In order to understand the product, she took Lore’s storytelling class, and “fell in love”. For four years, Cartwright shared personal histories on stage, began coaching workshops, and in January 2024, inherited the company from founder Bridget Flaherty.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Lore facilitates workshops for both community and corporate environments. “We gather 6-8 people in a group and spend four weeks together, telling our stories and crafting them so that they can graduate and share their stories to the public. It might be to get something off their chest or to practice being a better speaker. It’s a lot of healing stories.” Lore partners with small businesses for the graduations — Wholly Grounds, Branch & Bone, Bar Grenada, Brightside, Joui Wine.
Cartwright, 32, lives in Patterson Park with 7-year-old son, Luke, and fiancé, artist Jamaal Durr. The couple spend every other week with Durr’s 8 and 11-year-old daughters. “We are learning how to blend our family,” says Cartwright. “I love the girls so much. They’re so courageous and very smart.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
GOOD ENERGY
“I wake up naturally between 5 and 5:30. I used to fight it. I give Jamaal a hug and a kiss and he falls back asleep.”
“I start making some tea. I like Yogi tea — Good Energy, for positive reinforcement, and Deep Breath for Jamaal’s respiratory system. I start boiling the water on the stove in the kettle. I love the kettle. It makes me feel like an adult.”
MORNING RHYTHM
“I get the tea and go downstairs. I turn on some music. I like Summer Walker, Jhené Aiko, a lot of R&B. I check emails before 7AM. I know I can write an email at that time and five more emails won’t come right in.”
MOMAGER
“Everybody starts to wake up. I wake up Luke. I put my nose in his neck and tickle him kindly. He has a list of things he should do in the morning, but he always tries me. I guide him through while I’m getting ready. We made our upstairs into an Airbnb so we all share one bathroom.”
SLOW DOWN
“I’m deathly afraid of the bus, so I drive Luke and we go in the long parent line. Drop-off always makes me upset, it’s so rushed. But we figured it out, I slow down and we cuddle. He always forgets his book bag, I think he does it on purpose.”
FLEX SPACE
“I’ll head back home to work. Me and Jamaal are very intertwined throughout our day. His studio is in the garage. I use a co-working space downtown at Genuine Work mostly for my classes or for meetings.”
“I also go to coffee shops so I can feel some sort of human connection since I work from home and work with a lot of different clients. Coffee shops ground me and make me feel like I have an office with new coworkers every day. Sometimes friends meet me to co-work. My favorite spot was Third Perk but since they closed I frequent Wholly Grounds and Gather by Ghostlight.”
MOMENTS OF CLARITY
“I do a lot of recordings for shows in my basement studio. I have a show called Moments of Clarity where I talk about transparent topics. I talked about blending my family. I talked about finding out I was adopted when I was 19. In that episode I interview all my adopted friends and how there aren’t really spaces for us to talk about it. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong in my family, and I need to be reaffirmed.”
REPLENISH
“I get hungry around 1. I love lunch, it’s my favorite meal. I pig-out guilt-free. In my mind I’m working all of it off. Usually I plan lunch meetings. I’m always going out to eat with a friend. I really love Gulzar’s Indian buffet. I love Wheat Penny. I like their eggplant fries and the kale salad.”
BUILDING EMPATHY
“I go home. I do 4-5 workshops a month so a lot of my time is marketing and social media for Lore. Our corporate classes are team building workshops that help strengthen the relationships between employees. It builds empathy and curiosity and helps employees connect better with clients. We work with University of Dayton Leadership, Groundwork Ohio, The Hope Center at Omega CDC, Co-op Dayton.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
PICK-UP TIME
“I leave the house around 3:30 to get Luke. I get back in that circle. I play a lot of good music on the way because I know when he gets in the car we’ll have to listen to kid-friendly stuff.”
“We’ll go to my dad’s house. I’ll drop him off there and then head to The Unit, the workout club. We usually meet downtown at Riverscape. We do workouts with the stuff that’s there. We use the ledge to do lunges and go up and down the steps.”
PIT STOP
“I get Luke after The Unit. We usually stop at Gem City Market for groceries. I always get the vegan chili from the juicing store. Luke and I will connect. I make him hang out with me. We’ll read, we’ll talk, we’ll go outside, and then he can have his tablet.”
DISHING
“Jamaal cooks dinner. He loves cooking and people’s reactions to his food, and I love doing the dishes. I prop up the phone and watch YouTube interviews. I love the Breakfast Club and Charlamagne tha God. He’s very logical. I don’t know when YouTube became such a big part of my life, but it is now, and that just cracks me up.”
REMEMBERING TOGETHER
“Jamaal will take the girls home if they’re with us. My parents got divorced when I was 12,” she reflects, “On a Saturday morning my mom called me downstairs to say bye, and left. Nobody ever talked about it. My family had so many traditions that were important to me, and when they fell out, they thought it wasn’t important anymore. I realized my stepdaughter missed her traditions. I was like, you can always talk about your memories with me. That brought us closer.”
PRECIOUS TIME
“I’ll put Luke to bed. Jamaal will come home and go in the garage. I’ll work on something else again. Around 10 or 10:30 Jamaal comes in and we’ll watch TV, and I fall asleep.”
“I really enjoy the fact that I can have a flexible schedule. I’m learning how to have tough skin in business. I’m very sensitive. I’m learning how to hang that up. It’s not Te’Jal, it’s Lore.”
THE DETAILS
Learn more at tejaljarrae.com. For upcoming classes and events visit lorestorytelling.com/community-classes.
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