We were lucky to catch up with Kishen E. Newton recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kishen E., looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?
First of all, thank you, CanvasRebel, for the opportunity to share my story. I am a storyteller and understand the importance of capturing life through words. So, if I could go back in time, I absolutely wish I would have started my business sooner. Why? First and foremost, I would be further along than where I am now and undoubtedly happier. Not that I am unhappy, I hope I would have conquered the obstacles I have faced a lot sooner. Additionally, the time I wasted being afraid, procrastinating, and doubting, I can’t get back. So in essence, I am paddling feverishly to regain my place.
For the past few years, I have coached professionals to achieve their goals. As a parent, we constantly coach our children. As far as I can remember, I’ve had an innate desire to coach. Even in high school, I was one of the captains of our pom-pon squad. Whenever I saw someone struggling with learning a routine, I would take time out to give them one on one attention. At the time, I understood the importance of all of us being in sync. Performing in front of small and large crowds was commonplace and if someone made a mistake, that mistake was noticeable. If only one or two people knew the routine, the team as a whole looked bad. So I always wanted to help the team look good.
Fast forward to post college, working in Human Resources, my passion has been and continues to be helping individuals achieve their career goals. I would often converse with individuals who were unhappy in their jobs. Naturally I would ask, “What do you really want to do?” After sharing their desires, I asked clarifying questions to assess if what they want is attainable. We collaborated on how to best develop their resume. I asked skill based questions about the job they desired. At the end of the “in-person” questionnaire, I had enough information from them to enhance their resume. Unbeknownst to them, they were now ready for their next move. The questions I posed provided individuals with familiarity about their skills that ultimately positioned them to be confident during their interview. And ‘VOILA’, they got the offer, accepted it, and advanced to their next position!
Occasionally, I received calls about other human resources related situations and advised accordingly.
I intermittently worked my coaching business on more than one occasion from the time I officially established my “doing business as” in 2012. As soon as I found a job, I stopped pursuing the entrepreneurial avenue and reverted back to being an employee. However, after more than 9 job losses throughout the course of my career, I just believe God is like, “Would you stop playing and pursue your passion?” So here I am!
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 background and context?
Straight from my bio, Kishen (pronounced key’ shin) Newton , received her bachelor of science degree from Michigan State University and earned her masters of Organizational Leadership, magna cum laude, from Cornerstone University. Throughout her 25+ years in the workforce, Kishen has successfully facilitated, presented to and trained an array of corporate, community and youth leaders. With a passion for helping people take a holistic approach to life, Kishen’s personal identity statement is “I am a master storyteller with an extraordinary calling to heal the underserved and underrepresented through ordinary conversations.” After identifying her personal identity statement and strategic connections, Kishen launched her podcast, “Stories with Kishen, ordinary people with extraordinary lives.” Stories with Kishen has reached more than 25 countries and hundreds of cities around the United States.
Duing the pandemic, after learning that the suicide rate of African Americans doubled, the domestic violence rate disproportionately increased in black and brown communities and in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the gun violence rate skyrocketed 72% in 2021 from the previous year, Kishen is on a mission to serve youth through a project, titled Finding Their Voice. Finding Their Voice gives students a platform for creative expression through self-discovery, conversations, spoken word, performing arts and production.
Kishen is an influencer, career coach certified in emotional intelligence, podcaster, content creator, dream manifester, overcomer, goalsetter, encourager, and woman of faith and a leader servant in the community. A sociologist by nature, Kishen’s main purpose is to help people see the possibilities in what they thought was impossible. She is the proud mother of four amazing adult children and the MiMi of one beautiful and precious granddaughter.
To connect for speaking engagements, events or to learn more about Kishen, visit her website at www.kishennewton.com.
Follow Kishen on Instagram @justkishen, Twitter @KishenE and LinkedIn Kishen Newton.
Follow Stories with Kishen and KNEW Innovations on Facebook and social media platforms where podcasts are shared.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience…what timing! Only God could have timed this! Wow! So where do I start? I’ll start here. Knowing who you are and your purpose is the key to pushing through difficult and uncomfortable situations. As an infant, I was told, a family member tried to suffocate me. I don’t know what my mother was doing at the time, but she came to the rescue. I believe God intervened because he has a purpose for me. Around three years old, I was taken to the hospital for an undiagnosed scalp disorder. While in the hospital, I’m dating myself, long before parents were allowed to stay overnight with their children, nightly I would be awakened out of my sleep by the nurses who would come into my room to scrub my bald head to the point of bleeding. As I tussled and screamed for help as I fought for what I thought was my life, I was traumatized. The worst part was the five gallon jug of water that the nurses douse over my head as they “cleaned my scalp.” Let’s just say this was the second time an enemy tried to take my breath again. My maternal grandmother and other members of the church visited me during the day time while I was at the hospital. They laid hands on me and anointed me with blessed oil. I remember being prepped for surgery to remove the top two layers of my scalp epidermis, the part of my scalp that was infected. While my grandmother and the Saints were visiting me at the hospital, my mom was working to stop what the hospital doctors were trying to do. She contacted a “skin specialist” is what she told me, also known as a dermatologist, to get a second opinion. The dermatologist came to the hospital the next day to take a look examine my scalp. Let’s just say, God answered prayers and I left the hospital shortly thereafter.
Another event that set the stage of resilience was when I was five years old. I remember many times being rushed to the hospital because I couldn’t breathe. I suffered from severe asthma. However, as I reflect, this is when my life started to change. My paternal grandmother lived across the street from the blue-haired lady. I would spend summers at my paternal grandparents home. They had a beautiful garden and an immaculately groomed landscape canvased with plush green grass, petunias, four o’clocks, sunflowers, rose bushes and marigolds. When I visited my grandparents, the blue-haired lady would come across the street to talk to my grandmother. I don’t remember all they discussed, I guess they talked about life. One day while I was home with my parents playing outside in the driveway, my dad’s car pulled into the driveway. Both doors opened and my dad stepped out of the driver’s side and the blue-haired lady stepped out of the passenger side. They were talking to each other as they approached me. I anticipated something was going to happen, because the blue-haired lady was at our home. My mom came from inside the house and joined my dad and the blue haired lady. The blue-haired lady was explaining something to my parents, while pointing to the pine tree in the backyard. When they got closer to me, I could hear that I had to stand with my back to the tree. In my five year old mind, nothing was making sense to me. My mom, my dad, the blue haired lady and I walked to the nearest pine tree. I was instructed to stand with my back to the tree and the blue-haired lady marked the tree with a knife, just above my head, at my exact height. The blue-haired lady look at me, eye-to-eye and said “as soon as you outgrow the mark on the tree, your asthma will be gone.” She was serious, she said it and I believed her. She was right. I have never had another asthma attack since.
So resilience is in my bones. I have lost nine (9) jobs in my career. I finally realize it is because I am called to help people in a grander way. Young people, our youth need us. As stated in my bio, I learned that my old high school lacked the performing arts and other extracurricular activities that I benefited from as a high school student. For a year now, I have been trying to partner with my high school to give students the opportunity to hone their creative side through leadership development. Even though I work in a different capacity, the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of these young people is a must. If I overcame so many obstacles as a child, surely that same resilience and determination will drive me to help these students.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I had to unlearn is not to listen to people who have not gone in the direction I am looking to go. So here’s the backstory: I grew up in a working class home. Both my parents worked very hard to provide for our family. Getting a good job to retire from was their goal. After I graduated college and realized that I had some missed opportunities, opportunities that my college friends took advantage of, I delayed pursuing my dreams until 25 years after graduating from college. For example, many of my friends in college sought internships and other opportunities to market themselves for better paying jobs. I chose to stay close to home because that’s what my parents, my dad in particular, wanted.
Now that I am older, have children of my own, I encourage them to think as big as their imaginations allow them to. You may ask, “Why do I encourage them to think big?” I look at where I am in life, the goals I have, that I am now pursuing and achieving. I guess you can say that my life is just beginning! If they start now, by the time they reach my age, they will have accomplished so much more than me. If I would have started earlier, I could have accomplished so much more by now. Because I want my children and grandchildren to be purposeful, I encourage them to act now to pursue their dreams. And I encourage them in every way I possibly can!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kishennewton.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justkishen/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stories-with-Kishen-104895167539370/?ref=pages_you_manage
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kishen-newton-b-s-msol-89753013/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KishenE
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCryHut3X6QAInf48YmHE2Jw
- Other: Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@andiamtheceoofme
Image Credits
Maryanne Marquez Bartell, Lamar Rose, Emma Burcusel