We recently connected with Rebecca Anuru and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

Starting Dream Keep Consulting was a complex journey! The journey was mostly internal as I grappled with real-world manifestations of anti-Blackness trying to stifle my life’s mission.

The longest part of the journey was surviving the Hood, but the most challenging part of the journey was getting into college/grad school and realizing that my ‘kind’ of Black was frowned upon. Being from The Bronx and unapologetically Black was such a huge part of my identity growing up that walking into a new world even more full of anti-Blackness was hard for me to navigate. I will say that being told that I had to “let go of that Hood ish” by a Black elder was definitely the tipping point early in my career where I realized that maybe there was not safe space for me in the realm of White Supremacy Culture-centered “professionalism”. Being cussed at under the guise of an elder claiming to be trying to set me ‘aright’ was a clear pivot point.

As I fought to not have to bury my dynamic identity while working across numerous youth-service systems – I realized that many of the challenges I was facing were very similar to the youth I served – mostly those who related to my lived experience. I looked around and discovered that there was so much internalized racism that needed to be unpacked within the Black community. Why is it that ghetto Black people are the only people in the world who’s culture can be copied and consumed by everyone else, but we’re told that our own mannerisms and culture look bad on us? It never made sense to me! I felt like the world was asking me to disrespect my momma every time I was unapologetically proud about where I am from and the many Hoods that raised me.

I realized about 3 years before I truly birthed DKC that being “here for the Hood” was my brand! I spent my whole entire 1st year of DKC’s official existence (2020-2021) losing money and re-branding so that I said what I said with my chest! I had so many people say to me “Just say urban”, and I would always reply, “But there are Hoods in areas that are not urban, some of which raised me.” The structural and material conditions of the Hood became my mission to study and explain well so that I would not be gaslit about my own culture and experiences — while still being loudly devoted to improving the level of service provision for Hood Black youth.

Knowing what I know now, I would have left my imposter syndrome behind a few years earlier than I did! Do not believe imposter syndrome’s lies if you are feeling bogged down by it! I felt like because of all the anti-Blackness I endured throughout building my career, I unintentionally created a self-fulling prophecy of me not believing in myself and my mission. It threw me off my path until I was violently thrown back into creating my own way after being exploited by an organization which gave me my 1st and last salaried full time job. I will entrepreneurship, part time job, and project manage myself a million times over before I ever go back into the full-time world! DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU, despite how it may look to others! Taking the risk on me, despite the early hardships has led to profound growth and healing that could not have found me if I was unwilling to take that chance on me!

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

I am Rebecca Anuru, LMSW, MPH (she/her) – a Management Consultant, Social Work Manager, Public Health Educator, and Project Manager currently in training to become a Business/Organizational Psychologist.

I hail from The Bronx and identify as a queer Hood Black woman, a Hood Youth Advocate, and a Hood Scholar!

I am the Founder & Managing Director of Dream Keep Consulting (DKC), a consulting firm dedicated to the lives and genius of Hood Black youth – holding the people that serve and take care of them accountable to doing the real work – well. Dream Keep Consulting creates learning opportunities that promote self-reflection, community care, and activism – with the purpose of enhancing the well-being of hood youth everywhere. DKC is here for hood Black youth and young adults, their caregivers, and the human service professionals that serve them. DKC offers a suite of 3 types of services 1) Facilitation & Speaking, 2) Capacity Building & Evaluation, and 3) Leadership Coaching for a variety of youth-serving organizational settings and groups. Dream Keep’s services honor Hood Black cultural perspectives and are deeply youth-centered, no matter who is being served!

I am based in NYC Metro, but also do work nationally with DKC! You can check out my principles and work, including a definition of “Hood” and new online training opportunities at www.dreamkeepconsulting.com or on Instagram @dreamkeepconsultingllc.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded by INCITE! taught me all about the nonprofit industrial complex and how it manufactures false scarcity to keep communities under-resourced and under-served. It helped expand my horizons and be intentional about my thoughts and radical solutions for organizational change and development.

Humble Consulting by Edgar H. Schein helped me feel really seen in my Servant Leadership management style. Bolstered by my testing results from the Clifton Strengths Finder, I think I’ve been able to embrace that my type of management and leadership is rooted in Black culture, making it very different from other traditional models of practice. I accept difference with enthusiasm, individualize my approaches with clients and partners, use nontraditional music and activities to cultivate space for my participants, and seek solutions that work for everyone and build culture we can grow from!

Lastly, this book called Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk has helped me weave trauma-informed care into all of my work and helped me accelerate my own healing processes!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the idea that everything should be done the “right” way. I used to ponder: 1) Who gets to determine what the “right” way is? 2) What if “right” for everyone else isn’t “right” for me? 3) What if “right” is a lie?

I have a very unique career path and was often pressured into doing things that I knew would not work for me and my sanity – but I chose my niche population and worked my opportunities around serving them – not unsolicited advice. I also have done everything “right” on paper that we tell little Black kids in the Hood to do in order to succeed and at the end realized that it was a lie and a game. Higher education did not automatically guarantee me opportunity – it sometimes harmed me gravely as a first generation student. I urge everyone to try everything possible that they have access to until they get clarity on what works for them. I have done countless internships or had ‘get to know your career’ conversations with many professionals to clarify what parts of the work are my ministry and which to happily run away from!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dreamkeepconsulting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreamkeepconsultingllc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccarubyanuru/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dreamkeepconsultingllc4806?si=uSbnycYuLg4IcLpL
• Other: https://linktr.ee/dreamkeepconsulting

Image Credits
Christian Lovehall