Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to K. Merrissa Hughes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, K. Merrissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I have always been the type to dream big. I remember looking around my therapist’s office as a teenager and having a gut feeling that, I can do this. The way that I normally went about dreaming big was in a well planned, step by step thought process. I enjoyed being prepared. I didn’t mind working two three jobs or so I thought, as long as I kept my WHY close to my heart I could push through. This past school year threw me for a LOOP. I was a school counselor in my dream district and well liked and respected by my colleagues and students. I was making an impact and I LOVED it. Now, the days were long and it was hard but I have always did hard things. Then in February my life changed forever. My aunt that I was extremely close to passed away suddenly. Her death, in addition to my fathers death two years prior have forever shaped the woman that I am now. So at the end of this school year I made the decision to leave my district and take some time to have more space for one of my dreams, my practice Embolden Counseling Collective PLLC. I now have more time for family and friends that I love dearly. I have plans to travel . Prior to this summer I haven’t been anywhere in the past 5 years for leisure. I am honestly still nervous but the good kind of nervous. I am aware that I currently living in the risk, but I am also covered and protected. I have given up my dream job to discover a softer, kinder version of myself and to more closely resemble the Merrissa that I need to be.

K. Merrissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a therapist and I LOVE it. I enjoy working with individuals that are high achieving perfectionist and are ready to hang up that super person cape for something that suits them better. I also specialize in working with individuals that are struggling with disordered eating. I am a former educator with more than 15 years of experience so I work great with teachers, counselors and teens 13 and up. Some of my trainings and modalities I use are: dance therapy, daring way, eating disorders, expressive arts, and eye movement desensitization reprocessing. My WHY is my clients, therapy is what you make of it. I want every client to leave me feeling embolden to live the life that they have dreamed of.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn playing it small. I had to realize that I can have a seat at any table that I’d like to sit at. I can and should take up space. There is this thing called imposter syndrome: it is an irrational fear that you will be exposed as a fraud and can cause you to doubt your skills, training and talent. I have always struggled with this. I had early messages growing up of not being enough. One of the most ridiculous lies that I believed growing up that I was not black enough. I think I was in the 4th grade and I had just transferred after my parents divorced. I went from attending a majority white school in the suburbs to majority black school in the inner city. I was talking to my classmates about how people have feelings and I was called an Oreo. For those that might not be familiar with this term it is not in reference to a delicious cookie, it means they were saying that I was black on the outside but white on the inside. I wondered, how can I be black but not be black enough? I HAD to unlearn this because there were places that I NEEDED to speak my truth, share my story to help provide insight to those that have never moved around in a black body. I had to let go of this voice that told me I wasn’t enough. I was born enough…

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

Securing the bag… I secured they bag. I worked my butt off. I sometimes had two or three jobs to save the capital to start. I also am very budget aware in my business. I have a small nicely decorated office space and that is all the physical space I need right now. When I thought about how much money I would need to fund my business and became nervous- I checked back in with my why. My goal is to help people live the life they have dreamed of by helping them work through past or current hurts, thinking patterns that are no longer working, traumas and eventually get to goal setting for the things to come, As an entrepreneur I worked backwards from this idea and put my money in the things that would support this goal. The most money I have spent has been in my education and training because the most important thing to me is to have the knowledge needed to help my clients grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.emboldencc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emboldencounseling/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emboldencounseling/

Image Credits
Frugal Fotography (Ind. picture with yellow pants) En Pointe Photography ( Family Portrait)