We recently connected with JenDina Bowers and have shared our conversation below.

JenDina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

The legacy I hope to build is similar to a plant that turned into a forest. I would have said rose from the concrete, but even something as beautiful as a rose has thorns around it, guarding it from the hurt it has experienced.

I see the hurt in peoples eyes and the stories they carry as they walk trying to do everything almost perfect. This world has not been nice but it still is a beautiful world, if we just take back the control we let it have over us.

That’s what I choose every day and that’s what I want people who interact with me to feel empowered to do as well. It’s not about being selfish, it really is about community at the end of it all. But we cannot, and will not, be of any use to other people if we aren’t comfortable and honest with ourselves.

I somehow have been given that “gift of gab” but I truly am introverted and prefer to text or email over physical conversation but I know, that’s not how I’m going to make the impact I need to make. Which is why I call this a gift because it’s truly not my doing.

I’ve been able to engage and empath with people from so many different walks of life, even if we don’t speak (due to a language or physical ability). You know what they all want? Kindness, even if its not directed towards them personally, they all just want the hurting to stop.

As I started leaving the nest, I felt feelings of insecurity, jealousy, distrust, and even hate. I can say I probably reacted to these feelings by dishing out some pain to others as well. My mom always said the tongue is a double edge sword and mine was sharp. But I also saw how that dishing out came back to me and made me feel less safe and secure; pretty much hating myself even more.

After my first child, I choose a different path. I didn’t want my daughter around the negativity and hurt, I didn’t grow up that way, so why should she? I began to forgive and in turn it helped me love myself more, I seen the act of giving, support, love, and kindness, came back to me three folds! I made fruitful decisions, had trusting relationships, and loved what I did!

Today, I have taken the responsibility of sharing my experience to cultivate spaces of nourishment.

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 began this journey as a social worker working in the community serving people in different stages of their lives; mentally deteriorated, abused, homeless, incarcerated, academically disadvantaged, etc.

One thing I found common to everything was that the circumstances that were happening to them resulted from systemic oppression. Try it! Ask someone all the questions about what’s

happened to them, I guarantee you it will lead you to a systemic issue.

I have also been a proponent of serving everyone, so my manager at the time told me about this Multi- Cultural committee I should join, he knew I have done cross-cultural research in parenting in social psychology and thought my gifts would be well spent there. I joined, I served and like many committees; you come talk and leave. I wasn’t getting the gist…

A couple years went by, I’m still part of the committee, then we start talking about worldwide issues and solutions to help dismantle barriers to the systemic oppression. I started to get serious, I started talking and seen a shift in people’s mindsets. After I was promoted to Organisational Development Manager (we worked on the wellness of the workplace), I was elected to chair the committee and steer these workplace solutions.

I worked on a series of projects that would cultivate an equitable space for people and make a difference in the outcomes of disparity we were seeing. I had no clue where we were going, what was going to be the result but we knew why we were here and hope led the way.

Later on in my journey, I had several whispers and inclines to tell me about the name Sky Infiniti and it would be a company for everyone, serving everyone. I teased it out in nightly business classes and during the weekend. I started to talk to people who have chased their dreams and I knew I had to make a hard decision. Do I stay content with the one thing I have ever known or do I dare chase after something that will make me uncomfortable and hold me responsible? I was a leader, so I took the dare.

Today, I own my company Sky Infiniti, where we help workplaces build and restore to overcome the burdens of burnout, turnover, misalignment, and toxic leadership. We approach this work from the lens of common ground versus expert to novice teaching. We don’t try to fix, we try to build and in order to build we have to heal, so we restore.

My background has taken me from customer service and social work for individuals to customer service and social work and care for entire organizations. And planting the seeds to equip others to do the same.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I’ve learned not to drink the water, it’s toxic!

Growing up, I have always felt fearless, confident, and determined and when I entered college the knowledge and empowerment to create just fueled my passions even more. When I got out of college and started my first job that fire of passion slowly started to dwindle down and it even went out. I had entered a world where creativity, confidence, and fearlessness were things I needed to avoid. For a while I kept my head down, did my work as I was told, and smiled when I didn’t feel like it. I said yes, to things that made me uncomfortable and did not speak up when things that were done to me, were wrong. I finally came to a space and saw I was only being used for XYZ and I left the company to work a “more prestigious and professional job” at the government. When I started working for the government the same thing started happening, but this time it was a little better because I had a community I could fall back on when things got rough, so I endured. I was still told, I needed to not speak up, don’t ask questions, and don’t try and stand out too much. I didn’t understand why I was being told to not bring my whole self to work, one place I spent the majority of my waking hours away from my family. I was easily likable and got along with everyone unless they were holding on to darkness for some reason. But I flourished in relationships and made people smile, so why not bring myself to work? As time went by I realized these were signals of toxic leadership and I refused to drink the water. I brought my whole self to work each and every day, especially once I saw how complying with toxic norms was negatively impacting my physical and mental health and my relationships at home. As I began to shine authentically, opportunities came pouring in. As they say, new levels, bring new devils. I was in rooms with major decision-makers and was gently coerced to isolate myself from my buddies who had been in my community for years and stick to the work. My shine was dimmed once again and seen as a threat! I was told not to do my job with the excellence or diligence I normally do because it intimidates others to do the bare minimum. I saw that doing the bare minimum may have made others more comfortable but it didn’t resolve the issues, I was hired to solve – Discovering the Root Causes to Systemic oppression and barriers. I later realized like so many of my colleagues, that my passion and life mission was being altered by toxic leadership norms, so I left to find a place that valued what I did. Thus, by staying true to myself and my personal mission and values, I started my own business that is now helping people in workplaces around the world. Now all I can say is, “Thanks!” to this one organization, that showed me how powerful I really am and how crucially essential the work I do is to our society.

Any advice for managing a team?

Take a good look at yourself before making an assumption about someone else.

As part of nature, we react to the environment and circumstances around us. When those circumstances are unhealthy, then we soak that in, when they are healthy, we soak that in as well. But which is most prominent in our world today? Negativity and unhealthiness, its literally in the air we breathe.

But what if you could create more efficient teams and boost morale and TRUST by nourishing yourself?

Not selfishness, or self-care, but self-aware. Being aware of what your body has gone through and what it needs to recover or heal is a way you can help other people. When you command an atmosphere of behaviors and beliefs, that is nourishing, it’s because you truly believe that’s what you need. Thus, in order to create spaces that will help nourish you, you must cultivate through nourishing yourself. You can’t control others’ nourishment but to help with your nourishment, you be the peace, the kindness, and the change you want to see.

We all say we treat others the way we want to be treated, but it’s really we treat others the way we treat ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.skyinfiniti.com/
• Instagram: @_skyinfiniti
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jendina-bowers

Image Credits

JenDina Sky Bowers, @skyInfiniti