate bus to not being allowed to interview players in the locker room to having a consensual relationship with a high-profile figure weaponized against her. I'm sure you can imagine that Brooke is comfortable in the broadcast arena.

ABOUT THE BOOK

From former sports anchor and award-winning sports journalist Brooke Bentley comes Sideline Confidential – a behind-the-scenes peek at the obstacles and double standards facing women in the male-dominated space of sports journalism. 

When young sports journalist Blake Kirk lands her dream gig – working as a reporter for her hometown’s pro football team – she anticipates many of the challenges that accompany the gig – long hours in the office and on the field, many days of travel, immense pressure to succeed as a woman in sports journalism. What she doesn’t expect are the double standards and old-school entitlement that trip her up at every turn. From day one, Blake faces off with her boss who does everything in his power to make her job difficult—from forcing her to ride a separate bus to the games; to blocking her from interviewing players in the locker room; to pushing her to “network” with colleagues at a strip club. As suggestive notes appear on her desk and a consensual celebrity hookup is weaponized against her, Blake’s dream devolves into a nightmare, and she is forced to choose between her dignity and her career.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brooke Bentley is a former television anchor and award-winning sports reporter. After graduating with a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California, she spent two years working for the Houston Texans as a media personality and over a decade working in sports journalism. Brooke now devotes her time to championing local nonprofits, including Homemade Hope, where she served as the development director. She and her husband live in Houston and are raising two young boys. 

Sideline Confidential is Brooke’s debut novel, where she shares her firsthand knowledge of the challenges women professionals face in the male-dominated world of professional sports.

Patrick is a consultant specializing in political campaigns, advocacy and small business development. He previously served as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Republican Committee, America’s only fully urban state GOP organization. The first Republican ever elected to the DC State Board of Education, Patrick represented Washington, DC’s, most racially diverse ward for a full four year term.

A staunch advocate for parental choice in education, he was the Board’s sole representative to the National Association of State Boards of Education’s Government Affairs Committee where he helped shape national education policy. Long active in politics, Patrick ran for DC Council and served as an Alternate Delegate (2008) and Delegate (2012) at two Republican National Conventions. With over two decades of campaign experience, Patrick has worked and volunteered on dozens of campaigns at the local, state, Congressional and Presidential levels. Earlier in his career Patrick worked on Capitol Hill for a U.S. Senator; at the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a contractor; and later lobbied both the Legislative and Executive branches of the Federal government on behalf of technology, education and energy clients.

Patrick currently serves on the Washington Latin Public Charter School Board of Governors which is among DC’s highest performing schools. Before earning an entrepreneurship-focused MBA from Babson College, Patrick graduated from Marist College with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Political Science. He is past President of the Marist College Alumni Executive Board and past Board of Trustees alumni representative. Patrick and his wife live in the Randle Highlands neighborhood of Washington, DC with their two young sons.

Toni King is an author, columnist and radio and TV personality, and has spent more than 27 years as a top sales leader in the Medicare and health insurance fields. She has also conducted “Confused about Medicare “ workshops throughout Texas and the southeastern United States. In 2009, Toni was holding a Medicare workshop in Greenville, Mississippi, when a member of the audience asked a question about his not needing Medicare Part B. Toni met with the gentleman after the workshop and it didn’t take her long to find out that he had received wrong information from his local Social Security office. It took a couple of days to get this overwhelming problem straightened out and get him his Medicare Part B. When it was all finished, her role as an insurance agent had changed to that of advocate for people on Medicare. It was then that she took the Medicare and You handbook and put it into “people terms” so the average person could understand Medicare.

Whether Toni is consulting with a client in the office or giving a “Confused about Medicare” workshop to hundreds of people, she emphasizes her mottos: “Medicare is NOT Cookie-Cutter” and “What You Don’t Know WILL Hurt You!” Not understanding the rules and guidelines of Medicare can cause you to make costly mistakes that will last a lifetime. Whether you are helping your parents understand Medicare or choosing a plan for yourself,  let Toni show you how to navigate your way through what has become the Medicare maze!

Dena Ali is a battalion chief in the Raleigh (NC) Fire Department with 15 years of service. She has a master’s in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke

My name is Theo, but that nickname started in the 6th grade. My full name is derived from my grandmothers, Thelma + Elizabeth = Thelizabeth.

After 30 years, I moved back to my hometown in Whitney, Texas. In this photo, I am standing in front of the hospital where I was born 50 years ago to two of the most beautiful people I will ever know.

I’m just a farmgirl that loves to write. Most of all, I love sharing the story of a farmer, his wife, and their life. It’s beautiful. It’s broken. It’s complete. It’s a sweet life with a most tragic end. They lived in extraordinary ways and died in extraordinary ways. But just because some stories don’t have happy endings doesn’t mean the characters don’t live happily ever after.

I write so people can feel what I feel, see what I see, and love what I loved.

Bio 👇