We’re looking forward to introducing you to Marie Ezell. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Marie, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Honestly? I’m being called to stand louder and bolder in MY own truth! I am speaking up and speaking out to use my story to open doors for the voices that have been silenced for far too long. For years, I carried shame and fear around my past, because I was afraid of how people would look at me if they knew the real details of my journey through the foster care system. But God had other plans.
Now, through my book Unfostered and the work I’m doing with Angel In Me Incorporated, I’m being called to shift the narrative to show the world that being in foster care doesn’t define your future. I’m no longer afraid to tell the raw, unfiltered truth because I know my story is connected to someone else’s healing.
I’m stepping into rooms I once felt unworthy to be in, advocating for young adults aging out of foster care, and building spaces where their voices are finally heard. I’ve learned that my transparency is my power and I love it on this side of understanding! What used to scare me is now what fuels me because I know that if I stay silent, change doesn’t happen. And I refuse to let another generation of foster youth feel unseen, unheard, and unsupported.
Long story short…Im being called to speak up, speak loudly and speak boldly!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Marie Ezell but to so many of the youth I serve, I’m simply “Miss Marie.” I’m the founder of Angel In Me Incorporated, a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to amplifying the voices of children and young adults who’ve been overlooked, undervalued, and too often forgotten in the foster care system. Our mission is simple but powerful: to change the narrative for foster youth by giving them the tools, resources, and support and love they deserve to heal, grow, and thrive.
I’m also the author of Unfostered, my memoir that exposes the raw, unfiltered truth of my own foster care journey. It’s emotional, it’s messy, it’s funny, and it’s real because that’s what foster care really looks like. Unfostered isn’t just a book; it’s a movement. It opens doors for conversations that too many people avoid, and I’m using my story to break generational cycles of silence and shame.
But my work doesn’t stop at the book cause now that I’ve started speaking up…I can’t shut up! I’m intentional about hitting people from every direction until the message sticks. I want the world to get it you know? to truly see the children, young adults, and families impacted by this broken system. That’s why AIM creates programs and events that meet the community where they are.
What makes my work unique is that I’m not just speaking about the foster care experience I lived it. I know what it feels like to fall through the cracks, to be mislabeled, and to have your story told by everyone but you. That’s why AIM is focused on advocacy, awareness, and action. Im tired of people just talking about the problems instead of actually creating solutions so, we are educating our community, our tribe if you will.
Every project, every event, every chapter of Unfostered carries the same heartbeat My approach is loud on purpose because staying silent doesn’t create change.
We host hair care education events for foster and adoptive parents, helping them learn how to care for the natural textures of children of color so no child feels “different” or overlooked. We’re also planning Christmas events to ensure foster youth and those who’ve aged out feel remembered and celebrated during the holidays. Through our school supply drives, we equip high school and college students with essentials while connecting them to resources and support. And soon, we’re launching a podcast that gives space for real stories, healing, and unfiltered conversations about the foster care experience.
This isn’t just what I do… IT’S WHO I AM! And as long as I have breath in my body, I’ll keep showing up, speaking out, and creating platforms until these young people get everything they need…no deserve to thrive.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Whew… that’s a hard one, because for a long time, I felt invisible. But if I’m honest, the first to truly see me even before I could see myself was God. When I was in the middle of chaos, bouncing between homes, carrying pain I couldn’t even name, He already knew who I was and what He was going to call me to do..
Along the way, there were a few angels on earth who helped me see pieces of myself I couldn’t see yet. Ms. Pearl Willis was one of them. She spoke life into me when I didn’t even believe I was worthy of it. She didn’t just see the little girl who had been through the system she saw the fighter, the leader, and the voice I would become.
And then there’s my hubbs, Al. Whew, listen… he saw and loved ME when I didn’t even know how to love myself. He believed in me when I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I was going. Even in the moments when I wanted to give up, he reminded me of my strength and pushed me toward my purpose. Having someone love you past your broken pieces changes everything.
Along the way, there were a few angels on earth who helped me see pieces of myself I couldn’t see yet. Ms. Pearl was one of them. She spoke life into me when I didn’t even believe I was worthy of it. She didn’t just see the little girl who had been through the system — she saw the fighter, the leader, and the voice I would become.
And then there’s my hubbs, Al. Whew, listen… he saw ME when I didn’t even know how to love myself. He believed in me when I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I was going. Even in the moments when I wanted to give up, he reminded me of my strength and pushed me toward my purpose. Having someone love you past your broken pieces changes everything.
Along the way, there were a few angels on earth who helped me see pieces of myself I couldn’t see yet. Ms. Pearl was one of them. She spoke life into me when I didn’t even believe I was worthy of it. She didn’t just see the little girl who had been through the system — she saw the fighter, the leader, and the voice I would become.
And then there’s my hubbs, Al. Whew, listen… he saw ME when I didn’t even know how to love myself. He believed in me when I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I was going. Even in the moments when I wanted to give up, he reminded me of my strength and pushed me toward my purpose. Having someone love you past your broken pieces changes everything.
Along the way, there were a few angels on earth who helped me see pieces of myself I couldn’t see yet. Ms. Pearl was one of them. She spoke life into me when I didn’t even believe I was worthy of it. She didn’t just see the little girl who had been through the system — she saw the fighter, the leader, and the voice I would become.
And then there’s my hubbs, Al. Whew, listen… he saw ME when I didn’t even know how to love myself. He believed in me when I was still trying to figure out who I was and where I was going. Even in the moments when I wanted to give up, he reminded me of my strength and pushed me toward my purpose. Having someone love you past your broken pieces changes everything.
I didn’t know God would use my pain to build platforms and open doors for others. But He made sure to send people my way that saw it. Its crazy to know that hey saw me before I was ready to see myself and now? I walk in that vision every single day. Every event, every drive, every conversation, every page I write is me finally stepping into who God already knew I was.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Yes… I miss the life I never had. People see my strength now, they see the work I’m doing, they see Unfostered, but what they don’t always see is the quiet grief underneath it all. I miss the thought of what life could have been if I had been raised by my biological parents. I miss knowing how it would feel to grow up “normal”. To have the kind of stability, love, and security that so many kids unknowingly take for granted.
I used to wonder what it would be like to have my mom cheering for me at school events or my dad teaching me life lessons in the safety of a home that was mine. I miss birthdays that were actually acknowledged, Christmas mornings where I didn’t feel like an outsider, and the chance to just be a kid without carrying so much weight on my shoulders.
The for real truth is… that “missing” never really goes away. It doesn’t matter how much healing you do or how strong you become — there’s always a small part of you that aches for the life you didn’t get to live.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely… but it’s not all of me. The version of me the public sees: the advocate, the author, the founder, the fighter… that’s real. That passion, that fire, that loud voice that refuses to back down? That’s who I am. When you see me standing on stages, writing Unfostered, creating programs through Angel In Me, hosting events, and pushing for change that’s authentically me but what people don’t always see are the moments behind the scenes. The quiet tears after sharing my story. The exhaustion from fighting battles in systems that feel impossible to change.
The public gets the bold, strong, “I-won’t-shut-up-until-you-get-it” Marie — and that’s real — but I also carry the softer, more vulnerable parts of me that I’m learning are okay to share too. The truth is, I had to grow into this version of myself. I had to become her.
The public version of me exists because the little girl in me needed someone like the “now me” to fight for her. So yes, what you see is real but it’s layered. It’s survival. It’s healing in motion. It’s the woman I had to become to break cycles, and shift narratives
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I was born to do this because God told me to s I guess it was a combo lol. when God gives you an assignment, you move. Writing Unfostered, building Angel In Me Incorporated, none of this was by accident. This is what I was created for.
So yes, I was born for this. But I was also told to do this by the One who saw my purpose long before I did. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://AIMIncorporated.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelinmeincorporated
