We recently connected with Ahyoka Yeshua El and have shared our conversation below.

Ahyoka, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

This is a loaded question I could discuss for many days. The education system needs an overhaul from the way it’s structured to the curriculum. I have an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education, and an MBA, and I love teaching. However, I knew my senior year after doing student teaching that I did not want to go into a classroom to teach. The red tape, distractions, unrealistic expectations placed on the teachers, lack of resources, and subpar pay made me realize how devalued the profession truly is. As I was reflecting upon the question I thought what are the three main areas I would overhaul to help prepare our children for a more fulfilled life and career? They are the structure of the school day, the curriculum, and the teachers.

When the school system was first created it was meant to keep children occupied as long as possible so the parents could work in the factories longer hours to produce what the country needed and the structure has not changed ever since. In reality, they don’t need to be in school for 8 hours, which we know is preparing them to be an employee. When children are homeschooled they are in school for 2-3 hours -4 max studying because afterward, they are experiencing life enrichment activities. However, I also understand that not everyone has the luxury to be able to homeschool their children due to economic status, lack of resources, support, and skillset. Therefore, I would restructure the school day to make it a win-win for working parents and to cultivate a love of learning that enriches the lives of our children. Each day would start with something creative or innovative like stem, engineering, or art. I believe children should be taught to foster a love of learning and not just be educated. Learning is everywhere and in everything so as they engage in the community and real-life experiences, they are also learning because it is integrated. Why can’t school begin with a cooking class where science, math, and reading are incorporated? They can study various chefs and the culture of the dish that is being prepared. Then they would take the food and go feed the homeless or the elderly. Connect school to life, society, and culture. Have the students design, build, or actually go into the community to solve a problem. When you start off with creativity it opens up everything else and stimulates the brain.

Afterward, they would study the core subjects but not all day. I would leave room for the students to learn a new skill set or craft. I would bring back home economics for everyone regardless if they are on a college track or not. Expose the children to new enrichment areas like crypto, trading, mining, and product development. They would also have a lot less homework because it has been proven in other countries that it is not necessary for a child to succeed. They would only receive homework in an area that they are struggling in. This would also reduce the workload of the teacher to have to grade so much work. They are at school all day then they have to come home and do more work. When are they allowed to enjoy life? When do they spend time with their family unit talking, playing, and healing? They only have enough time to go to “work” I mean school, come home and work some more, eat dinner, and go to bed. We have robbed them of the opportunity to explore other interests and we are creating unhealthy lifestyle habits that they will carry into adulthood.

Next, I would change the curriculum to incorporate more subject areas that will prepare them for the real world. We all know that when students graduate from High School they are not ready for the working world. In most cases, they have not had an internship, especially in the inner city, and they don’t know money management or how to create money. They haven’t been taught how to sell their skills when competing in the marketplace and they surely haven’t been taught how to be innovators or entrepreneurs. Those students who were born to be innovators and disruptors are constantly taught to follow the rules or suffer the consequences. Questioning the teacher or authority is frowned upon. Thinking outside the box is not the common norm and yet we expect them to be leaders when they leave school and enter the real world. These qualities can be guided and shaped in a healthy way that isn’t disruptive or disrespectful. The curriculum should teach banking, entrepreneurship, and what’s leading the way in technology and digital currency. Also, we know students learn in different ways so they should engage in education in different ways. Why can’t one day out of the week all the lessons are taught using games? Why are the teachers forced to teach to the test and yet the students are only tested in one manner standardized testing? What if they had to create their own lesson plan around the subject matter and teach the class? Wouldn’t that showcase the mastery of their understanding of the subject matter?

Last but certainly not least is our teachers. They need a significant pay increase. I could never understand how doctors, lawyers, and engineers can be paid so much money yet they wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for a teacher, and their village exposing them to the possibilities in life. So why are teachers, who spend the majority of the time with our children shaping and molding them paid so little? Why does so much funding goes to prisons and yet our teachers are having to purchase supplies out of their own pockets? So many times children take the wrong path because of family life, circumstances, the environment, and because school is boring. If we catch the students early enough and find a way to engage them maybe, just maybe, there would be a decrease in the amount of youth in prison. Many turn to the streets because it is fast-paced and they are taking their creativity to generate revenue. Amazing skillset, wrong product and we need to nurture that talent but shift the focus to a different arena. How do we expect our children to succeed when the classroom has one teacher and 30 kazillion students all on different learning and emotional levels? I’m exhausted just thinking about it. There should be a lower student-to-teacher ratio on all grade levels and if that can’t be accomplished then two teachers in every classroom. These are some of the things I would change and a few of the main reasons why I pulled my children from school and decided to homeschool them myself after the great reset.

After the great reset, I started having panic attacks attempting to keep up with my two children and their school schedule. I saw how their eyesight decreased, how distracted they were, and how much of a mess I was as a mom of two young children with an infant and an entrepreneur. My husband and I had thought about homeschooling before but we weren’t ready. Well, I guess the Father had other plans. So that summer we decided they weren’t going back and I’m so grateful. Over the following two and a half years, we all went through a lot of deschooling and emotional healing. I never realized how disconnected I was from their learning and how much trust I had given the school system to raise and instill in my children morals and values. I was an involved parent in the school but I couldn’t tell you what they were learning just more so making sure their work was done. There was so much they had gone through that we never had the capacity to unpack until then. So we embarked upon a journey of rediscovering each other, healing, learning how they learn, and what excites them, developing a curriculum based on what we want them to learn, and cultivating a love of learning. Have we arrived – No. Are there good days and bad days – Yes. Have I wanted to quit and send them back – ABSOLUTELY!! However, when I think of the freedom, how closer we are, how I can be there for them as they grow and learn, how they don’t have to feel suffocated in such a restricted environment and deal with the fear of being shot or harmed in a place that is supposed to be safe, I’ll take my chances.

Ahyoka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name means one who brings happiness yet for the majority of my life I placed everyone else’s happiness above my own. Due to past childhood trauma that reproduced tainted seeds in my life, I never saw myself becoming a #BOSSMOM of three, a powerful wife to an amazing husband that I’ve been with for over 25 years, homeschooling my children, a speaker, a two-time International Best Selling Author, or the CEO of my own company, yet I am all of that and much more. In the beginning, I was more of the safety, pay me every two weeks type of woman. I loved the business but at that time in my life I was too afraid I would fail and I didn’t have enough self-worth or faith in my talents, gifts, skillset, or capabilities to bet on myself. However, over time and with some divine intervention that all changed.

I worked in my family marketing agency for 20 years in various positions and oversaw multi-million dollar campaigns here in the states and overseas. Eventually, after 20 years I left as I just wasn’t happy anymore and really wanted to do my purpose. I started as the gatekeeper and when I left I was the COO and at times CFO for our office in Atlanta and in South Africa. I had a burning desire to be more present for my children and to go after my vision of helping women but I didn’t know exactly how. That is when I came across Danita Scott who taught me how to create a course from scratch and where I learned I was gifted at monetizing people’s ideas. From there, it became more and more clear who I was called to serve – #BOSSMOMS. I remember it like yesterday. I woke up early to work on my course and everyone in the house woke up as well. My toddler was screaming and crying and so was I. Tears were streaming down my face as I questioned if I could do both. “What was I thinking I could do both? I can’t!! I just need to quit trying to do business and just focus on being a mom.” Then I heard that still quiet voice say, “You could do that but that means all those that I have called you to serve will never fully become and do what I need them to because you didn’t say yes.” I knew all too well the vast emotions I was feeling that were pulsating through my body as I stood there. I was overwhelmed, frustrated, tired, and paralyzed because the vision was so big and I didn’t know where to start. I was ready to quit and questioned if I could be successful because, in the past I started and stopped, started and stopped, again and again, due to life’s disruptions and experienced numerous failures. I ALMOST GAVE UP!

At that moment, I made up my mind that I would not quit and I would help 1,000 or more creative and visionary #BOSSMOMS of faith to go after what they want without sacrificing what they love the most. That day #BOSSMOM University was born where I help the women I serve flourish by empowering and equipping them to gain clarity for their vision, develop a strategy for monetization, grind differently to maximize their time, impact & profits, and create a roadmap to streamline their success in 30 minutes or less.

I am Ahyoka, and I am affectionately known as the B.O.S.S. Cultivator and Streamline Success Strategist. My company, Streamline Success International, is a training, strategy, and consulting company. Through the company’s three brands – Janna B. Speaks, #BOSSMOM University and Streamline Success Strategies – we empower and equip #BOSSMOMS of faith to go after their dreams without sacrificing what they love the most – their family, their time, or themselves. The company offers many services to help our clients reach their goals, including speaking services, digital and physical products, online courses, coaching, live events, strategy sessions, and mentorship.

With an MBA and over 20 years of experience in client service, leadership, branding, messaging, training, team development, project management, logistics, budgets, finance, operations, and execution, I have helped national and international brands, small businesses, and entrepreneurs in various industries accelerate their goals, increase their profits and streamline their success. As a certified PCS (Professional Captivator Speaker), I speak with passion, inspiration, insight, clarity, and strategy that reaches deep within and cultivates a shift in my audience. My genuine passion, drive to see people succeed, dynamic personality, and humor, infused with personal experiences, awakens a limitless ambition in the lives of those who listen.

I love serving and am known for my philanthropic work, amazing work ethic, winning personality, passion, unwavering optimism, and dedication to getting the job done. On numerous stages including Black CEO’s Iconic Conference, Lisa Nicole Cloud W.E.N. Conference, Goodwill Commencement, Natural Profits sponsored by Shea Moisture, Lucinda Cross Secure The Bag Workshop, and virtual summits, I have spoken about business/entrepreneurship, faith, branding, leadership, and self-worth. I was also featured in various articles like the Voyage ATL, appeared on numerous podcasts including CTR Media Networks, and interviewed on different radio stations such as Girl Power Hour radio with Jae Nash of V103. Formerly I hosted my own radio show “B.O.S.S.™ Talk with Janna B.” and was a weekly contributor to The Atlanta Voice Newspaper under my column Naked and Unashamed.

Even with my accomplishments over the years with my brands and helping #BOSSMOMS flourish, I am extremely proud that as a mother I was able to show my children what it means to not quit. They have seen firsthand the good, bad, and ugly of entrepreneurship and what I have sacrificed. They saw me transition from chasing business, money, and success to chasing my tribe, a deeper relationship with Yahweh, joy, happiness, peace, healing, and self-love on my own terms. It brought me joy when my children cheered for me when I became an International Best Selling Author in 2021 with the release of the anthology Image in the Mirror. Then on 2/7/2022, they witnessed the birthing of my newest book, Flourish: Replanting Seeds of Purpose. This book helps women battling childhood sexual trauma to uproot the negative seeds to heal and replant seeds of purpose to flourish in their marriage, motherhood, business and their walk with the Father.

I want all the #BOSSMOMS and future #BOSSMOMS reading this article to know that you don’t have to choose between your calling and your home. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other, you just have to grind differently. As the founder of #BOSSMOM University, I am committed to serving my driven #BOSSMOMS of faith with the tools and strategies they need to go after what they want without sacrificing what they love the most – their family, their time, or themselves. You are needed, you are necessary and I am here to support you on your journey. Welcome, Home.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ll never forget when I was told by the Most High to put my business down after I just launched #B.O.S.S.MOM University and had major plans on Clubhouse. I loved business as it was air for me so I couldn’t fathom not working and doing what I loved. At first, I was reluctant, but once I put the business down, He revealed how broken my marriage, children, and I were. I was so busy chasing business and “success” I forgot what was most important – my tribe. For the entire year of 2021, I didn’t do any business and I took the time to heal and truly know Him on another level as well as myself. What I didn’t know is the process I was going through was creating the content for the book I was releasing. Before shutting everything down, I was struggling with what to write and it wasn’t coming together. Now I know it’s because I had not lived the story yet and it was still being written. I had to go through the process to produce the story and the strategies to help others heal. This divine disruption allowed me to reset and understand who Ahyoka was and the value I bring. This gave me the clarity I needed to understand how I wanted to do life and business that brought me joy and peace; who I wanted to serve; what I wanted to focus on and where to begin.

During my disruption, I learned quite a few lessons such as:

1. True fulfillment is not attached to a price tag but is measured in joy, peace, and happiness.
2. Your family is more important than chasing success. What’s the point if you lose them in the process?
3. I am more than titles and my voice matters.
4. Understand your worth cause not everyone will and that’s ok.
5. Sometimes a “setback” is really a divine step back for realignment.
6. Success is sometimes slow. Make peace with your journey because you will arrive once you are ready. So in the meantime, prepare for the promise.

Any advice for managing a team?

So much goes into managing a team, however, over the years I have come to discover what creates a great team and maintains high morale is Servant Leadership. When you care about those who work with you beyond the business you foster a community of love and value. They feel seen and heard, that their voice matters and that is important. They understand that you genuinely care about them, their success, and well being. I always said if you take care of your employees, they will take care of you and I saw it firsthand over and over again. They felt ownership in the company and they knew what they did and contributed mattered to the vision, the customers, the bottom line, and their overall success as well. I wanted to create an environment where you felt like family because that is extremely important to me.

I had to learn that even though I was over the team, others had ideas and strategies that could benefit the overall project or company. I had to learn how to listen to what they said and implement what made sense. I had to learn to check my ego. I also learned that there is a balance between putting the needs of the employees first and making tough decisions that impact the growth of the company. You must have both. However, creating a culture that emphasizes the importance of transparent leadership and values allowed the employees to better accept the changes easier. Last but not least, I learned the art of client service and everyone is my client. With this mindset, I needed to serve the employees so they in turn can serve the customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iamahyoka.com
• Instagram: @jannabspeaks @bossmomuniv
• Facebook: Jannabspeaks
• Youtube: B.O.S.S. U.P. with Ahyoka
• Other: info@iamahyoka.com

Image Credits
Remo Just AB