Because of the messages and feedback from folks I wanted to share an excerpt of producer, Amanda B. Nazereno's award winning podcast Six Degrees of Cats, where she asks about Our Feline Fictive Kin: Are Cats Full Fledged Family?  If you’re thinking about companionship, chosen family, or just living life on your own terms- this one’s for you.

Follow @6degreesofcats on IG and keep your ears peeled for a certain someone featured in another episode- Beyond Taylor Swift: Who Are Cat People? ;)

Big thanks to Z for the call, Amanda (+ Binky, Snuggles, and Peanut!), and the Cat Museum of NYC for including us in their pet loss grief guide: https://www.catmuseumnyc.org/resources/grieving-a-pet

In this episode of The Secret Life of TK Dutes, TK sits down with her longtime friend Tah Whitty-  an emcee, emotional coach, and nurse who has spent over three decades watching people move through life, illness, and grief.

The conversation starts with the loss of two beloved companions: TK’s cat, Feisty Mrs. Peabody, and Tah’s dog, Henry. But like most real conversations about grief, it quickly becomes about everything else.

The years where things shift.
The jobs that disappear.
The friendships that end.
The life you thought you’d have… and the one you end up building instead.

Tah talks about what's underneath our human suffering and what we are reaching out for; and TK talks about the quieter griefs associated with living outside the script.

Together they explore the strange tenderness that comes from loving an animal who sees every version of you- the hustling version, the heartbroken version, the version trying to hold it all together.

Together they explore how animals become witnesses to our lives.
 
How grief cracks things open.

And how sometimes the deepest teachers show up in fur, not human form.

Welcome to The Secret Life of TK Dutes.
Episode 3: A Season of Loss.

After the conversation with Tah, TK sits down with producer Amanda B. Nazareno for a quiet post-show reflection about what it means to move through a season of loss as in a capitalistic society, as people with marginalized identities.

Watch the full behind-the-scenes Production Chat between TK and Amanda - available on Patreon.

Want to share? 📞 You can call or text The Secret Life Line at (929) 551-4363, or leave a voice note at philosfuturemedia@gmail.com.

Special thanks: Tah Whitty, Amanda B. Nazareno (Producer), Manny Faces (Engineer), Faybeo’n Mickens (Marketing), Pat Mesiti-Miller (Theme Music), Gabrielle Smith (Art). 

👉🏾 Follow Tah Whitty on IG: @tahfree
👉🏾 Follow Amanda on IG: @catsuitmuse | @6degreesofcats
👉🏾 Follow TK on IG: @tastykeish | @philosfuturemedia
👉🏾 Go behind the scenes on Patreon: patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK

What starts as curiosity- sparked by episode 2 with Nicole Crowder, has TK following the thread to deeper reflection on comfort, lineage, and the expectation of being used as a tool.

Élan breaks down her project An American Family Album, where family members are rendered as chairs- revealing how we see ourselves and what we carry. TK shares why following the “God quest,” even without a plan, has become essential to her healing from burnout.

Pull up a chair it's time for art therapy.

Follow Élan Cadiz: https://www.instagram.com/elancadiz
Learn more about An American Family Album: https://www.elancadiz.com/an-american-family-album
Read the Vogue feature: https://www.vogue.com/article/artist-turning-family-into-chairs

📚 Élan's Library 📚  

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
Author: Tricia Hersey
Link: https://thenapministry.com/rest-is-resistance
 

Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty
Author: Dorothy Roberts
Link: https://thenewpress.com/books/killing-black-body

The Prophet
Author: Kahlil Gibran
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317488/the-prophet-by-kahlil-gibran/
 

How I Became a Ghost
Author: Tim Tingle
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/228584/how-i-became-a-ghost-by-tim-tingle/

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
Author: Audre Lorde
Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/193060/sister-outsider-by-audre-lorde/

------------

Special thanks to Amy of Velma Jean Flowers for calling the Secret Life Lifeline and for lifting up Sara Ahmed’s Living a Feminist Life this episode. Your reflection helped shape this conversation.

📞 You can call or text The Secret Life Line like Amy did at (929) 551-4363, or leave a voice note at philosfuturemedia@gmail.com.

⭐ If you want to help us become an award-winning podcast, rate + review the show wherever you listen and consider becoming a Patreon member at
👉🏾 https://www.patreon.com/SecretLifeofTK
Your support helps us enter award categories so they can put some respect on our names.

This bonus episode was produced by Tre’ Jones
Hosted and Executive Produced by Keisha TK Dutes of Philo's Future Media
Post-production audio by Manny Faces.

Next time we meet, we take a moment for grief in Episode 3 — coming soon.

In this episode of The Secret Life of TK Dutes, a late-night scroll turns into a flight to Minneapolis, an upholstery class, and a quiet reckoning with rest and healing. TK meets furniture designer/curator/editor Nicole Crowder, and what starts as a conversation about chairs becomes one about creative burnout, self-trust, and leaving hustle culture without making a scene about it.

They talk about making things with your hands, about why comfort feels political, about how Black women creatives have always known how to make home out of whatever’s available. About chairs as witnesses. About the right to rest. No big reveal - just the slow realization that burnout recovery might look less like escape and more like listening.

After the episode, TK sits with producer Tre’ Jones to briefly unpack what this episode shifted inside of them. The full post-episode reflection lives on Patreon.

This episode doesn’t rush.
It pulls up a chair and waits.

Welcome back to The Secret Life of TK Dutes.
Episode 2: An Invitation to Sit.

Special thanks: Nicole Crowder, Tre' Jones (Producer), Manny Faces (Engineer), Faybeo’n Mickens (Marketing), Pat Mesiti-Miller (Theme Music),  Gabrielle Smith (Art)

👉🏾 Follow Nicole Crowder on IG @nicolecrowderupholstery | nicolecrowderupholstery.com

👉🏾 Follow TK on IG: @tastykeish | @philosfuturemedia
👉🏾 Go behind the scenes on Patreon: patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK

Burned out, depressed, and desperate to get off the laptop, TK started making functional art just to keep her hands busy.
What began as an exercise in avoidance turned into an unexpected metaphor for her own life and marked a turning point.

The episode also features listener call-ins about healing, reflection, and rebuilding.

📞 Call The Secret Life Line: (929) 551-4363
🎙️ Or send a voice note to philosfuturemedia[at]gmail[dot]com

Produced by Keisha “TK” Dutes
Post-production audio by C.

More minisodes and behind-the-scenes moments to come.

**Coming Soon: Episode 2: An Invitation to Sit**

The way y’all have been pulling up about Episode 1, The Hustle Don’t Love You Back, has been… phewww. Thank you for trusting me with your journeys through burnout. 

But now I wanna hear from you, about your healing journey. 

The part where you started finding your way back to yourself. The small stuff. The weird stuff. The stuff that feels like a shortcut to peace. Maybe it’s art. Maybe it’s therapy. Maybe it’s your cousin telling you to sit down somewhere. Maybe it’s that one moment in the day where everything gets still for no reason.

Call me and drop a short reflection.

Start with: “My name is ___, and one thing that’s helping me heal is ___.”

I would love to share some of these on The Secret Life of TK Dutes, so we can all learn from each other — how we’re healing, creating, and trying to imagine a life that feels like ours again.

Leave your message at 929-551-4363 or send a voice note to philosfuturemedia@gmail.com.

Can’t wait to hear what your healing sounds like — the soundtrack, the vibe, the whole mood.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

TK and Dr. Nicole Rawls talk about what comes after the heartbreak—the moment you realize the grind doesn’t owe you anything, but maybe your spirit still does. They dig into anger that turns into clarity, grief that becomes blueprint. Because legacy isn’t the titles or the plaques. It’s the stories that survive you. It’s how you decide to live when the old script stops working.

Producer Kristen Bennett slides back in, helping TK unpack the glass cliffs, the white lies, the “good jobs” that drain the life out of you. Together, they ask the real question: if the hustle don’t love you back, what will you love instead?

This part is about aftercare.
About turning heartbreak into inheritance.
About looking at the wreck and saying, ok—now what?

Welcome back to The Secret Life of TK Dutes.

Special thanks: Dr. Nicole Rawls, Kristen Bennett (Producer), Manny Faces (Engineer), Faybeo’n Mickens (Marketing), Pat Mesiti-Miller (Theme Music),  Gabrielle Smith (Art), 

👉🏾 Follow TK on IG: @tastykeish | @philosfuturemedia
👉🏾 Go behind the scenes on Patreon: patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Turns out the hustle was heartbreak. Opportunities dressed as disappointment. Depression dressed as grind. 

This episode drifts through the wreckage: voice notes from the highs, reflections about the lows. And then the crash- burnout, body revolt, the quiet question: was any of this worth it?

With producer Kristen Bennett pressing play on TK’s story, and anthropologist, astrologer, and artist- Dr. Nicole Rawls whispering truth like a mirror you didn’t want to look in, Part 1 sits in that moment when you realize: the hustle don’t love you back.

Welcome to The Secret Life of TK Dutes.

Special thanks: Dr. Nicole Rawls, Kristen Bennett (Producer), Manny Faces (Engineer), Faybeo’n Mickens (Marketing), Pat Mesiti-Miller (Theme Music),  Gabrielle Smith (Art), and Melissa Danielle (Friend).

👉🏾 Follow TK on IG: @tastykeish | @philosfuturemedia
👉🏾 Go behind the scenes on Patreon: patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK

Click here to view the episode transcript.

The Secret Life of TK drops in your feed Fall 2025.
For BTS and more content, become part of the journey on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/SecretLifeofTK

Official Trailer Produced by Keisha "TK" Dutes 
Sound Design & Mix by Manny Faces for Philo's Future Media. 

My name is TK Dutes and I'm healing- right here, right now, out loud.

The Secret Life of TK is a beautiful, nonlinear ride with me- just another high masking, multi hyphenate artist/professional navigating burnout, grief, joy, and the creative hustle that keeps us going when everything else feels heavy. 

Each episode comes with a fresh vibe- different producers, different sounds, different flavors. Like a mixtape made by the people living their own versions of the story. I'm talking it out with artists, healers, and friends- going on adventures, sharing stories, and figuring out what to do when your body starts telling the truth before you do. 

This is the soundtrack before the breakthrough.

Come get free.

The Secret Life of TK drops in your feed Fall 2025.
Become part of the journey on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/SecretLifeofTK

Thank you to the voices in the preview: Dr. Nicole Rawls, Nicole Crowder, DJ CherishTheLuv, Dr. Jonathan Schwartzman, Tah Whitty, Cuco & Dash Harris. 

Preview Produced by Keisha "TK" Dutes &  Manny Faces for Philo's Future Media. 
Preview Artwork by Gabrielle Smith. 

Eternal gratitude to the producers and friends helping to make this happen. 
All will soon be revealed. ;)

The Secret Life of TK ~ a life and a podcast in progress by Philo's Future Media.

https://www.patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK
https://www.instagram.com/tastykeish
https://www.instagram.com/philosfuturemedia