The Journey from Undocumented Child to Philanthropic Attorney

Welcome to the latest episode of Event TV Podcast, where I Dr Shanna, engage in an insightful and thought-provoking conversation with the accomplished attorney and philanthropist, Kellisia Hazelwood. 

In this enthralling discussion, Kellisia shares her extraordinary life journey, from migrating to the United States from the Caribbean at a young age to becoming deeply connected to Ghana. Kellisia recounts her emotional experience of feeling a profound ancestral connection to the land, which ultimately led her to establish her law firm and extend her professional reach to Ghana. 

Kellisia's determination to empower individuals and combat visa-related challenges reflects her resilience and unwavering dedication to making a tangible difference in the lives of others.

Join us as we explore Kellisia's inspiring narrative, characterized by personal triumphs and professional resilience, underscored by an unyielding commitment to philanthropy and community empowerment. 

Transcript

0:16

Hello. Hello, everyone. How are you? Welcome, welcome. I have an amazing person with me, me today. And I'm so excited that you all are here with event tv, yet another episode. And, of course, amazingness happens here. And we have an amazing guest here today. I'm so excited. I'm going to bring her up. Let's get her here. Hello. How are you, beautiful? I'm good. Good. Thank you for having me. Yes, we have Khaleesia Hazelwood Squire. You all are in for an amazing treat today. I cannot wait to start this conversation with her. Ms. Khaleesia, please share yourself with us today. Tell us who you are and what you do in this world. So I'm Khaleesia Hazelwood, Esquire. As Dr. Shanna rightly said, I am an attorney. I am licensed in the state of New York and Virginia, and I practice family law and immigration law, and I run my own practice with my partner. Her name is Renesha Lawrence, and we operate in New York, Virginia, Michigan, and now in Accra, Ghana. So I'm excited. Awesome. So you just how long have you opened up that new office in Ghana? The office in Ghana has been open since June. Open on juneteenth of this year. All right. So that makes you international. Awesome. Yeah. Excited about that. So excited about that. And that's pretty much how we kind of met, is at an event. And when we actually met, it was right after your event, right? Yeah. So I had my event in June, and then I met Dr. Shannon in. Awesome. Awesome. So tell us a little bit about that event, because when we actually met in mean, I was just blown away by you and the stories that I've heard about your amazingness. So share with us what happened in Ghana. Exactly. In Ghana, there are a lot of visa scams, especially visa scams to the United States. So traveling back and forth, I knew that I wanted to do something to help. I didn't know how when I first started going to Ghana, but when I became an attorney, I said, this is a good way to help Ghana, instead of doing it through traditional missionary. So I held an event just basically to spread awareness to Ghanians about the different types of visas to the United States and different ways to travel to the US, because a lot of them only travel using the tourist visa or the b one b two visa. And the turnout was amazing. And people are just sitting there like, I've never heard of this visa before. I didn't know that I could travel this way. So I was basically just, like, opening their eyes and letting them know that. Yeah, there are opportunities for you if they are done the right way. Nice. And how many Ghanines was at your event? How many were there? I want to say about five to 600 people were there, almost 1000 people registered. Wow. Awesome. Definitely. That's a wide territory to serve that amount of people. So, yeah, your purpose is very fruitful. So let's back up a little bit about the visas. Because you mentioned a couple of visas, we're not really sure what they are. So just share with us the different types of visas. Okay. So I spoke about the tourist visa, which is the b one, b two, and that's like the most famous visa. And I just think it's because it's, like the easiest form to fill. So a lot of people go for that visa, but there are so many different types. There's a religious visa, and Ghana is filled with so many pastors and religious workers. So this is great. So we have the religious visa. We also have special ability visas for people who want to work in the United States temporarily. So if you're an actor, a model, an artist, a musician, if you have special ability in some type of sciences. We also have the I visa, which is for journalists. We have the P visa, which is for athletes. So these are the different types of visas I try to promote there so that they have different avenues to go to the United States. Nice. So tell me, I mean, this is definitely passion work, and we all know that our passion work can be profitable, but we won't go there. Just us. Tell us, what makes you so passionate? What makes you say, all right, I'm going to go to Ghana and share all the information about and how Ghanaians could come over to the. That's twofold. And the first part of that is, I always say that Ghana chose me. I didn't choose Ghana. So Ghana was the first country that I went to Africa. But as soon as I landed in Ghana, I started crying. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm in Africa. This is like 2011. I said, oh, my gosh, I'm in Africa. I can't believe it. Started crying. And then I just felt the connection to the land. I just felt like that's where my ancestors were from. I visited Cape coast, and I'm just like, yeah. I just felt like that's where they were taken from and then eventually know the ancestry, and I found out that my essences really are from. So, like, my inclinance and my feelings. You never been to Ghana. You just took a trip one day. What were you going to Ghana for? I went with my professor. I was in a master's program. I was getting my master's in theology. And my professor lived in Ghana for like ten years. He's from the UK with jamaican background, so he lived in Ghana for ten years, he and his family, I think, as a missionary. And when he started teaching at my university, he had two trips, one to Ghana, one to China. And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to Ghana. And that was it. That was my first time. And after that, I just kept going by myself. Only went with him once. Wow. And you've been taking solo trips there and you just kind of felt connected to Ghana, to the land. And I know that had to be a moment whenever you initially set foot on Ghana grounds and you just started tearing up. I mean, tell me a little bit about felt. It felt overwhelming. And I think it goes to the second part of the answer to your question. It felt overwhelming because I didn't think I would ever be in Africa. I came from the Caribbean at a very young age and I was undocumented. So I've gone through so many different struggles in the United States. I know what it feels like to get into schools, get scholarships, but can't take them because I didn't have a Social Security number. So overcoming those things and being able to finish school and then attend graduate school, and then after that trip, I knew, like the next year I was going into law school. It was surreal for me because here I was in the United States since I was six. And from six up until, I want to say, 21, I was undocumented. So going to Ghana, going to school, becoming an attorney, those things seemed so far from me. So when I got to and I felt that connection, I said, I want to do something to give back. How can I give back to this community? Wow. And that's great and I really appreciate and honor your work, but let's back it up a little bit. Okay? So with that being said, you got in the US from the Caribbean at, right. Do you mind sharing the circumstances of how you got here at six and why you came over? So my parents were already here. And if I'm honest, I don't know how I got here because I'm so young. Your parents were here. So who brought you over? My aunt. I just remember coming with my aunt and I remember it was so crazy. I remember leaving and my grandmother was like crying hysterically and I looked at her and I said, granny, why are you crying? Like, we're going to America, because I know my parents were there. So I was told that we were going to Barbados. But even at that young age, I was just like, we can't be going to Barbados if my grandmother's crying like this. And then next thing I know, I wake up and I'm in the United States. I'm not really sure the logistics of how I got. So how long were you separated from your parents? Do you remember because you're a small girl? Yeah, I was young. I want to say maybe three or four years. But I remember when I saw my mom, I remember questioning, is that my mom? Because I hadn't seen her in so long. And I remember thinking, is that my mom? That time we didn't have FaceTime or WhatsApp video pictures around the house. My girl's like, this is your mother. And I'm like, okay. And talking to her on the phone. Right, so you came over with your auntie, you met your mom, technically, right? Okay. Is that my mom? Did you get to see your grandmother again? Did you? Okay, good. My grandmother came to the US because I couldn't travel. But it was very sad because when she got sick, I couldn't go to see her. So she ended up passing away in St. Vincent. And I didn't have any documents at that time to go see her. And I think this is a part of my passion, too, because I think at that time I had some documentation in. But whoever my attorney was never told me that I can file, like, a travel document to go to my grandmother's funeral or to go see her if she was sick. I didn't know about those options. Right. So you missed out on that part. Yeah. And I got goosebumps now because that explains. I'm sorry. It's making me, like, emotional. Think about it. No, it's fine. I just love my grandmother so much. Yeah. And I felt so bad not being there for her when she was sick or not being able to go to her funeral. Right. And it was all because you just didn't have one piece of pivotal knowledge that could have opened the door or you could have. Right, exactly. That totally explains your passion work. But please know, I just want you to know that I am not just getting goosebumps bumps in vain, that this explains why you be. Why you're so passionate. And just like I said, I really honor you for going out and helping others know that there are ways that they could do what they need to do and do it the right way. Okay? So I appreciate that. And I know your grandma is so proud of running this bomb diggity clear law firm in. So we know that your feet hit the grounds in Ghana, and we know that you have your own law firm where in the scope. Of. Dang, I've been through a lot. So the New York firm happened. It's like, story behind that as well. My partner and I, we both worked for the government in New York City, and we both prosecuted child abuse and child neglect. And that means that we would basically take away kids from their parents in New York City. And, yeah, a lot of these kids, when they're taken from their moms, usually single homes, black and brown kids, when they're taken from their moms, they're usually given to grandma, maternal grandmother, maternal aunt. And my partner and I, we would always ask, where's the father? And the answer we would guess like, oh, we don't know. So we're like, so no one tried to contact the father. No one tried to find out if the dad wants the kid or anything. And they're like, oh, we didn't think about that. So we found ourselves fighting a lot for dads to get custody or visitation with their children after the child has been removed from the mom. So after a while, I was just like, I'm kind of fighting too much from the inside. But I said, you know what? This is a good job. I'm going to stay here and just move up the ladder. Long story short, there was a supervisor. I don't know why. She was, like, three levels ahead of me or above me. And I don't know. For whatever reason, she just didn't like me. And I found out that she filed an investigation, like, with the department of. Yeah, to get me disbarred. Not like I'm going to talk to you about something that I felt you did wrong. It was just like, I just want to take away your bar license. Wow, that's a little. Is. It is. But I'm sure that you could thank her for. It now. And I was distraught. Like, I was crying at that time. I was trying to get into the Virginia bar. I was trying to buy a home. I was trying to get a job as an attorney in Virginia. I'm like, this is going to ruin everything. And I wanted to quit, but God was like, no, you're going to stay there. And I stayed, but I was just like, every day I'm waking up with anxiety. I'm just like, people are going to know that I'm disbarred. I'm not going to have my license. Like, why am I here? And it was in that moment when I spoke with someone at the family court. He's a well respected attorney. His name is Elishmawi. And he comes up to me, he's like, there's something so different about you. I just want to show you how to start your own firm. He's like, when you're ready to leave these people and make real money, let me. Yeah. He took me under his wings to start my own law firm. He showed me how to get the government contracts. He showed me how to set up my business as a PlC. And at that time, I was really young to get the government contract because every other firm that had it, like older, seasoned attorneys, and he was like, don't worry, I got you. So staying at that job allowed me to meet Yusuf, and that's how I started my own firm. And I was just like, something that I thought was going to be so detrimental to me just staying with the government turned out to be something really good. Wow. And that's just very profound. And that's one of the things that I've figured out about obstacles, they are there sometimes when we're going through that, it's like, oh, my God. Just like working out. I will speak to that. Just like working out. You're in the gym, you're like, oh, my God. Not another tricep, but the work and the staying in it, you see the reward, because if you would have just jumped ship. Yeah, I've been working with somebody else. Yeah. And not having the level of success or impact that you have right now. And I really thank God that I was obedient because I applied to so many jobs and because I worked for the government, I have a lot of experience, because they overwork us and underpay. So I was getting so many callbacks, and I felt like, I'm leaving them. I'm going to show them. I'm going to be making this amount of money. And God was like, no, you're going to stay there for a couple more months. And I'm like, really? And then you opened your own law firm? Yes. Wow. And not only do you have your own law firm, so tell me exactly more about what you do at your law firm. Myself and my partner, we co manage family law. And family law is custody, visitation, matrimonial, which is divorce. We also now defend parents who have been charged with child abuse and child neglect. We do family offenses, which is domestic violence between families, whether it's mom and dad or siblings. So we do order protections. We also something is called destitute, where if a child travels from another country into the United States by him or herself and they don't have, like, I have clients that are parents in China and their child traveled to the United States by herself. And now we're trying to get her placement in the United States. And it also ties into immigration because now she can adjust her status based on just coming to this country alone. So we do destitute. We also do child delinquency. I don't do a lot of that, but that's basically like criminal law for children, child support. It's so many areas of family law. Yeah. And then I also do the immigration portion as well. Wow. And what I'm hearing, even though it's like this and this, it still seems as if you are working to keep families together. Ding, ding, ding. Our motto is to rebuild, restore, and reunite one family at a time. We have a passion for families. Yes, I can definitely tell. And you provide that support at all different angles. And it probably stemmed from when you were a little girl and how you felt when your mommy and daddy had to leave you and then you getting disconnected on that part and then connecting with your grandma and then having to get disconnect. Exactly. I just cannot imagine. Even though my mom, I want to ring her neck because she's going to actually go to the grocery store to get her. Yet one thing, I'm like, mom, to the grocery store. Send me with a list. Don't send me one thing. Just even with that, pulling my hair out with her. Imagine being separated from her as a small child or coming to America by myself just like that. You. I bet you probably saw yourself in that small child, and that's very brave to know a little six year old and come over by yourself and nail it. Thank you. In the US. And now you're nailing it in Ghana. Right. With all your. So with that being said, you have plans to do another event in. I do. All right. Do you have any dates out on that just yet? No dates yet. I'm thinking around June again. June thing for us. Yeah. But I want it to be like a luxury, so. And I'm sure that you will have a team that will be well trained, too. I am so sure. I've never been so sure in my. Well, Kelly, you know, thank you so much for coming on and sharing a piece of yourself, your story with everyone. I want everyone to know that they could connect with Kelly and all of her philanthropic efforts through the links here on the page. Kelly, in closing do you want to say anything about how people can stay connected with you, get in contact with you, or if they want to help support you with any of your sponsorships that you will have for the upcoming event to provide support? How can they get in contact with you? So you can call us at 1855 Hayes Law, Hazelaw. You can also whatsapp us at 917-525-4321 we're also on Instagram. If you look for Hazelwood Lawrence pllc, you'll find us on Instagram. You'll find us on Facebook. You'll find us on TikTok. You'll find us on LinkedIn. So it's so many different means to find. Right? Right. So thank you, everyone. Kalisha, Hazelwood, we will see you. Thank you. You're welcome.