Rasheda Jenkins specializes in revealing the inherent potential in everyone through her comprehensive curriculum development and tailored workshop experiences. Jenkins’ approach centers on personal transformation, helping clients recognize and activate their inner resilience. Her service portfolio extends beyond traditional coaching, including specialized personal development workshops, professional facilitation, custom curriculum design, marketing content creation, voiceover work, and individualized experiential learning opportunities. Through her multifaceted programming, Jenkins creates pathways for clients to discover their capacity to overcome challenges and achieve sustainable personal growth.
Jenkins recently spoke with rolling out about Growth Industries.
How does Growth Industries’ approach to personal development specifically address the unique challenges women of color face in their professional and personal growth journeys?
Black women are not a monolith; in growth industries, we believe that REST is so important as an individual. REST is an acronym we created: Recovered, Empowered, Stronger, and Transformed. So, as Black women, we need to do everything in life. We need to run a household and a business, be everything to our husbands and children, and be physically strong and mentally fit, which is not sustainable. It’s not realistic. We realize that rest is how our bodies heal. Rest is how we return to our perfect state and comes through rest. And so, with rest, we created a workshop about connecting our minds and bodies; if one isn’t well, the other won’t be well. Sometimes, we focus more on our bodies, and we may be physically fit and look good, but our mental state is not good. Or we have a great mentality; our minds are well, but our bodies aren’t. And so, as a Black woman, we have to be sure, and I believe it’s all people, but because I’m a Black woman, I can only speak to Black women. We have to be sure that our minds, bodies, and souls are connected in a way where we are at our best selves, which happens through rest.
What inspired you to focus on creating healing spaces specifically for women of color and their allies?
I used to be a commercial construction worker. In 2017, I fell and hit my head and sustained a traumatic brain injury. I was the type of woman who did all the things. I worked 8 to 10-hour hours, came home, cooked dinner, helped the kids with their homework, and had special quality time with my husband; that was my life on repeat. It was such a burnout. But that’s how I survived. With my injury, it came to be so bad that I had mind-boggling headaches, and I couldn’t see. Medicine didn’t work. Nothing worked. I tried acupuncture, massages, and all the holistic things. I tried over-the-counter medicine. Nothing worked but rest. And in that, I realized there had to be something else for me. And if that was for me, it also had to be for other people. There were other women, Black women in particular, who needed rest. And so we created a space for Black women and their allies to honor themselves through rest.
Can you describe a transformative moment from one of your workshops that exemplifies Growth Industries’ mission?
So, we created a workshop called Stretched, where we move our bodies and affirm ourselves. So, there’s one workshop where we did the affirmation I am capable, and when we were done, one of the ladies came up to me, and she said, you know, I never really believed that I was capable. She said, but as I moved my body and said that to myself, something in me changed, and I believed it. She said I needed to hear that. And that is the goal of Growth Industries, which is for you to see that you are a born overcomer. Out of 300 million seeds, you made it. You are a born overcomer from birth, and somewhere along the way, we forget that we have overcome already just by being here, breathing every single day; we are an overcomer, and somewhere, we have forgotten that. So, in our workshops, we must remind you just how great you are. We do nothing special to remind you that what you need to succeed is already inside you.
How do you measure success in terms of participants’ growth and development through your programs?
We have surveys that we send out to our participants, which relate to us how beneficial the workshops are and also through life transformation. I’m really big on relationships and righteous relationships. And when I, over time, see the growth in people based on our connections and the resources that we help them to see, that in real time, says to me that this is a success and that what we’re doing is working.
What role do allies play in your workshops, and how do you ensure the space remains centered on women of color’s experiences?
Well, allies, most of the time, own the space. So, we have a partnership with Lululemon, and they allow us to use their space to host our workshops. Ninety-five percent of our workshops are women of color, and 80 percent are Black women. A few White women come, but I often say this is for Black women. I do not want to exclude anybody because everyone is welcome, but I want them to understand what we’re centering around because I am a Black woman, and I can only speak from my own experiences. However, there are things that I believe that I can only speak to because of my own experiences as a Black woman.
How does your workshop curriculum balance addressing professional development with personal healing?
Professional balance is not different than personal healing because if your healing isn’t balanced, there is no professional. It is challenging to be a professional if my personal life is out of whack because I will show up as I am every time. Now and then, I can code switch and turn off that personal side. I just got into an argument with my husband, my mom, or my kids acting up, and now and then, I can switch that off and be professional and put a smile on my face. But over time, who I truly am is gonna shine through. I can only hide and mask for so long, and if my personal life is out of whack and I cannot grasp my professional life, it will eventually follow suit.
What strategies do you employ to help participants maintain their growth momentum after completing your workshops?
Staying connected. We need each other to be accountable and reliable and to have connections. We are not meant to be alone. We are not meant to be islands. A lot of times the way mental illness works it makes you feel isolated. It makes you feel alone in your struggle. We often think that way because we don’t share with others because of shame or guilt about what we’re going through. My space at Growth Industries allows you to share what you’re going through so that you can see someone else may be going through the same thing. As we stay connected, we continue to build community.
How has your personal development journey influenced your facilitation approach at Growth Industries?
It is a life story. I’ve been a mom since I was 17, a survivor of domestic violence. I was a single mom, and now I am a married woman raising children. I can relate to just about anybody because of what I have been through. And so, many times, I realized what I’m going through and what I come through is a blessing for someone else. My story and triumph are an encouragement to someone else and what they’re going through. My life is an example of God’s grace. It’s an example of overcoming. Based on hard work and grit and giving it to God, there is nothing we can’t overcome at the end of the day when we put God first and then do the work.
