We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Devaney Cole a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Devaney, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
That’s a great question. I’d have to say that my generosity developed throughout my young life. I grew up in a lower-class, single-parent household, and finances were tight. I was very much aware of our financial situation and understood the struggles our family faced. One thing that consistently happened throughout my childhood and teenage years was that we always had what we needed. Whether it was a miracle from God, someone, or something, provisions were made and we never went without. One of the most impactful provisions that I hold dearly, is a woman at my Church who was determined to expose youth to the world and grow our leadership and development through travel and service. She understood the financial status of my family and raised tens of thousands of dollars to sponsor my family and others to make the travels abroad. Despite our low financial status I was blessed enough to travel to 3 countries and work to serve other families & communities in need. It was through generosity that I had those travel experiences that were life-changing because they helped me realize that there is enough for everyone. I experienced situations where I saw generosity from communities in extreme poverty and yet they gave their last to serve and it forever changed my heart to operate out of generosity. After I completed college and entered my professional career, I began to experience a culture of scarcity in my workplace environments. Where people operated with the belief that they need to take from one group in order for them/their group to flourish, that they needed to remove someone from their seat at the corporate table for them to have a seat. They believed that if one group exceeds, it’ll diminish their flourishing. I was experiencing a zero-sum mentality in those environments and I did not like it at all. I decided the best way for me to show people that there is enough for us all is to remain generous.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m Devaney Cole and I’m Founder and Executive Director of KC Metro Homeschool Wellness Education, Inc. (also known as KC Metro Wellness). I am a full-time homeschooling mother by day and a Medical Laboratory Scientist by night. Both my journey through the obstacles of homeschooling as a black family in the KC metro area combined with my passion and conviction for students to learn health, wellness and longevity education alongside their academics is the inspiration for KC Metro Wellness. KC Metro Wellnes is a nonprofit organization for homeschooling families in the KC metro area. Students learn physical education, mental health, culturally relevant nutrition and cooking in various ways. This program is unique because it supports the experience and diversity of household structures in the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) homeschooling community. Few homeschool organizations are structured to meet those needs. Another unique aspect of KC Metro Wellness is the mental health Education classes. Mental health wellness is imperative at the adolescent ages and we are empowering youth with the education needed to stop generational mental and physical health decline and navigate their unique obstacles with a sound mind. KC Metro Wellness is an organization that was built to provide relevant solutions to these obstacles and enhance the home-educated learners academic journey.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’ll answer this in two parts, first I’ll start with two qualities and then one area of knowledge. The two qualities that are most impactful in my journey are time management/balance, and courage. I believe if you are early in your journey it is important to not exhaust yourself. You can’t give your best work from a place of exhaustion. The most important area of knowledge that has been most impactful in my journey is my college education in the clinical sciences. My education about how science relates to the human body has been foundational in my understanding of health and wellness. Another piece of advice I’d give to someone early in their journey is to make sure they’ve taken the time to properly educate themselves and be vigilant of the sources of their education to avoid unbalanced and biased educational material.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Wow, it’s really hard to only name one book because I do a lot of reading. I’d really like to name five, but i’ll compromise and name two. The two most recent impactful books in my development have been Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington and Fresh Banana Leaves by Dr. Jessica Hernandez. These two books exemplify why it is important to have an awareness of different ethnicities experiences and validate those experiences. This is important to in order to be an effective, compassionate leader.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kcmetrohomeschoolpe.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kcmetrope/
Image Credits
Christa Rice @Crissicurly for headshot
