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112 || FITNESS MAGAZINE || APRIL / MAY 2015ex-husband recently died from a very aggressive form of cancer, but as a result of the work we all did together, she had the privilege of being by his side and holding his hand until he finally took his last breath.%u201d If Troy can help achieve something like that, then it seems anyone who has had an ex could learn from her.To further expand the message of her powerful book, Troy wrote and directed the movie based on it %u2013 %u201cI Really Hate My Ex,%u201d which will be released by Lionsgate this coming April. This is not her first time working on a film, nor will it undoubtedly be her last. Troy got her start as one of the original cast of the famous PBS show, %u201cSesame Street,%u201d and remained a series regular until the age of nine before moving on to numerous national commercials and movies of the week. However, after growing up in New York City with only her mother and older brother, Troy%u2019s life changed drastically when she was placed in foster care, due to neglect, and was then sent to live with her father in Idaho, whom she barely knew. But Troy still wanted to act, so after high school, she returned to New York City to study acting and soon landed a part in Francis Ford Coppola%u2019s movie, %u201cThe Cotton Club.%u201d This inspired her to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting full time where she was awarded with parts in numerous movies and a role on an ABC hit soap opera. Her screenwriting debut occurred in 1997 with the movie %u201cB*A*P*S%u201d starring Halle Berry, and after the experience and seeing how much her script was changed during filming, Troy decided to direct and star in her next screenplay. Titled, %u201cLet%u2019s Talk About Sex,%u201d Troy debuted the trailer at the Sundance Film Festival and literally stood outside handing it out to film executives. That%u2019s called dogged determination, which paid off for Troy as the film became involved in a bidding war, and ultimately picked up by Fine Line Features. She went on to make history as the first woman of color to write and direct a studio release film, with the Warner Bros movie, %u201cLove Don%u2019t Co$t a Thing.%u201d Most people have many passions but not everyone can find a way to meld them together into lucrative careers, and yet, Troy has managed to do so with her commitment to helping people and her interest and experience in the entertainment industry.he doesn%u2019t stop with healing broken hearts though and is on her way to achieving another amazing milestone that will assist her in continuing to help people - her Ph.D. She currently has an MA in Depth Psychology with an emphasis in Community, Liberation and Ecopsychology. Troy recently switched her field of expertise and will now be earning her doctorates degree in Jungian Analysis with and emphasis on Archetypal Studies. She tells Fitness MOST, %u201cMy intention is to work with individuals and communities that are imprisoned by their own personal demons. By using elements of the natural world such as medicine walks (walks through nature in which you allow the earth to communicate with you by way of symbols) and grounding (prolonged physical skin contact with earth elements), I am committed to empowering and inspiring.%u201d Thus, she stays true to her brand always and persists in finding new ways to so.With all this hard work, Troy still manages to take care of her health through hiking, yoga, Pilates, and conscious %u2013 eating and not putting anything into her body she does not respect, such as sugar or hard alcohol. She tells us, %u201cI have tremendous respect for gorgeous, green vegetables and brightly colored fruit. I am not a vegetarian, but I eat very little meat. The other thing I do every day is I %u2018oil pull%u2019%u2026it entails placing one teaspoon of oil (I use coconut or olive oil) in your mouth and swishing it between your teeth for 15 minutes. This process extracts toxins and also leaves your teeth pearly white.%u201d Furthermore, she does Transcendental Meditations (TM) twice a day, 20 minutes each session, and says, %u201cWhen I want to be really happy I play with my two-year-old nephew, Theo. He just makes me so absolutely happy!%u201d Well we can all be happy that Troy takes care of herself so that she can carry on helping broken-hearted, lost people find their way back to the joys that life has to offer.