We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Keisha Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Keisha, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from being raised in a Christian home by a single mother. It’s a story in the Bible where Jesus told a man to pick up his bed and walk after being sick. His answer to healing was to pick up the thing that signified his affliction and keep moving. As a child, dealing with asthma, my mom would say that to me and it built a resilience in me mentally to keep moving. I now use this in my adult life to encourage me when it seems difficult to keep going.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the proud founder of Relevant Brands. Relevant Brands consist of my nonprofit organization, Relevant 2.0 Inc which was designed to provide resources to teenage girls and their families. During the pandemic I became aware of a young lady close to me that was doing self-harm as a way to cope with life challenges and to my surprise it was a problem plaguing our community of teen girls. After doing research I discovered self-harm increased 99.83% during the pandemic and I knew I had to do something and that’s when I partnered with a team to create Relevant 2.0 Inc. In 2014 I was sitting on my sofa dealing with the reality of infertility. I began to feel defeated and overcome with the pressure of having an answer for those who had such high expectations for me having a baby and I heard the voice of God say to me “you are relevant”. I quickly looked up the definition and it stated “appropriate to the matter at hand’ and I instantly knew that what I was experiencing was not just for me but for the millions of others feeling as though they aren’t relevant simply because of their imperfections. I needed to tell them that they are relevant and that’s how my women’s ministry, entitled Relevant was started. While doing my conferences and being a mentor to other women I would often hear them reference being a mom so it just made sense to create a brand inclusive of Relevant and Relevant 2.0 Inc. I’m excited that I also have a devotional journal entitled 31 Proverbs of a Relevant Woman for women and a Relevant 2.0 Journal which is a teen 5 Minute Gratitude Journal which are both Available on Amazon. We have an amazing website, Relevant20.org where parents, donors, and volunteers may connect with us. We are available on all social media platforms as Relevant Brands and offer a variety of resources and encouragement to our community of Relevant Women. I am most proud of the fact that young ladies who will grow out out our nonprofit will have the opportunity to be mentors to young ladies who was just like them and have the platform to share their story. We are kicking off so many impactful events in 2024 and we can’t wait to partner with likeminded individuals. Platforms such as yours is essential in the success of our endeavors and we are grateful for your platform.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three most important qualities I feel has been most impactful in my journey is integrity, transparency, and courage. I would tell anyone to possess integrity in whatever you do. Integrity will open doors where your skills may come up short. I believe integrity is what causes you to outlast those who cut corners in order to gain instant success and gratification. I would also advise anyone to be transparent while understanding the boundaries you set depending on your audience. The Bible tells us that we overcome by the word of our testimony. Many times shame keeps us locked in a place of darkness and silences your voice but once you realize the power of your story we experience the freedom in sharing it. Once you decide to have integrity and transparency it will definitely require you to have courage. Courage can be obtained by making small courageous decisions and following through with them. If you’re going to do anything great in this life find your why and you’ll find your purpose.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Our nonprofit organization is currently looking for like-minded individuals to partner with. We want to collaborate with individuals who share the burden of seeing the young ladies in our society know their relevance and see themselves as God sees them. Due to the greatness of our mission, we are looking for donors to help us provide resources such as therapy. a safe to to be empowered, and provide experiences that exposes them to different cultures and ways of seeing life. We are also looking for parents who want their daughters to be a part of a safe community where they get to share ideas and grow with their peers. At Relevant 2.0 Inc we understand that it truly takes a village to raise our youth and we want to be a part of that village.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.relevant20.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/relevant.brands?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keisha-smith-628509262?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@relevantbrands
Image Credits
I own image credits to all images
