Tal’Meisha Frontis MS, LCMHC-S, LCAS shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Tal’Meisha, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Who are you learning from right now?
Right now, I’m learning from my old self. The version of me who was scared of everything but still did it anyway. Honestly, she did not know what she was doing half the time, but she kept showing up with shaky hands and a little hope. I look back at her and think, ‘Girl… you were terrified, but you went anyway.’ That is who is teaching me the most right now.
She is the reason I trust myself, the reason I bet on KSG (Keke’s Sunflower Garden Therapy and Counseling, a virtual counseling practice she started with the website name simplyksg.com) and the reason I do not quit even on the days when I want to take a nap instead of be a founder.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Tal’Meisha Frontis, but everyone calls me Mei. I’m the founder of Keke’s Sunflower Garden Therapy & Counseling PLLC, which honestly started as me trying to create the kind of space I always needed growing up. I’m a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, a Supervisor, a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, and a National Certified Counselor. I’m grateful for every part of that journey because none of it came easy. Before any title, though, I am a mom and that’s a title I don’t evennnnn play about at all.
KSG is named after my baby sister Keke, who passed away. She had this gentle way of telling people to take care of yourself even when she was carrying her own storms. That stayed with me. It shaped the whole heart of my practice. Everything I do has a little bit of her softness in it.
I work with teens and adults all over North Carolina. Some folks come in overwhelmed. Some come in trying to heal. Some just need a space where they do not have to pretend. I meet people exactly where they are with honesty, warmth, cultural awareness, and a little humor when it helps. Healing can be heavy. I try to make the space feel human.
Before I opened KSG, I worked in community mental health, domestic violence programs, reentry, and court-involved services. Those places taught me a lot about people and about grace. They shaped the way I show up now. I’m also a proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc, ACA, NAADAC, and NCCA, which helps me stay grounded and intentional in how I practice.
What makes KSG unique is that it feels like real life. It is professional, but it is also personal. It is care mixed with lived experience. It is the girl who grew up with a lot on her shoulders learning how to offer people steady space. It is healing that feels warm and familiar, like you can just exhale. Baby, you can be yourself at KSG! We do real life. Real talks. Real laughs. Real everything.
Right now I’m focused on growing the practice, building workshops and tools for people going through trauma and transitions, and creating a space where people feel seen and supported. I’m grateful every day that I get to do this work. It still surprises me that something born out of my own healing became a place other people trust too.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Losing my sister Keke. That moment shifted everything I thought I knew about myself and the world. I grew up tough. My mom taught me early that the world does not owe me anything, so I learned how to keep going no matter what. I honestly thought I was immune to breaking. I could go through the worst and still get up the next day like nothing happened.
But losing Keke sat me down in a way nothing else ever has. It showed me that strength is not the same thing as numbness. It taught me that feeling your feelings does not make you weak. It actually takes more courage than pretending everything is fine.
Her passing made me slow down. It made me human again. It taught me how to sit with grief, how to let love hurt and still matter, and how to show up for people in a softer way. That loss changed the way I see the world and the way I show up for others. It made my work more honest, more vulnerable, and more real.
Baby girl, I love you. I miss you.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
Honestly… everything. I’m 33 and I can name about 100 things I ‘failed’ at or thought I messed up. Life did not go the way I planned, and it took me a long time to understand that failing does not mean you’re finished.
I was a teen mom. I got denied the first time I applied to grad school. I only recently got my own place. There were so many moments where I thought, ‘See, this is why you should have it all together by now.’
But every one of those moments changed my mind about what failure even means. What I thought was the end of the road was really just a reroute. I learned that timing matters. Grace matters. Growth matters. And honestly, sometimes you don’t fail… you just get redirected.
Those ‘failures’ made me patient with myself. They taught me not to count myself out too early. And they gave me a kind of resilience that feels softer now, not that hard survival mode I used to lean on.
So the thing I changed my mind about is this: failing isn’t a sign you’re behind. It’s usually a sign you’re becoming someone new. I’m not scared to fall flat anymore or to be embarrassed “failing out loud.” Bet y’all will see me get up a million times until I win.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
An important truth that very few people seem to agree with me on is this: I don’t always need to tell my friends what to do. A lot of people feel like a ‘real friend’ is supposed to check you, guide you, redirect you, keep you in line… and to a degree, I get it. There is a place for honesty and accountability.
But with age, I’ve learned I cannot be so egotistical that I think I know best for everybody. We all have our own journeys, our own timing, our own lessons that life is going to teach us whether we want them or not.
I had to unlearn that urge to jump in and fix or advise. Now I’m more focused on just being with my friends. Supporting them. Listening. Loving them through their process without trying to narrate it.
So the truth I stand on is this: sometimes being a good friend isn’t about giving your two cents. Sometimes it’s about creating space for people to grow in their own way.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
“I’m doing what I was born to do. Being a therapist is just one part of it. At my core, I’m a giver. I’ve been like that since I was little. You can ask my mom. She used to work at a nursing home and she would bring me with her. I was a kid, but I loved sitting with the residents and bringing them joy. Maybe she brought me because she was a single mom and had no choice. I never even asked. I just know I genuinely loved being kind to people.
Fast forward to now… I still love people. I love volunteering. I love making folks feel seen. That’s always been natural to me. So yes, I became a therapist, but the heart of what I do started way before licenses and credentials.
I didn’t get told to do this work. I grew into it. This is who I’ve been my whole life… someone who cares deeply and wants to show up for others in a real way.
In the next lifetime, whatever is on the other side, I pray I’m still in a position to walk with others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Simplyksg.com
- Instagram: @kekessunflowergarden
- Linkedin: Tal’Meisha Frontis, LCMHC-S, LCAS
- Facebook: Keke’s Sunflower Garden Therapy & Counseling PLLC
- Other: [email protected]
