Meet the voices behind the work

ANA THOMAS

Aloha, I’m Ana!

When I met Allie and Kam, I was Ana Oglivie. I grew up in Hawai’i with my parents, two sisters, two brothers and two dogs. My mom is part Hawaiian and she and her family have lived in the Hawaiian islands for generations. My dad was born in Panama and arrived to the United States with his grandmother and sister. He was raised in New York and joined the U.S. Marines, which is how he met my mom and they raised myself and my two younger siblings. My family is blended and full of cultures, beliefs and experiences. This also means we have experienced our fair share of difficult discussions and realities. I have been afforded the opportunity to play sports and focus on school throughout my entire childhood. I played volleyball for 13 years, soccer for 5, and baseball for 2. I am a proud 2017 ‘Iolani Alumna and joined the United States Military Academy at West Point’s Long Gray Line in May 2021. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in International Relations and aspire to return to school for my MBA.

Along the way, I briefly married my fiancé and changed my name to Ana Thomas. As my marriage comes to an end, I am healing from my past and harnessing a whole ton of excitement for my future. A few of my current hobbies include reading, abstract painting, red wine, brunch with friends that feel like family and volunteer coaching youth volleyball.

My background and experiences have played huge roles in defining who I am. But from a very young age, I was always inquisitive about the world. Why can’t people get along? Why are there so many homeless people? Why do I get teased for being the lightest person in my family? Why is there always traffic? Why do people kill others? Why don’t I see many role models that look like me? I had such a strong pull of interest in the tragedies of the world and knew that I wanted to dedicate much of my life to helping others. This has not changed, as I have joined the U.S. Army as a logistics officer where I serve the nation, but also have a supporting role within the overall military mission. I have found a deep sense of purpose in service and I know this will not change any time soon. 

I was once a child with so many questions and such little answers and I have now grown into an empathetic and compassionate woman who embraces diversity. I once hated my curly hair and freckles as a little girl. Yet now, when the sun shines, I crane my neck in hopes of acquiring a few new spots and I am exploring my favorite products and hair routines. As I continue to learn how to deeply love and appreciate who I am, I am excited to share what I learn along the way and listen to how you all heal from your experiences and embrace both the big and little joys of life.

ALEXANDRIA BULLEN

Hello lovelies!

I am Alexandria, one of the three founders of Honey Whines. I am a mix of white from my mother (Czech and German etc.) and Guyanese from my father. My mother was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and my father was born in Georgetown, Guyana and is a first generation American. Both my parents served 20 years in the Army and I followed in their footsteps hoping to achieve their same impact. I commissioned from USMA at West Point, NY and am now serving as a Military Police Officer.

I was born in Tacoma, Washington, and spent most of my childhood living in Wisconsin in a suburb outside of Milwaukee with my mom and twin brother Drew. My brother and I primarily lived with our mom spending every other weekend with my father until we left for college. They say when your parents divorce you get two birthdays and two Christmases, however, growing up with separated parents has always been a unique challenge. The one good thing I got out of my parents divorce was being blessed with my younger sisters Isabella and Elina. I love my sisters more than anything and I am grateful that I can be that inspirational role model for them just like I hope to be for you!   

All my life I have been placed in white spaces. A white mom, white schools, white neighborhoods. I grew up with a total of three other people who looked like me (mixed). I naturally migrated towards those people because the white kids made me feel too black and exotic and the black kids made me feel not black enough. In Middle School and High School, it clicked that I didn’t really fit in. I didn’t have many friends, always in and out of different groups, acquaintances with everyone and best friends with no one. Of the white kids I grew up with (there are exceptions), I felt like I was kept around because I was “interesting”. Like I was the “easier” black girl to befriend. They loved to touch my hair, dab me up, call me Beyoncé or taking it as far as saying “my nigga” as if that was the seemingly appropriate thing to do. Too many times to count my hair was touched without permission or I was pressured into flat ironing my curls, just to find out it was too lengthy of a process to complete. I didn’t fully understand the impact of these microaggressions until later in life.  

It was in college when I began the journey of finally understanding my hair. Growing up I never had a role model to show me how to tend to my curls. My dad would jokingly tease me and say my curls needed more moisture. Forever, I was self conscious about my hair and never knew how to do it. Because of this and to avoid the unwanted hair touching, I put my hair in a bun every single day, on top of my head and out of reach. After finally researching my curl type, and experimenting with hundreds of curly hair products, I finally found what worked for me. Needless to say my childhood hair product, TRESemme leave-in conditioner, was not it! After almost two decades of hiding my frizzy, dry curls in a bun, I can finally say I’m confident in my healthy juicy curls, but this hair journey of mine will never be over. So if you’re struggling to figure out your curly hair I have the tips and tricks for you!

Back to my white upbringing, because I lived with my mom for the majority of my life, I became isolated from my Guyanese and West Indie culture. Now that I am an adult, I am taking the time to understand and embrace that side of my identity. Learning to cook my Granny’s curry chicken, roti, and fry bread! A dream of mine is to take a trip with my father to visit his hometown in Guyana! However, when I was a kid I didn’t have the freedom to explore outside of what my mom provided me and because there weren’t many kids who looked like me, I felt like an outsider my whole childhood. I started to blossom when I stopped caring about what everyone else thought of me. This has never been easy and I still struggle with this today. I stopped forcing friendships. I focused on myself and my goals. I focused on excelling in my sports and academics. After a lonely, but dedicated 4 years, HS graduation rolled around and I committed to run track and field for West Point. At the Academy is where I began my journey of self discovery.

They always say “be who you wish to attract”. Well I can say that West Point gave me my soul sisters, Ana and Kam. Us sisters, also known as The Honey Whines, are excited to have honest conversations surrounding growth, healing, race, culture, ethnicity, identity, inclusivity, and more importantly what it means to be a black woman in todays society. My primary focus on this forum will be to discuss my experiences as a biracial woman and the struggles and alienation that come with an “ambiguous” appearance and being raised by a white mom. The Honey Whines are all about inclusivity and representation! Being a part of this group, I want to be that representation for you. I will continue to share with you my own testaments of identity, love, relationships and more. I want to be your inspiration to begin a path of self-love and self-acceptance without feeling like you have to shy away from different parts of your identity. I want to inspire you to equally love all the parts that make up you. So if you grew up like me, or look like me or have anything in common with me, and are wishing for that representation that I desperately needed for most of my life, then you’ve come to the right place! I hope I can encourage each and every one of you to love yourself!

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We strive to be a guiding voice, the representation for those that feel lost. Protecting our inner child that never felt heard. We are fighting for us.