Laterras R. Whitfield Builds a Relationship Empire

In just five years,Laterras R. Whitfield-playwright, Emmy-nominated producer, host, and entrepreneur-has turned his Dear Future Wifey podcast into a brand that boasts 640,000 YouTube subscribers, consistently ranks in the top 10 relationship podcasts on iTunes, and has over 200,000 monthly listeners. Whitfield started the podcast five years ago, during the coronavirus pandemic, about five years after his divorce, and while he was figuring out his next steps in life and love.

“Divorce is the most painful thing I’ve ever been through for many reasons, as a Christian man. I was the one who filed for divorce. I was the one who was unfaithful in my relationship,and then decided,after years of therapy,that it would be best for me to end my marriage,” Whitfield told EBONY. “It’s like a death, and I felt it. I felt it the day the judge finalized it, and I walked out of there; I felt exposed; I felt naked. I felt uncovered, and I was like, “This doesn’t feel good.”

It was this vulnerability that Whitfield showed on his podcast-and that his guests brought out in him-that helped him grow so quickly. Some guests were controversial, such as Da’Naia Jackson, who went viral for her complex relationship with