We recently connected with Aliya Kenyatta and have shared our conversation below.

Aliya , appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe being successful requires a healthy and authentic definition of success. For most of us, the definition of success was bestowed (I use that term very loosely) upon us by our parents/guardians. Unfortunately, it either tends to be a definition that the parents/guardians had for themselves, or it is defined by the type of success they wish they had acquired. Sometimes that works out well and is in alignment with our own personalities and goals, however, it tends to be more misaligned for most.
The definition of success is best developed over time and through observation. At first, it should be the parent/guardian observing their child’s unique personality, interests, and values. Then assisting the child in traveling the direction that could be best suited for those factors. Essentially, it’s helping them develop their own definition of success. For some, success is solely tied to financial standing, for others it’s tied to academic achievements, or social connections.
My personal definition of success is closely tied to wellness. I single out aspects of my life such as; physical health, mental/emotional health, spiritual health, financial health, social health and professional health. I create an understanding of what behaviors are associated with myself at 0% of each type of health and at 100%. I know I am successful when I am balancing my wellnesses. I never expect all of them to be a 100% all of the time, but my ability to check in and address my needs and wants is how I qualify myself as successful.
I know that feels like a tedious way to calculate success, but I believe that diversifying your idea of success helps alleviate burnout and creates a balanced concept of self worth. All your eggs don’t deserve to be in one basket.

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?

I am Aliya Kenyatta, and I help overwhelmed, yet motivated women revitalize their relationships, recover from burnout, and elevate their self esteem through collaborative therapy. I’ve known that I wanted to be a therapist because I love understanding people and assisting them in better understanding themselves. Specifically through relationships. I love all things relationships, which includes romantic, familial, workplace and friendships.
As I stepped further into adulthood, womanhood and motherhood. I started to become more and more overwhelmed and stressed out. I found myself taking on more than I could handle and my health/wellness suffered. I realized that I was trained in all these way to alleviate stress, but all of that was causing more of it! I began to intentionally work on reshaping the way I approached my life in all aspects. Instead of constantly trying to create structures, which is somewhat inevitable as a single parent, I make sure to create and then sit back and flow. Once I felt like I had a grasp on that, I wanted to make sure every woman understands how to do the same. This way of approaching life decreases adverse physical symptoms related to stress and creates more fulfillment in every day life.
In my stress filled structure creating era, I became a yoga instructor which gave me even more tools to help women regulate their nervous systems. I incorporate these techniques into my therapeutic treatments. I am proud of myself for creating my business in a way that continues to be in alignment with who I am, while simultaneously reducing my level of stress.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was 23 my fiancé and I became pregnant with identical twin girls. Unfortunately, he passed away when I was 3 months pregnant. I gave birth to them when I was 24. I had just been laid off by my job and felt super hopeless about my career. Luckily, I had fostered some relationships at my previous job that led to me finding employment when the twins were 6 months old. I landed a job as an Admin Assistant at a community college where I worked closely with other counselors. Despite not knowing how I was going to reach my goal of becoming a therapist/counselor, I still knew that I was going to get there at some point in my life.
Once again, I utilized my network to help lead me to a path that made sense for me. I had no idea my path would look the way it did, but it ultimately led me exactly where I needed to be, every single time. I strongly believe that “Rejection is Protection and Redirection”. There were several job opportunities that I applied and interviewed for during my journey that I was rejected from. I look back now and realize how different my path would have been had I received any of those job offers. From my perspective, pivoting requires faith and healthy relationships.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I know I sound redundant at this point! But what helped build my reputation is healthy relationships. Genuinely connecting with people and being myself in every encounter helps create an atmosphere that encourages others to be genuine and authentic, too. This includes relationships with friends and family, but also other connections with therapists, doctors, and business owners. My relationships with my former students and clients has also contributes to my reputation. That’s definitely an area that you can’t fake, haha. When you’re informed, authentic, and provide value, your market builds upon itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ivyrootscounseling.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliyakenyatta/
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/aliya-kenyatta-allentown-pa/824162