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

Alright, Shawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I am the founder and CEO of Zion Institute, a non profit that is transforming people, communities and the marketplace to break cycles of generational poverty. The mission of Zion Institute was born out of my personal journey of escaping poverty.

“As a child, I longed for things that many took for granted; a stable home, enough food to eat, warmth during snowy winters, even healthy parents. I can recall winters with no heat in our home because my mother couldn’t afford to pay the bills. I can remember friends sharing food with me and my siblings when we had none. I can never forget the nights I wondered if me and my brothers would be okay, as our mother experienced manic episodes in her untreated mental illness.

Yet, despite growing up with so many challenges, I was blessed with above average intelligence and I had more dreams and hope than most others might imagine. And there were so many other children JUST LIKE ME, who just needed to be noticed.

There were strangers and acquaintances along my journey that recognized my resilience and were inspired enough to
give me something that many from my community did not have: access. Access to knowledge, experiences, relationships, environments, and opportunities beyond anything my personal circumstances could afford. That access changed the trajectory of my life, and is the genesis for everything we do in Zion Institute.

Shawn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a social impact entrepreneur, I am working and serving my clients to create long-lasting, legacy building community impact. As Founder and CEO of Zion Institute and WISPHer Consulting, I operate a campus in South Phoenix, AZ called THE WELL @ Zion Institute which offers transformational resources to community including childcare, preschool, social enterprise development, integrated health services, family preservation services, and emergency resources.

I am committed to using my skills and experience to replicate solutions that impact the quality of life for others while creating generational wealth. I achieve this by showing other visionaries how to MONETIZE THEIR MISSION. I am non-traditional in my approach to business development in that I see other social impact service providers as collaborative partners to be leveraged for us all to bring forth solutions to ending poverty. Asset-based community development is key to transforming communities that lack access to resources. To date, I have helped to launch or expand 63 small businesses from Arizona to Africa in the nonprofit and for profit sector.

I am most proud of my walk with God, as a believer in Christ. Nearly 30 years ago, I tried ending my own life because I didn’t understand that I had a purpose. That single tragic moment was my pivot into purpose. I owe might life to God, and I am honored to serve others with this life that He saved. I am proud to be a wife, mother of 6 and grandmother of 15. Family is my first priority. I am breaking cycles, breaking chains and creating women of virtue as a transformational speaker, teacher and published author. I am known in the field of consulting as “the Solutionist”.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

There is no feeling that is more painful in business than missing payroll. Unfortunately, this is something that I have experienced on my journey as an entrepreneur. But the experience taught me some very valuable lessons.

Just 7 days before payday, things were looking great. Then I got the news that the insurance companies were not going to pay within the 11-14 days that our contract stated. My anxiety went through the roof, because I didn’t have a back up plan. As a new business, gaining a line of business credit was challenging with my personal credit score. I had been relying solely on the revenue that we earned each month.

I called every business colleague for advise. Desperate for a solution, I even considered merchant cash advances, which was equivalent to loan sharking with the rates they were offering. After a couple of nights of sleep deprivation, I had to send a notice to my team to advise them that payroll would be late. It was a devastating experience, one that forced me to examine my strategy.

I learned some things about myself. I learned that I allowed pride to keep me from asking for help, which caused my staff to endure unnecessary delays in their pay. I learned that my network was filled with untapped resources. Once I was willing to be vulnerable enough to share what I was experiencing, I had relationships with people that could help, with training and other resources, including financial capital. In my case, the relational capital went a lot further than the money that a merchant cash advance could have provided.

I sat with my leaders to develop a plan to put a reserve account in place to ensure that payroll would not have to be late. I also started working on my personal credit to position myself and the business for better days ahead. I also attended some trainings about how to build business credit.

I’m proud to say that I went on to reach some 7-figure revenue years, and the business is continuing to grow. We still have growing pains, but I allowed the experience to teach me about how to fill my leadership gaps with people who had the expertise I needed to make the business excellent.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My journey into business has been very unconventional. I didn’t attend business school or attend classes for business until many years after beginning my entrepreneurial journey. Every thing I did learn in school or formal training taught me to research the market to understand my “competitors”.

As a social impact entrepreneur, my interest has always been in building my community while creating wealth. The most critical lesson I had to unlearn was operating my business with a scarcity mindset. A mentality of lack or limited availability of resources causes you to perceive that someone else’s success impedes your own. As long as I was looking over my shoulder to see who had more, or who was serving the same population, my energy was wasted.

I grew up with a poverty mentality. That same limiting thinking made it difficult for me to imagine myself managing or maintaining wealth, for myself or my business. As soon as I decided to imagine competitors as collaborators who could be leveraged to excel both of our businesses, I expanded my network and increased my revenue streams. I had to gain confidence in the fact that no one can be ME better than me, and the way I deliver my services is unique to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: thezioninstitute.org and wispHerconsulting.com
• Instagram: smpvirtuous
• Facebook: Shawn M Pearson, Journey Coach and Zion Institute
• Linkedin: Shawn M. Pearson
• Youtube: Journey to Virtuous