We recently had the chance to connect with Dr Angelic Muhammad PhD, WBLC, ELi-MP, TYBWT and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Angelic, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: When was the last time you felt true joy?
The last time I felt true joy was just this past summer, when my son and I took a trip around the world. It was the experience of a lifetime, something I never imagined I would be blessed to live. Traveling together, we laughed, explored, and discovered new parts of ourselves in every place we visited. The joy I felt was beyond words. It was the kind of happiness that settles deep in your soul and reminds you that life is full of beauty, wonder, and unforgettable moments when you least expect them.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello, I am Dr. Angelic Muhammad, an International Psychologist, Whole-Body Health Coach, Thai Yoga Bodyworks Therapist, and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner. My work takes me across the world, where I design programs focused on trauma, mental health, and wellness. I also partner with executives and organizations to create balance, build healthier workplace cultures, and improve communication so that both people and companies can thrive.
Beyond this, I am an inspirational speaker, writer, and author, but most importantly, I am a mother. That role has shaped me more than any title ever could. Now that my son is grown, I embrace motherhood in a new way, one that allows us to share experiences as equals. This past year, we traveled together to 11 countries, cooking with communities, laughing, learning, and building lifelong connections. It was a joy and a gift to have him alongside me as I carried out my work around the world.
Currently, my son and I are writing a book that brings together our global journey, exploring culture, art, religion, food, mental health, and the life lessons we discovered along the way. In my day-to-day life, I love working out, helping people, spending time with friends, and most of all, spreading love. At my core, I am simply a happy person who treasures life and the people I meet along the way.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
The individuals who taught me the most about work are my parents. They instilled in me not just a work ethic, but a true understanding of what work means in every sense of life.
My mother was a domestic engineer, she ran our household with dedication, grace, and discipline. She made sure we always had three healthy meals and snacks, kept our home in order, and taught us to do the same. She instilled in us the value of education, even without an advanced degree herself. She read to us and with us, put us in the kitchen, had us washing walls, and showed us how to give, share, and care for others. She made sure we knew how to appreciate ourselves and those around us. Most importantly, she taught us that true work was not just about tasks, but about maintaining balance spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
My father’s work ethic was displayed outside the home. He never let anything stop him from providing for his family. Living with macular degeneration, he accomplished things many would have thought impossible. He drove, worked as a tool-and-die setter, built houses, did lawn care, and took pride in giving us the best yard on the block. At Chrysler, he earned an award for never missing a day in 35 years, a rare and remarkable accomplishment. When layoffs came in the 1980s, he didn’t take the buyout. Instead, he built homes and ensured we never suffered. Even when we only had one car, he rode his bike for miles, from 8 Mile in Detroit to 15 Mile in Sterling Heights and still arrived on time. He never gave excuses, and when told he couldn’t do something because of his eyesight, he went back, trained again, and proved them wrong. He simply never gave up.
Together, my parents showed me what balance looks like: my mother through her dedication to the home and family, and my father through his resilience and relentless determination. Their hearts are unmatched in my eyes. At one point, they even took in a family of six to live with us for nearly a year, a true example of compassion, generosity, and what it means to give without expecting anything in return.
They taught me and my siblings the meaning of work, love, laughter, and life. From them, I inherited skill, maturity, knowledge, perseverance, balance, and the drive to never give up. To this day, I consider myself blessed to still have them in my life. And as I continue my own journey, as a professional, a healer, and a mother, I know that the traits they passed on live within me, and through me, in my son. Most of all, they taught me one lesson I now share with others: to eat to live, not live to eat. Their example is my foundation, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
This is a big one. There are so many individuals living in pain without realizing they can use that pain as power. I was one of them. In fact, many people don’t even recognize that they’re in pain. When you drag weight around for so long, the heaviness becomes normal. And when more is added, you barely notice. We become blind to our own suffering, and that’s when we grow weak — mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We become trapped inside ourselves, living in our own waste. And who wants to live like that? Yet millions do, because we become comfortable in our discomfort.
I know, because I was one of them.
For years, I carried the hidden scars of being a victim of rape and sexual assault. I didn’t understand the effects it had on me. I didn’t even know I was traumatized. It felt like being lost in a room of mirrors, everywhere I turned, I saw reflections but no direction. I didn’t realize that the way out was to look inward, to find myself again.
When I finally did, everything changed, I was able to grow. I was able to say: I am not a victim. Traumas happened to me, but I am not my trauma. That realization was the moment I reclaimed my power. I broke the chains of my scars by deciding every day to see myself, hear myself, and listen to my own voice. I began to speak up!
In 2023, I even wrote and directed a play about my journey, and it was a success. Standing in that truth made my light shine brighter. My spirit felt lighter. My eyes opened in ways I didn’t know they were closed. It was as if I had been living with an undiagnosed disease of sight, unable to see that I was enough.
Of course, the process didn’t happen overnight. Healing never does. It took education, support, reflection, and the willingness to grow from the inside out. And even now, I continue to uncover old blocks and patterns that stem from trauma, learning each time to choose differently, to love myself, to stop rejecting myself, and to step forward with power. The feelings of rejects are wrapped in fear, and it created blocks all over the place like the game unblock me.
Today, I not only use my past pain as power, but I use it to empower others. My story is no longer a source of shame; it is a source of strength. And if I can be a conduit to help others speed along their own healing journey, then that is the purpose I am grateful to live out every day.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
I have to laugh at this question because the truth is — there is only one me. The public version of me is the real me. I show up the same way with my family, my friends, in business, and in every setting I walk into. I’m fun, silly, serious, affectionate, compassionate, loving, sensible, sensitive, nurturing, balanced, and humble. If I can’t carry all of my traits in every setting, then I can’t be authentic. And if I can’t be authentic, I can’t be me.
When I was blocked in the past, I didn’t even know all of these things about myself. People would tell me, but I would dodge their words like I was dodging bullets. I couldn’t see myself, so I was rejecting myself all while fearing rejection from others. That’s something to think about, isn’t it?
Now, with awareness and growth, I’ve learned how to balance my character. I know when to be assertive and when to observe, when to be strong and when to be soft. It feels natural, not forced. I don’t have to play games with myself or anyone else, it’s organic. I’ve learned that I don’t have to know it all, but I do have to be willing to learn and grow.
At the end of the day, if someone can’t accept all of me, then they don’t really want me, they want someone else. I am a unique and special being, as we all are, and I know my worth. If I am not real in every setting, I am not happy. And when I’m not happy, I attract the wrong kind of energy, negativity that I don’t want in my life.
So, I choose to be authentically me. Always.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Could I give everything my best, even if no one ever praised me for it? Absolutely, and I learned that from my mother. She always taught me that if I’m not doing something from the heart, then I’m not doing anything at all. When you hold back, you could miss the blessing in the act, and sometimes, the blessing is simply your own inner growth.
I remember as a child, we often saw men we called “bums” at the gas stations begging for money. It used to bother me because I watched my parents work hard, earn their money, and provide for us. I couldn’t understand why people would stand around asking for handouts. My mother, though, would give freely. She gave money, rides, even the coat off her back. To me, it seemed crazy.
One day I asked her, “Why do you give them money? All they’re going to do is buy drugs or alcohol.” Her response changed my life. She said, “Well, it’s cold, maybe they need the alcohol to warm themselves up. And if they are alcoholics, that drink might be the very thing keeping them alive, because if they stop drinking suddenly, they could die.”
That made me stop and think.
Then she told me something I will never forget: “I don’t give based on what they might do with the money. I give because I see a possible need, and I give from the heart. You never know, it could even be a test of how you treat people, because we are all God’s people. You don’t put people down because of the state they’re in. You treat everyone with respect and dignity. Respect your elders, your peers, and children alike. If you respect them, you’ll have no room to disrespect anyone.”
That lesson changed my entire perspective in an instant. Of course, she also taught us to be safe, never digging in your purse in front of someone in case their intentions weren’t good, but the bigger lesson was clear: true giving has nothing to do with being seen or celebrated.
It’s the giving no one sees that shapes you. The kind of giving that stretches you from the inside, that builds patience, humility, and compassion. That’s the giving that makes you whole.
Like my mother, I don’t need to be celebrated for what I do. But whatever I do, I will give my best, whether it’s clothes, toys, time, or love. Because the unseen, heartfelt labor of love is the most rewarding, and it is what makes the true you, you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://inspireusall.org
- Instagram: angelic Muhammad
- Linkedin: angelic muhammad
- Facebook: angelic Muhammad
- Youtube: @AngelicDonovan-International
