Linda Orji shared her story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Linda , thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Linda Orji: I’m being called to speak up about women’s health and fibroids, something way too many of us have suffered through in silence.
It wasn’t until I had fibroids myself that I realized just how many of us are going through this. And even then, I still didn’t speak up. You know, sometimes we get in that headspace of, “Oh well, she’s already talking about it… I don’t need to.” But the truth is, there are so many of us dealing with it and not enough of us speaking about it.
It feels like more and more women are being diagnosed every day, and we’re not speaking up fast enough, on enough platforms, or as often as we should. If the number of women who have fibroids could just match the number of women talking about fibroids, that would change the game completely.
Hidden Gem: You’re right. The silence around it is deep.
Linda Orji: Exactly. And that silence, that shame, that frustration, it’s heavy. Whether it’s a close family member who’s gone through it and never told you, a gynecologist saying, “Don’t worry, all women have them,” or being told, “There’s nothing you can do, you’ll have to remove one of the most important organs in your body and not have children,” those words hit hard.
They become like these cryptic, poisonous nutrients that have been fed to us for generations, traveling through our souls and our bloodstreams. Over time, we start to believe that our pain is normal, that we’re supposed to just live with it.
I actually believe part of what feeds fibroids is that exact fear, the fear of saying anything. Nobody’s teaching us that our bodies are talking to us, that diet, emotion, and stress play a role. I spent thousands of dollars because of a lack of knowledge. And when you don’t know, you just keep suffering quietly and being vulnerable to others’ opinions about what they think you should do with your body. That’s why I’m speaking now. That’s why Good God Body exists, because silence costs too much.
Hidden Gem: So, is that what led you to start Good God Body LLC, to turn your personal experience into a space for healing and awareness?
Linda Orji: Good God Body is where beings, especially women, can heal in their own way, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It’s not just about fibroids. It’s about teaching others to listen to their bodies and trust what they hear.
This thing was sucking me dry physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. My fibroid weighed 627 grams. The average uterus weighs about 50 to 70 grams. I’ll let you ponder on that. But ask me, did I still work out and exercise? Of course. Because that’s all I knew, like so many of us women do: carry the weight, fight, and push through.
That’s all my grandmother knew, and her mother knew. Carry the tobacco on that farm and push through. It got to a point where I was exercising more for my mental strength than my physical strength. I had to keep my mind strong despite whatever was happening with my body. Same goes for my ancestors.
Hidden Gem: Would you say this setback helped shape you into who you are today?
Some challenges aren’t setbacks; they’re promotions in disguise. They qualify us, stretch us, and prepare us to move differently. Every new level of healing gives me more confidence and clarity to sit at bigger tables, and not just sit there but speak with purpose when I do.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Linda Orji, and I like to say I’m a creative visionary with a Ph.D. in Survival. I’m a Bronx-born Nigerian American creator and a visionary at heart, a woman who uses art, business, and faith as one language. Everything I do flows through Linda Orji LLC, which is the foundation that holds all of my brands and everything I’ve been building.
What’s funny is that it all started with a simple list during the pandemic. I was over the mental stress of the corporate world and sat down one day to write out a list of things I actually enjoyed doing. There were at least ten things on that list, from fitness modeling to cleaning homes, and I tried them all. Each one taught me something about myself. But what helped me narrow it down was asking, “What could you do on this list happily, for free, and still be at peace?” That question showed me exactly where my purpose lived.
From that list came everything I’m doing now. Good God Body LLC focuses on faith, fasting, and fitness, but it’s really about alignment. I teach people to care for their spirit and body at the same time because they’re connected. Then there’s Uplift Nanny LLC, which is about structure, excellence, and care for families. We provide more than childcare; we bring peace and professionalism into the home so parents and loved ones caring for others can finally breathe again.
And then there’s Linda Orji Creative Universe LLC, which is where all my storytelling lives, my Cracked Concrete book series, my film and writing projects, and my spoken word performances. That’s where vision becomes creation.
Hidden Gem: You’ve got a lot of different lanes. How do they all connect?
Linda Orji: They all connect through purpose. I’ve never been interested in doing things just to do them. Every brand I’ve built serves a part of who I am, and that has a lot to do with the meaning of my Igbo name, which translates to “soul survivor” and reminds me who I’m called to reach.
Whether it’s helping a woman heal through Good God Body, showing a family how to manage their home through Uplift Nanny, or using poetry and storytelling to awaken people through Linda Orji Creative Universe, it’s all one mission: to teach, to inspire, and to help people remember who they are.
Hidden Gem: Tell me more about Linda Orji as a spoken word artist.
Linda Orji: Yes, that’s another big part of my story. Thanks to Dionne Hunter’s A Night of Artistic Renewal, I’ve been blessed to have my spoken word recognized by several international festivals, including the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, Her Vision International Film Festival, the Virginia Black Film Festival, and the Charlotte Black Film Festival.
Dionne reached out to me shortly after I decided to free myself from a 9-to-5, over five years ago, and I’ve been rocking with her ever since.
People often look at the different awards, features, and recognition, but here’s what I’ll say: if your mind and spirit are aligned, the opportunities will come to you. It’s not always about running around, networking, or talking to everybody in the room. And I say this all the time, you have to first learn how to be still.
Because here’s the thing, God will put you where you’re at your best and then leave you to work the room. And sometimes, that room might just be you. You feel me? There’s a certain way you have to operate when you’re alone, when nobody’s watching, and you still choose to show up and get things done. That’s where character, discipline, and calling meet.
That’s also where I can be my best, truest self and create meaningful art that manifests connections and opportunities for me. You might only see me twice a year outside, most likely it will be on one stage, but every time I’m up there, I get better, I speak louder, and I carry a bigger message. I introduce more written works and build more relationships because I’ve sat still, tuned in, and let that stillness guide me. That’s what’s often overlooked and misunderstood, the power of stillness.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
Linda Orji: Whew, that’s a good one. The part of me that felt I had to carry everything on my own. That part has done her job. Back to my Ph.D. in Survival… she was born and built out of survival.
My parents met in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1980s. My father was a taxi driver, and my mother had just been separated from her mother and all her siblings. They came together and helped each other survive. That kind of strength, that ability to start from nothing and still find a way, is what I’m made of. I’m living proof of that. Their resilience runs through my veins.
I’ve kept the lights on, handled the business, shown up for everybody, and held it together even when I was falling apart inside. And I honor myself for that.
But now it’s a new season. I’m evolving, learning that strength doesn’t always mean movement. Sometimes strength is in the pause, in the prayer, in the vulnerability, in trusting that God has already worked it out before I even try to fix it myself.
Hidden Gem: That’s real. So, what does releasing that version of yourself look like in your daily life?
Linda Orji: It looks like saying “no” more. It looks like giving myself permission to rest for as long as I need to, without guilt or explanation, unless it’s my sisters. It looks like collaboration instead of control. It looks like being okay with not having all the answers but still showing up anyway.
For so long, I operated from a place of needing to prove myself, prove I could handle it, prove I could survive. But I don’t live there anymore. And honestly, that ties right back to the weight I was carrying, literally. That fibroid wasn’t just emotional or spiritual; it was physical. All that pressure was pushing down on my other organs, pressing against my spine and nerves, even causing sciatica. It was like my body was mirroring everything I had been holding onto mentally and emotionally, the weight of doing it all, carrying it all, and trying to be everything for everyone.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the assignment God has me on is a big one. With that comes a lot of responsibility, but also awareness and discernment.
Now, I move from peace, not pressure. That doesn’t mean I’m not still that diamond being formed by it… I just rock it differently. I finally understand that letting go doesn’t mean losing control. It means trusting that God is already carrying what used to carry me.
Hidden Gem: That’s powerful, moving from peace, not pressure.
Linda Orji: Yeah, that’s the shift. The old version of me was strong because she had to be. The woman I’m becoming is strong because she chooses to be. And that’s a completely different kind of power.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Linda Orji: One of my deepest wounds was being molested. It took years for me to even say that out loud. For a long time, I buried it, thinking that if I stayed busy or kept to myself, I wouldn’t have to feel it. But pain doesn’t disappear just because you avoid it. It finds new ways to show up. That experience planted a lot of silence in me. It made me doubt my voice, my worth, and even how I showed up in the world as a woman.
But that wound also became my awakening. It’s where I learned that healing isn’t about pretending it never happened. It’s about taking your power back from what tried to silence you. Through faith, fasting, fitness, and writing, I learned that I could turn that pain into purpose.
Hidden Gem: That’s incredibly brave to share.
Linda Orji: It was a process. My healing started when I stopped hiding my pain from others and from myself. I began to realize that God doesn’t waste pain. He recycles it. And that’s what I did. I recycled my pain into art, into prayer, into words, and into businesses that could free somebody else.
One of my businesses, Uplift Nanny, is designed to train individuals to recognize the signs of molestation, to observe behaviors within families, and to communicate and ask parents the hard or even uncomfortable questions like “Are you okay?” Because all of that matters. A lot of things happen within the walls of the home, the very place that’s supposed to be a haven. Implementing Good God Body principles into the nanny training program is a must, because everything ties together.
That’s also why I do what I do through Good God Body and Linda Orji Creative Universe, to remind people that the body, the mind, and the spirit are connected. When one heals, the others follow.
Hidden Gem: So healing for you became both personal and purposeful.
Linda Orji: Exactly. Healing isn’t about going back to who you were before the pain. It’s about becoming who you were meant to be because of it. Every poem, every performance, every coaching session is a reflection of that.
I tell my clients this all the time as a creative writing coach: “Now that you’re writing it, you can release it.” What’s so crazy is that as a writing coach, I’m not just coaching. I’m a therapist, a counselor, a confidant. People trust me with their innermost treasures, the things they’ve never said out loud, and they trust me to help them bring those stories into the world. What I do is no small task.
So, if you see my prices go up, just know it’s not inflation, it’s elevation (laughs). Because this work is sacred. It’s deep. It’s generational. I’m helping people heal through art, and that’s something I’ll never take lightly.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Linda Orji: Honestly, I think a lot of smart people are overthinking themselves out of alignment. We’ve gotten so used to analyzing everything that we forget to feel or even listen to anything. Intelligence is great, but without discernment, it’s like a trap.
I see a lot of brilliant minds chasing success instead of fulfillment, chasing status instead of peace, hearing instead of listening. Everybody wants to be seen as the expert, but very few want to sit still long enough to go through the process and hear what God is saying. I say this a lot, but long-lasting wealth is in the process.
It’s like when I wrote that list during the pandemic. I decided I wanted to work for myself and dived into entrepreneurial endeavors that taught me to trust my own judgment. I remember going on Fiverr and not knowing anything about it. I just created a profile. It’s still up, and sometimes I pull it up just to remind myself how far I’ve come.
Hidden Gem: So, for you, it’s about the balance between intellect and intuition.
Linda Orji: Yeah, I think you can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you’re not tapped in spiritually, you’ll fail the assignment. Smart people are getting it wrong by confusing movement with progress and noise with purpose.
For me, success is peace. It’s clarity. It’s having the courage to walk away from what looks good but doesn’t feel right.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I had only 10 years left, I’d definitely lock in like crazy. Something about knowing how much time you have, right? I’d start by letting go of certain habits, like second-guessing what I already know God told me to do. Hesitation can rob you just as fast as fear. And when you know your purpose, you’ve got to move in it like time is already borrowed.
I’ve also been learning to stop over-explaining my vision to people who were never meant to understand it. You can’t convince someone to see what God only gave you eyes for. That used to frustrate me, but now I get it. Sometimes God gives you the blueprint and expects you to build it, not debate it.
And honestly, I’ve already started letting go of that habit of overworking myself just to prove I’m ready for the next level. I am the next level. I’ve done the work, I’ve carried the weight, I’ve healed from it, I’ve had the experiences that no one else on this earth has had in the way that I’ve had them. That’s what makes me a professional, an expert. And now I know how to move with peace.
It’s all about trust and timing. When you really trust God, you don’t rush. You prepare in silence, and then when God says “go,” you go. I’m in a place of stillness right now, fully aligned, still growing, still creating, still teaching, peacefully and quietly.
People sometimes mistake peace for mediocrity, but it’s not that at all. Peace doesn’t come from playing small; it comes from standing tall in who you are and what you’re called to do.
If I only had 10 years left, I’d just keep doing what I’m doing, a little faster. Creating like crazy, laughing, pouring into others, and living fully without caring what anyone thinks they know about me. No holding back, knowing that all things are working for my good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lindaorji.com
- Instagram: @iamlindaorji
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lindaorji
- Other: https://a.co/d/ghRk4Lp
Image Credits
Danté Bland
