We recently connected with Vanity Jenkins and have shared our conversation below.
Vanity, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner? Tell us the backstory and so we have some context and can experience and learn the lesson in the same way you did.
The most important lesson I learned from my work experience before starting my own business was the importance of relationships and trust. In the nonprofit sector, people have to trust you for you to move work forward. Relationships are the key to unlocking the next stages to move the organization’s goals forward. I can say with pride that for anyone I managed during my time at nonprofits, I have a relationship with to this day. When I travel to a city they live in, they reach out to me, wanting to see me and catch up. On the flip side, for the people who have managed me in the past, I would not extend the same gesture. This is because, as a manager, I was never afraid to roll up my sleeves and do the real work alongside my team, thus enabling me to see people for who they were and where they wanted to go. I then coached them to reach those places, even if it meant they would leave the organization we both worked for. I learned the importance of elevating and guiding people to where they truly want to be and where they will feel fulfilled.
This lesson resonated with me as I started my consulting firm, because it holds true. In consulting, relationships are the foundation to progress; clients will not believe in your work unless they can trust you. They must be able to see your expertise in action to trust you to solve organizational problems.
Can you share the story of a time when you had to pivot (in business, career or life).
I had to pivot my business early in 2025 because I originally founded my organization as a DEI consulting firm. For context, at the end of 2024, I was in communication with three different organizations and felt very aligned with them going into winter break. I understand what was being asked of me in terms of what their organizations needed to accomplish in their DEI work; contracts will be signed once the organizations return from winter break. However, on January 6, 2025, all three organizations contacted me to say they were no longer pursuing DEI work, and the people I had been communicating with from these organizations were all let go from their positions. I thought I was off to a strong start in the new year, but I ended Q1 of 2025 with no revenue. For the rest of that year, I tried to figure out how I was going to pivot: how could I run a DEI consulting firm in a country with laws against DEI? I felt strongly about equity and DEI, but I felt stuck between what I believed and what would be profitable. As the year progressed, I recognized that pivoting did not mean I no longer believed in equity or DEI; it simply meant I had to rework how I said these things. I shifted my language to focus more on workplace culture and executive coaching, but when I meet with organizations, I still talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, race, and women’s leadership because these are all integral facets of workplace culture. Also, this experience led me to develop a free coaching session for women of color who have been laid off.
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 am a leader at heart. As the eldest sibling, my leadership began at age six, when my brother was born, and only grew from there. From my high school basketball team to the International Women’s Leadership in college, leadership has always pulled at the deepest part of me. Yet, when I led my first team at a non-profit, and someone told me I should be an entrepreneur because of the unique way I led, I did not think it was a fit for me at all. I thought I didn’t have the drive, the mindset to do something so courageous. Then, the COVID pandemic hit. After learning in 2020 that the nonprofit I was working for would be dissolving, I was ungracefully pushed to consider options I never had before. I began researching what it would take to start my own consulting firm and dove in headfirst. I started mostly with strategic planning and coaching, but have grown to servicing businesses with culture and equity audits, learning and development for teams and organizations, and hosting a fellowship three times a year for women of color.
One thing that sets me apart from others is my global outlook. As a child, I lived in five different states; this granted me the ability to understand how location affects the way racism manifests. I also have a very strategic mind. I always look for who is having the worst time at an organization, which allows me to get to the root cause quickly and create doable solutions. My coaching is also a unique feature of my work that goes hand-in-hand with any culture audit. Even if I draft the most equitable system, at the end of the day, people are what hold up systems. Therefore, if executives and managers are not receiving coaching and development alongside systemic changes, even the most equitable policy can be implemented unfairly. The coaching I provide to unpack unconscious biases is what prevents that from happening. Amongst all of these, however, I think the single most important thing that sets me apart is that I am a deep advocate for women and women of color specifically. I hold the utmost belief that we can, and have a duty to, create systems and policies for women to thrive.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I am happy to say that my side hustle did turn into a full-time business. When I first started in 2020, I never intended to go full-time with this work. As a single mom, I was hyperaware of the important stability that full-time traditional work brings, such as healthcare and a steady paycheck every two weeks. However, while I was using my business as a side hustle, I was working at a nonprofit that completely drained me physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was the worst working experience of my life and left me struggling with depression. After that organization shut down in 2023, I began looking for full-time traditional work again, but the sour taste in my mouth lingered. Every position looked unappealing. I realized that I couldn’t show up fully for myself or my daughter when working at an organization that demanded so much from me. So, I ultimately decided to bet on myself and pour my time and energy into my business.
Without the restraints of a full-time job, I was able to devote more time to pursuing new contracts and clients. I started with people I’ve worked with previously, and my outreach grew from there. I applied for grants, and in the summer of 2023, I was able to co-host an in-person retreat for alumnae of the virtual fellowship I co-founded over the previous years. In 2024, I was able to pay myself at a similar rate to my previous full-time job for the entire year, hire permanent contractors and people I’ve worked with in the past, and invest in professional development. I was also honored to speak at SXSW. In 2025, I was also a part of the 40 under 40 class of business owners in Columbia, SC. Now, I continue my growth by serving more clients and organizations.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The most important lesson I learned from my work experience before starting my own business was the importance of relationships and trust. In the nonprofit sector, people have to trust you for you to move work forward. Relationships are the key to unlocking the next stages to move the organization’s goals forward. I can say with pride that for anyone I managed during my time at nonprofits, I have a relationship with to this day. When I travel to a city they live in, they reach out to me, wanting to see me and catch up. On the flip side, for the people who have managed me in the past, I would not extend the same gesture. This is because, as a manager, I was never afraid to roll up my sleeves and do the real work alongside my team, thus enabling me to see people for who they were and where they wanted to go. I then coached them to reach those places, even if it meant they would leave the organization we both worked for. I learned the importance of elevating and guiding people to where they truly want to be and where they will feel fulfilled.
This lesson resonated with me as I started my consulting firm, because it holds. In consulting, relationships are the foundation to progress; clients will not believe in your work unless they can trust you. They must see your expertise in action to trust you to solve organizational problems.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shiftedconsulting.com
- Instagram: @shiftedconsulting
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094016089971
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanity-y-jenkins/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vanityjenkins3500
