We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ce’dra Rogers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ce’Dra, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience – “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness; the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.”
James 1:2-5 (NIV) “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of your lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
I really had to sit and wonder where I got my resilience from. I think resilience is something innate; something that I say all the time, is “it has to work, or it has to work.” I’ve been left with minimal to no choices in a lot in my life… so things either had to work, or it had to work.
The earliest example of me facing resilience is when I was in high school. In high school, I was infatuated with creative writing — writing fiction and non-fiction works. I took a creative writing class for the year, and I specifically asked the guidance counselors if it was possible for me to take it again. They told me it was. Halfway through my second year through the course, I get called to the office and was burdened with the news that I could NOT take the course and I had to switch mid-year. Pissed was an understatement: I did my due diligence! Even when I specifically asked how the wrong information was given to me, they couldn’t offer me anything but a mealy apology. Even though they couldn’t give me the answer I wanted, they did offer to put me in a journalism course. Little did I know that that would put me on the path to where I am today.
Genesis 50:20 (NKJV) “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day…”
I finished high school with the intent to go into journalism. I had every intent to go to Lipscomb University for journalism. I toured the campus, got accepted, I knew the dorm I wanted to stay in, I had scholarships… I had EVERYTHING set to start in the Fall of 2010. Everything except… T U I T I O N (capitalized and spaced out for emphasis). My mom had to sit me down and tell me that I could not go to the college that I had prepared to go to for almost a year! I was devastated. And to make matters worse, it was the late admission phase for the state university I did NOT want to go to, and it was my only choice.
So… through a connection with my mom’s friend, I was able to get in touch with a woman named Vivian Harris. I had to plead my case, and explain why I was applying so late and I had to pray that I was able to get additional scholarships to cover my tuition. She was frustrated about hearing about another student that applied at the last minute, but she pulled through for me. I never did get a chance to thank her in-person… and I hope I can meet her one day and just give her the thanks that she deserves.
I remember feeling deflated. I had to beg to get funding from a school I didn’t want to go to, but I had no choice. Money was not afforded to me at this point, so I had to take what I could get. I’d never forget though… that night, God gave me a dream and it just kept flashing Tennessee State University’s emblem in my head. When I woke up, I knew that this was God’s plan. I didn’t understand it then, but God really did His thing.
At this point, I’m now attending the illustrious Tennessee State University. A Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Nashville, Tennessee, that at the time was familiar because I grow up going to the annual parade, being on campus while my mom completed her undergraduate degree, going to the homecoming games. The thing that was just… familiar. My perspective shifted very quickly once I experienced the freedom of being a young adult on campus, among peers that look like me, and still having the room to grow and change. Things are good, and I still have my independence as a young adult, and my mom is still nearby… that is until the beginning of my sophomore year of college.
I’m on campus at the beginning of the year, and my mom brings me ALL of my belongings because she made the decision to move to Mississippi. She had been tinkering with the idea of moving there since the summer, but she never fully decided to do anything. I remembering warning her that her reasonings for going where misplaced, and she really needs to do her due diligence to ensure that she should go there for her benefit. My mom tends to act on impulse and this was one of those HUGE impulses that has put us in binds before. She acted on impulse, and this time… I was essentially by myself. For real this time. My father (who ironically is in the same city) is “there” but, not really. He’s helped when I had no choice to ask him for help, but it was really me by myself with no where to really go once the breaks occurred. I had to make something shake… For real.
I had a FULL schedule. 18 credit hours, work study, working part-time. I wasn’t trying to ask my dad for anything because he had a knack for making you feel bad for asking for help by holding it over your head or boasting about or outright lying about how he “helped” in a situation. (No disrespect to my father in any way, because the times that he has helped it was really needed. However, it would be wrong to try to paint him in a light that makes him seem better than he is.) Around the same time, I’m starting a relationship with my now-husband, and since sophomore year, he really has been a rock and helped me out whenever he could be. I had to take extra summer courses, just so I could stay in on-campus housing or stay at my mom’s friends’ house (because I was NOT living with my father). Things were like this up until my senior year of college when my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I moved off campus and into our first apartment together.
Fast forward to now. I’ve been through a few jobs. Some horrendous, some where I’ve made mistakes, some where it just wasn’t a good fit for either of us. I thought I finally found my role and in all of my time working… and then I got laid off. I’ve been furloughed before, but I just knew that being laid off would be a very short time for me. Boy, was I WRONG.
I was laid off at the end of May 2024. At the time of writing this, it’s January 2025. I’ve been self-employed this entire time with a FEW of some businesses I had no choice but to put my all into. I have a media agency that I’ve been saying I’ve had for a few years but didn’t do much with, as well as some other side hustles that have been dormant. I decided to use my business to really hone in on my marketing and project management experience, and my knack to just “run off at the mouth” and talk to people to become a streamer full-time. Being self-employed allowed me to work on projects within my media agency, as well as my other businesses. I also didn’t have to worry about putting my daughter into daycare at the moment, but finances have been TIGHT in this household.
The interesting thing about resilience is it doesn’t just show up in hardship, but it’s always there. The resilience to keep working on businesses while not knowing where the money is going to come to pay bills. Or to stay in a toxic role or muster up the courage to just outright leave, while waiting for a better one to come through. Or just dealing with crying children, remaining calm to try to understand your tiny humans. Resilience shows up in so many ways for me on a day-to-day basis. Some days are easier to display resilience than others, but honing and putting resilience in practice makes it easier to “make it work, or make it work.”
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?
By day, I’m a marketing project manager for an investment firm. Other than that, I am the owner of CR Media Agency, LLC, where I help creatives, content creators and business owners strategize, create or manage their projects, content and campaigns. In my business, I also stream as Cebeaux on Twitch, Kick and YouTube where I host co-working streams, some gaming content and I host church services on Sundays. Ironically I didn’t want to stream, but I received a relentless amount of requests for me to start streaming. I decided to give it a try, and I told people that I’m not going to shy away from praying, talking about God, discussing how Jesus has impacted my life, and watching various Word-focused content on stream. With all of the various communities I’ve been a part of for the three years I spent on Twitch as a viewer and supporter, a lot of those same people supported me and helped me become an affiliate within the first week I started streaming! At this time, I’ve been streaming for a little over 2 years as an affiliate on Twitch, and I’ve starting focusing on creating content on YouTube and Kick for about 6 months. In fact, I just became an affiliate on Kick January 6, 2025 for being consistent on the platform. I thank God for people who choose to support me and the content I create.
I’m extremely grateful that I’ve been able to show consistency and success on Twitch (and now Kick and YouTube) as I show up as myself. I make it a point to show people that as a Christian, I can openly show my love and adoration for Christ, while also interacting and co-working with people of various backgrounds and beliefs (while being funny and interactive). I also make it a point to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to speak what He wants me to say, and I’m also sympathetic to those who have been mishandled by other Christians and the overall Church. Of course, I’ll play a video game every now and then, but I mostly use the time I’m streaming to complete tasks for work, my businesses or handle some housework or errands.
I also own a couple of other companies that I started in 2024, such as a home and commercial cleaning business and a notary and loan signing business that in Middle Tennessee. I have a few other businesses up my sleeve with my husband and we’re actively working to start operating within those businesses.
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?
The three biggest qualities that continue to be impactful on my journey are:
1. Mindset
2. Integrity in everything
3. Execution
Mindset is something that I constantly focus on, and anyone who is connected to me has to have the right mindset. It took a lot for my mindset to be in a place where I have an “attitude of gratitude” and also “worshipping before I worry,” (Tiphani Montgomery). My current mindset is why I choose to believe that “it has to work, or it has to work,” and choosing to have faith in God that everything is working for my good. I choose to believe that my words have the power create our environments, and I refuse to speak negative on my current situation, and choose to speak the things that I want see in my life .
A prime example of this is calling myself broke! In my streaming community, I say we are “rich with the hard R,” which means richness and wealth in ALL aspects of our lives. I refuse to call myself broke (even if the funds aren’t funding like how I would like), and anyone who types in my chat is not allowed to call themselves broke, speak down on themselves, or generally speak negative on their situation. Anyone who does that, I tell them to come out of agreement with those words immediately and replace what was just said with the opposite of what they negatively said. I’ve been told that anyone who has interacted with me has realized that they needed a shift in their mindset, and they realize that this shift is necessary to begin to want and require better for themselves.
Integrity has been something that is imperative for me to operate in. Would I be okay with receiving work that someone didn’t operate in integrity in? Am I okay with someone who didn’t have integrity in their marriage, or integrity in their relationship with their children? Integrity is not something that you should just switch on or switch off. I want to be integral with everything I do, and everyone I connect with. Showing integrity in every aspect of your life is crucial for me to want to work, collaborate, or just spend time with you. If you are not integral, it’s important for me to distance or just disconnect altogether.
Execution is something that I value now as a project manager and just an overall business owner and entrepreneur. Execution isn’t always easy to do, so having the skillset to be able to deploy something that was planned (or even unplanned!) takes tenacity and finesse. Execution requires me to be studied in what is deployed, to be involved in the processes, and to take ownership of the glows and grows.
Funny enough, my alma mater’s motto is “Think, Work, Serve.” It just dawned on me and it’s fascinating how everything aligns.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Something that I prioritize more than ever, especially when I’m overwhelmed is “stare at a wall,” (literally).
Staring at a wall prioritizes my need to rest physically, mentally and emotionally. Staring at a wall (literally) allows me to process, think through or sometimes strategize on solutions. I can focus on what’s truly important at the moment, and allow myself the space to feel my feelings, be realistic of the situation and operate in faith.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.crmedia-agency.com & https://www.cebeaux.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cebeaux_
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cebeaux14
- Twitter: https://x.com/cebeaux_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cebeaux_
Image Credits
The first image of me in green – Divine Inspirations TN
The rest of the photos are my own screenshots.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
