We recently connected with Monica Mckee and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Monica, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
How did I overcome imposter syndrome? I have been mulling on this question for a few weeks now. In full transparency, I still wrestle with it from time to time. A few years back, in a time of prayer with my husband, I believe God spoke to my heart about starting a nonprofit to help individuals and families in need of car repairs to get their cars fixed. More importantly, this would be a service for people to experience God’s love for them through the amazing team of people within Drive Grace. The biggest challenge I have had with starting an organization was not the paperwork, it was and often times still is, leading people. I have little desire to be in a leading position and to find myself in this seat has cause a tremendous amount of imposter syndrome that has impacted how I lead and support the organization God has given me to steward. I wish I could follow this with a great how to overcome strategy but in my current experience, the greatest remedy for overcoming this syndrome is prayer. Raw and real prayer about raw and real feelings and situations – I lift it all up to God and allow Him to renew my mind and give me the strength to keep pushing forward.
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 wear many hats, like many people do. I am a wife, mom, teacher, ops manager to an auto repair business as well as board president to the nonprofit, Drive Grace. My prayer is to steward all of these well with grace and wisdom.
Drive Grace serves those in our communities in need of car repairs and eduction. It has been an exciting season where we are starting to build more community awareness and partners like Christ Haven and Valiant Hearts. We’re also seeing a lot more of the needs in our communities. These needs are great opportunities of prayer for our board on how best to respond, support, and show the love of Christ to our communities.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
God has made the greatest impact in this journey. In having a relationship with Him, I can continually go to Him to renew my mind, redirect me when needed, and remind me of who I am when I get lost in my mistakes or in disappointments. Prayer, reading God’s Word, and perseverance have kept me going when I simply wanted to give up.
My advice to anyone early in their journey is to talk to God about it. Lay it all out. Make sure it is not a good thing you are embarking on, but a God thing. Once you know He has called you to it, you can be sure He will guide you through it – always keep Him in it.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
The challenge we are facing that I am most excited to see God move in is our need for funding and vehicle donations. We have been providing car repairs to those in need and it has been amazing to help in that way. However, the need for a new vehicle has been increasingly the number one requests of those reaching out for assistance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drivegrace.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drive.grace
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069173303336
Image Credits
Not Purple, Lauryn Brown
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