While life comes with its challenges and is generally accepted to be unfair, it certainly poses more difficulties to some than others. It is usually not because of life itself, but the people who believe they can push others down to get up themselves. Fortunately, the world is rapidly realizing the importance of a more inclusive society because only then is a better and sustainable future possible. Dr. Antoinette Liles is an African American woman who has established herself as a role model for people aspiring for such a future.

She is the founder of a new state-of-the-art dental office located in Pearl, Mississippi. Thoughtfully named Mint Dental, “Where Art Meets Science.” She has also founded the mentorship/scholarship program aptly named Mintorship. It is a non-profit organization through which Dr. Liles is committed to seeing more black dentists produced from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) by providing them with shadowing and scholarships.

Antoinette is also a TV star who has appeared in Oprah Winfrey Network’s reality TV series Belle Collective. The show follows the lives of 5 businesswomen from Jackson, Mississippi, working together to redevelop their historic district. Antoinette is proud to be the only person in television history to build a dental office on a national platform.

Mint Dental is the official dentist of the Jackson State University football team, offering services to the entire squad of 107 players, coaches, and support staff. A TV star herself, Antoinette comes from humble beginnings and remains grounded. She excitedly shares how the realization that the Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and Oprah Winfrey know who she is makes her heart smile.

Raised in Michigan, Antoinette had a troublesome childhood. But despite the challenges, she stood out among her peers from a young age and realized her potential to break free from the shackles restricting her. She lived with her abusive mother until being rescued by her father, who then lost everything to his gambling girlfriend. Eventually, a young Antoinette had to move in with her paternal grandparents until completing high school.

She started College while still in high school through a dual enrollment program at a local Community College. Later, she received a Full Ride Presidential Scholarship at Jackson State University with over $25,000 in additional scholarships and grants and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. She was awarded the Gilman Scholarship to study Spanish abroad in Costa Rica in 2010. She completed her Doctorate in Dental Medicine at the age of 25 from the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry as a Hinman Scholar in Dental School.

Her outstanding academic career paved the way for her to succeed, and as a community leader, she now hopes to empower others. As an African American woman who made it big in the male-dominant field of dentistry, her life’s journey inspires many other young African Americans, especially women, to follow her example and refuse to stay stuck in confinements imposed upon them. Follow her space to know more ;

Instagram:  @lilesofsmiles

Facebook: @mintdentalms

YouTube:  @Mint Dental: Antoinette Liles DMD

Website: mintdentalms.com

Donate to MINTorship Scholarship: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8KQa9mpOKs