We recently connected with Shantay Carter and have shared our conversation below.

Shantay, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My name is Shantay Carter, better known as “The Nurse Philanthropist”. I am a Registered Nurse, Founder of Women Of Integrity Inc., and Best -Selling Author of Destined for Greatness.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Shantay Carter, better known as “The Nurse Philanthropist”. I am a Registered Nurse, Founder of Women of Integrity Inc., and Best -Selling Author of Destined for Greatness. I have been a Registered Nurse for the past twenty-three years. In 2021, I transitioned from the bedside to an outpatient Neurology office.

People would ask me; how did you go from nursing to starting a non-profit. I would tell them that my non-profit was created out of necessity. I say necessity because, At the time that I created my nonprofit Women of Integrity, I had just been through a bad break up. I fell into a depression and was spiraling downward into a very dark place. I was in such a dark and negative place that it began to affect my work, home, and personal life. I couldn’t see it, or maybe I didn’t want to see that I was depressed. Thank God, my three best friends recognized that I was depressed. They staged an intervention and called my parents. After having that come to Jesus moment with my family and friends, I knew that I needed to make some changes and channel that negative energy into something positive. As a result, Women of Integrity Inc. was created, and it literally saved my life. It allowed me to turn my pain into my power, which helped me to become resilient. It led me to my passion and purpose. My passion and purpose is working with women, especially young women.

Women Of Integrity Inc., is a 501C3 nonprofit organization. Our mission statement is: Women of Integrity Inc. is an organization of a diverse group of women from all different educational, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds whose aim is to support and empower women of all ages and ethnicities, while fostering the confidence necessary to accomplish their goals, dreams, and aspirations of the future. We extend our support through: Volunteer service, Professional Mentoring, and Community outreach events.

We are known for our Annual Prom Dress Drive, Prom Dress Giveaway, Galentine’s event, Women in Business Brunch, Annual Prom Makeover Project, and we worked with a local High School’s after school mentoring program. My vision for WOI, is to be that support system, community, and sisterhood for our young girls and women in the community.

One of the things that we are most proud of is our annual Prom Dress Giveaway. Over the past thirteen years, we have been blessed to provide hundreds of girls with free prom dresses, shoes, and accessories. The smile on a young girl’s face when she finds the right dress, is just priceless. To know that we played a part in that, is just a blessing.

Women Of Integrity Inc. celebrates thirteen years of service to our community, this year. We are so proud of how far we have come. We are excited about what the future holds.
Women Of Integrity Inc., opened the doors for so many other opportunities. We started our brother organization Men of Integrity Inc., which is geared towards empowering young men. We also created a nursing support group, called Nurses of Integrity. I became an Amazon Best -Selling Author, an award-winning empowerment leader, award winning nurse, and motivational speaker.

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

Starting a non-profit was no easy task. I just knew that I wanted to be of service and give back to my community. I remember our first ever prom dress drive was an epic failure. We only collected about 10 dresses. At that point, I wanted to give up, but I that I couldn’t give up. I knew that it wasn’t about me. It was bigger than me. So, I put my feet to the ground, networked, and built up the organization. As a result, the following year we collected over a hundred dresses. We were able to host our first prom dress giveaway event, which was a success. Taking the time to network and build relationships with other community leaders was one of the greatest keys to our success. What started as just an idea in my notebook, has gone on to become this successful award-winning organization. Our story of why Women of Integrity was created, is a testimony to our resilience.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think what helped build my reputation in the non-profit world, was the fact that I was a nurse. I used my nursing experience to help me identify the underserved communities in my area. My coworkers were my first supporters. They knew that I was someone with integrity, hardworking, and trustworthy. Those qualities made people comfortable with supporting. I was vulnerable and transparent about why I started the organization, and who I wanted to serve and why. That allowed people to get behind the mission and support the organization. I will always be grateful for that. My community actually saw me doing the work and being of service. I led by example and carried myself like a woman of integrity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.womenofintegrityinc.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/WOIINC
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/WOIINC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/women-of-integrity-inc-7036625b
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/woiinc2011
• Other: My personal contact info: https://linktr.ee/shantaycarter https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantay-carter-163ab131 https://www.facebook.com/S.CarterRN https://instagram.com/s.carterrn

Image Credits
Smd Vision Photography Rondaprez Photography