We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Keisha Haynes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Keisha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
The biggest risk I have ever taken was/is pursuing a career as an entrepreneur. I say that because, when I started I didn’t know the outcome and I didn’t know what to expect. It was and is very risky for my husband and I because we cannot be afraid to invest, and just because we invest that doesn’t guarantee success. We’ve learned and are still learning through trial and error that there are so many components that have to be learned during the process. As we discover them, we’ve often found out that some don’t work, the risk for us is to keep going because of the belief that we have in our ability to build a system of success. Risking taking losses, until we get our wins. For us the whole entire entrepreneurship journey has been risky, so many people make it look pretty, but it’s not, in fact it is very ugly and at times it has left us questioning ourselves, if we made the right decision or not. As we are on this journey of taking risk, we keep going and allow our faith to be the motivation, because we know that one day every risk will be truly worth it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name Is Keisha Haynes, I am a 39-year-old African American young lady on a mission to pursue purpose in life, because I understand that authentic success is truly found in purpose. I believe that discovering your purpose in life is most important because that is when one can truly flourish to their fullest potential. Oftentimes purpose is found in the passion of doing things you love to do, while making an impact on others. During my journey of entrepreneurship, I have had my hands in quite a few things, a master cosmetologist, stylist, created by own brand “Fearless”, opened up a learning center for children “Purpose Driven Academy”, a restaurant “Rudii Bee’s Grill”, and most recently a 501 C3 Nonprofit Organization, that focuses of families “Purpose Driven Community Outreach”. The one thing that I have in common with every business journey is that they all involve helping people. This is why I consider myself a philanthropist, because every day I am discovering that God put me on this earth as a vessel to be a help to others. I find joy in making people feel good, whether it be just an ear to hear, food to eat, or help them find the right looks for them., I love that. I love educating people and helping them develop into their full potential. When I sacrifice my time to pour into others, I am creating and leaving a mark in others’ lives. Promoting the well being of others is where I find my true fulfillment.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
A time I had to pivot in my career/business, was when I made a decision to be a stay -at- home mom and homeschool my sons. It wasn’t anything planned, it just happened. I was a cosmetologist and a fashion stylist, at the peak of my career. Meaning I had just really started to understand who I was in the industry and was working very hard to dominate the fashion industry. A sudden change took place in my son’s education that caused me to take a detour, I had to make the decision to sacrifice my livelihood to teach my sons and ironically that was one of the best decisions I made. Ironically, this pivot taught me that true success is often found in the unknown. I was very uncertain, if I was making the right decision, after all my dream was to be in New York somewhere styling, not at my dining room table, educating my boys. That was a major transition for me, nothing I have ever imagined. That sudden change was a huge adjustment for me, I had several moments that I doubted myself and my credibility, although I have several academic credentials. I still didn’t think I was qualified and nor was this on my list of to do’s. As a mother, sacrificing has to be done, at any cost, even if it costs you your career. As, I said earlier that was one of the best decisions I made, I said that because both of my teenage boys are soaring entrepreneurs and my youngest son was able to graduate at 15 years old and a few months away from being a certified chef. That pivot not only helped my children, but so many others as well. My husband and I, now offer a home school co op program to other families in our area, looking for an alternative educational plan. Purpose Driven Academy Home School, we have been thriving for 5 years now and currently have 23 students.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Resilience to me is the ability to bounce back after being faced with oppositions that could have potentially caused you to quit. I know that I am a resilient woman. During my journey of entrepreneurship, I have had several obstacles that could have caused me to give up, but because God lives on the inside of me, he never lets me quit. “Greater is He, that is within Me”…that is one scripture that keeps me going. Growing up, I was motherless and fatherless, both parents abandoned me due to substance abuse, that caused me to acquire a unique strength, one that I needed in order to preserve in life. The resilience in me didn’t allow me to be a victim of my circumstance, but a victor. Despite the fact that I was abandoned by both parents, I knew I still had a purpose, so I had to continue to move forward and search for that purpose to discover who God created me to be. Yes, my journey at times has been and can still be quite difficult at times, because I often wish my parents would have been around to give me the push I sometimes need when things get challenging. Those times when I felt like giving up or throwing in the towel, or even celebrating with me when I have accomplished things in life. The resilience that God placed on the inside of me tells me that even though you didn’t have the things you wanted in life, you must keep going. I’ve had several graduations, I’m at the master’s level, I opened several businesses, 4 to be exact (Fearless Styling Studio, Purpose Driven Academy, Rudii Bee’s Grill, & Purpose Driven Community Outreach) and I have never had either parent there to cheer me on (neither attended a Graduation or a Grand Opening). I Think that has been the hardest part of my journey, yet resilience says, “keep going”. Unfortunately, my mother passed a few years ago, so I will never get those moments that I longed for, resilience has brought forth acceptance and has fueled me to keep going, dreaming, building and being intentional about pursuing my purpose in life.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: She_lives_fearless
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keisha.haynes.3
Image Credits
Kerry White and KW PHOTOGRAPHY