We recently connected with Jabrita Shelton and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jabrita, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

I have served underserved communities since 2009 starting with trauma healing education and social and economic empowerment workshops for at-risk teens and battered women. This led me to open my own nonprofit organization which served in Indiana, Illinois, and the DMV until 2019.

In 2019 I took a pivot and plunged into public speaking and trauma consulting launching a trauma healing centered focus practice that concentrated its focus on educating men and women on general trauma, ACE’s and discovering the parallels and outcomes of their lives based on patterns, cycles, and behaviors historically in their bloodline. In doing so I found that many people in the underserved communities who had experienced the greatest levels of trauma were not aware of the impact thereof and the effects they were still forced to deal with on a daily basis.

I then birthed Mind Your Madness a 7-Step Proprietary system to help manage stress, anxiety, and depression while providing a safe space for men and women to raise their voices, unpack their pain and learn practical tools of empowerment to increase their quality of life across abilities as individuals and as a collective community. After serving in this area for 2 years and the cry of Black Maternal Health being at the forefront of a Universal Health Crisis, I began to see where I could make a greater impact and made another pivot in business, however, the population and its focus did not change.

In 2023 I began practicing as a Trauma Informed Birth Doula where I successfully conducted 6 hospital births, coaching 6 first time mothers on childbirth in a hospital setting, and integrated partner support the whole way through. Mind Your Parenting Doula & Family Planning Services LLC. Will continue its service to English and non-English speaking families in Richmond, Virginia and beyond in 2024. Mind Your Parenting Doula & Family Planning Service LLC. Specializes in assisting first time mothers, and women who have experienced birth trauma, sexual trauma, prenatal and infant loss, and premature birth. Our mission is “Healing Intergenerational Trauma from the Womb to the Tomb”. Our goal is to ensure that there are more mothers leaving the hospital with their babies in the future than there has been in the past.

Jabrita, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jabrita R. Shelton I am a mother, Author, Public Speaker, Trauma Educator , Professional Trauma Consultant, and Community Birth Doula with 14 years experience as a Trauma Professional. My brand is layered in three tiers to serve individuals, couples, and families in the capacity of trauma healing ,recovery, and emotional wellness with a special emphasis on family systems and healing structures. I believe in order to make the impact you desire to see, you must be willing to get in the ring with yourself first, eliminate external opponents, and zero out all excuses for why it can’t be done.

Toni Morrison says, ” In order to live free, you have to give up the shit that weighs you down” to this quote, I couldn’t agree more.

I believe in order to see change, on a macro level, one must become change on a micro level first. In this regard, this means within oneself, in your home, your family, your community, on your job and the list goes on.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As the oldest grandchild on my mother’s side, I felt the responsibility to lead the path of success for my younger brother, and cousins at that time. I had BIG dreams, but none of those dreams excluded my family, in fact my family was the motivation of them. I found my voice at an early age for advocacy as people would always confide in me, and ask me for advice. My late father said as a child I would literally walk around with my purse and nothing but a pen, notebook, and chapstick, in it which still serves true today. I found my voice in advocacy after a tragedy that nearly ended my mother’s life due to a bout with depression and attempted suicide when I was a sophomore in high school. My mother the one whom I thought could not be broken after seeing her bounce back from the mental, verbal, and physical abuse of my late father. Though now mental health has become the fore front leading in healthcare, it wasn’t always and because of that, depression was not something we ever discussed in a black community. This was the loudest silent cry for help, I came to understand at that age, and in hearing it I knew my life was meant for more. Though I now understand that our stories are closely related to that of our caregivers whomever they may be, with maturity and life’s experiences I have learned where my parents madness ends and mine began. I made a decision to use the cards life dealt to me, as fuel to raise awareness and consciousness around me using the pain I carried as fuel to empower others to become a pillar of strength o the weak, eliminating the problem and not becoming the perpetrator of it. Though I feel I am just getting started, there is still room for more, and I plan to take up space doing so!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn and am still unlearning the voices of judgement I learned through the seed of molestation at a early age, the feeling of unworthiness, self sabbotage, and to care less about the opinions of others who do not wish to see me win. Being responsible for so much as a child taught me that everybody else’s needs were more important than my own, so unlearning that has been a long road to recovery, however I am almost there.

Ive just learned to center myself, stay grounded, and be present in my healing journey leading by example. As a result of the life I live and lead, I have been able to lead many others to freedom, self-love, compassion, forgiveness, and reconciliation of themselves, their families, and now owning a place in the world as their own, knowing that their survival came at a cost, and that cost is for the next generation to live in better harmony of their true selves before the trauma ever entered their lives.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jabritasheltonco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jabrita.shelton
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jabrita-r-shelton-ctp-cd-fss-414b0227/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGMR_80UL48qtGuXtNpmxTg

Image Credits
Tavetta Patterson Devon Spencer