We recently connected with Dr. Cherlisa Jackson and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Cherlisa, appreciate you joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

That is a really great question actually. I was not great at standardized test scores though my GPA was excellent. On my ACT, I received an 18 out of 30 twice. On my GRE, I received an 800 out of 1600 3 separate times. I wasn’t interested in college, but my mother recommended attending anyway. I applied to one University and was admitted under academic probation because of my scores, even though I finished in the top 1/3 of my graduating class of 300+. Due to that decision, I wasn’t provided grants or scholarships and am staring at a mound of student debt. Once I started living with my first degree, I quickly learned there wasn’t much I could do with solely a BA in Psychology. But schools don’t tell you that.

I worked for a while, but $13/hr was the highest wage I could find with this degree. I looked around and decided to go back to school. In counseling classes for my Master’s degree, I already knew the first week I didn’t want to do counseling traditionally. When I graduated, I also didn’t know I needed an additional 3 years post-degree to be supervised under someone’s license before being able to be a Therapist. In my hometown, I tried for years asking places to hire me to practice under them, but the catch-22 is you need a license with most employers even to be able to practice counseling. It wasn’t until 4 years post-degree that I finally landed a job where I could begin work on my license. In 2017, I thought I was done; I tried to submit my paperwork but had a conflict with a supervisor’s documentation that required me to start over and get more hours. In 2018, I tried again, and there was another issue with the hours matching up, so I needed to gain more hours. In 2019, I started again and thought I was good and hit another conflict with another supervisor who was very unhelpful in turning in my hours in a timely way. For three years, I had been at the mercy of supervisors not holding up their end of the bargain, and this was now almost TEN YEARS post-Master’s Degree. Finally, in June 2020, I received my full license to practice. I started my own business and left working for anyone behind me!

Rewinding a bit, In 2012, I was in a toxic relationship and struggled to find employment with both degrees. We broke up at my request, and I decided to start a new chapter. In 2012 I decided to begin another degree in Public Health to help bridge the gap between what I wanted to do with my other degrees and what jobs wouldn’t hire me to strengthen or gain experience. I have a spotless record, so nothing has ever made sense. I graduated again in 2013 and obtained 3 degrees at this point, but still working for no more than $15/hour anywhere. It was so defeating and deflated my sense of self-worth. In 2014, I moved to Atlanta to make the degrees work in a new city. I entered back into the same toxic relationship, but things were violent this time, and he wouldn’t stop, so in 2015 it was completely done. I haven’t spoken to him since the day I left, even though he’s reached out. So here I am. In a new city, I felt worthless a year after uprooting my life, with barely any money and a bunch of degrees. I didn’t want to give up on myself, so I continued to push forward with my Counseling license. *Now, insert Counseling story here*

I built a mid-700 credit score from struggling in poverty with several degrees. I watched all my friends complain about making 50k+ annually when I made less than 20k a year for SEVERAL years. Not too long ago, in fact. I budgeted. I became financially disciplined. I planned. I organized. I was denied many opportunities from being overqualified, underpaid, and inexperienced but never given a chance. I rooted all that into creating my Private Practice and decided to bet on myself. I started speaking through my pain and identifying ways to help others build from scratch and make better decisions by eliminating irrational thinking and structuring higher self-esteem. I’ve lost several people close to me in my small family, including my Dad, from cancer during the pandemic while I was also trying to graduate with my Doctorate; my fourth and final degree started in 2016 after leaving my last corporate job. But I did it! I made it! I finished in the Class of 2021 as Dr. Jackson. I’m proud. I feel that my dad’s proud. My mom says she’s proud of me every day and hasn’t stopped for 37 years. Many people are elevated because I decided to elevate myself and guide them. Encourage them. Showing them my mountain could be moved. Happy to be nominated to share this with anyone who needs to hear it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a Licensed Therapist and Sexual Health Educator, I strive to help others understand the connection between their esteem and their decision-making. I offer a blend of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, and The Health Belief Model. All of this combined help create the vision for understanding how self-esteem impacts relationships and sexual decisions. I have been featured in various outlets that can be found featured on my website.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I am currently unlearning anything and everything that was created from systemic trauma, microaggressions, and generational curses.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

That’s such a loaded question. I went from 300 followers one year to 3,000 all from building engagement. I would go to the pages I liked that would also have content aligned with what I posted and look in the comments section for people who enjoyed the content. I would review their pages, review their content, and then like and follow. If I gained a follower, I would engage and spotlight their work on my page. Over time, I continued to spotlight people and the works of others until I reached 9,000. I stopped the engagement once the pandemic started and my number suffered. This is how I knew the formula I had been doing was working. To remedy this, I am currently back in the rhythm that was working, and I am on my way to 10k.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.SheerLLC.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/SynclaireJames
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CherlisaJackson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherlisajackson
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7cDmSdhw51I3Nwny9bfB8Q

Image Credits
Dr. Cherlisa Jackson Antoinne Duane Jones