We recently connected with Glenice Glover and have shared our conversation below.

Glenice, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Working in a Federal Government job as a Senior Auditor for nearly 35 years, it was close to retirement time for me. At age 55, I began to ponder what I would do once I’d completed my government tenure. I literally prayed to God for an answer to the question what will I do with myself? I’m only 55 with tons of energy. I can’t just sit at home and do nothing for the second half of my life. What would you have me do? I heard the words “give back”. I got excited because I love serving and helping women and girls. I was contemplating starting a women’s ministry at our church where my husband pastors. This was the confirmation I needed to begin helping women with their struggles. I pondered my life and the struggles I had as a child and young adult. It was very vivid to me that the accomplishments and healing of my personal struggles can be used as a basis for helping women with their struggles. Surely there are women who have the same struggle that I had growing up, with low self-esteem. That’s it! I can share with them my struggle and how I overcame low self-esteem and came to a healthy place in my life. Now I needed a name. I prayed and asked for a name that was “catchy” and that people would remember and be intrigued with, but that spoke to the cause. The name acronym, “Bi-Wi”, came to me. Now what could this stand for? I called words starting with the acronym letters and before long the name Because I’m Worth It!” formed on my lips! BINGO! That’s it! Bi-Wi “Because I’m Worth It!” In 2011 we had our first meeting, in the form of a women’s conference, with more than 60 women present. We continued conducting annual conferences for the next three years, (2011 through 2014), growing exponentially each year, then, I was lead to incorporate Bi-Wi “Because I’m Worth It!” International, Inc. This was new to me, but I believed I needed to do it. I’d written a book “Girls, God’s Treasured Possessions” in 2014, earned my Doctorate of Ministry Degree in Pastoral Counseling in 2015 and wrote a corresponding workbook to my book, Girls! God’s Treasured Possessions. We began the incorporation in August 2015. It was truly an act of faith, but one I was sure God was leading me to pursue. I believe the purpose was to take the message beyond the four walls of the church, and allow it to benefit all women struggling in the area of low self-esteem, not just those within the church walls. The message of seeing oneself as God our creator sees us, not as others see us, is one that is necessary and foundational in building a healthy sense of self worth. I learned this the hard way, and was an adult before I worked through my own issues with low self-esteem. I figured if I could do it, I could also help others do the same. The younger our audience, the easier it will be to correct this growing and stifling problem. If we couldn’t reach but one girl and help her transform her life, it would be worth it. I knew the program would work on those willing to do the work, because I wrote the program to coincide with the process I used to build my own self-esteem to a healthy level.
I now needed a way to get the program into the hands of those girls who needed it. The program solves a world wide problem, that many overlook. We find that the many symptoms of self-esteem, (depression, bullying, cutting, suicide, withdrawn nature, anger, etc.) are addressed, but usually not the root cause to the problem.
How will I get this tool into the hands of those who need it most? Maybe the school system is the answer. In 2014, I called The Department of Education, in Tallahassee, FL to inquire of the process for getting a self-esteem building curriculum in the public schools in Florida. They informed me that I would need to first, get the program activated within local schools by connecting with some local school principals/counselors who were willing to accept the program. In 2014, our program was accepted in one elementary school in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The following year, we were accepted into two schools and we have continued to be accepted in both Broward and Palm Beach County Schools in years subsequent. We have mentored girls in affluent neighborhoods as well as inner-city girls. The issue is the same with those affected across cultures and socio-economic statuses. Low self-esteem is stifling and dangerous when it is left unchecked. The mentoring approach was introduced to us as a medium to get the message to our girls and to walk them through the processes of correcting a faulty way of thinking of themselves. This one-on-one and group approach helps us to reach multiple girls in any given year. The excitement in the girls’ demeanors and face is priceless when they learn their true worth.

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. Glenice Davis-Glover, D. Min., President/CEO of Bi-Wi “Because I’m Worth It!” International, Inc. Graduated from Bethune-Cookman University in 1980 with a B. A. degree in Accounting; earned Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling in 2011 from South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary; earned Doctorate Degree in Biblical Counseling from Andersonville Theological Seminary, Camillas, GA. I was raised in North Miami Beach, FL in a two parent household along with my five siblings. My first career choice was accounting. I worked successfully with the Internal Revenue Service for the first ten years of my career as a Revenue Agent, and worked with the U. S. Defense Department as a Senior Auditor for the remaining 24.5 years of my accounting career. I retired at age 55, in 2013. Upon retirement I went back to school and got my Doctorate Degree; wrote my first published book, “Girls! God’s Treasured Possessions; (Amazon) published the accompanying workbook, (Amazon), and began Bi-Wi International, Inc. I have a passion for helping women and girls who struggle in various areas of their life; specifically, I enjoy my current area of expertise, self-esteem building, because it is an area that I struggled with for many years and by God’s grace, have overcome. I am a hard worker and a very focused individual. I am disciplined and accomplish all that I set forth my hands to do. Mentoring girls and women is a passion. It is something that I wish I had growing up. My Mom was my mentor. She was a kindergarten teacher in my early years, and I remember seeing how passionate she was about teaching young children educational skills and discipline. I’ve now adopted the same passion and sense of care for those who I mentor. Through our mentoring program, we target the root cause of low self-esteem and we provide the tools needed to uproot the negative and replace it with a positive. The thing that sets our program apart from others in our industry is the fact that most mentors are “general”. They don’t specialize in any one particular issue; rather, they generally address many issues. We, on the other hand, actually address and offer tools for one specific area of need. I find it very exciting to see the metamorphosis that takes place in the girls we mentor. They usually come into our group sessions with hung down heads; speaking barely above a whisper; poor eye contact, and hardly smiling. The demeanor is slouched and their feet shuffle across the floor; but when by the time they come through our 10-24 week curriculum, they are smiling, speaking audibly, walking with a sense of pride, their heads are held high and they are ready to take on life with a new attitude. This, for me, is the reward worth my investment. I love what I do and am excited for each mentor session. The girls are sometimes a great challenge because they have come through so much tragedy and lack in their young lives; but the challenge is surely worth it once I see how they benefit from the teachings.

In addition to mentoring, I am also a singer, song writer, and professional guitarist. As a child, our family was a musical family. My Dad was a singer and guitarist. He taught each of his children to sing and most to play a musical instrument. I am guitarist, I have a sister who plays bass guitar, I have a brother who plays key boards, another sister who plays drums and we all sing! Our family group growing up was a gospel singing group called “The Little Shadows”. We were very well known throughout the state of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and the Bahamas. We recorded eight 45 records and one album as children. I continued the musical legacy of my childhood as I became an adult. I was the guitarist for the Bethune Cookman College Gospel Choir for the four years I attended (1976 through 1980) I recorded an album with the Gospel Choir. Subsequently, I hav recorded several projects with my husband of 35 years, and three solo projects which can be purchased through our website at https://www.becasueiamworthit.org

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In December of 1980, I graduated from Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, FL. I got married immediately to a guy I’d been dating, long distance, for two years. He was 6’1″ and weight 190 lbs, physically he was every girl’s dream. Little did I know he was an insecure, abusive individual. Over the next three months I’d become very sick from his physical abuse. I’d lost weight down to 105 lbs. I could not keep any food down, I had trouble sleeping, I cried everyday (depression) all in a short span of 3 months. Ninety days seemed like ninety years. Each physical beating would get worst and worst. Our last altercation was over a box of cereal. He slapped me and his finger nail left a long gash on the left side of my face. I was a professional and had to go to work with this long mark on my face. One co-worker noticed it and said “did the cat get ya?” I shrugged it off in embarrassment and went to my cubicle to begin work for the day. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I couldn’t take any more. This was the most devastating time of my life, to date. I was only 21 years young and what I thought would be the remainder of my life had now come to an end. I was so broken and hurt that I wanted to give up on life. I wanted to ‘sleep away’. I didn’t believe that there would be life for me after this. But God… Over the next seven years I purposed to find out why I had ended up in such a devastating place. I would pray and cry and study the word of God to find out what happened to me. The scriptures that I was lead to would read “I will make your name great”…”I will never leave you nor will I forsake you.” At the time this made no sense to me. I just wanted to feel better and to know what i could do to make myself get out of the slump I was in. As I prayed I felt I needed to work on myself because even though my former husband was responsible for his ill and abusive treatment, I had some responsibility in it as well. ii was my choice to accept him into my life. The question is why? Over the next seven years I gathered all of the information I could on low self-esteem and did the hard work to rebuild and get to a healthy place physically, spiritually, and emotionally. By God’s grace I did and in 1986 I met my current husband, Rev. Ronnie S. Glover, Sr. We married and birthed two beautiful sons, Todrick and Trevor, now 30 and 32, and we reside comfortably and happily in our home in Palm Beach County. I think back on that period in my life when was divorced and no longer wanted to proceed in life. If God had answered my prayer to just take me in my sleep, I would have missed out on an entire lifetime of happiness and joy. The message in this is to never give up. Always remember that difficult days are merely a snapshot in your journey. Never give up and never quit. You can accomplish your goals and you can live your dream. You were built for this.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My story is one of faith. When I began Bi-Wi “Because i’m Worth It!” International, Inc., I’d just retired from my job with the Government. I had my pension and a savings small savings. I was so invested in this company’s success that I used my savings to start it and keep it afloat from 2014 to 2019. By 2019 I’d completely exhausted my savings. I’d been applying for grants through various forums in 2016, but none were approved. I started to pray and ask God for help because if I didn’t get funding soon, I would be out of business. Just as my funding ended in 2019, we received our first contract from the United Way Palm Beach County. The contract was a three year contract with an obligation to mentor 100 girls in Palm Beach County! Thank God. To date we have completed this three year contract and have been awarded a fourth year along with grant funding from other Palm Beach County organizations who have seen and heard of our work and have joined our mission to mentor girls struggling with low self-esteem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.becauseiamworthit.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.glenice
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bi-Wi Because I’m Worth It!” International, Inc
• Linkedin: Dr. Glenice Glover
• Twitter: @BiWiWorthit
• Youtube: Glenice D. Glover

Image Credits
CeCe Espeut