We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shayla Gordon-Jesse. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shayla below.

Alright, Shayla thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I had been asking God for direction on my calling. I knew He wanted me to share my faith, but I had no idea in what way. I also knew I was hindering Him with my lack of faith because I struggled believing I was good enough for Him to use.
I was allowing my personal struggles to steal my focus from God. I was also allowing it to chip away at my self-worth and my joy. I had been tying my identity to the emotions from a personal struggle I was dealing with instead of my relationship with God. I had fallen into the habit of making prayer time a one way conversation with God as I was doing all of the talking. It’s not that I had forgotten the importance of listening for God’s direction, but reflecting back, I think I had decided I didn’t want to hear what I knew He wanted to tell me.

When I finally got quiet, God gave me clear direction— the direction I had been avoiding with my personal struggle. I chose to be obedient to His leading. My obedience to follow His direction in my personal life led to Him giving me clear direction on the calling He created me for. The first thing He told me to do was to write The Covenant Woman, a book inspiring women to grow their faith and take ahold of all of God’s promises.

Although I had no idea where to start, God led every single step. He started by giving me the name of a woman He wanted me to reach out to so that I could get the ball rolling with the book.
Self publishing a book the way God guided me to do is not cheap. As a matter of fact, it was a five figure investment, and there was no guarantee I would ever see a return on my investment. God assured me this was the direction He wanted me to go. He filled me with peace. Although many would have viewed investing this amount of money as a risk, I never looked at it that way. I was not concerned about investing the money because it was something I knew God needed me to do. Although earning the money back would have been nice, it was not something on my radar. My assignment was to write what God told me to write, and then take the steps He gave me to take. Because I was partnering with God, I only wanted what He wanted.

When the book launched in June of 2022, it was exciting as I watched my work launch into the world. Along with excitement came a nervous feeling. That anxious thought, “What if others don’t agree with what I have written?” continued creeping in. There was also opposition from the enemy as he tried to instill fear by giving me thoughts such as, “You are not even a writer.” God quieted my anxious thoughts by saying, “You are qualified through me and those who I need it to touch, it will touch. You’ve done your part, and I will do mine.”

Many women were unknowingly supporting my calling when they purchased the book. The testimonies sharing how the book was helping them was more fulfilling than I could have ever imagined!
After the initial launch, a few books would sell from my website monthly. The book continued to sale on Amazon here and there but like I said, I was not focused on marketing and advertising. From time to time, I would ask God if there was anything specifically He wanted me to do, but the answer was always the same. I was to just continue doing what I was doing which was mainly sending out my weekly Covenant Woman emails.

That was until the beginning of 2024. As I was walking through my kitchen on a cold February morning, God said, “I want you to start using your voice and stop just hiding behind written words.” I immediately started begging Him, “God, please don’t make me do that. Lord, you know how nervous I get speaking in front of people.” He interrupted my pleading with these words, “Shay, it’s not about you; It’s about the people I can touch through you.”

His words changed my entire mindset in a single moment. He then told me to open up a TikTok shop. Even though I didn’t understand why, I filled out the paperwork to open up my TikTok shop.
God started putting messages on my heart to share with other women, and I did just that. I have watched in awe as He has touched the hearts of others through the words He gave me to speak. Book orders accelerated—selling nearly 4,000 books from the TikTok shop alone in 2024. Simultaneously Amazon sales and my website orders sky rocketed to numbers that left me speechless.

Just months later in August, God gave me a vision for another book to write. Just like He did with The Covenant Woman, He directed each step of the process. I am honored to say the new book is set to launch in April of this year. The journey God has taken me on since 2022 has not always been an easy one. My faith has been stretched as He has guided me to take on assignments I never imagined being asked to say yes to. I have learned the significance of our obedience when it comes to the assignments God has for us. I have also learned that when God calls you into something, it often feels like a risk; however, the real risk is found in not saying yes to God’s call. Those who ignore the call
will never experience the true fulfillment God created them to experience.

Your Heavenly Father always has your best interest at heart. He has a good plan for you according to Jeremiah 29:11. His calling usually doesn’t make sense at first. It is often so far beyond your comfort zone that you feel too inadequate to say yes. This is because we can’t do on our own what He assigns to us. It is only through His provision, grace, and wisdom that allows us to bring His plans for our life to completion.

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

I have always been a woman of faith, but it wasn’t until the last several years that I started to learn the significance of surrender and obedience when it comes to God’s plans coming to pass in our lives. I had been a single mom for quite some time to my beautiful daughter, Kassidy. Up until 2022, my background was in teaching and Network Marketing. When God called me to write a book sharing the significance your faith and knowing who you are as a child to the King of kings, it caught me by complete surprise.
We all have the purpose of sharing Jesus with others, and God gives us each different gifts and skills in order to do so. He has called me to author books as well as share my faith in other ways. Aside from being an author, He has called to share my voice by hosting The Covenant Woman podcast and through public speaking.

Getting to watch other women grow their faith in God’s promises as they step into a deeper relationship with Him is what I am most honored to be a part of. It is such a beautiful thing to witness someone taking steps toward the fullness of who they are as a daughter to the King.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

This last year has been a year of transition on every level from personal to business. As someone in the Network Marketing industry for nearly the past decade, I have promoted hair and skin care products that I love. The products are crafted, tested, packaged, and shipped by the company I represent. The resources are readily available for each product including descriptions, clinical testing, etc. The company offers all the training we could possibly need as well as any assistance that is needed.
God has made it clear to me that The Covenant Woman is now my main assignment. I still run my Network Marketing business, but it has become more on a very part time basis. I am learning how to accomplish all that needs to be done for both businesses while being a newlywed and a mom to my daughter who will graduate high school in a few months.

Last year The Covenant Woman brand grew expediently. Aside from writing my new book and growing a TikTok following to nearly 50,000, I have also been learning how to take care of backend duties such as my website upkeep and advertising. It is a large work load for someone who is new to it all. One of my main responsibilities other than responding and engaging with my followers is creating, editing, and posting video content. This is a full time job in itself. I have learned that starting your own brand from scratch comes with a whole new level of work along with a very long list of responsibilities. Each task requires research and learning. Starting a business from scratch has proved to be much different than running a business in which the backend responsibilities are taken care of by someone else.

What I have learned is that when we put God first, He takes care of the rest. (Matthew 6:33)
God has shown me how to start delegating. I recently hired someone to be the Head of Marketing for The Covenant Woman brand which has taken a huge work load off of me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When God told me to open up the TikTok shop and promote my book there, I thought it was very odd. I had a TikTok but didn’t open the app often. I certainly hadn’t utilized it much for promoting or sharing my book. The specific instruction He gave me with TikTok was to use my own voice. This was terrifying until He told me it was about the other people and not myself. Growing my TikTok following has been a direct result of being obedient to God’s direction to use my voice. Advice I would give to those who are looking to build their social media following is to be yourself. There is only one you, and the world needs to experience her. Each person has special gifts. God created you with a special calling. Even when others have similar assignments, your gifts and skills are unique and needed to those who God has called you to serve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecovenantwoman.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecovenantwoman/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shayla.gordon.14/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecovenantwoman4411
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shaylagordonjesse
  Podcast: The Covenant Woman podcast anywhere you listen.

Image Credits

Photo credits to Katie Yott with Katie K Photography