We recently connected with Nakia Roberson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nakia, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

The best investment I made as a business owner was investing in myself. For many years I had a hard time believing in my self-worth and value. I allowed the negative talk in my head to affect me to a point that I was paralyzed in regards to moving forward and doing what God has called me to do. I didn’t love or believe in myself enough to walk in faith.

So, during the start of the pandemic, I decided to hire a business coach. I figured if I was going to be home I may as well do something productive that could grow my business. After a few months of my coach pouring into me I started to see things about myself and my business differently. I knew that change started with me and in order to grasp the fullness of what God has for me I needed a mindset shift.

I then began working out with a personal trainer, I hired a stylist to help me with my body image and how I felt about my look, and a therapist to help me process some trauma that I allowed to lay doormat for far too long.

All in all, I learned to love myself and feel good about who I was. This inadvertently had a tremendous effect on my confidence level. I started to walk in victory, my head was held high and I began making “boss moves” within my business.

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 back background and context?

My name is Nakia L. Roberson and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Clinical Relationship Coach, Consultant, and Motivational Speaker. I am currently working to become a certified sex therapist.

I’m also a wife to my high school sweetheart and the proud mother of a beautiful, intelligent little girl.

Ever since I was a young girl, I knew I wanted to be in the helping profession. Therefore, after graduating with my bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies, I worked for the Harris County Guardianship Program (HCGP).

This program is designed to help adults who no longer have the ability to care for themselves and need a guardian to guide and protect them. These individuals are determined incapacitated due to age or mental and physical disabilities by the Harris County Probate Courts. As a case manager, my job was to help maintain the highest degree of dignity, respect, and independence while protecting them from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This was my job for a little over a year before I pursued my Master’s degree.

So, I went back to school and completed my Master’s in Education. I taught as a Special Education teacher for five years and later decided to get my counseling certification. As a school counselor, I mentor and counsel students about various concerns such as social, behavioral, emotional, and familial issues. Although working with children and adolescents is tremendously rewarding, I wanted to make a bigger difference by not only reaching the child but the family as a whole.
After several years of working in the public school system and seeing the importance of how healthy family relationships can positively affect our future generations; I was encouraged to step out on faith and start my own practice, Next Stage Counseling & Wellness (NSCW).
At NSCW, our mission is to provide a trustworthy, safe environment and realistic guidance to inspire individuals and couples on their wellness journey. Our vision is to empower clients to make the choice to change by gaining clarity through tools, to help interpret and respond differently to life challenges.

Our approach to services varies based on the needs of the client. We work collaboratively with each client to establish goals and celebrate milestones. No two people are alike just as no two situations are alike, therefore our staff continues to attend training to enhance our skills. At NSCW, we truly believe a change can and will take place if a person is willing to put in the work and be honest with themselves.

We are a virtual group practice with therapists and coaches that are ready to walk alongside you as you take your life to the Next Stage!

We see clients for a plethora of reasons, but our focus for individual therapy is on persons working through anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions, sexual trauma, and self-esteem struggles. We also offer Walk Talk Therapy as an option to include physical fitness in the wellness journey.

Our couples coaching program is to help couples yearning for more intimacy amplify friendship and passion by turning up the volume on feelings of love and appreciation.

We at Next Stage want to help you discover your best self.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Prior to becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), I worked in a prominent school district for 22 years. I started my business while I was completing my internship for my licensure.

For several years I worked part-time in my business and full time as an elementary counselor and later as the lead counselor at a middle school.

Although I loved working in the school setting, as my business began growing, I knew I couldn’t sustain my roles as an employee, business owner, wife, and mother. So, I ultimately made the difficult decision of walking away from my 9 to 5. I will soon be celebrating my one-year anniversary of full-time business ownership.

Being an entrepreneur hasn’t been easy, it comes with many obstacles, but it also comes with many rewards.

For instance, in the short time of working fully for myself, I’ve been able to increase my clientele and hire amazing individuals to help run the business….I have a small but resourceful and dedicated team.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

Yes, my business has multiple revenue streams.

I have a couples coaching program, working with couples who are tired of living like roommates and want to deepen friendship and passion. I use a goal oriented approach to help them feel seen, heard and understood by first learning to accept and acknowledge their feelings so they can own and express their voice, emotions and needs.

I speak at events and offer workshops, courses, and webinars on various topics about wellness and self- love. My latest requested topic is, “Worthy In Brokenness”, where I share how confidence and value can be hidden in pain and heartache.

At Next Stage Counseling & Wellness (NSCW), we also have an e-commerce store. We sell merchandise geared towards self-love and therapy. Our most popular collection is our “Worthy Collection”. Which is a reminder to women that no matter what obstacles life has thrown their way they are not tarnished and in God’s eyes they are valued.

Last but not least, To normalize therapy in the Christian community we have our, “I Talk to God and my Therapist” and “God plus Therapy equals Clarity” signature mugs.

Contact Info:

• Website: nextstagecounseling.com and nakialroberson.com
• Instagram: @nextstagecw
• Facebook: @nextstagecw

Image Credits
Photographer: Eric Roberson