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L'Oreal Thompson Payton

@ltinthecity

6.5K

followers

2824

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📚 Author, STOP WAITING FOR PERFECT
✊🏾 Founder of @zorasplace, Evanston’s Black feminist bookstore
✍🏾 Health & wellness journalist

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is it still kinda chic to do this trend? 👀

Since opening last September (hard to believe we’re coming up one year!), we’ve had the pleasure of hosting numerous community events, author talks, book signings and more all in the name of Black feminism, Black families, Black (woman-owned) businesses and Black joy!

We love it here 🥰 taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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2 months ago

This is for 2017 me who had nearly 20 fibroids removed after years of period pain.

This is for 2019 me who was diagnosed with infertility as a result of scar tissue from the aforementioned fibroid surgery.

This is for 2020 me who endured two egg retrievals, three failed embryo transfers and one canceled transfer.

This is for 2021 me who grappled with PTSD from infertility, perinatal depression AND postpartum depression and anxiety.

This is for 2022 me who fought my way back to myself, for 2023 me who decided to bet on myself as a full-time author and freelance writer, for 2024 me who finally started taking antidepressants to better manage my anxiety and depression, for 2025 me who’s already suffered two failed embryo transfers and was diagnosed with endometriosis on a quest for Baby #2.

This is for all of the Infertile Black Girls…you are NOT alone and you are NOT broken. You are MORE than enough, always have been & always will be! 🫶🏾

To my agent and Scorpio brother @ericsmithrocks, words can never full express my deep gratitude. 🙏🏾

To Maya and the team at @beaconpress, I can’t wait to make literary magic with you.

And to everyone who’s believed in me and encouraged me along the way, I am forever grateful for your support. LFGGGGG!! 🥳🎉💜 by @ltinthecity

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a year ago

A little BTS of our time at @cbsmornings ✨

Last week I made my national TV debut talking about my debut book, Stop Waiting for Perfect—a pinch-me moment for sure! 🥰

Thank you, @gayleking, @nateburleson and @danajacobsontv, for making me (and my family) feel right at home; Erin Rosenblum for taking such good care of us; @jackie_puskas for booking me; @jenniecanzoneri for pitching me; @nardi_media for prepping me; @lakyncarlton for styling me and @savilebro for traversing all over NYC with me and a toddler. 🙌🏾

And, of course, to all of you for watching, supporting and sharing. I appreciate you from the bottoms of my heart! Thank you. 🙏🏾💜 taken in Times Square, New York City by @ltinthecity

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3 years ago

It’s not every day you get to read a book that you wrote in your own bookstore, so yea…I’ll be soaking in this moment until further notice. ✌🏾

VIOLET GOES VOTING is available wherever books are sold. But do yourself a solid and buy from a Black-owned bookstore, like oh, I don’t know… @zorasplace? 😏 taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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an hour ago

TOMORROW: Our founder is leading a special election-themed Family Storytime in partnership with @lwvofil 🗳️

Join us for a reading of L’Oreal’s new book, Violet Goes Voting, plus grown-ups can check their voter registration and make sure they’re Election Day ready.

Learn more and register at the 🔗 in bi0! taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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8 days ago

Caution: full-time author at work 😉

P.s. I’m available for virtual and in-person storytimes and classroom visits (arguably the best part about being a children’s author)! DM me for deets.

#authorsofinstagram #authorpreneur #authorlife #childrensbookauthor #childrensbookstagram taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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12 days ago

It’s officially #spookyseason and we’re celebrating with a cozy fall lineup! 🎃📚

This month at Zora’s Place:

10/10: Special election-themed storytime featuring our founder, @ltinthecity, author of Violet Goes Voting

10/21: Wednesday Night Write-In for all the writers

10/30: Drag Queen Bingo: Halloween Edition with @eve4prez

10/31: Fall Fest at @theauxevanston featuring trick-or-treating, a Halloween-themed storytime & so much more!

Register at the 🔗 in bi0! taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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13 days ago

@fitfatandallthat told me I need to start posting more fit checks, so here we go! 💃🏾

#momlife #workingmom #momboss #chicago #bookish taken in Zora’s Place by @ltinthecity

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22 days ago

The sun was not, in fact, shining this morning. But it was a great day nonetheless!

Thank you, @wbezchicago and @sosassee, for having me on In the Loop this morning to chat about Violet Goes Voting and the one-year anniversary of @zorasplace. 🥰

Listen to our convo at the 📎 in bi0! by @ltinthecity

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a month ago

Funny story, L'Oreal, owner of @zorasplace who graciously reached out to host me at her beautiful Blackity Black bookstore in Evanston, and I had been discussing this event for months but it never occurred to me to look up where the store was. I just assumed it was in or somewhere near Chicago. So when a subscriber reached out for event details, I was flabbergasted when she said "Girl that's NOT Chicago!" 😭 Welp. I figured less people would show up since it was an hour away and RAINING the day of the event. But I was excited to meet L'Oreal to share @carefreemag's story and this book with whoever did make it out.

But not only did people drive, take a train, and fly in from other states, but they brought their people with them! Moms came and brought their teenage daughters, the girls trekked in from Chicago w/ friends, @danicahhhhh, who was my ASL interpreter at @essencefest, came down to provide pro-bono ASL services 🌸 we shared our ideas on what it means to bloom, what it means to pollinate, and on the thorns (as one lovely attendee shared, "the gloom is necessary for the bloom"). I met so many women at different stages of their lives who are choosing differently for themselves and wanting to be in community who are doing the same 👸🏿👸🏿

Chicago/Evanston, what a beautiful way to end this leg of the tour. Your energy, presence, and vulnerability had me beaming at what we're building together. Thank you again, @ltinthecity, for bringing me in and creating space for Black women writers and readers ❤️

And thank you @gdemae for the gorgeous earrings! ✨

I'll be back!

#blackwomeninbloom
#booktour
#carefreemag
#coffeetablebook
#BlackAuthors by @ltinthecity

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a month ago

How it started ➡️ How it’s going 💜🗳️

Two years ago, I brought Violet with me to vote in the presidential primary and thought to myself, “Hmm…this could be a children’s book.”

And now, two years later, VIOLET GOES VOTING is officially out in the world! I love all of my book babies, but this one holds a special place in my heart.

Growing up, my parents took my younger sister and me with them when they voted. They made sure we understood that people who looked like us didn’t always had the right to vote and that exercising that right mattered. Those trips to the polls helped inspire a lifetime of civic engagement for both of us.

Because we learn how to vote long before we ever cast our first ballot.

VIOLET GOES VOTING, illustrated by the incredible @alleannaharris and published by @randomhousekids, is available TODAY wherever books are sold. I hope it helps families start conversations about voting, Black history, civic engagement, and the generations who fought to make our voices heard. ✊🏾 by @ltinthecity

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a month ago

Black Women In Bloom🌸 is coming to the Chicago area for a special Bloom Session on September 13th 📍 Get your tickets at the link in bio! 🔗

Join Anayo Awuzie (@anayotothe), editor of Black Women In Bloom and founder of Carefree Mag, for a gathering created to celebrate Black women, our stories, and our blooming seasons👩🏾‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏾

On September 13th, Anayo joins @ltinthecity, founder of @zorasplace , for an author conversation on the importance of Black women telling their stories and celebrating our journeys of becoming 🌸

Bloom Sessions are Carefree Media’s signature intimate literary gatherings —part essay reading, part community conversation, part creative ritual, and part celebration of Black Women In Bloom 🌸 Each gathering is an invitation to slow down, pour into ourselves and each other, and make space for our own becoming✨

Chicago, join us at one stop or both 😉 we’d love to see you there🌸

📍September 13th — ZORA’s Place 🌸

Grab your ticket at the link in bio!🔗 by @ltinthecity

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2 months ago