We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Shavona Whitehead a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Shavona , looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

The Journey of Dr. Von, The MORE Pusher, was birthed out of my own personal healing journey. I was the ordained preacher with a successful career, great accomplishments, awesome foundation and impeccable linage but struggling with my own personal identity. Life circumstances and experiences cause me to question my value and worth resulting in a struggle with esteem and identity.

During this time I had no one that could help me navigate this space. I suffered a long time trying to break free, just me and God. When God healed me and made me whole, allowing me to tap into the authentic me that He created me to be, I realized my purpose and destiny. I knew there were more women out here just like me, suffering in silence. These women were bound by the boxes of abandonment, failures, insecurities, disappointments and so much more. They needed help to break those boxes.

Thus, in 2021 the Break The Box Mentoring Cohort was birthed. However, it took 6 months for it to be launched because of the core of the success of transformation meant that I would have to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is scary and uncomfortable, but, oftentimes necessary. I had to become okay with sharing my brokenness and my personal journey of healing. I had to become one with my mantra, “My Journey Is Someone’s Freedom”!

As we launched, I realized my first published work entitled, I Am MORE Now Empowerment Journal. This journal is a companion to help you to endure seasons of stretching, trial, growth, turmoil, and even tragedy yet overcome it all with power and restoration. This journal became a teaching tool and a great resource for the cohort. It takes them step by step and they embrace their own personal journey at their own pace.

Little did I know, that this was actually the seed of something greater. The ultimate vision now called The MORE Experience. MORE stands for Motivated Overcomers being Restored and Empowered. God revealed to me that it was more than breaking the box, it was about tapping into their authenticity, walking in wholeness and fulfilling purpose. This required taking the women on their journey of MORE.

The MORE Experience includes The Break The Box 8-week Cohort, The Restore Your ROAR Experience, Manifesting MORE with Dr. Von and The THRIVE Chamber Encounter. We help women to unpack their total selves and heal in every area of their lives. I am fully committed to the holistic and spiritual healing of women who struggle with discovering their identities and help them embrace their MORE.

Today, we are proud to have graduated 4 cohorts with the 5th currently in session.

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 Dr. Shavona Whitehead, known as “The MORE Pusher”, a trailblazer in ministry and coaching. I am an International Preacher of The Word of God and a Global Empowerment and Transformation Speaker, A Certified Life and Confidence Coach. I am a 3x International Best Selling Author with 3 additional published works. I am also featured in magazine and news articles, on billboards in NYC time square and other locations. I am an Executive Producer and Host of Lunchtime Empowerment Talks with Dr. Von, aired on the Women Win Network and is accessible to over 100 million homes via Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

The MORE Brand is the housing of my empowerment coaching, ministry mentorship, confidence mentorship, community initiatives, and entrepreneurial pursuits. The MORE Brand includes platforms where women find a safe place to heal, transform and be empowered while learning the importance of community. While traveling the world teaching others about Christ, my mission and purpose is to teach and help women to turn their ashes into beauty, increasing their self-esteem, thus cultivating spiritual growth and becoming great women of wisdom and integrity. My passion and hearts desire is to help women to break the box of traumatic chaos and rediscovery their authentic selves and tap into their MORE.

This evolution and emerging is expressed in what we call The Butterfly Experience. This experience allows women to learn and appreciate each level of they journey, understanding that your perception determines your outcome. The creation, The cocoon, The development and The Emerging are all necessary for the Evolution of our authentic selves. This journey is personal.

Taking my place in Christ and in the world, I have been diligent in gaining my education. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science and my Master of Divinity. I hold a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Social & Environmental Justice. I am trained in Spiritual Chaplaincy and I am a certified life and Empowerment coach.

I am the published author of “I Am More Now Empowerment Journal”, and my most recent book “The Cutting that Made Me Whole”, as well as being a contributing author on many best-seller-acclaimed bodies of work. God has granted me the privilege to continuously soar above my pain and circumstances to continue to be more. In all of this I am grateful to have the support of my husband, four children, and many of those who have flourished under my leadership.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

October 2018 my life was flipped upside down with the sudden passing of my grandfather, the man that raised me. I served along side him in ministry for over 10 years and when he passed away, the same people that once embraced, supported and praised my anointing now said I wasn’t good enough to carry on his legacy. At the time of his passing I had just begun the process of writing my doctoral dissertation, the last part of my doctoral journey to obtain my degree. Now, I found myself shattered, broken and grieving.

With the help of angels God sent me in the heads of my doctoral cohort, I was able to successfully complete all requirements and obtained my doctorate in May of 2019. This was a great accomplishment but my celebration was clouded by the rejection I felt from those my grandfather served for over 50 years, those I served for over 10, the place where my foundation in God was formed. I knew the Word God had spoken over my life but waiting to see it manifest was becoming heavy. Under the WEIGHT of the WAITING season, my testimony proved the worth of Isaiah 40:31.

I endured hard times, and yet, God raised me up on the wings of an eagle, vaulted into the sky and protected by that very eagle’s creator. I ran hard and fast to complete the assignments set before me, and was granted the grace and mercy of a second wind, time and time again, so that I was able to run without becoming weary. I walked this path called life and taken every CUT that came with it, and yet, she is still standing in the light of God’s glory as he miraculously makes her whole. I never stopped moving forward. Every facet of life came with the pressure under which many would have given up. The in-depth version of this story has yet to be written, but wait on it – for the vision cannot tarry for but so long and one day soon, you will fully understand how this little giant took the mess that was handed to me and is creating masterpieces.

Through grief, agony, and even despair, I found a way to hold fast to what I knew and that is that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all the I could ever ask or think. I say it often – it had the POTENTIAL to kill her, but NOT the AUTHORITY. I had to learn to bask in knowing that it was not rejection, it was protection. There will be seasons in your life where you will feel rejected, trust me I know. This will also cause your mindset to believe that you have been delayed. In those moments, you must adjust your perspective. Realize and accept this: it was not rejection, it was God’s protection. The hard moments you will find in birthing and growing a business are refining moments that are preparing you for greater. They help you to release that which is not necessary while you naturally birth purpose and destiny. You cannot get stuck in the failures. Instead, allow each one to catapult you into your next move. That next move may be the move that shifts the trajectory of your business. It could be the move that changes your entire life. If you don’t align and shift your focus, you will miss your moment. And the last thing you should ever do is miss YOUR moment. Evolve, thrive, grow, and most importantly, LIVE!

We often find ourselves restrained to “embracing” the new when the reality is what we should be doing is simply “becoming” it. Success has long been tracked by accomplishment, but how much greater would our success be if we measured it by what went through in order to achieve it? I had to look at how much God brought me through to birth what He assigned to my hands. The MORE Brand is more than a brand, it’s a transformational experience birthed from a healing and transformational journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

BE Authentically YOU! Your audience does not want something made up, they want someone who they can connect to and one they can relate to.

When growing my audience, I had to give myself permission to be all that God created me to be. When you hinder the flow of your authenticity, you limit your ability to reach your full potential. I had to break the stronghold in the struggle of an identity gap which caused you to lose the value in you. I had to become comfortable with the place between where I was and where I knew I was going no matter how challenging, lonely, and uncomfortable. The more I learned me , the more I was able to embrace me and my voice. Through complicated circumstances, I came to love my truest and most treasured gift – me.

The more I was vulnerable and true with my audience, the stronger they became in their journey of healing and wholeness. The more they could see how I overcame, the more they were fueled to keep pushing because it could happen for them. No matter how much I accomplish, credentialing obtain, exposure I receive, I will remain humble and in a place of humility knowing the journey God has brought me thru.

The authentic YOU was created to soar.
The authentic YOU is confident and powerful.
The authentic YOU is meant to be a trailblazer.
The authentic YOU walks in self-love, confidence, worth and power.

I would encourage you, as you build your audience, You have been looking for the answer and you are it. God has given you everything you need. Now, what are you going to do with it? Release what He did not give you. It is time to go all in! You have allowed circumstances and situations to hold you hostage for far too long. For more years than can be counted, we have patterned ourselves after others. You can glean and learn but never covet. When you do not walk in your authenticity, you tell God that what He created was not good enough. You must know this – you are more than enough.

Your authenticity is your power!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shavonawhitehead.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdrvon
• Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/themoreexperience
• Linkedin: https:://www.LinkedIn.com/in/drshavonawhitehead
• Youtube: Dr. Shavona Whitehead

Image Credits
Aisha Butler Photography, Prodigal Designs, ST Photography and Rendered Photography