We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shemitria Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Shemitria, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
For as long as I can remember, I have always cared about the well-being of people. I have always believed that people are amazing and rare and special and are destined for greatness. During the pandemic, I set my fears to the side and pursued what I believe is one of God’s purposes for my life – to pour into people; to pour love, to pour motivation, determination and a pursuit of belief. When we believe in ourselves, we can accomplish anything. The Visionary Associate’s mission is to not let YOUR dream, just be A dream. Let us help you accomplish your dreams. We believe that most of the time people just need to be spoken into. Life has allowed their light to be diminished and we are here to put that flame back to the light! We won’t give up on you and we won’t allow you to give up on yourself. We all have dreams which are worth pursuing if it is something that we really want to do. You will be surprised of whom you can meet (the person that is already inside of you) when you start to walk on the other side. We don’t teach anything new, everything that you have, everything that you are, everything that you need is already placed inside of you. We are only here to help it emerge.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am just a little black girl from Shreveport, Louisiana who refused to believe that I was set here for something greater and not only myself, but you and you and you – we were all placed here for something greater. The world loves to focus on the negative which if not careful, we can allow to infiltrate us from the inside and allowed to spill to the outside. But the good part is that we can be aware of the fact that we can choose what we allow to be spoken from our mouth, so why not use it to speak positive – to look for the positive in the day. Every day might not be a great day but there is something great in every day. I am the calm, peaceful storm – as I have been so affectionately called. For as long as I can remember, people come to me when they are all wound up and need a moment to “get into the peace of the situation”. They usually leave clear-minded and with a sense that whatever the problem may have been, the solution has now been found and could be applied. So, this is partially where “The Visionary Associates” came from. It was birthed with the idea in mind that we could touch people right where they are. That by utilizing what they have right now (which is hope, love, creativity, determination, and intent) they can move forward with positivity, peace and love. They can move forward with a desire and knowledge of dreams potentially accomplished and goals attainable. We offer vision board workshops, life coaching and our very own Positivity Possession Course. With the vision board workshops, we believe that if you can see it, you will be more likely to move with intent to accomplish it. A vision board is a physical representation of your dreams and goals. Your vision board is a collage of images and words representing your goals that you want to accomplish. Whether it is traveling, advancing your career, purchasing a house or starting a family, your vision board allows you to put an image to your dreams. I encourage my clients to post your vision board on a wall in your home so that you can constantly see it and allow it to give you inspiration to keep working toward your goals. Life coaching is another service we offer. Sometimes we all need a motivator or cheerleader in our corner and a life coach can be just that, with a little accountability partner added to it. A life coach can help us to get on track. A life coach is not a therapist in the sense we are focused on your past, we are more focused on your future and where you are headed. Lastly, we have the honor and pleasure of creating a course that we have seen students pivot right when they need it. The course teaches people to live more positively by focusing on the positive aspects of life, as well as, becoming aware of our thoughts and the notion of what is really holding us back. This 4-week course is no joke and is only for those people who are truly ready to live in a way that internally, as well as, externally you are working toward or living in a place of true joy and peace. I think what sets us apart is that we are a partner for you and with you. We want you to be the best you so that you can be the best you. What we offer is not something that we were taught or somebody we transformed into, this is who we genuinely are. We genuinely care about you. We genuinely want you to succeed. Yes, we are a business but we are not in this just make money, We are in this because we want to touch as many people as possible so that they can walk in their greatness. Can you imagine a world where everyone you meet is walking in their excellence? Who is actively participating in their story to create, to accomplish, to dream, to believe? That is what we hope are the encounters – the sparks – that people feel once they connect with us. We are most proud that we are here. That we believed in ourselves enough to practice what we preach – to put into action our goals, our dreams. Especially in an environment where we don’t have the long-standing success of companies that are similar to ours. We are walking in God’s grace and mercy touching who we can. You are amazing, you are rare, you are important – too many people are not told that so they don’t know their power – their greatness – so they don’t walk in it. We are not the problem – the problem is not the end – there is always a solution.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I started listening to Les Brown about 6 years ago and what I realized was he was that person that I needed because prior to him I didn’t have people that were speaking life into me in that way. People putting into words that fullness that was inside of me that I couldn’t quite figure out. When I heard him speak, I couldn’t turn him off. I listened to him day and night because he made me realize that it was possible. That despite not seeing a huge market for this idea I had, that I could do it. That the fire (the churning) that was inside of me was for a purpose. So, I just started putting it together – thinking it was possible. thinking that I could do it, thinking that right now was the time for The Visionary Associates. And the more I put it together, the more it came together, which let me know that finally I had stepped into God’s purpose. I believe that we all have pivot moments and this was a pivot moment that had been waiting on me – I was the hold up. Also, around the same time, I started listening to Joel Osteen just as much as Les Brown. And Joel was letting me know that God put me right where he put me right where I needed to be. And that I was moving and walking with purpose and intent – which to me was confirmation. So, to this day, I am still an avid fan and listener of both, but now I have more “crumbs” that feed into me like Lisa Nichols, Brendon Burchard, T.D. Jakes, John Hannah and Ivanya Vanzant.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2016, I resigned from my job after 16 years. I had no plan, no next move, no planned next step. I had gotten to the point in my job where I was going to just be okay with being okay or if I was going to trust and have faith that God has something greater in store for me if I just believe in Him and myself. Me and God had spoken right before I walked into my bosses office with the words, “I am leaving” because I could not believe that I had spoken them. I love God but at that moment, we was just passing by each other so when it happened, I was just as shocked as my boss. I gave a 2-month notice because I was on shaky faith but pressed forward. Almost immediately, an opportunity to become a consultant was from a phone call and referral from a dear friend. And not even 3 months later, another phone call of a request from a prestigious Institution asking me to come interview with them. 4 months later, I was being offered a Director position and 6 months later, I was on Day 1 with my new team. And even now, as I write this, I acknowledge the quiet girl who was a self-proclaimed introvert who speaks with confidence and passion as I speak about The Visionary Associates. I stand tall to cheer for you, to motivate you, to encourage you, to love you because you are amazing! I am amazing and I am so proud of me because here I stand – hand-in-hand with God, twirling at all of the pivot moments He gives me! (Trust me, there is a whole lot of story in-between these words and I rewrote this a couple of times but another time…lol)
Contact Info:
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