We were lucky to catch up with Nedra McPherson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nedra, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I discovered my purpose during the pandemic of 2020. I was stuck in the house unable to do anything, working from home, and could not go outside. Like most people, I thought this would not last long but as the days turned to weeks then months, I began to feel like my life was crumbling. All my life, I struggled with mental illness which heightened during the pandemic and I had to seek therapy. It was while seeking therapy that I came to realize that during my earlier years, I suppressed some things. While seeking therapy, I was questioning the direction of my life. Just before the pandemic, I was denied a position that had been promised to me a year prior. I was devasted! Struggling with what to do next, I sought deep within and asked God to show me my purpose. God told me that my passion is my purpose. I am passionate about serving my community as a breast health navigator. This passion developed because someone provided resources to me and my children. I was a single mother raising three girls. A breast health navigator helps women diagnosed with breast cancer navigate the complexities of the healthcare system to receive treatment and valuable resources. This passion led me to become the CEO and Founder of Butterfly Beginnings My Journey My Destiny.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the founder of Butterfly Beginnings: My Journey My Destiny, a grassroots organization, that serves the community with critical support for breast cancer patients. We address the emotional, financial, physical, and social concerns of our clients by providing resources to aid them from diagnosis to the end of treatment. Our mission is to provide education about breast cancer and to offer resources to help women and men living with breast cancer in Missouri and Southern Illinois as they navigate the journey to wellness. With our programs, we provide wrap-around support through patient navigation, wholistic health, and holistic wellness. Particularly disenfranchised individuals will find our service especially helpful because a host of factors impact an individual’s health and wellness.
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?
Knowing your passion is critical in the journey of life. Your passion will aid you in discovering your purpose. I discovered this later in life and wish that someone had advised me of this much sooner.
My education in Human Services opened my mind to being empathic and having compassion as I work in my community.
Communication skills are essential. Being able to properly relay information to people in a manner that they can receive and understand.
I would advise people early in their journey, to begin by knowing themselves. Know their strengths, weaknesses, what excites them, and what they would be willing to do for little to nothing at all. These things can be wonderful indicators of one’s passion.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am looking to collaborate with individuals who are passionate about patient navigation, wholistic health, and holistic wellness. Patient navigation is a guide to direct patients through the healthcare system. Wholistic health is patient-centered and considers the totality of the person. Holistic wellness addresses the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual components of one’s health.
I am looking to collaborate with healthcare providers, wholistic practitioners, urban farmers, other nonprofits, and breast cancer survivors.
Those wanting to discuss possible collaboration or if you want to know more, can contact me by visiting our website at www.butterflybeginnings.org.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.butterflybeginnings.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=butterfly%20beginnings
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nedra-mcpherson/
