We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kiah West. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kiah below.
Kiah, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
The truth is I am still overcoming. I shed old beliefs and behaviors every year, every week, even every day now it seems like. My mental health has always been a silent battle for me for years, I believe coming of age I start looking at the world differently because I had to insert myself into the world and for a long time I could not find my purpose. That became depressing to me because as a sagittarius I am a natural born optimist lol. Like I always feel the need to achieve and not feeling useful or purposeful on a “in the world” scale just always put me down internally. In 2020 I went through one of my worst depression spells thus far to the point where I didn’t even like myself anymore, I could not recognize myself. I had just lost my dad a year before and grieving came and hit me hard the next year. I internalize everything before I actually process everything I just kind of store it away until it hits me. I would not recommend doing that, for the very sake of your emotional and mental health lol. I persisted through those times by applying myself, being around love, loving myself again, and just giving things a try. I started my clothing business which in turn was very successful and that uplifted my spirits, i continued on with that, I left my job, I traveled and I just made a commitment to “just do & have fun while doing”. Life is so short so you just have to fun. Most recently I found myself going down another rabbit hole of emotions after losing my grandmother, ups & downs in love & just making major life decisions at 23 years old so instead of opening that door for depression again I opened the door of opportunity for myself. I created a gratitude journal and made myself an author! A goal of mine since I was literally a child lol I always loved to read and write and so I just stepped out on faith and did it. It’s being sold on Amazon, it’s called “Girl Let That Sh*t Go: & Show Some Gratitude” it’s pretty self explanatory. I had some shit I needed to let go of so I turned it into a positive instead of a negative. It’s doing very well and it’s therapeutic for me. I also branched off and created a podcast for my journal and that’s found very well too, so to answer your question I would say staying creative helps me stay connected to myself. Being self aware and loving yourself is always good for your mental health and it gives you the confidence to fight off depression and just stay happy. I still battle with my mental health because I am now grieving the lost of my grandmother and it is so hard to just see the world the same when a version of your life that you were used to all of your life has just ended but I am committed to staying healthy mentally and just being good like how I know she would want me to be. I know she would be proud of me and think that was I’m doing is super commendable.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Kiah, I go by Kiah West, West being the first name of my late father & the name of my clothing brand; The West Brand. I’m 23 years old from Baltimore Maryland. I just recently became an author of my first gratitude journal being sold on Amazon “Girl Let That Sh*t Go: & Show Some Gratitude. Becoming an author has always been one of those life goals for me and doing it at 23 feels amazing lol. I still have much more to write about but that will come further down the line with more experience. Professionally I am currently focused on my new career as a teacher, another life goal of mine. I used to play teachers with my cousin when we were little and now look at me, an actual teacher! I’m a master manifester {haha} . I am a true creator, I love being creative, I just started my own podcast as a spin off of my gratitude journal where I invite guest on and we talk about things we need to let go of, our goals, relationships, etc. I am also the creative director of TheWestBrand, my clothing brand that I mentioned earlier, it’s like my first baby, I watched it grow and turn into something beautiful since the very beginning. We have done numerous fashion shows and even been featured in Nordstrom as a pop up shop. That was a full circle moment in my life because I used to work at Nordstrom and I left to follow my dreams and fully invest myself into my business, I will never forget that feeling and moment. Beyond that, I love fashion and styling so it’s only right that I tie what I love into what I do. At 23 that is my focus right now, just “doing it”, next year i’m sure my focus will change but I am happy with what I’ve accomplished by living by that simple mantra.
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?
Three most impactful qualities that I have acquired on my journey would be 1. having immense faith, staying close to God and my beliefs is what keeps me grounded. I am an over thinker so when I can’t control my thoughts I just give my problems to God and trust in his process. For number 2 I would say to believe in yourself, believe that you are the start button of your own journey, nobody else is. You have to see it and believe so that others can. Most times we are in our own way because of our doubts and fears but those are not real they are literally just thoughts. Don’t let that continue to hold you back that’s why you just have to step out on faith and just do it like i mentioned earlier in the interview. Lastly, number 3 I would say put yourself out there even if it’s only on your own leg, be able to stand firm in your vision and trust the process. You don’t need as much help as you might fear that you do you just have to have a goal and the will power to achieve it. Some goals take longer than others to complete and some things we may think we want for ourselves, God can see something better in place of that so just be able to adjust to change while you’re out there trying to figure it out. Putting myself out there has allowed the ability of expansion from business to business. Branding myself, staying consistent, trying new things, etc. has allowed me to be rewarded from all angles, mentally, spiritually & even financially. So my advice to those early on in their journey is to always be outside of the crowd so that you can see what the crowd lacks and then you come up with a solution for that lacking. That how you pioneer and elevate because you’re always going to be ahead. Some of the most successful people in the world are pioneers of problem solving, no matter how big or small. For example, I am a very petite woman and i’ve been that way all of my life, I started my clothing brand for petite women because that was a problem I had, my solution was hand-making pants for women my size so that we wouldn’t continue to have the struggle. I was very successful with the solution and ultimately my business expanded into more. Think big & don’t be afraid of your own potential.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I think the number one challenge I am currently facing is dealing with the loss of my grandmother. Losing her was like losing life as I knew it. Before she passed for a while my family and I were taking care of her, hand and foot. She ultimately wasn’t able to do anything for herself anymore so we became like in home nurses for her and that was a lot for me emotionally to one see her like that and two, having to adjust to caretaking. Now that she has passed it’s like mentally I am on pause because it’s like foreign to me not having her around. I go through life everyday now wondering how it’ll be when I hit certain ages and milestones in my life because I have lost basically two parental figures in my life already at 19 and 23. Not having them feels like a lost of security and now I feel like I have to be extra strong for myself. Thank God for my mother lol she has always been my rock and I don’t know what I would do without her. So I would say my challenge is staying in a positive mindset and continuing to see the world as a place that I can still grow in, even without having these people around. As far as what i’m doing to try and overcome these challenges I would say that I journal a lot, I do my podcast, I work work work, I cry really hard when needed lol and most importantly I pray and push. That’s really all I can do. Grieving is weird and it comes in waves so when those waves hit me I do one of the things I mentioned to try to make it through. Mental health is very important and should not be taken lightly, be kind to others because you never know what they are secretly going through.o
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7TCG9S7?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_quicklook_seeDetailsToDp
- Instagram: kiahxwest
- Twitter: kiahxwest
- Other: Shop Gratitude journal on amazon through link & links in my IG bio
