The Kristle Shanell Show

Octavia Roberts, also known as Taye to some, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. She is also the Co-Pastor of Open Wings Ministries alongside her husband of 16 years, Derrick Roberts. Although pastoring a church is one of her many accomplishments, her greatest joy is being a mother to her six beautiful children: Quentavious, Quenecia, Jordyn, Jahrie, London and Lauryn Roberts. A wife, mother, and pastor describes but a mere fraction of Octavia’s life. She is also the founder of Taysteful Accessories, a women’s fashion and accessory boutique, an author, a motivational speaker, and an advocate for human rights. Octavia has dedicated her life to inspiring others. She travels many places offering hope and restoration to all those that are lost. Her latest quest involves the empowerment of women. She uses her testimony to shed light on the true meaning of grace.

Contrary to popular belief, Octavia’s life was far from perfect. In fact, she is not your traditional motivational speaker and pillar of the community. The former teenage mother and drug dealer was deemed a mere statistic in society for polluting the community. Her mother passed of cancer when she was nine years old. As a result, Octavia and her siblings had to be raised by family members. However, the loss of her mother was so devastating; she rebelled against her family and ran away from home at the age of 12. The term survival took on new meanings for Octavia on the streets. By the time she was 16 years old she had already been beaten, stabbed, molested, a teenage mother and a high school dropout. All of the odds were against her but after acknowledging and dealing with all the pain that stemmed from the death of her mother, Octavia made a decision to use her life as a testimony to others. In spite of everything she has been through, her love for life, family, people, and most importantly God, made it difficult for her to surrender.