We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kendra Eberhart a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kendra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
There have been so many problems that have come about while I’ve tried to kick off Beautifully Ill, INC, & most revolve around finances & health. In 2019, I had my first bikini car wash to raise awareness & funds for the legalization (etc…) of my nonprofit. I was super excited because many of my friends I’ve met, either acting or modeling, helped me for free. They all were so sweet about why they wanted to help, & (lol) some didn’t even know I was sick. Yet, I kid you not, right after I had that carwash, I was let go from a job at this marketing law firm that I’ve had for 8 years due to “lack” of work available. I got the job not too long after I graduated from Georgia State. They had given me my second promotion two weeks prior. I was so hurt! I kept my spirit, though, because I still was acting & modeling on the side to at least keep money flowing through my household. It got crazier because after the summer car wash came the 2020 COVID shutdown. & what gets me the most is my health continually acts up no matter what. Weeks before the COVID shutdown, I found out I was aspirating. Not only was I aspirating and could die from that in my sleep, but in addition to that, my lungs were filled. I just thank God I got in to have that procedure right before the shutdown. Seriously, these two stories are nothing, I have so many!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
If you don’t know me, I will summarize myself into 3 words: strong, God-fearing, & fun. I’ve always lived & loved life. I lost my dad young; & I learned things young. I believe in just loving people for who they are. Energy is the best thing to use to tell if someone or some situation is not for you. I love my peace, so this once clubaholic is now a homebody. Now, don’t get it twisted…I do cut uuuppp whenever I go out. I used to dance, act, style, & model. Still in & out working under those titles, but right now my biggest job field is brand representation. I’m great at bringing other brands to life, & love doing it! Growing up, I’ve always been the lively, outspoken one, which led me to decide to be a lawyer in the 5th grade. I was at Georgia State University during my junior year when I started to become sick, in fact, I was there studying law. Oh, how things have changed!!!!
Modeling was one of the coping mechanisms I came to enjoy very much. It’s crazy how that even came out in me. I turned down the opportunity to model my senior year of high school. But, I felt the need for something familiar back in my life. In 2014, I had to have that life-threatening surgery, or else my body wouldn’t be able to hold blood & I’d die. After the surgery, I was depressed for a bit. My friends & mommy definitely help kept me sane! When I came back to myself, I decided to model. I had already started acting, something else I used to love to do back in school. It was a great coping mechanism because I got the chance to just be someone else. Yes, it’s just that simple for me! Yet, Acting wasn’t enough. I began modeling because I felt my body could’ve looked worse after the surgery. Even after the surgery I felt I looked different, a part of me was literally missing! I wanted to spread beauty & push it, whether the beauty was inside or out. No one knows, but I still take pictures every day just to look back on when I’m feeling down. I take pictures of my sad days and my happy days as a reminder that it could always be worse like that sad surgery day. Coping is a hard thing to do when you’re alone, but I figured out ways to just do what I like & lose myself in doing them. Still, doing all of those things, & going back to work for 40 hours a week, really put a strain on my body. I didn’t care, though; I showed almost everything in my life to push the beauty of positivity & strength. People need to see a sick gal like me continuing to push despite the crazy health. I showed my doctor’s visits & all that, but I would turn right around pushing positivity despite the bad news I’drecieved. Always being on set for a movie or modeling in someone’s runway show was great content for my brand. I gave hope; at least, that is what people started to write me on social media. It felt so good to know that what I planned to spread actually got through to some people, in fact, the chronically ill community!
I battle with Crohn’s disease & fibromyalgia (etc…), but I’m a fighter who just wants the world to know you can do all things through faith, being genuinely yourself, & hard work. Also, I’m a survivor; I have almost died four times since being diagnosed with these illnesses! I want my brand to encompass my illnesses & show others that you can still have a full happy life! My board members & I plan to open a call/intake center. I want women of all ages to come in freely to discuss the issues they’re having with the healthcare system, tell us what they’re struggling with mentally, provide coping mechanisms, talk with our experts on site for additional educational purposes through thorough assessment, provide financial assistance for those who need it that can go with your insurance or be in place of your insurance (no limitations), plan & execute awareness events, & lobby to the government about improving the healthcare system overall!
We want to invest in conferences & retreats to get better in tune with our bodies, & understand how to better help our bodies. Beautifully Ill, INC is pushing for the overall betterment of women in the healthcare industry when it comes to how we’re treated & cared for. Even get doctors to focus more on not prescribing medications that have more harmful side effects on our bodies. In return, the right medication can add to the reduction of ER visits. Debit cards that will help with getting alternative medicinal needs (i.e., holistic approaches), behind bills, copays/after-insurance balances, travel expenses, housing, research for cures, & FMLA funds. We are not like any other organization!! We really want to do research to help find the initial issues that have caused Crohn’s disease & fibromyalgia in the first place; & why they are so harmful to women!? Prior research is just guessing both Crohn’s disease & fibromyalgia could be hereditary; & that’s a huge issue within itself. Really, my board & I have already come to a consensus for the cause, just need the proper research to back it up. We’ll be using modern tactics as well as traditional tactics to help our fellow chronically ill community. In doing so we’ll be creating a movement that will reign on. That’s what sets us apart from others as well. I truly believe I picked the right people to help me achieve all of this. Their genuineness is what I’m most proud of at this moment. They believe in me, & want to back me up. I’m truly honored by that.
How’d you meet your business partner?
Over the years, my friends (some board members & investors) have kept me sane, clothed, fed, & so much more. I live in a home where my disabled mother & 102-year-old great-grandmother need me. I cannot fail them!! My lovely supporters understand that about me. My motivation & resilience comes from us needing one another. Each board member was chosen for different reasons. Yet, the main reason is that they love & support me wholeheartedly. Especially when I told them what I was trying to accomplish through my nonprofit. Each one found out through some random discussion at work, & each one said they believed in “theee” plan!! Everyone has been super helpful ever since, it just melts my heart. I’ve been trying to be heard for so long, & they all came at different points in my life listening to me. Hearing all that I’ve been through added to their enthusiasm. Even shared that they’ve all experienced similar in some way or another. They share my passion, & that’s all I need to keep pushing through with Beautifully Ill, INC.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Wow, how I came up with my nonprofit is craaazzzyyyy, & it surely demonstrates how resilient I am! As stated before, the near-death moments have been real, but it’s that 1st time that got to me. In 2013 through 2014, my Crohn’s had hit a severity that not even the doctors could control. I had to keep changing medicines, & for some reason, I had to keep getting blood transfusions.
Now, I’ve never been a “normal” patient. What I mean by they is that I am completely hard-headed (lol, and still am) & believed that I was invincible. It’s been almost 11 years ago & I was around 25/26 years old. I was working my butt off back then, clocking 40 hours a week. I mean, I was an adult out of college with an illness, & alone, trying to build a life for myself. But, during that time (as stated before), my Crohn’s was completely out of control. I hated having flare-ups that led me to have to go to the ER (yes, even back then). I didn’t have a car back then either. MARTA was slow and just terrible all the way around. Every time I went to the ER I felt as if I was a criminal turning myself in for being accused of something I didn’t commit.
The ER has always been such a horrid place to me since before I was even diagnosed. Back then, I was disgusted that it took a whole year of suffering before being diagnosed in the first place. The staff was never really friendly, & the doctors always seemed confused about what issue I was having. And because Crohn’s disease is an invisible illness, & already noted in my medical chart, the doctors would always say that I was just having a flare-up. Usually, I’d get fluids and pain meds, then be sent home with aftercare instructions. All of this was done, yet no one ever listened enough to care about the feelings I was expressing. Here comes the last straw incident that caused me to push myself into considering doing something to change all this madness!
I was fresh out of the ER, upset that they didn’t listen to me yet again, despite what I told them about how I was feeling. So, I was walking to work, yeah, MARTA puts you out far too, & I started feeling outside myself. I remember checking my voicemails & hearing the ER nurse begging for me to come back. I was like whatever in my head, wasn’t feeling how they had just treated me. All I know is that I wasn’t feeling good at all, & I could hear my heart beating outside itself, it was so loud to me. I got so weak, I hit the ground. I immediately started throwing up this white liquid. Not sure what was happening, but I suddenly started to fade out. Then, nothing. I’m not sure how long I was laying on the ground nor what had just happened to me. All I saw next was construction workers trying to get me up. Long story short, I found out that I was at a blood level of 2, with the norm being 10. I was still shaken up. Like, how long was I out?! How did the construction workers even see me?! Did I die or pass out?! Why was my heart acting like this?! I just had so many questions! I am just glad God had me, & the angels on earth that helped me that day. The doctor told me that I would’ve died that day if I was 50 or a smoker. Like, why even say something like that to me?! Just no couth chile! I was admitted after that, and then an entire additional story of madness occurred. All I felt was that incident, including the one that occurred after my surgery, was enough for me to want change. I knew I needed to do something to stop this kind of neglectful and stereotypical behavior.
Being an individual with chronic illnesses, I had to help my people. After figuring out who my community of people were, I could go from there. I thought long and hard for years since my surgery, trying to figure out if I should make this about everyone or not. Chronically ill women came to mind. Statistically, The National Library of Medicine says 80-90% of women are more prone to having fibromyalgia; & that women are more prone & affected differently from men when it comes to Crohn’s disease. Additionally, there’s another issue, a societal one, like neglect, judgment, & harmful medications because of our sensitive bodies. I felt it was time to push for change. I knew we know our bodies very well, & no one can tell us otherwise! I had already been discussing my issues, & showing my journey to my social media followers. I just decided that life is short, & why not help people having the same issues as me?! To be kind to people should always be a thing. To take care of people when your job is to literally take care of people should always be a thing too. I felt so unheard I became depressed. The decision to get back into things that made me happy to avoid being so depressed was evident. I haven’t properly experienced life in my adulthood since I was ill at the age of 20 years old. From all of these feelings & statistical knowledge, Beautifully Ill, INC came to be.
My nonprofit wasn’t legal back then, but I had decided this nonprofit would change things with the health & care system for the better! I had already lost so much in different ways. I mean, who knows better what’s needed than the patient herself (me)?! & that statement right there is all the logic I ever needed to keep trying to start my nonprofit.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautifully_ill_tingz?igsh=MWprdjIwODM2bTNwdQ==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautifullyill?mibextid=JRoKGi
Image Credits
Tyrus Davis, Tony McCoy