We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bianca Ash-Walker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bianca , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Since I was six years old I wanted to be lawyer and I thought that was the direction my life was headed, but after taking the LSAT (which is the entrance exam into law school) twice and missing it by narrow margins to get into the schools I desired I decided to take a step back and ask for clarity. I decided to start working and seek wise counsel for advice while I tried to figure out what was next. So in addition to praying and asking God myself I sought the wisdom of my long time mentor, my Pastor. I told him I was at a crossroad trying to determine what path to take next and asked if he would seek God for insight with me. Weeks passed and I felt like I wasn’t getting any closer to an answer. Finally one day out of the blue I received a text from my Pastor and all it said was mentor. At first I was a little frustrated because I was like what the heck does that mean. Later that night during my quiet time with God he began to download and show me exactly what mentor meant.
God gave me the idea, vision and mission for my nonprofit Beautiful Legacy Inc. I have always wanted to help girls and big the big sister for others that I desired for myself. i knew nothing about starting a nonprofit so for a little over 2 years I researched. I read every book and found anything I could on the internet relating to starting a nonprofit. I also reached out to a few people I knew that worked in the space to pick their brains. Finally in August 2012 I launched Beautiful Legacy. We held workshops, seminars and other events.
About 4 years or so into that process I had a parent ask me if her daughter could work with me one on one. I had never really thought about that I didn’t quite know what that meant. At this time I had began following various people online one of which was a life and business coach. Her and I had become internet friends and I could ask her anything so of course I inquired about options to work with this young lady one on one. She mentioned becoming a life coach, now i had heard about life coaches but didn’t really understand or know what at all it entailed. So I did some research, had a conversation with my attorney and continued to pick my internet friend’s brain. My friend had a training coming up for life coach certification at that time I could not afford to take her course so she recommended another course she had. I took it instead. A few years later I was able to take her certification course and became a certified life coach. In April 2019 I launch Bianca Renee Enterprises LLC which houses all of my coaching and speaking
This process has required me to dig deep. I have even go back to school not once but twice to get two Masters degrees. Now I will say I did not need either of those degrees however they have giving me additional tools and knowledge that YouTube and Google did not. I also had to block out naysayers and the feeling of giving up. At one point I went into full time entrepreneurship for the nonprofit but I ended up having to get a job. I am still working that job now and dedicating as much of my free time as I can. I say as much because I just got married 3 years ago and just had a baby a year ago so time is limited so priorities had to be adjusted.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a life coach and strategist for women and girls who desire to reset, heal, transform and reconnect with their authentic selves. I use inner/self work to help my clients go deep within themselves to heal old wounds, remove limiting beliefs, and create a blueprint for a life that they love. I got into coaching after mentoring girls for a really long time. After many years of coaching I had some of my parents as well as some of my girls that aged out ask to work with me one on one. I use multiple frameworks which I refer to as blueprints to help my clients work towards their dream life and healing. I also created a journal entitled The Reset Journal that helps my clients re-introduce themselves to themselves. It has 31 journal prompts that takes you through topics such as boundaries, non negotiables, identifying triggers and forgiving yourself. It really forces you to evaluate your mindset and determine if the way you’ve been thinking about things really works for you. Mindset, action, faith, and having a plan are key elements of my work and are intertwined in every course, program, digital product etc. that I create.
My programs, courses, products, and journal aren’t just things I created, they are based on situations and circumstances I experienced. I know what it feels like to wake up one day feeling like you are living someone else’s life. I also know what it is like to hold on to hurt, anger and pain that is keeping you stuck or allowing the words of another to play in your head as if they were your own. Everything I teach I teach from the heart because I was once my client whether it is the young girl trying to find her identity outside of her family or the grown woman trying to figure out why I keep repeating the same cycles. I know them because I was once them and I coach from that place.
I currently provide group, one on one, VIP days and mother-daughter coaching.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I went into coaching I originally only wanted to work with girls and young adult no one over 25. Then in one week I was approached by two young women over the age of 25 about becoming their coach. To be honest I was not interested grown women are tough. We think we know everything and even though we may be asking for help we still want to do it our way. So I was like I don’t know about this let me think on it. I felt like I was doing just fine working with girls I didn’t need to help grown women too. So I brought the idea to mu husband, one of my mentors and two friends who are more like sisters. ALL of them said the same thing “why not, you know you are more than capable if you just get out of your own head.” I was not happy that was not the answer I wanted and it confirmed what I felt God saying too and I wanted no parts. After a few months of fighting I was approached by another young lady. I seen so much of me in her. She came to me because I am an ordained minister at my church and she was seeking spiritual advice but the more we spoke I realized what she really desired was a mentor. She became my first unofficial client. After her the whirlwind started. It seemed like every other week another grown woman was reaching out.
So after a year of not trying to coach women I took on my first two over 25 clients. I had pivot because the way I had designed my coaching programs up to this point would not work for these clients so I had to make changes. The more that I talked to these women I realized that parts of their stories were parts of my story. So I created new frameworks and started using my own personal journey as the foundation for my coaching business. It was a difficult shift but it has truly been the most rewarding change I have made so far.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There are many lessons that I have had to unlearn but the two that stick out the most are No is a complete sentence and no one’s voice should be louder than your own. These two lessons kind of of go hand in hand for me. When I was young I used to say yes to everything people wanted me to do. I was bit of a people pleaser and did not like conflict or disappointing others. So I would say yes to things I really didn’t want to do and also allow other people’s opinions to be stronger or louder than my own. Instead of standing or speaking up for myself I would just go with the flow so I didn’t cause any issues. After years of people pleasing and shrinking myself I realized that saying yes to others wasn’t being fair to myself. I also realized it was ok to say No sometimes. I did not have to be at every church function, go everywhere my family wanted or do things that didn’t make me happy. I also did not have to explain myself once I said no that was it I did not owe anyone a reason as to why I said no. This definitely was not an easy process. It took boldness and consistency on my part and most importantly reframing my boundaries. Creating boundaries wasn’t about keeping others out it was about protecting what was important to me and teaching others how I desired to be treated.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebiancarenee.com
- Instagram: @thebiancarenee
- Facebook: TheBiancaReneeEnterprises
Image Credits
TamD Photography Jason Dennard