I met the gorgeous Dena McCoy through Instagram first. She is a dear friend and colleague of some wonderful people I know and some who I have written about in these pages before, and so in the way connections through social media are made when wonderful people are connected through other wonderful people, we started following each other and I knew because of the people she was connected to that she would be as beautiful inside as she is on the outside.
Over time as I began to read her posts, I started seeing mentions of a book that she'd written titled Greed & Grace and when I looked up more information about the book I saw that it had some resonances with experiences I've been having in my own life. I kept feeling as if I wanted to reach out to her, but I am always aware of being very careful to respect people's privacy, and though she'd written about her life and published a book, I didn't want to presume that she'd want to talk to me about it. Then at one point she posted that the book was published by Trilogy Christian Publishing, and I have a very lovely memory and connection with Trinity Broadcast Network, or TBN, which is the parent company of Trilogy. When I was teaching community nutrition and health workshops I was introduced to TBN by an Episcopal Priest who was in one of my classes, and I was invited to be on their show Doctor To Doctor which at that time was filmed in their studio on 16th Street in New York City. Trilogy is a fairly new part of the wonderful work that TBN does, and seeing that Dena had published through this wonderful company made me even more interested to find out more about this woman who was doing so many wonderful and special things.
Not long after I saw the post about Trilogy, she began to post some truly beautiful performances and songs recorded by her daughter, Ava. I love to support Artists of all kinds through this blog, at YES Gallery, and in other ways as well, but because of my own background I am very careful about the people I write about and promote through my gallery and my work, making sure that it is only the best of the best, Artists, Writers, and Performers who are truly excellent in their work and who they are as people. Each performance and video Dena posted of Ava was so deeply meaningful, with songs and a delivery that were unique and memorable, and a voice that is completely her own. I felt again so strongly that I wanted to reach out to Dena, to offer to write about Ava and about her, but I hesitated again because it seemed that these beautiful and immensely talented powerhouses of women already had everything and everyone they needed. But as I prayed about it, I felt as if I should just go ahead and send a message to Dena and so I did, and when I heard back she was so gracious and grateful for my offer. We set up an appointment to meet and had a lovely brunch together that I wrote about at that time, at Cafe Henri in Long Island City on a beautiful afternoon that I will always treasure the memory of.
To say that meeting Dena was life changing is an understatement. That day she shared so much time with me, in a generosity of spirit and grace, and since that beautiful day we have shared messages and conversation that have helped me navigate some very challenging aspects of my own life. I began to read her book Greed & Grace right after our meeting, and not only is is very well written and enjoyable to read for the skillful writing of it, but it is powerfully empowering in its honesty, humility, and graceful telling of this beautiful woman's most vulnerable and difficult moments in her life's journey as she grows in faith and her walk with God.
In a featured Artist highlight on SohoMuse, she is described as the New York based writer and Author of Greed & Grace, a member of The Authors Guild, and a graduate of the University of California Berkeley with a degree in Humanities, an entrepreneur, commercial actor, occasional runway and print model as well as the proud fourth-generation Trustee and Vice President of her family's seventy-year old philanthropic foundation in her home state of Oregon; the principal owner of Grace West and Grace Meadow Properties, LLC, as well as an independent business owner with a direct sales company. She recently completed recording her memoir Greed & Grace for audiobooks with Blackstone Publishing under the direction of Emmy-Award winning sound engineer and producer, Roy Yokelson of Antland Productions.
On her Linktree she describes herself as an Author, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Creative and a Mom, and while she is all of those things she is so much more. Dena McCoy is a life force for good and grace and for uplifting and helping others to move through their experiences of darkness and feelings of weakness to find their power and joy. She is an overcomer who helps others to overcome, and to walk in the light of who God has called them to be.
Blessings,
Jannie Susan
