We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kim Mason a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Women Cultivating Greatness (WCG) is a non-profit organization in the Houston, Texas area. Our organization addresses the needs of brilliant women who learn differently by offering classes, tools, and techniques that minimize barriers to economic, emotional, and educational success, improving the overall quality of life. We seek to increase awareness and advocacy for adult women with learning challenges, such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Women Cultivating Greatness results from my experiences with confusion and isolation with learning challenges. Our team is dedicated to giving every woman an equal opportunity to succeed by supporting women who learn differently to ensure lifelong sustainability. Dyslexia, ADD, and ADHD are not uncommon. There is support for children grades kindergarten to high school seniors where testing is available through primary, middle, and high school. Once someone graduates from high school, there is no assistance. Women Cultivating Greatness provides screening for dyslexia, ADD, and ADHD. We also have classes specifically created to help people who learn differently. One in five people has some form of learning challenge. Sixty to seventy percent of people who are incarcerated have a learning challenge. This is my life’s mission! Our website is: womencultivatinggreatness.com

I created this organization to help support women. But more than that, I am the poster child for this organization. I have dyslexia and ADD, which affects my processing skills and short-term memory. I remember feeling as if I would never be able to excel in school or really at anything else. It started when I was in the third grade. I knew something was different about me. I was not learning the way the other kids learned. I studied so hard, and still, I struggled with reading and math. I did not pronounce words correctly, and sometimes it looked like the letters were moving on the page. On top of that, I frequently skipped small words when reading. I hated being called on in school. I hated being asked to go to the chalkboard. The kids would laugh.

Standardized tests were a nightmare! I would cry before, during, and after the test. I would get the same results every year. I usually scored below my grade level in some subjects. I hid it all. I never told my family about my struggles, partly because I did not know how to tell them. Another reason is that I was afraid to tell anyone. In my elementary school, no one wanted to be put in the last class on the right at the end of the hall – the “SLOW” class. They put all the kids that could not keep up with the schoolwork in that class. They put all the behavior problems and the kids that acted out in that class. These kids were “different.” And if anything, I knew I was different and did not want to be. I knew I had to do whatever it took to make sure no one found out that I was dumb.

So, I started teaching myself. I would take my assignments and explain them to myself. I would create rhythms, mnemonics, and flashcards, reading words and paragraphs over and over again repeatedly and backward because I understand better when I read backward. It took hours and hours. I often felt like quitting, and by the time I finished middle school, I had no self-confidence. I believed I would never get through college, get married, and never have children – who wants to marry and have a baby with a dummy?

I am a mental health advocate. I am a certified Goal Success Life, Professional Life, Happiness Life, and Life Purpose Coach.

Thank you,
Kim Mason

Kim, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Kim Mason is the Executive Director of Women Cultivating Greatness. She experienced many of the pitfalls of how Dyslexia affected her life. Unlike many individuals who suffer in silence and eventually give up on any hope of normalcy, Kim crafted a successful system and taught herself how to navigate in a world that was confusing, one where she was labeled and discounted. Due to the shame associated with her learning disorder, she was determined to share her successful discoveries with other brilliant women who learn differently. Kim took a special need and made it her specialty – to offset the stigma associated with learning disorders. She hopes to help people see how to acquire success by moving from despair to success through incremental milestones. Women Cultivating Greatness continues to address a need of supporting women who learn differently but providing monthly classes, fundraising for more opportunities to grow and connecting with other organizations who assist with career preparation.

10 million children suffer with neurological disorders such as ADD, ADHD, or Dyslexia. At least 65% or more of children who have these neurological disorders continue to have symptoms during adulthood if ever. Even more, several children and adults are undiagnosed until late in adult life. Of those individuals, a large portion of individuals do not receive the testing, tools, or emotional support needed to manage these symptoms. Plus, with the onset of COVID, these symptoms have heightened causing further paralysis of mental stability for many of the 3% of adults who have ADD, ADHD or Dyslexia. Recent research has revealed two new discoveries not as pronounced as before: 1) There are more females who have neurological disorders. Female symptoms present differently than males. 2) Also, there is research which supports the suggestion that most individuals who have these neurological disorders often have one or more emotional instability such as depression, anxiety, and a constant sense of failure to name a few. Kim is a certified mental health coach and advocate for HAPPY Living!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My resilience lies in my ability to believe in myself and my mission for Women Cultivating Greatness. Creating a non-profit business is not easy. I had struggles with gathering the information I needed to become certified as a 501c3. I learned to get good sound business advice so I did not make mistakes overpaying for services. I did a lot of research before pursuing my mission.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

The Vice President of Women Cultivating Greatness is Andrea Atkinson. When looking for a Vice President I wanted to find someone who has dedicated their lives to teaching children. Andrea’s work with children and adult was an awesome fit for the organization. I met her through a friend. Her mother and herself supported every event we had and when I checked Andrea’s background, I knew she was a good match. I was right!

Contact Info:

• Website: womencultivatinggreatness.com
• Instagram: kim_mason_wcg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmwcg
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MasonDiva
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lifeskillsforwomenwholearndifferenlydivasday.org

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