We were lucky to catch up with Takieyah Mathis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Takieyah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I started my business with no real 10 year plan envisioned lol I actually had the thought of starting a nonprofit just for community service purposes and like community hygiene, homelessness assistance and more. I always knew I wanted to give back in some way. I actually had my inspiration and motivation boosted once I got diagnosed with Psoriasis. My disease made me go through so many changes in life that I decided to create a foundation with different “umbrellas. Everything I do though is some sort of advocacy. Whether it’s for the community with chronic illnesses, domestic violence, PTSD and even mentorship. I decided to test my theory. I decided to host several types of awareness events and they were all quite successful for it to be first time curating events myself aside of just modeling and music. After these events I was very proud of the circulation that was forming around my awareness events. So, I decided to do research on how to start a nonprofit after attempting to find people to hire although I was quite broke lol After researching and trying to find a reasonably priced consultant, I decided to just do it myself. It helped me learn a lot more and saved me money. Once I got started, I got my paperwork, and everything established with my nonprofit quite quickly. I used money I was making from specialty foods to invest into my business. I never knew what just some research and $60 could do. To start the actual nonprofit, I had to come up with a name run it through a database, fill out forms, send them in and wait for it to all be accepted. Then once you do tha t you must file with the IRS. . Running a nonprofit is not easy at all when you are clearly are not making a profit, so you have to learn to network, find and learn to write grants, and market yourself all the time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started out as model ,actress , poet etc however I have been serving the community with advocacy since 2013 but strongly since 2017 . I started showing psoriasis awareness by bringing those with autoimmune diseases together and rejoicing in testimony and activities . I also dedicated my heart to those in group homes, the homeless , domestic violence survivors and parents who need resources . I have been an advocate for the National Psoriasis Foundation for several years now and have won a community awards with NPF as a honored hero as well as awards such as humanitarian in my town. My husband Damien Mathis and I (artist graduate of FSU , retired marine vet ) have given back in numerous ways to the community . we have produced sectors of art therapy , adopted parks to keep areas clean and built up gardens that allow others to be creative with nature in the community . In time of gaining my Criminal justice degree I became a court mediator on the journey of obtaining my criminal justice degree . My passion is loving to help others find resources . No matter I am going through from my autoimmune disease I still keep pushing and I love to advocate for those who want to chase their dreams as I got discouraged with my entertainer career I still want to push others to be whatever they want to be. It has been said that I have been more than influence on my community and other cities attended. I used some of my previous modeling, marketing and acting skills to eventually land myself into being a contracted spokesperson / advocate. I have a global advocacy getting ready to release as well speaking engagements continuously falling into my lap. I am very proud that I am not only an awarded and published advocate but a life changing one to many communities not just mine. I not only get to spread awareness but the result of this has really inspired people from all over the world to do many things when all I wanted to do was just help people use their voice. I now am able to assist those with being an advocate for them, I assist with confident boosting mentorship. I can help people start their own businesses and more. I just want people to be happy, peaceful, stand up for themselves and overall, NEVER GIVE UP on themselves.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

There have been numerous times where I have had to pivot with business and life. My first son was by my side for everything. my husband and do almost all of our events together so it’s always been just us balancing the baby’s hip to hip at events. There was a time I took on a lot lol I was trying to advocate, produce a fashion show , do school work , work , travel for my husband’s art events and even walk in shows lol Now I have to maintain being a good mom, good wife, be a student, do everything for my business even down to make my own flyers and I even took on small gigs to assist with money at home while I had my boys. I had to pivot to balance all of that. I cannot just do one thing. Time is an investment. There are times at my husband’s events out of town I am sitting and coloring with my kids and as they are occupied, I will work on a flyer, event plan or even do homework.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

During the year 2022 to 23 I dealt with a lot of losses. A lot of family and good friend passed. I started “chemotherapy “. I even lost a child myself. Through grief I just kept wanting to give up. I was in a very deep depression. I pushed myself so hard and eventually just overbooked myself to keep myself busy but then, I burned myself out so much that I even stopped cooking. So, there was one day I received a phone call, and they told me I would be this organizations ” honored hero” for the year. It was not until the day of me receiving an award about it that I realized I was “somebody’s hero” and that I am doing a good job. I did not know how much I needed that moment for myself after putting my all in to just being myself and being a server of my community!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @itchygoddess / @tslfnc
• Facebook: the standing light foundation

Image Credits
Rochelle Jackson