L’Oreal Thompson Payton is an award-winning journalist and the author of Stop Waiting for Perfect: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Power. Her personal essays, feature stories and celebrity interviews have been published in media outlets such as Essence, Fortune, SELF, Shondaland, and Well + Good among others.
As a certified yoga instructor, L’Oreal knows that being present is more important than being perfect. Her writing, speaking engagements, and wellness facilitation work pull from her personal struggles with self-doubt to encourage and inspire other Black women and girls to see, trust, and believe in the beauty of who they are as enough even as they strive to become more than that.
When she’s not busy writing–which, to be fair, isn’t often–she can usually be found reading, on her yoga mat or riding her Peloton. L’Oreal lives just outside of Chicago with her very patient husband and vivacious daughter whose laugh lights up her world. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @LTIntheCity. Subscribe to her motivational newsletter and listen to her podcast at ltinthecity.com.