Meet Jasmine Stokes

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jasmine Stokes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jasmine below.

Jasmine, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

For twenty years in the corporate world, the reality was stark. 98% of the time, I was the only Black Woman on my team, in that department, in that room, or chosen for that leadership table.

In the early days, my strategy was pure survival. It was a silent mantra of “don’t be seen or heard,” just keep my head down, play the back, and get through it. That shell felt like the safest form of armor.

But the journey shifted as I watched the women in my family dominate. Seeing my mother steadily climb the corporate ladder and dominate gave me an essential foundation of strength and courage. Then came the divine instruction from my Auntie: “Let your light shine”. She later delivered the full message: “So that men may know Him,” meaning Christ.

That revelation changed everything. I realized that shining my light and operating fully in the person I was created to be wasn’t about me being seen; it was about God’s presence and purpose being evident through me. My focus shifted entirely to my character and conduct.

I started allowing my character to speak for me, my bold and bubbly personality to inspire, to heal, to bring laughter, and to bring a knowing truth into every conversation. I looked up one day and the shell was gone. There was no more sitting in the back or playing the back. I couldn’t minimize myself if I tried, and the incredible part was that everyone wanted all of me.

I grew to lead people, to be the host or hostess with the mostest (you know I had to put that in there, lol), and to simply and humbly realize the truth: **it was you were going to take all of me or none of me.** Being the ‘only one’ stopped being a burden of isolation and became a badge of intentional impact. Now, I simply show up as the whole Jasmine Stokes a.k.a Coach Jas and that’s how I am most successful.

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Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m Jasmine Stokes, but most know me as Coach Jas, the founder of The Greater Me Consulting.

What I do is empower Black women with the skills and confidence to launch and sustain thriving coaching businesses. My own journey, which included 20 years in the corporate world, revealed a critical gap: Black women were held back by corporate limitations but lacked the practical, faith-centered guidance needed to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship.

My signature, life coach certification, program addresses this by integrating faith-based principles, entrepreneurial development, and strong community support. We go beyond traditional training to equip the whole woman, focusing on everything from business strategy and client attraction to overcoming key challenges like isolation and confidence gaps.

What I feel is most exciting and special about The Greater Me (TGM) is the movement and the community we’ve built. Seeing women step into their power, launch their businesses, and create lasting, generational impact in their families and communities is the greatest reward. It’s a joy to witness their lives transform.

Finally, I want your readers to know that The Greater Me Consulting is more than just a business; it’s a movement. We passionately believe in the power of faith, the strength of community, and the transformative impact of coaching. If you’re ready to move in what you were created for, we are here to guide you every step of the way.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

When I look back at the journey from corporate to full time entrepreneurship, three core areas were absolutely non-negotiable for success: Financial Awareness, Prioritization, and Dedication.

1. Financial Awareness: Know Your Numbers

You simply cannot run a successful business if you don’t know your numbers. Get comfortable with budgeting, understanding your cash flow, identifying trends, and mastering your expenses. Your numbers tell the whole story; even when they’re low, they provide the clearest direction on where your focus and resources should and shouldn’t be.
Advice for Early Stages: Stop hiding from your bank account. Make it a non-negotiable weekly habit to look at your income and expenses. If you’re scared, hire an accountant or bookkeeper before you think you can afford one. That knowledge is power.

2. Prioritization: Master the Grind

For the first three years of business, I was a wife, mother, daughter, and a full-time corporate “baddie.” Success required militant prioritization. While “grind and hustle” are words many steer away from, let’s be honest, you need to grind to get to the “soft life.” You must find balance in the personal vs. work grind.
Advice for Early Stages: Schedule your ‘big rocks’ first. Prioritizing your tasks, setting boundaries, and managing your calendar is key. If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist. Learn to say ‘no’ to good things so you can say ‘yes’ to the great things aligned with your goals.

3. Dedication: Go All In

Do you truly want this business? Do you truly want the vision you’ve seen and written down? It’s going to take your full commitment and dedication. This means dedication when you’re spending more than you’re bringing in, dedication when your social media is crickets, and dedication when you’ve received more ‘No’s than ‘Yes’s.
Advice for Early Stages: Check your ‘Why’ weekly. You must make sure you are all in and on the journey to success no matter what. Dedication isn’t just showing up when it’s easy; it’s showing up when the only thing fueling you is faith.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

It is absolutely better to go all-in on your strengths and lean into your zone of genius.

Trying to be “well-rounded” often means you become mediocre at everything. In the early stages of business it’s tempting to try to do it all, learn graphic design, master accounting, and write all your own code, but this isn’t effective. It’s a slow path to burnout and mediocre results.

This is why I advise keeping steady income, even from a 9-to-5, until your business can afford to invest in external expertise. My philosophy is this: an effective CEO needs high-level awareness across all functions. You need to know what to ask but then you hire the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to execute the task. You don’t need to be the expert in everything, and honestly, you don’t want to be.

My own journey into entrepreneurship highlighted this. I came in without deep knowledge of how to professionally brand a business. Instead of spending weeks taking classes and bogging myself down with design software, I made a strategic decision: I connected with a branding guru, hired her, and learned just enough to clearly articulate what I needed, wanted, and liked. To this day, I still work with her. I let her work in her zone of genius, and I stay focused in mine; coaching and empowering women.

My advice is simple: Set a budget, find someone who does what you need done within that budget, and grow your partnerships along the way. Don’t be discouraged if your budget is small; you can find experts who fit. Stop trying to improve areas that are simply someone else’s calling, and start focusing your time and energy where you can deliver the most impactful results.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thegreatermeconsulting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegreatermeconsulting/