Meet Kewana

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

Kewana, 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?

There was a moment in my life when I learned what failure actually meant.

You see, I always got good grades because my mom told me that when I became an adult, I had two options: get paid to go to college or land a great job. Because, as an adult, I couldn’t live with her for free—and she wasn’t going to pay for me to go to college.

That led me to ask her, “How do you get paid to go to college?”
She said, “Get straight A’s.”

So I did.

But one time, I got a B- or something on an assignment, and I was devastated. So naturally, I went to the teacher to negotiate my grade—because I had to get paid to go to college.

It wasn’t until I got older that I realized… not many kids negotiate their grades. Haha.

I pretty much told my teacher that my failure was their failure too—because it’s their responsibility to teach me until I mastered it, especially when I’m doing the work at home.

My teacher agreed to let me do extra work to bring up my grade. When I was able to make a deal with them and get my grade changed, that’s when I realized something: with every failure, there is a lesson.

I need to learn it—and execute on it.

From then on, I recognized that failure doesn’t define me as a person. It doesn’t mean I am a failure. It just means I don’t know or understand it yet.

And God has given me the ability to learn anything I put my mind to. So by faith, when I fail, I look for the lesson, I learn it, and I execute on it.

To me, that is resilience.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Growing up, I watched my mom migrate to the U.S. from Jamaica—with me, of course—and figure out how to navigate a new country. She started from the bottom and rose to the top. She ended up going to law school and then started her own law firm. Later, she got into real estate, and at one point, she even opened a beauty supply store.

Through it all, I watched my mom climb the success ladder—but she was often on edge and burnt out. By then, she was a single mom of three, and I know the pressure to provide for her family was heavy.

That led me, subconsciously, to take every business elective offered at my high school. I even got an award for it. I then went on to study International Business in undergrad and Global Business for my MBA.

But still, I didn’t quite find what I was looking for.

What I did find was in scripture.

So, for over a decade, I studied business through the lens of the Bible—everything from operations and deal-making to acquisitions, mergers, and equity structures. I found all of those concepts in scripture. Then I would do case studies and test the concepts to understand them experientially.

During grad school, I got married to the love of my life, and we now have two beautiful girls. We decided to homeschool for many reasons, but one of the big ones for me was wanting them to understand business on a practical level—and to give them space to find their purpose without it being imposed on them.

Truthfully, I never really fit in at school.

With everything I discovered over the years, I developed a system to help small and medium-sized businesses scale. I was so excited because I created it with my mom in mind.

And now, when I work with small and mid-sized business owners, I see my mom in many of them. When they hit their milestones, it feels like I’m walking in my purpose.

I want to annihilate the small business failure rate.

I’m starting a movement where the idea of a small business failing becomes a thing of the past.

There are a few ways people can begin working with me—whether they’re just starting up or scaling to 8 or 9 figures. The best way to start is by reaching out to my team from my website.
www.kewanamcdonald.com

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?

Listen, Listen, and Listen to understand people. There is a wealth of knowledge in stories. There are clues for success in every person’s story. I am not perfect at it, but I have become a better listener as I have learned to listen to understand as opposed to listen to respond.

Always Learn. Even experts have to keep learning because new technology will always change the game.

Execute well. Truly whatever you do, give it your best. Whatever you do, do it with integrity. And if you make a mistake, apologize and try to make amends. You can never reach your full potential without stretching yourself to the limits

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

The Bible has played the most important role in my development. One of the most valuable pieces of wisdom that I have received from the scriptures, is that the purpose of work was not for provision. When God made Adam and Eve, they were already provided for and yet, God still gave them work. Why? So that by manipulating and handling the things that God made, they would learn more about him and by beholding they would be changed into his character. Character is developed and they needed to develop a good character even though they were created adults. So every challenge I face in life, I know it is there for me to build a good character. Anything, I work on, down to chores at home, is all for my development of a good character. When I focus on that, I tend to not stress too much over my provisions and I am always provided for.

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Dexterity Productions

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