We recently connected with Kanita Stewart and have shared our conversation below.

Kanita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

At the top of my list of what it takes to be successful is a willingness to work hard. Success that’s too easy is something that’s not as valued. If you just happen upon success, you may start thinking that it’s owed to you, that you don’t have to do anything and it will come, or that it will always be there. That’s a form of dead-end thinking. Life isn’t one success after another, certainly not success that just happens to come your way. To be successful, you must put in the hard work to earn it.

If the route toward success was a straight line with no interruptions or detours, more people would wind up being lazy, taking achievement for granted. They’d also never have the opportunity to learn from mistakes. For every success, there are multiple failures and mistakes along the way. If you give up after failure, you’ll never be a success. If you repeat the same mistake again and again, you’ll never get to the finish line. Make it a point to learn from what didn’t go right so that you’re that much further ahead the next time.

What you do doesn’t have to be perfect, but you do have to do your best. Perfectionism can be a trap, because if you aren’t satisfied until everything is perfect, nothing ever will be. But when you put forth all your effort, giving it everything you’ve got, that’s about as close to perfection as you’re going to come. Knowing you’ve given it your all, however, means that you will be that much closer to success.

Along with doing your best and learning from mistakes, it’s also important to be doggedly determined. Persistence does pay off in the long run, particularly if the task or project is lengthy and difficult. You must be willing to endure, to keep plugging away even when progress seems pitifully slow. You will get there eventually, or find a different goal or modify your current one, but only if you stay with it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, I can say that I did not have an easy journey. As a child, I moved around a lot and had to deal with most challenges of a child in an urban environment. After graduating from high school, I knew I needed a fresh start and moved to Delaware to complete my undergraduate degree; as life does it, it created an extra hurdle as I became pregnant with my first daughter during my junior year. Not sure how this would play out, I knew I had to create a better life for my daughter which gave me the motivation to complete my undergraduate degree all while working two jobs and going to school full time. During this time, many people told me my life was over and I will never graduate because I had a daughter, so I felt it in my heart to give back to my community and started “Her Generation Foundation” which was a community-based organization to create a safe space for young moms and ladies to thrive. God saw fit to bless me with my second daughter which I didn’t know I was pregnant during my graduation.

With two little girls that looked up to me gave me even more motivation and I went back to school and completed my graduate degree while working full-time as a recruiter for one of the most recognized private security companies in the world in as little as 10 months. My career started to blossom after completing my graduate degree and I was offered a recruiter position back in my home city and in as little as four years, I have been promoted three times. As I acquired new skills, I ventured into the unknown world of virtual assistance. I have taken my skills and talent in organization and social media management and turned it into a thriving business in less than one year in business. I currently have clients in three major cities. At the same time, my need to be involved in my community has propelled Her Generation Foundation to now Her Youth Project which in 2022 became a recognized non-profit organization serving the Delaware, DC, Maryland and Virginia areas.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience on social media by being consistent and authentic! It is very important to be yourself when it comes to building a community on social media. People can tell when you are faking it and aren’t being real. You want to make sure you are building the trust of your community, potential clients, and potential partners by being yourself. Showing up everyday, even when you don’t feel like it.

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

I fund all of my businesses using the money I make from my 9-5! Yes, I still work a full-time job as a Corporate recruiter for one of the largest security companies in the world! I am not a full-time entrepreneur just yet and I strongly believe you can do both! I save and budget, but most importantly I keep my overhead cost really low so I can pocket more of the money I make. That is really important in entrepreneurship!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/queenof.hustle
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kanitastewart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanita-stewart/