Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to LaDawnia Scott. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

LaDawnia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Not Perfect, Just Purposed was birthed out of my own mental health crisis and experience. In 2013, I attempted to take my life, and I spent a week in a mental hospital in Abilene, TX. As part of my continued therapy, I would journal my thoughts, prayers, experiences, feelings…everything and anything. Those journals turned into me writing & publishing my first book, “Christian and in Crisis”. It talks about what it was like to be a black woman, who was also a Christian, and who was also dealing with deep rooted depression, and what that journey had begun to look like on the road to being healed holistically. As I was sharing my story and selling my book, and in having conversations with people it became apparent that there needed to be more conversations and discussions about mental health from a faith-based perspective. What has been most exciting and most fulfilling is to hear people realize that 1) they aren’t the only one, 2) Jesus knows and understands what they are/have experienced, and 3) they can be healed and set free from all the things that try to plague their minds and hold them captive to the lies of the enemy.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Midland, TX native. I consider myself a newlywed because my husband and I have only been married 4 years as of this past August. Together we have 9 children, all from previous marriages; and we have 6 grandchildren. We are both in full-time ministry. He works as part of the education team at Adult Teen Challenge Midland, and I am also the local director for the Midland Basin Chapter of Child Evangelism Fellowship.

The majority of my speaker opportunities come from schools and youth events where I share my mental health experiences as well as my faith and how my relationship with God and Jesus being my Lord and Savior has not only saved my life, but it has put me in a position to help others who need the same help I needed. I don’t believe that I solve a problem. I believe that I make know the solution to a problem that everyone has, has had, or will have at some point in their life and that is being attacked first and foremost in their minds by our enemy, satan. I am most proud of being able to take what he, satan, meant for my destruction…which was my breakdown and suicide attempt, and allow God to turn it around into something good and meaningful and powerful for the Kingdom of God.

What I want people to know is that the work continues. Our ability to be fully healed and restored in our minds is only as strong as our capacity to grow and develop and God uses our experiences to do that. We only have to surrender them for His use and not our own. I want people who follow me or work with me to know that above all of the tools and tips that may be shared in our discussions or conversations, above all of that I want them to go away know that God loves them and that He sent His perfect son Jesus to die for them that they might have a right to be called a child of God and have access to eternal life, both now and forever.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This question is so reflective because to be resilient is to recover quickly, so to answer it I have to ask myself, have I recovered quickly? The truth is that I think that it’s the people around you who have been with you during your trial and story who are the ones who are qualified to answer it. Would my 3 daughters and my son say that I have recovered quickly? Would those who knew me in 2013 say that I have exhibited a mental toughness or have developed the capacity to withstand difficulty? My hope is that the answer would be yes because I know how difficult the road has been and yet I am still here. I am still growing and learning and seeking God for what to do next.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Because I had been somewhat successful in my network marketing business, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on how I would operate my speaking business. I had read several books on how to “manifest” the money I expected to make and had taken some classes and trainings. What I had to unlearn from all of that is that when it comes to running a business that is faith-based, it’s the faith that has to come first before all of the formulas. So that meant spending more time in prayer and seeking God’s direction in all of my business matters. It also meant trusting his timing for speaking engagements.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notperfectjustpurposed
• Linkedin: Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=ladawnia-scott-17a4b058
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GMOgEHsccA