We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Becca Boston. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Becca below.
Becca, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents (and sisters) have always been my biggest advocates throughout my life. My dad has been the anchor of our family as he worked hard to provide for us and helped us create unforgettable memories as a family. He always loved and accepted me for being my tomboy self by cheering me on at all my sporting events and we nicknamed one another “train girl” and “train boy” as I had a love for trains as a child. My mom has been my rock and best friend in a wide variety of ways throughout my life. Both of my parents impacted me in many ways, but the biggest impact came from the moment in which I was diagnosed with a learning disability.
My family recognized early on that I may comprehend and learn differently. An example would be that I called my sister Emily, “Abby” and my Uncle Mike, “Kokka Nick”, because that’s what I heard. However, it was hard to tell if that was just me giving them nicknames as young child or if I was comprehending things differently. As time went on it became more noticeable that I faced certain challenges within learning. My parents continued to get creative to help me learn and advocated for what I needed in within the classroom. At a young age I was diagnosed with a learning disability, specifically dyslexia and an auditory processing. Although I was young, it was the conversation with my parents about my diagnosis that truly impacted me.
It was in the conversation that my parents let me know that I was diagnosed with dyslexia and an auditory processing disorder. However, they made it very clear that although I have learning disability that it didn’t disable me from learning. My parents helped me recognize that I had the ability to learn, but that I just learned differently. Which helped me see my diagnosis as a learning difference rather than a disability. They reminded me that although I may continue to face challenges that they would be alongside me to help teach me and advocate for me in any way that they could. It was also within this conversation that they let me know that there was so much more to me than this diagnosis and reminded me of all the other gifts that I brought into this world.
Now, I was diagnosed during a time when there wasn’t as much information about learning disabilities as we have today. I specifically remember my family discussing who we should tell as it was not the popular thing to talk about. My mom went above and beyond to educate herself on what it was like for a child to have dyslexia and ways in which she could support me. Matter of fact, when my mom went to my public elementary school to advocate for me, my mom actually had more information than the school did. She spent time communicating with my teachers and mentors, while also helping me study outside of the classroom.
There was one moment in the third grade in which my mom and I studied so hard for an upcoming test on Friday. Toward the end of the week, I knew the information and we felt confident that I was going to do well on the test. I took the test and when it came back the teacher had written in red ink “D- I thought you studied.” That was an eye opening moment for myself as well as my mom and dad. I spent one more year at my public elementary school before my parents and I made the decision to transfer me to a private school for kids with learning differences.
As our environment can impact the way in which we learn and grow, I truly believe that transitioning schools was one of the greatest decisions my parents made. I had attended my new school’s summer school program prior to starting full-time during the school year, which helped with the transition. Being in an environment where all my classmates had some sort of learning disability helped me recognize that I wasn’t alone. My teachers truly cared for all of their students and wanted to help strengthen our weaknesses. It was also at this school that I began to learn about my strengths, weaknesses, and what was needed within my individualized educational plan (IEP). As I graduated from the school in eighth grade, I continued onto the sister high school to receive the support I needed within the classroom. After many years in private school, I made the decision to transfer back to my public high school for my junior and senior year. I had personally made that decision as I knew that I had to become more comfortable in advocating for myself before heading off to college. I am so grateful that I made that decision as I faced challenges of not every teacher understanding dyslexia and the supports that I needed. Thankfully though, I had the support of my parents as well as my mentors to help me speak up for myself.
Throughout all of this time my mom got involved with the Pennsylvania Branch of International Dyslexia Association (PBIDA). This is where my mom was able to educate herself and also receive the support she needed as a parent. However, she also went on to work for the PBIDA. My mom ran the dyslexia simulations that put individuals in the shoes of dyslexic. Through that I was able to speak on the panel to share my experience of being dyslexic and my mom was able to share all the knowledge she gained through supporting me to impact other parents and teachers across a wide variety of different school districts. Knowing my mom and I took the challenges I faced and were able to help other people, it helped me recognize that a disability gives you the ability to speak up and make a further impact within this world.
My parents are still my best friends and I’m truly grateful for all of the unconditional love and support that my family provided me. I would not be half the person I am without my parents and my sisters. Today, I truly believe that my learning disability is my super power for all the important life lessons that it’s taught me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
It is my mission to help you recognize that your strength is giving your pain a voice and receiving the help you need while staying true to who you are, with my motto Stay Strong. Stay You.
Stay Strong. Stay You. started as my motto in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. It was during that time that I was rehabbing my life and unpacking the trauma that I was holding onto within my mental suitcase. However, I was also a full-time caregiver for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and continued to work as the world shut down. Through this all my mental health began to take a toll as my hours at work had increased, I had to cancel a two week vacation, had no family in state, lost the community of my gym, and was reprocessing the trauma of being involved in a domestic violence relationship that I had gone through years ago. There were moments in which I didn’t want to show up for the day, times in which I thought about relapsing within my recovery of self-harm and struggled with deep depression. As challenging as it all was, I had also made myself a commitment on January 1, 2020 that it was going to be the year that I created a greater version of myself no matter what challenge I faced. That being said, I knew I could allow the chaos of the world to control me or I could control my own environment.
I allowed the world to become my gym and invested into my own gym equipment as well as hired a good friend as my personal trainer. Continuing to work out and having the support of my friend at the time, helped my overall mental health and I continued to see results within my weight loss journey. As I was looking to take back control of my life after being in a domestic violence relationship and turn my pain into my power, I invested into a personal development course with Trent Shelton. It’s within that program that I made a mission statement to my life and started to create small changes in my routine. I also learned the importance of positive self-talk and how to change the narrative. Throughout time changing the narrative in one simple way, sparked my motto “Stay Strong. Stay You.”
Prior to the gym closing due to the pandemic I had been training with my personal trainer, Mike Freeman. We had been training together for a while and it wasn’t just his workouts that I missed when everything shut down. It was the way in which Freeman impacted me by the thought provoking questions he’d ask, the wisdom he had, and the way in which he could light up a room. Along with that Freeman always told me “keep being you, Becca.” Hearing those four words often became my reminder that I shouldn’t change who I was for anyone else. However when the gym closed, Freeman and I lost touch and I missed hearing him say “keep being you.” It got to a point where when I thought about that saying or heard it from someone else, that it triggered negative emotions of losing the community of our gym and all the other things I felt I had lost. Eventually that’s when it hit me that I could continue to allow it to trigger me or that I could change the narrative.
Throughout time I began to recognize that my strength wasn’t about how heavy I could lift, how hard I could take a hit or how much I could handle. I started seeing my own strength in my ability to show up for myself every day, in being vulnerable as I reached out for help in times of need, and by choosing to forgive myself and let go of the trauma I had experienced. Throughout time I began telling myself “stay strong” and in moments in which I felt weak, I reminded myself that my higher power is my strength. Eventually I added onto that with the “stay you”. That became my reminder that although I’m a continuous work in progress that I still shouldn’t allow anyone to change who I am and who I was becoming. Put it all together and my own personal motto became “Stay Strong. Stay You.”
It’s also during this time that I had hopped onto Tiktok and had started creating videos. My intention in creating videos on Tiktok was to never gain a large following as it was mainly an outlet for myself. Throughout time people began to relate with the content that I was sharing and I even had a few videos go viral. Before I knew it I was sharing my motto with the world and I had people reaching out to me letting me know how I was impacting their lives. My eyes began to open about the impact that I was making when I had multiple people state that my video had saved their life. It hit home for me as that was once me. There was a time in my life in which I thinking about throwing the towel into my life, but a video had came across my screen that I needed in that exact moment. In my eyes that was God handing me back the towel back reminding me that “Your Life Isn’t Over.” That’s when I decided that I’d keep showing up with a one person impact mentality.
As much as I may have impacted my followers, they also impacted me. By continuing to make content and share my voice, I began to gain the confidence within myself and sharing my voice. Not only that, but they gave me the encouragement to start a group chat and support one another with our lived experience. It was within a live that expressed a dream of wanting to be on one of my favorite podcasts one day, however those within the live encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and start my own podcast. Not fully knowing what I was doing or having the full confidence to take the next step, I still took the step forward and started the Stay Strong. Stay You. Podcast. Through the podcast, I received incredible feedback of how it was impacting their lives and even had people tell me that it was my podcast that helped them get into the personal development space. After seeing the work that my friend had put into herself, I knew her light needed to be seen by the world. As we had powerful long and in-depth conversations, I brought Monica Macias onto the Stay Strong. Stay You. podcast as my co-host. Bringing her on was a great decision as it became more fun and allowed for our listeners to hear two different perspectives on the topic in which we were talking about.
Within the Stay Strong. Stay You. community I have coached individuals a wide variety of ways. I helped people put down their addiction to self-harm and start their recovery journey by helping them create their own self-care toolkit. I’ve helped people understand the importance of protecting their inner peace by getting out into nature and setting boundaries within their life. I’ve encouraged everyone within the community to be aware of the way in which they talk to themselves, implement positive affirmations and create lifestyle changes. The trust that was built within the community by them knowing that this was not information that I got through a degree, but rather through my lived experience.
As Stay Strong. Stay You. was continuing to grow, I also continued to show up in two communities that are very important to me. The first community being Rare Breed Academy (RBA) with John Pruna. I have been with RBA since the start of it in 2021. Throughout the program we focused on mastering our mind, body and soul by creating lifestyle changes. It’s honestly hard to put into words the impact that RBA has made within my life because it’s a community that listens and moves different. I’ve seen individuals walk away from toxic relationships, put down addictions, start their fitness journey and take ownership of their life. We work together to hold one another accountable and provide each other with the tough love we needed to hear verse what we wanted to hear. We as a community understand that we aren’t in competition with one another, instead we are teammates cheering one another on in this game of life.
The second community is Embrace Your Ambition (EYA) with Ashlee Fay Branstteter and Marcus Black. I found EYA through Marcus as I had heard him on Trent Shelton’s podcasts and followed him on social media. What I didn’t know is that Marcus saw the light within me while I was on a live with Trent in 2020. I share that because he saw the light within me during a time in which I couldn’t even see it within myself. What continued to draw me towards Marcus was knowing that he was a former pastor and a current urban missionary. That was important to me as I was actively working on my building a stronger relationship with my higher power. It’s through Marcus that I got involved with EYA and was introduced to Ashlee. Now I’ll be honest, I didn’t like Ashlee in the beginning. However, it was not because of her. It was because I was still working through some of the insecurities and issues that I had with women. Despite all of that I continued to show up to support EYA as I truly believed in the mission. I’m so grateful that I did as Ashlee is now a trusted friend and coach within my life. EYA is a place of belonging where you can come as you are and be reminded that you are meant for more. The EYA conference in Denver of 2022 was one of the most impactful events that I’ve ever attended. It’s at that conference that I was baptized by Marcus, made connections and began taking further action as an entrepreneur.
As I launched my website and put out my first digital workbook, I also had a dream that I was at a speaking engagement with John Pruna. When I told him about this dream, he told me to grab the paint brush and create it. However, I was convinced that it was going to be an opportunity that was handed to us. As I applied over and over again for speaking engagements, I kept getting rejected. I knew hearing no was part of the process, but it eventually hit me that I could create and become the opportunity that I was looking for. Within that moment, I messaged Marcus and Ashlee to tell them that I felt called to put on my very first conference. While they both were extremely excited for me, I told them to call the medics as my anxiety was so high that I thought I was about to throw up. One small step at a time though and I started taking action with Monica by my side. Before we knew it Stay Strong. Stay You. was holding the Celebrating Purpose Conference.
The Celebrating Purpose Conference was held on February 25, 2023 in Houston, Texas. At the conference we helped individuals recognize that they are purpose and that it’s the placement within this world that they are looking to discover. While also helping them turn their pain into their power and celebrating themselves for the steps in which they take. John Pruna, Marcus Black, Ashlee Fay Branstetter, and Monica Macias were right alongside me as this dream turned into a reality. We also had Pastor J from I Belong Christian Family Church and David Sledge Jr. with The Love Project join us to speak. The impact that was made within that room left me speechless. I was surrounded with my parents, family friends and a room full of individuals who chose to invest into themselves to support me. However, the impact went further than that. I watched as members of the RBA community met their friends and John for the very first time in person. I watched as new connections and relationships were built. The Celebrating Purpose Conference was incredibly life-giving and I didn’t want it to end. However, I continued to ride on cloud nine as I heard how it impacted everyone with in the room the following days and saw the ways in which people took action within their life. That’s what it’s about for me as I truly want to see everyone around me to take action and win within this game of life!
At the conference, I got to announce two big things that I had been working behind the scenes. The first being that Stay Strong. Stay You. relaunched our merchandize through God’s Will Designs. The second being that Stay Strong. Stay You. now has a free app that is available on Apple and Google play stores and that this is where I will begin to communicate more with my community and also be able to offer my coaching courses. So I’m excited for the road and journey that is in front of me as well as the Stay Strong. Stay You. community!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Make-up or sexy outfits doesn’t define one’s beauty. – This came from continuously comparing myself to other women and changing who I was just to try to fit into society’s expectation of what beauty is. It’s something that I struggled with for years growing up and into my adulthood. More recently, I’ve had people tell that I won’t be seen or be successful if I don’t put on certain outfits or look a certain way. Today, I truly believe that beauty is defined by one’s heart and character.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The first piece of advice I’d give to someone looking to build their social media presence is to be yourself and post what you want to post. If following the trends is what you like and works best for you, then go for it. As someone who isn’t trendy and half of the time late to game anyways, I also want to let you know that you can become the trend to your own life. Remember that building a following takes time and isn’t an overnight result for most people. Be willing to start small and enjoy the journey!
The second piece of advice I’d give to someone is to live with the one person impact mentality and understand that the impact isn’t always seen through the numbers. When you focus on the one person that can be impacted by you, you begin to slowly reach more people. However, it’s also important to recognize that sometimes that one person that your impacting is yourself. Lastly, remember that the impact can’t always be measured by the views, likes, comments and shares. You never know who is watching and the way in which you could be impacting their life until they drop a message in your inbox. Remember that the numbers do not define your worth!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.beccaboston.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccaboston26/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becca.boston.1
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beccaboston6
Image Credits
Photo 1 (top left) : Becca Boston and Monica Macias Photo 2 (top right): Conference Speakers: Ashlee Fay Branstetter, John Pruna, Marcus Black, Becca Boston, Monica Macias, Pastor J and David Sledge Jr. Photo 3 (second left): Rare Breed Family at Celebrating Purpose Conference Photo 4 (second right): Becca Boston and Marcus Black Photo 5 (third left): Becca Boston and Jeanne Richard in conference shirts Photo 6 (third right): Becca Boston speaking at Celebrating Purpose Conference Photo 7 (fourth left): Monica Macias, Jeannette Cruz, Becca Boston and Cheryl Dodge Photo 8 (fourth right): Becca Boston with her parents, Betsy and Dan Boston.