We recently connected with Khadeshia Beam and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Khadeshia, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Of the various things it takes to be successful as a creative entrepreneur specifically my top would be a consistent health and wellbeing ritual that happens every day regardless of the length of time. It is so important to create space for yourself as a being and business owner for your overall wellbeing and to stay in alignment with your expansive purpose. Each day I meditate, listen to/recite loving affirmations, engage with my breath move my body by practicing yoga. This keeps me in control of my mind vs my mind controlling me. It also feels good, nourishes me, empowers me and sets the tone for my day flowing with more ease.
Sometimes, I dance in the mirror to nurture my womb and inner child! As a woman all of my well-being rituals help me to honor and balance my feminine energy. Time with oneself also helps with releasing imposter syndrome that many of us have picked up from the way that we may have been raised, social and societal conditioning as well. Beyond this our health is such a pivotal piece of us being able to experience more fulfillment and ease in life while being of service to others.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
I am Khadeshia Beam. Creator with God’s guidance and founder of Akoma Bloom Wellness. My business was birthed during the process of me healing from trauma utilizing the very wholistic wellness services I offer. So often we see yoga glamorized. Pain, grief, disconnectedness, unhappiness and trauma bought me to the practice of yoga which includes meditation. Even though as a child long walks, nature and journaling were my yoga.
I am a mother of two who values my health along with sharing as much time and space with my sons as possible, which is why I knew business ownership was right for me.
Being a heart centered business owner allows me to do meaningful work that impacts the lives of others in a healing, transformative and compassionate way. I am intensely vested in my work because it has been and is such a huge part of my own healing and wellbeing. It is such a huge part of my family’s healing. My work fuels me personally, creatively and professionally. I assist people in finding peace within, tapping into their own inner healer and accepting themself exactly as they are. My yoga wellbeing services give people the tools they need to nurture their mind, body, soul and spirit by utilizing their body and breath.
I am intensely grateful and proud of the relationships I have built through my work in the spirit of love, healing and overall self-care. People trust me enough to call me for wholistic wellness insight. This is a level of trust that my students and clients put in me that I value immeasurably. I am proud to have worked with people from all walks of life, big and small businesses who are open to receive guidance in order to take better care of themselves.
Though it can be challenging and a bit overwhelming, I am also proud to say that I know how to run every aspect of my business from the website, social media, marketing, creative projects, grants, budget, onboarding teachers, facilitating classes/events and all administrative tasks excluding taxes. I bootstrapped my business and have learned so much along the way without a designated team. And in the beginning very little support. I am also grateful to have released strong black woman syndrome, so that I could begin to let people in who genuinely do support me and have insight that I did not initially. This has allowed me to tap into far more resources to grow and sustain my business. The journey is ongoing, and I am still here through the lows, highs and in between.
My brand overall is rooted in taking a wholistic approach to take care of every part of you. If you see me in person, everything is natural from my head to my toes this is reflected in the approach I take with students. I awaken people to the simplicity in self-care as well as practicing self-care beyond the surface level. There is so much you can do to take care of you, utilizing your body and breath. Part of my purpose is to show people this and to share how taking care of yourself can ignite your creativity too.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the most intense lessons I had to unlearn is over giving. I was not only over giving in my business it was something that started in my personal life. It began when I was a child growing up without my father and separated from my mother due to her being diagnosed with mental illness. I also saw so many of the women in my family including my mother doing more than they really had the capacity to which often compromised their state of wellbeing. They showed love by doing often. I was stuck in a cycle seemingly by default and the trauma I experienced from childhood to adulthood, which only added to it and kept me stuck once upon a time. Yoga, writing and holistic counseling have been an instrumental piece in my overall healing from harmful cycles of my past that were normalized by me subconsciously, in my family and in the world. My commitment to my healing ignited the courage for me to explore within me, choose the path of full-time entrepreneurship along with birthing my creative ideas; not only as it pertains to my career as an ode to loving myself too.
When over giving showed up in all my relationships including my business relationships, I knew something had to change because the cycle was impacting everything including my overall health and cashflow. When over giving was my norm, I found myself overcommitting and underpricing my services often. I found myself clinging to relationships that were not healthy for me. While it is an act of mindfulness for me not to over give, now I am aware of when it shows up. When you over give you sacrifice your own needs for others, and this is self-betrayal. I say no more, and I feel freedom rather than guilt.
As a being, woman, mother and business owner this is important because it helps me to give with love and ease rather than obligation, guilt and or the need of approval. Underneath it all is the desire to be loved, nurtured and fulfilled. Many of us including myself have been taught to love in ways that are dependent upon what you can do for others rather than what you must give to yourself first and foremost. Love based on condition is not real love. I had to unlearn over giving in order to truly love myself and love in a divine healthy way. Our inner world is very much connected to the unfolding of our outer world including our work. For me identifying this pattern of over giving created more space for me to pour into my dreams, purpose and family in a more balanced way.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
There are many stories from my journey that illustrate my resilience. My move to Atlanta as a single mother in 2005 with my then 4-year-old son without any close family in Atlanta was something that ignited me tapping into some of the resilience that comes partially from my Brooklyn roots. I grew up most of my childhood and adolescence in Red Hook projects. My brother and I would dodge bullets in shoot outs on our way home from school with my mother some days. I saw drugs and poverty in abundance growing up. I always knew deep down that I deserved more than the bad I witnessed in my neighborhood.
I believe because of my own optimism, programs for my betterment would find me as an adolescent like the Red Hook Youth Court which would give me the opportunity to advocate for youth accused of misdemeanor crimes and work alongside an amazing paralegal, Magnis. May he rest in peace. I always knew that I had gifts that would save my life and help others. When you grow up seeing these traumatic occurrences it does something to you subconsciously. For me there was a lot of lack that I had to identify and release because of the things that happened during my childhood.
There was a savior complex in me. The stories of my past created a deep sense of sadness along with hope and resilience in me that would begin to reveal itself in my creativity through modeling, writing and in my passion for health and wellbeing, which would power my current business years later.
There have been seasons of my life where I felt as though, broke mine as well had been my middle name in the far and recent past. Especially on this entrepreneur journey. I have considered getting a full-time job again and closing my business just this year. I have been told no too many times to count, when I apply for grants, loans and capital, still I keep apply and learning more. I keep transforming my relationship with money for the better.
I explore non-traditional lenders and raise money for my business when I am launching programs. I have raised over $3,000 in my network of family, students and clients to keep my business running over the years. I keep trusting myself. I keep creating services and products in alignment with health and wellbeing. I keep asking until I get a yes. I have gotten grants for my business by me showing up to do the paperwork in the best way I can, which further affirms that as long as I keep my faith and deeds aligned consistently, the yes meant for me will always be. There are these ups, downs and in between that happen in life. It is most important to navigate both in the best way I can, while nurturing myself through utilizing the very yoga services I offer.
The most beautiful part of my resilient journey is that now pieces of it is being written in my self-published books. My first book ‘44, All That I Didn’t Say, Book 1’ is a reflection of my resilience as well. It takes so much courage to share poems and reflections from your intimate journals with the world. Instead of closing my business, I expanded my products and services. I took a deeper look at me to see if I was in my own way in some instances. I discovered my trauma in fact had me tripping in many instances and so I had some more healing to do. Choosing to heal with all that I am responsible for as a mother and a business is also reflective of my resilience. It feels good to be in this season of learning, growth and prosperity. approach to take care of every part of you. If you see me in person, everything is natural from my head to my toes this is reflected in the approach I take with students. I awaken people to the simplicity in self-care as well as practicing self-care beyond the surface level. There is so much you can do to take care of you, utilizing your body and breath. Part of my purpose is to show people this and to share how taking care of yourself can ignite your creativity too.
I am still here celebrating my successes perceived big and small. I am here blossoming!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://khadeshiabeam.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amodelyogi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akomabloomwellness/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khadeshia-beam-66439927/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Khadeshia1/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbm6n7sHQxITudxwR8NtAzA
Image Credits
Photo in yellow dress by Corey Reese Photography