We recently connected with Sheila Hughes and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sheila 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?

The mission of Glow Up Counseling is to educate communities through mental health awareness, while normalizing individual treatment and services for persons living with mental illness.
I grew up in a small, predominantly African American neighborhood located in northeast Denver, Colorado (Park Hill). The metropolitan area of Denver only consisted of roughly 3% African American population at the time (early 1980’s). The neighborhood was mainly young African American families that had migrated from the south or west in hopes of better job and educational opportunities. 85% of the families were headed by single mothers within the low income bracket. My environment was surrounded by poverty, drugs and eventually gangs; I was unaware at the time, but my life was greatly affected by all 3. Initially, my family consisted of myself, my father, my mother, and older brother. My father developed a drug addiction which resulted in him leaving, my brother became involved in gangs, and my mother dealt with poverty as a result of my father leaving. Fortunately, I was oblivious to the hardships because I was always surrounded by love and guidance from my family. They constantly encouraged, supported, and awarded my academic and athletic achievements. As an adult, I often visit my old neighborhood and am reminded of the negative path my life could have taken if not for the guidance I had as an adolescent. Many of my old friends are on the same path as my father with drug addictions, some involved in gangs like our older brothers, others incarcerated. My dream would to be to save my community and all of the families like mine. My life’s purpose became helping by working with individuals one by one with the mental health issues that lead to substance use disorder which can ultimately destroy families and communities. While following this path I have been able to work with individuals suffering from other forms of mental health challenges which broaden my scope and driven my passion for what I do, ultimately birthing Glow Up Counseling allowing me to learn, grow, and expand on my dream. I now work from home and conduct 45-60min virtual sessions with individuals suffering with various mental health diagnoses. I am able to go out and do community forums, panels, events as well as public speaking and group psychotherapy courses.

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.

I came into the Mental Health field by way of my Pastor and Mentor, Russell Porter Sr. (Deceased). I was 19 years old when I met my pastor. I was not interested in going back to college and had no real direction at the time. We talked about what I felt strongly about and it was my community and the trauma built around poverty, substance abuse, and oppression amongst the predominantly Black families in Northeast Denver at the time. My pastor had a similar interest as he had written articles and launched a movement to “Save the Black Male Seed”. We worked together to identify my spiritual gift, mercy, and how I felt I could help my community. Initially, I wanted to become certified in addiction counseling. I begin taking courses and after completing some clinical hours at different facilities, I decided to go back to school. I chose Metropolitan State University of Denver because they offer Behavioral Science, which definitely piqued my interest and fit perfectly within my career goals. The rest is history. I begin working in the mental health field while completing my education. For 13 years I worked with different populations and facilities gaining experience with adolescents, eating disorders, trauma, military personnel, inpatient, and incarcerated individuals. I also obtained my licensure in Addictions counseling. These tools help offer individuals coming from these institutions or struggling with these areas, counseling. We now have clinicians that offer couple counseling, family therapy, amongst other services. Our goal is to help support and offer guidance for individuals struggling with mental health challenges. We are trained to provide a safe, non-judgemental environment with multiple resources and tools. An interesting fact I was not aware of until I opened my Private Practice two years ago was the small percentage of Black mental health clinicians in the country, I believe it was around 6%. I do receive many inquirers from people of color and I think it is the idea of working with someone that “looks like them”. I am most proud of my growth as a counselor, but also an individual. I am following my passion and surpass my wildest dreams. I love what I do and could not more Blessed than to work with such amazing people everyday. I am honored that people trust me with some of their most difficult life moments.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am laughing right now because I feel like my life is a constant pivot! I am a single mom of two and at the time that I started Graduate school, my daughter was turning 2 years old. I had just completed basic military training school and my career training with the United States Air Force. I worked mornings at a inpatient facility for children and adolescents with eating disorders and taking night classes at Regis University. The first weekend of every month I had unit training with my military job as a Reservist. It has been a balancing act and I do have a very good support system within my family. Two years ago,after a decade of pivoting, and working hard in my career, education, and as a mother, I decided to branch off and start my own practice. This was never a goal, I actually wanted to be a school counselor and have certain days and holidays to align with my daughter. After a major health scare and very existential life moment, I realized I want to have more autonomy over my life. I still pivot but I like doing it on my time and with the flexibility to work from home and be with my kids.

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

I am not sure if it is a lesson, while in graduate school we had to do a lot of self reflection and I found a lot of self imposed anxiety. I think culturally, there are so many “rules”. Rules or norms like “get married by 25”, “have kids by 30”, “you’re old at 40”. I am not sure where they came from but I definitely had to reevaluate how they were affecting my life choices and self esteem. I think it can be unnecessary pressure and very much unrealistic goals. I had to “unlearn” them and live my life on the timeline and journey specific for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.glowupcounseling.com
• Instagram: glow_up_counseling_
• Facebook: GLOW UP COUNSELING & CONSULTING, LLC

Image Credits

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