We were lucky to catch up with Kimberly Dabney recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kimberly, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
To me, success isn’t about accolades, money, or how many people know your name, it’s about alignment. True success comes when you’re walking in what God ordained for you, not what the world told you to chase. It takes faith, discipline, healing, and obedience. You can be talented and gifted, but if you’re broken on the inside, that wound will bleed into everything you touch. Success requires inner wholeness, the kind that only comes from God.
For me, it took being stripped of everything that once made me feel “secure” to realize that success is built on surrender. It’s saying, “God, even if it hurts, I trust Your hand.” That kind of faith changes everything. It’s what gives you the strength to rebuild, reinvent, and rise even when you’ve been betrayed, broken, or overlooked.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kimberly Vonshay, but many people know me as Coach Kimmy. I am an educator, certified life coach, speaker, author, holistic wellness advocate, and beauty professional. Everything I do, whether it’s behind the chair, behind the mic, or on stage, is rooted in one mission: to help women heal, rise, and walk boldly in their God given identity.
My journey began in the beauty industry, where I established myself as a hair artist and color chemist. I am known in the hair world as “Kimberly Vonshay” amd Kimmy The Khemist” I built my career around enhancing natural beauty and teaching women to embrace self confidence from the inside out. Over the years, I mastered the science of color and healthy hair care, becoming known for creating transformational looks that not only changed how my clients looked but how they felt about themselves. I believe beauty is healing. When a woman feels beautiful, she begins to remember her worth.
As I grew in my career, I realized that many of the women sitting in my chair were not just coming for a hairstyle, they were coming for healing. They’d share their stories, pain, and silent battles, and that inspired me to expand my purpose beyond beauty. I acquired my Masters of Arts Degree in Psychology from Houston Baptist University. I am currently practicing as a certified life coach and trauma informed faith based mentor, guiding women through emotional recovery, self discovery, and spiritual empowerment. My coaching programs and digital series, like Becoming HER: The Chosen One and Elevate & Levitate, help women break unhealthy cycles, rebuild confidence, and step into purpose with power.
HER is not just a name, it’s a declaration. Being HER is about being a God fearing woman who is healed. empowered. resilient. Even in the face of betrayal, lies, and heartbreak, she’s not broken, she’s rising higher, walking in purpose, and shining brighter than ever. The pain we face in life is not our prison; it is our launchpad. Every setback, every trial, every betrayal only proves our strength, faith, and unstoppable spirit. I encourage and empower the community of women I coach, help and serve to step into their power while owning their story to Become HER, the woman God created and ordained them to be.
I’m also the founder of the PopOut Queen brand, which was birthed from one of the darkest seasons of my life. After surviving deep emotional betrayal, financial hardship, and a stroke, God spoke to me clearly and said, “Get up Queen. You can’t stay here. Rise up.” From that moment, my mission became to help others do the same, to “pop out” of brokenness, hurt, pain, trauma, shame, and limitation, and walk into divine restoration.
As an author and speaker, I share my personal journey of overcoming trauma and transforming pain into power. My writings, including healing devotionals like Becoming HER: Healing From the Hard Place and upcoming books like Broken But Not Destroyed, focus on the intersection of faith, mental health, and healing. I integrate Scripture, neuroscience, and real-life application to show how God’s love can heal even the deepest wounds.
What sets me apart is that everything I teach, coach, and create comes from a place of lived experience and divine instruction. I don’t just talk about healing, I walked through it. I don’t just teach empowerment, I had to fight to find my own voice again.
I’m most proud of the lives transformed through my story, the women who tell me they started healing because they saw me refuse to give up. Whether I’m helping someone recover their confidence through a beauty transformation, guiding them through emotional restoration, or inspiring them through my speaking engagements and digital content, my message remains the same: You can be broken, but you’re not destroyed. There’s life, purpose, and power waiting on the other side of your pain.
At the heart of everything I do is faith, healing, and authenticity. My brand is not just about transformation, it’s about wholeness. I want every person who encounters my work to know that you don’t have to look like what you’ve been through, you can rise, rebuild, and glow again, inside and out.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Absolutely. My life has been a living testimony of resilience and God’s grace. There was a season where everything that could fall apart did my health, my finances, and even my sense of stability. I suffered a stroke that shook my entire world. In the middle of trying to recover physically, I was also battling emotional betrayal, financial hardship, and eventually losing my job. It felt like every area of my life was under attack at the same time.
I remember lying in bed, weak and overwhelmed, wondering how I was supposed to rebuild when I barely had the strength to get up. But that’s where God met me, in that broken place. I heard Him say, “You can’t stay here. Rise up.” It wasn’t an instant miracle; it was a process of surrender and rebuilding one step at a time. I had to relearn not just how to move physically but how to move spiritually, how to trust again, how to dream again, and how to show up for myself even when I felt unseen.
That season taught me that resilience isn’t about pretending to be strong; it’s about showing up even when you’re scared or scarred. It’s about choosing faith when everything around you screams fear. I started journaling my healing process, speaking affirmations over myself, and creating what I needed, a roadmap for emotional and spiritual recovery. That’s how my healing brand and coaching work were born.
I turned my pain into purpose. What once tried to destroy me became the foundation of the work I do today helping women heal, rebuild, and rise through their own hard places. My stroke didn’t end my life; it redirected it. Losing my job didn’t break me; it pushed me into alignment with my calling. Every setback was a setup for something greater.
During that season of job loss, what made it even harder wasn’t just the financial struggle, it was the way people mocked and ridiculed me. Some who once celebrated me started whispering, questioning my worth and wondering how someone so “strong” could fall so low. They didn’t see the silent battles I was fighting or the faith it took just to get out of bed. I was misunderstood, judged, and even laughed at by people who thought my downfall was permanent. But what they didn’t know was that God was rebuilding me privately while they were gossiping publicly. That experience taught me to stop seeking validation from people and to anchor myself in God’s approval alone. The same ones who mocked me had to watch me rise again, stronger, wiser, and covered in the kind of grace that can’t be faked
Resilience to me is not about bouncing back to who you were, it’s about becoming who God intended you to be after the storm. I’m living proof that even when life hits you hard, God can breathe new purpose into your pain and make you stronger, wiser, and more anointed than you were before.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
What truly helped me build my reputation was my authenticity, consistency, and the way I connect with people on a real, human level. I didn’t build my brand by trying to be perfect. I built it by being transparent about my process. Whether I’m coaching, speaking, teaching, writing, or creating beauty transformations behind the chair, people can feel that my work comes from a place of truth, healing, and divine purpose.
I believe my reputation grew because I don’t just provide a service, I create an experience. When I do hair, I’m ministering confidence. When I coach, I’m teaching emotional and spiritual renewal. When I speak or write, I’m helping people see that their pain has purpose. I bridge beauty, wellness, and faith in a way that speaks to the whole person; mind, body, and spirit.
My consistency in showing up even when life was hard also played a big part. People watched me go through public storms and still rise with grace, excellence, and integrity. They saw me live what I teach: that healing is possible, restoration is real, and God can use every broken piece of your story for His glory. That credibility, that alignment between my message and my lifestyle, is what built trust and loyalty with my audience.
At the end of the day, my reputation was built on service, sincerity, and Spirit. I care deeply about the people I reach, and I think that’s what makes the difference. I don’t just want people to look good or feel inspired for a moment; I want them to be transformed from the inside
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.KimberlyVonshay.com
- Instagram: Kimmy The Khemist
- Facebook: Kimberly Vonshay
- Other: Podcast: Behind The Mind With Kimberly Vonshay
Podcast Platforms: Apple, Google, Spotify, YouTube and all major podcasting platforms.
Image Credits
Luv Angela Maria Studios