We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Keyes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Elizabeth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I grew up around a community of strong women. I always had the opportunity to feel seen and supported. Little did I know that was not the same narrative for everyone. I noticed a need for positive role models for young women in my community. So I developed Girls in Grace. Girls in Grace is a cocoon for girls and young women (ages 4-24) to gather in the community to learn how to thrive in society as a woman.
We have 101 mentoring, providing help in the following areas: resume building, self-esteem, adulting, and more. Our main focus is community building, so offering our girls the opportunity to virtually connect through our events and socials. Honestly, after launching Girls in Grace, my aha moment was just hearing the response from my mentees. The vision is designed for them and just to know that they felt seen was the reward.
Today, my focus is to continue to build the brand. Our goal is to launch products like apparel, journals, and books. But honestly, I feel like we will succeed because we have a clear vision and a support group of mentors who believe in our mission. Our motto is “Spread your wings into a world of possibilities. If she can do it, so can I. Simply focusing on our local community with efforts to impact the entire world with our programs and services. I am so grateful for the process and I truly believe that the best is yet to come for Girls in Grace.
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
My name is Elizabeth Keyes. I came to Georgia to pursue my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design with a concentration in Graphic Design at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). All of my life I have been a part of community organizations such as Girls Scouts, Student Government Association (Class President), Ambassador for Sickle Cell Anemia, Daughters of American Revolution Good Citizen recipient, and many more. Essentially, I found myself in leadership roles all because I believe in the organization’s mission and just wanting to help advance the program. I guess you can say I have always been a contributor. Just seeing a need and wanting to contribute to a positive change in any way possible. Currently, in college, I contribute to campus involvement through the admission office and student activities. My focus is on building my design portfolio and developing the skills I need to be the best artist I can be. I have found the one thing that sets me apart from most college students is just my desire to start my future now. Starting the process of establishing my business before I have this grand studio or hundreds of clients. Just the beauty of getting started takes a process and I see within myself the ability to be a self-starter. I love working in teams and learning from others. Today, I have started an organization called Girls in Grace. Girls in Grace provides a positive community for young women in Mississippi and across the world. Our core goals are to help girls grow spiritually and to become whole through the mentorship program. Through our services, we have helped over a hundred girls succeed in life by providing positive role models and community. My goal is to see our organization grow online and reach girls across the globe. Serving our girls with 101 mentorship, events, and literacy. We want to solve the problem of low self-esteem and suicide rates among women. This goal sets us apart from other programs because we center our focus on building our mentees from the inside out. Our symbol is the butterfly emphasizing the beauty of spreading your own wings. The development process begins in the cocoon phase, just like a butterfly Girls in Grace wants to see our mentees blossom into the world. I am mostly proud to just see the evolution of the young women that connect with us. Just to see girls develop the wings that they need to start thriving in life is the rewarding part.
Have you ever had to pivot?
During the pandemic, I would say that was a season of learning how to pivot a lot of things. It felt like the entire world was on pause and like my life had stopped due to social distance. Although, through this transition, I learned that taking a break from my busy life was not a curse. It was a blessing in disguise because it showed me how to not associate happiness with busyness. My happiness is from my faith, family, and the impact that I am producing through my gifts. It is fulfilling to rest now and I am able to look at things with proper perspective and not burn myself out.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson that I had to unlearn was the concept of “I can start later.” The backstory behind this phrase is something that I used to repeat in my head due to fear of failure and mostly self-doubt. It was like I knew the beginning from the end and that I just needed to wait until I had more things in life to start my ideas. Little did I know that this phrase was rooted in just pure procrastinating on the ideas that God had given. As a natural planner, I want to be able to plan out all outcomes. But I have learned what was holding me back from just starting was the fear of faliure. Identifying all of my weaknesses and fears has helped me seek out help to support my journey and simply just try.
Now, I have learned a new lesson which is not procrastinating with my potential. On my Youtube channel, I share a video of me explaining why you can not hold back from taking small steps to reach your goals. Today, I am overcoming self-doubt and finding true joy from just starting the process so I can reach my full potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heygracegirl.com/
- Instagram: _e.keyes
- Facebook: NA
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/designerekeyes
- Twitter: @elizabeth_keyes
- Youtube: Elizabeth Keyes
- Yelp: NA
Image Credits
Ndia Brown, Event Photographer