We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Simone Muschett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Simone, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

9 years ago when I decided to start a nonprofit, I shared my excitement with family and close friends. Initially I thought I would be showered with encouragement and support. Perhaps it was because I was starting a nonprofit which meant, in my environment, you plan to work for no money or it was something that my family believed I could not do, simply because they have never seen it done before. I felt too insecure to try alone. I met a guy at this summer program I worked for who shared similar goals that I had.

Naively, I did decide to partner with him to start with the impression that it would be easier having someone to do this with then I may be less anxious or afraid to fail.

The partnership did not turn out as planned. I spent about two years pouring into a non profit to which my own partner stole funds. To make matters worse, I was doing all the operations, recruitment and planning. My partner enjoyed promoting.

After realizing I went into business with someone who did not share the level of integrity for the donors who entrusted us to use the funds to further our mission, I chose to step down. Initially, I wanted to fight and cut him out, but it was more work to save a tainted organization than to leave and start my own.

I left and a year later I started Resilient Young Minds Inc. I share this story because starting a business is no easy feat. Challenges and failures are a part of the learning, growing, trial and error process necessary for you to improve. Don’t be discouraged by others who are not able to see your vision. It was not meant for them to see, that is why God customized the vision for your eyes.

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 like to call myself “ The Ultimate Social Worker” because I strive to utilize all my gifts and talents to provide my community with tools for maintaining a healthy mental status. Therefore, in the many things I am about to list, my personal brand remains consistent. I am passionate about creating safe spaces for trauma storytelling that requires vulnerability, fosters human connectedness and a sense of belonging. I do this in the following ways…

As a high school student who was clinically depressed and engaged in self-harm, I immediately was able to identify those traits in my students as an educator. After being reminded several times by my educator peers, “ teachers are not social workers”, I decided to pursue a masters in social work. My students showed me how the trauma baggage they carry with them is a distraction from receiving and processing their academics. So, I left education and became a School Social Worker. However, in the process I started my nonprofit Resilient Young Minds Incorporated, RYM Inc.

Our mission at RYM Inc. is to teach youth and families how to fight trauma with resilience so they can access healing and their fullest potential. Our niche program is our transformational Resilience Camp. A weekend to week long retreat that allows a set group of people to identify, process, reflect and release their trauma on a personal, professional and social level.

From meeting so many different people and hearing so many stories, I was so inspired to keep going. I felt like I was no longer alone in the world. So I decided to start a podcast! The “R Stories” podcast is a safe space for healed community influencers to share their trauma to resilience story with the hope to inspire, foster connection and create a sense of belonging for those who feel alone. My podcast is available on Apple and Spotify podcasts, as well as my YouTube Channel The R Stories Podcast via “The Ultimate Social Worker” page. I am also a therapist via my own practice, specializing in faith based child and family therapy.

While preparing for launching my podcast I did a photo shoot that got me a call back from West 38 Studios. They motivated me to get a portfolio together and I have been modeling for the last year! I’ve done NY & LA Fashion Week, Miss Fashion Global and my most recent experience is being a Couture La Rouge VIP Model Ambassador. I learned very quickly that Modeling is a platform to raise awareness about mental health and the work I do through RYM Inc. The best part of it is that modeling is my self-care. My confidence has grown and a sense of self-love came over me after my rapid weight loss from work-related stress.

In the midst of my listed experiences, I have published two books, “The Diary of A 1st Year Teacher” and “Cultivating A Resilient Mind”. The first is about my first two years teaching in NYC and the other is a self-help book that includes devotionals and RYM Inc workshop activities.
At the end of the year I will be launching my third book “ The Ultimate Social Workers Diary: A Becoming Story.” This one is more like an autobiography with the hopes to inspire and empower my community as well. I model how trauma storytelling can foster human connectedness, by sharing my journey becoming the Ultimate Social Worker I am today.

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

I started off on a path to a stable career in Education. Four years in, I started to elevate to the level of instructional coaching. However, I did not agree with the manner in which conflict regarding students were handled. Five years into teaching I realized I was facing an ethical dilemma in that I no longer wanted to do what my current school was expecting me to do. Usually when I am unhappy about work, I start looking for a new job. In this case, I was in a career that claims to aim to educate children, however, their practices, in my opinion, were not always in the best interest of the students. For that, I knew I had to leave.

I took time to reflect on what I do well, and which parts of teaching I enjoyed the most. The most rewarding aspect of my job was allowing my students to have a safe space to talk about their lives, giving them room to encourage and inspire each other and seeing the growth at the end when they are reading on grade level. School Social Work had been on my mind since I graduated from undergrad. My family and friends convinced me that Social Workers do not make money and teaching would be the better option for me. Thankfully, meeting a school social worker motivated me to return to school for my Masters in Social Work (MSW) and upon completion of the MSW, my plan was to apply for a School Social Work position at the school I already taught at. However, I was making great progress with our at-risk readers and they did not want me to shift roles. Although I felt a little discouraged, I was able to secure a position in an Elementary School as their school social worker after receiving over 25 rejections.

The transition from Educator to School Social Worker was seamless. During the MSW program I had accepted a job with my internship at an Agency doing family therapy, while I was still a classroom educator. This allowed me to become a competitive candidate with my ability to combine my skillsets in education and social work to enhance the expectations of an ideal School Social Work candidate.

If you ever feel the urge to pivot, more than likely, it is time for you to elevate and change. Don’t allow it to confuse, frustrate or burden you. Acknowledge your feelings, Remember your why, Identify the options available to you for a pivot, Strategizes your next steps then Execute plan. That is how you ARISE (Muschett, 2021) from a pivot.

Can you open up about how you managed the initial funding?

In 2017 I was a 26 year old Educator who had started pursuing a masters in social work while teaching high school reading. I share that detail because I had met my expectations for life at that point I did what I was supposed to. Went to collage, got a job, earned a livable wage. Yet, I was not fulfilled. I did my job well, however, I learned while teaching that I really value developing the whole child.

So I decided that I would start my own nonprofit and invite my current students to join. The most significant part about Resilient Young Minds is our retreats, Resilience Camp. Therefore, much of our funding goes to that initiative. In 2018, I leveraged a T-Shirt fundraiser, my alma-mater’s campsite property and my own personal salary to ensure that we could take 10 high school students upstate for at the time our “ Youth Empowerment Seminar” (YES). From April to August, I was able to fundraise $3500 for our first camp in September.

What made fundraising run smoothly for our first camp is that I had already developed a reputation for helping kids. Those who donated, volunteered or supported that first year were colleagues I worked with, college friends who witnessed me mentor youth in the Albany Community, and my professional and personal mentors. I coordinated events at my school for students to express themselves. So it was not difficult to believe that I wanted to start a nonprofit as it related to professional life. My network. At the end of the day. What we really need to get started is a group of people who believe in your vision and are willing to invest their time, funds or resources just because you asked them to. That is how you build the capital to start. I did not have money or much physical resources, but I had skillset, the heart and enough witness that wanted to be apart of what they also saw I was building. Now 7 years later we have facilitated 9 full weekend camps and countless workshops for parents and adults who work with youth. Ironically, still using that same fundraising model. Only difference, I am not the only one personally investing. Now we have a membership model in which alumni and community members can invest a monthly fee for a voice and a hand in the planning and coordinating our events. With this new approach we are able to build capacity, raise funds and provide high quality service to our participants.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/simoneemuschett
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetic_j21/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rym_inc
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/simone-e-muschett-lmsw-76322645
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IamTheUltimateSocialWorker

Image Credits
Photographer- Wayne K. Gabriel Make Up Artist- Princess Scott