We recently connected with Kenya Nyota Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Kenya Nyota, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

The mission of my business Kenya Nyota Lee LLC is to help women and specifically women of color achieve their personal and professional joy and success on their own terms by offering community, coaching and resources needed to navigate organizational and personal challenges and barriers. It is a personal passion of mine born from my doctoral research. My research brought together other women of color higher education professionals to talk about their own professional experiences through the lens of race and gender within their respective organizational culture. The challenges they experienced included: lack of equality and equity; lack of growth; lack of recognition; lack of advancement and development opportunities; institutionalized patriarchy and hierarchy; lack of alliances and collaboration; unresponsive leadership and systemic racism/marginalization. That said, within the research I created a group peer mentorship community for my research participants, as a means of support and professional development. My research highlighted the marginalization of women of color within organizations, and how community can ameliorate their professional challenges. The research participants reflected the importance of creating space for shared lived experiences and vulnerability; the power of uplifting and supporting peers; the power of voice and coalescing and sharing stories. As a higher education administrator, this research was close to my heart and catalyzed the creation of my business as a career and life strategist. Furthermore, I am currently piloting a coaching/networking community for women of color professionals that I hope to formerly launch in the months to come. While I offer one on one coaching services, I have witnessed the power of creating community for women of color first hand and that through sharing their experiences and challenges, they learn “it’s not just me” and in facilitating discussions, I help women to collectively strategize about solutions. I am often reminded of a line from the Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “For South African Women” which says, “we are the ones we have been waiting for.” Most organizations do not fully or sufficiently invest in professional development for women; nor do most organizations acknowledge the barriers their policies and practices create for women of color in their pursuit of career success and advancement. My business is focused on giving women of color professionals the community, space and resources to grow and define joy and success on their own terms.

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.

As a higher education administrator with over twenty years of experience, I have seen first hand the challenges of women of color professionals face. Even the most well-meaning organizations actually hamper the professional growth and advancement of women of color. The experiences of women of color are unique, because we experience and perceive the world around us through the lens of both race and gender. In fact we perceive and experience the world through so many identities. My multiple identities include: mother, daughter, sister, friend, dog mom, mentor, mentee, higher education administrator, career & life strategist, catalyst, path finder, problem solver, organizational culture anthropologist, researcher, writer, artist, photographer, Trekkie, Wonder Woman aficionado, bibliophile, first generation college student, New Yorker born and raised, and woman of color. My mission is to help women of color define joy and success on their own terms and that begins with bringing our whole selves to the table. All of your identities come to the table. The intersection of the personal and the professional and career success is most joyful when we are in spaces that recognize and celebrate our authenticity. We are most powerful when we can wholly be ourselves and we thrive in organizations that respect all of our identities. My brand seeks to celebrate women of color, to create a community of support for women or color and to empower them with strategies to navigate the challenges they face at the societal, institutional and personal level. And it is important to recognize that one woman’s definition of career joy and success can and will look different from another woman’s, because of the unique intersection of identities we embody.

I provide one on one coaching, group coaching, group peer mentorship experiences, masterminds, focused conversations, talks and panel discussions to provide immersive development experiences with colleagues who have a shared growth mindset. While I offer one on one coaching services. I refer to myself as a strategist, as I help women of color to identify their pain points, the personal and organizational barriers they face, to articulate a personal and professional of success and help facilitate the creation of incremental strategies to implement toward that larger vision.

I love seeing the women that I work with and mentor achieve success while protecting their peace. There have been some pretty public examples of women of color working beyond the point of exhaustion for their respective organizations, with no real return, that resulted in either death or deep depression. It is so important that women of color create boundaries that preserve their mental health and allow them to be just as dedicated to their personal commitments (family, health, travel, hobbies and passions) as they are to their respective organizations. I encourage the women that I work with to explore the intersection of the personal and the professional

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was ready to lay the foundation for my business, I decided to work with a business coach. This business coach had a very formulaic way of working with their clients, a very particular way in which they approached working with their clients. There was no room for deviating. Halfway through, I realized it was not a good match, particularly after they interloped between a vendor and myself. They had a pre-existing relationship with this vendor. I tried to explain to them that as a woman of color I felt disempowered by her actions, they brushed it off. I continued to work with them, ignoring my gut. I finished the foundation for my business creating the website and other business end items, but in the end, it did not feel like me. I hindsight, I realize I was still trying to figure out my voice and my brand. A year later, I redid the website and rebranded and it feels like me now. I don’t regret the journey to this point because I learned from that experience the importance of meeting your clients where they are and it was an experience that indeed laid the foundation, gave me something to react to and build upon. I am learning the importance of failures and grace as an entrepreneur.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

My business is in a very young stage, I am constantly rethinking approaches, experimenting to see what works with my target audience. There are days when I feel like a failure and want to give up, but then one of the women I work with will tell me how much they appreciate the work I am doing and that energizes me. I will say on the mornings that I need a cheerleader, someone to say “don’t give up, there is a path forward” I will listen to the Brendon Burchard’s podcast “Motivation”. He is high energy, provides strategies and encourages you to embrace failure. I also love the podcast “To Be Magnetic” in order to maintain focus on the intentions I am trying to manifest. The number one resource for an entrepreneur is capital, but the number two is mindset. Without the right mindset, I can’t stay focused on the long game.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kenyanyotalee.com
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kenyanyotalee

Image Credits
Priyanca Rao Photography