We recently connected with Nikayla Benbow and have shared our conversation below.
Nikayla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Well the idea did not come from me, it was God. I’d just exited out of a very trying season in my life and felt like I had become Ground Zero to life and all that I had known. There was no familiarity anywhere. You know how people say they had their low moment, the bottom of the barrel? That’s where I was. I was questioning who I was, why I was here, does God really love me, is he even listening to me….It was in that moment, God then showed me a light and that light was called The Safe Place Movement! He showed me that he has been there the whole time, that there was more in me than I had seen, that he had a bigger platform to place me on, that he had to break and tear and shed everything that was no longer good to me or for me in order for me to move forward. This movement is to shine the light on other women and men that may have reached or is at that place. It is for the ones who don’t know what else to do. It is for the one who has been hurt by so many people that they are numb and cold. It is a place that they can run to ad experience God’s true love for them AND do it in a community of other REAL people, going through REAL things, and have REAL feelings….with NO JUDGEMENT! With The Safe Place Movement he was showing me that we are the example of the scripture Psalms 91:1-5. It reads, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.” God was calling for me to build a safe place so people could come back to him.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well my name is Nikayla A. Benbow, I am a 30 year old single Mother of a BEAUTIFUL son who is 11 years old. I work a full time job and also do full time ministry. I am a licensed Esthetician as well! For The Safe Place MVMT specifically we do not offer the normal services you are use to a business offering i.e. merchandise, products, etc. We do however offer guidance, prayer, a place of “dumping” to get your feelings out, the Word of God, we offer salvation to all who wants it, and a community of people just like them who too are doing life the best they can! I believe this non-profit organization is one that last for generation to generation! Growth can be for anyone, of any age, in any situation. The idea of getting broken people together, giving their broken pieces up, and God being the one to fix it and put it back together THROUGH us is just breath taking. I am proud of this vision God gave me! I have seen women and men be set free from being connected to this ministry! My grand mother Daisy Benbow, SHOUT-OUT TO MY FAVORITE, is apart of The Safe Place Movement and at the sweet age of 70+ she has been set free from religion, family trauma, and resentment. We have a wide range of generations in our organization! Millennials, Silent Generation, Generation X, and Generation Z!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
How I built my audience on social media was by learning consistency and discipline. Now I am STILL to this day learning how to do these things when life begins to life lol. However I have noticed that a little planning and accountability partners will keep you going! What I did was bought a dry erase chore chart from Walmart and titled it “Content Schedule” and for everyday I put down a task I need to do for The Safe Place MVMT. No matter what may happen I push myself to follow this schedule, no this past week I didn’t do it because I needed to rest! Which goes to my next advice moment, it is ok to PACE YOURSELF! You do not have to overwork yourself to get things done, when you do it THOUGH God! Some may say it doesn’t take all of that or it’s not practical but I can tell you where we have gone in soon to be two years in Feb. 2024 was only accomplished through God! He allowed me to see that I do not have to reassure myself so much about deadlines and content and the audience as much as I was doing. The audience will come, if you continue to apply yourself even it is only two likes or one comment. Sometimes it is not the quantity of what we do but it is the quality in which we do it. You show up and post no matter what! The right person will see it and that will be the very thing you need to take off! Keep going!!!!!
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Seeing them as not just a client or asset to the ministry but also as a connection to the mission of spreading God’s love around the world. Without each of them, the word would stop at me. When you begin too appreciate the person why reaching out and checking on them, practicing active listening and paying attention to small talk, building a likes and dislikes form so you can store it and then do “little things” for them just because. People want to feel wanted!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @safeplacemvmt – https://instagram.com/safeplacemvmt?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg==
- Facebook: The Safe Place MVMT – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088861894357&mibextid=9R9pXO
- Youtube: @justme_nikayla5329 – https://youtube.com/channel/UCf_NcJuoXGXWjdq1G4LqMhw
- Other: Safe Conversations w/ Nikayla Podcast links: Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2sc5pbOu4DAyWRPIx6dVqh Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/safe-conversations-podcast-with-nikayla/id1687703799 Google Podcast https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kZjUzYzYzOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw TikTok: @nikayla_be – www.tiktok.com/@nikayla_be