Meet Rebekah Pierce

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

Hi Rebekah, 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.

To be honest, I am still “overcoming” imposter syndrome. As a Black woman, we face this challenge to be what others want us to be (at the harm to self) or what they do NOT want us to be (loving self) every day of our lives in nearly all areas of our lives. It is both exhausting and dangerous to our wellness and wellbeing. For the past three years, I have put into practice mindset work, what I call “The Lemonade Mindset” (to believe it so that I can see it). I have come to learn that the mind is a creator of both destruction and life. What you think, the mouth speaks, the eyes search for, and the heart internalizes, so being mindful and intentional about what I let into my mind and what I let escape from my lips has been a daily – minute by minute, hour by hour – practice.

Some of the resources I’ve used to assist me in my wellness practice have been meditation, of course, intentional walks in nature, daily scripture readings, and studying the work of women like Tina Lifford with her “inner fitness” philosophy, the work of Patrice Cullors’ “The Abolitionist’s Handbook,” as well as daily affirmation statements and other literary resources. I am also completing a certificate in Womanist Leadership. This has helped me the most to understand that “imposter syndrome” is a direct byproduct of living in a patriarchal system designed to elevate capitalism and, thus, destroy the communal mindset of women, but especially Black women, to be well so that they can be of service to themselves first (the God within) and as an extension, their communities.

I have many labels: mother, teacher, veteran, businesswoman, lover. But I am much more than these things. I am Rebekah Lynn, and to accept the naming of “imposter” for myself is to deny my existence and worth. So, as I stated in my opening, overcoming this syndrome is a daily practice – a rewiring of the brain so that I am able to be well.

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 am a writer and writing coach. I have taught English Literature & Composition (aka, writing) for over 25 years and been a professional editor for 30. My professional writing goal is to help other women tell their stories in the written form so that they can prepare it for whichever medium works best for them (i.e., print, social media, video, etc.). I am also a professional writer with several published books in both the nonfiction and fiction genres. I love to both read and write.

In short, I am a creative and where that has taken me is to places that I did not imagine was possible. In 2020, right before Covid closed the world down for a bit, I launched a bakery called Maggie’s Cupcake Cafe at the time. We have since rebranded it as Maggie’s Custom Sweet Treats. We specialize in baking sweet treats from scratch with an emphasis on delivery memories of baking in the kitchen with our grandmothers, nannas, Big Mommas, or mothers. Baking, to me, is another form of artistic expression. It is love in a cupcake. LOL! We were delivery-based service only up until the end of 2024. My goal for 2025 is to develop the bakery as a lifestyle brand. In fact, we refer to our customers as “Sweetaholics,” which we have trademarked. We now offer signature baking mixes to inspire families to bake together with the freshest ingredients we can bring to the market. It is also our goal to provide stellar catering services to nonprofits, corporations, and C-suite businesses that are looking to add the “home” touch to their customer base.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The 3 skills or qualities that I brought with me on my journey thus far have been resilience, noseyness, and customer service excellence. Like many people, my life has not been easy. I have had to fight for every win (as we all should do) but growing up with a single parent in some of the toughest environments but meeting teachers and coaches who refused to let that be an excuse for not excelling was a big win for me. Joining the Air Force gave me a new level of resilience I didn’t know I had beyond what I had come through in my childhood, but it did. I learned how to manage people and take care of the business of business in the service. As a teacher, learning how to think outside of the box to inspire the desire to learn has been the greatest asset to my longevity in the field. I have worked for (and with) almost every kind of boss and customer, so I have developed a strong sense of service, boundaries, and tolerance.

Finally, all of this has taught me how to get excited about being nosey about the possibilities of my life. That’s right! Although often terrified when it comes to change, I also get real nosey about what’s around the corner, so I have no problem turning the corner. LOL! I am driven by what is possible for me if I step outside on faith and see if my wings are working on that particular day or chapter in my life.

These 3 skills and qualities have enabled me to move forward in creating a life that may look disjointed and scary to others but is bringing me closer and closer each day to becoming the human being I am supposed to be so that I may be of service to others. Therefore, my advice for folks is to do what you know you are moved/called to do scared anyway. Be afraid but do it scared anyway.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I am feeling overwhelmed, I stop and take a deep breath. Inhale. Hold for 3 seconds. Exhale. Most people are holding their breathes waiting for the bomb to drop on their lives, and this is because they left life run over them. I always tell my students and my children that life’s job is to whoop your butt. Your job is to make sure the blows don’t land so hard: bob and weave, if you can. But when the punches land, and they will, if you have been “living,” they won’t take you out. So, breathing – taking intentional breaths – is so important for when one is feeling overwhelmed.

Also, I intentionally seek out a body of water. The sound and flow of water calms my nerves down – like stepping on the brakes. It brings me back to center because it reconnects me to the Divine energy of life. We are in the water in our mother’s womb for 9 months – a safe harbor. So, I return to the water when I can feel anxiousness overwhelming me.

Prayer and meditation also work for me. Scripture says to “Be still and know that I Am.” For me, this means that there is healing and rest in stillness. Answers are also there in the stillness. We live in a world that tells us we should be constantly moving to be of value. That’s a lie. Constant movement is death. Our bodies need to rest so that it can 1) recalibrate and 2) recharge. Meditation forces rest. Prayer is you petitioning the Divine (God). Meditation is listening for the answer. One of my favorite books is Geneen Roth’s Women, Food, & God, and in the book, she talks about how when we are shoving food in our mouths instead of stopping to acknowledge our pain, or shopping in a frenzy, or whatever it is we are doing to avoid feeling, we cannot hear/connect with God. So, being overwhelmed is moving away from the center of self – from God/Divine. And that is when we get ourselves into trouble.

Finally, I seek out laughter. I love to laugh! Laughter releases the happy endorphins into our blood stream and brings relief and medicine to our organs. It also reminds us that we are present in our lives at THAT exact moment. We are alive and all truly is well. We do not have a problem. We have an opportunity. Laughter is good medicine, indeed.

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Image Credits

Credit Emmanuel Pezoa for the collage of Rebekah.

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