Today we’d like to introduce you to Keisha Richards.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
To understand Keisha the entrepreneur, you have to look down the lenses of my background. I was born to parents who were business owners, years before I was born my father owned a barbershop, at the time that was his source of income. As my sister and I were born he realize he needed to increase his income so he got a job in addition to his barbering. This new job taught him a new skill and he had figured out how to use those skills to create another revenue stream. By the time I was 15 years old between my older brother and my mom and dad our family was operating between 5-6 different thriving businesses with one being an export business. I explained I knew how to do ledger entries, reconcile a bank account and complete official documents before I ever looked at a college application. Fast forward years later I started my family and became a stay at home parent and the thoughts of business ownership took hold of my entire existence. Luckily for me my husband had entrepreneurial dreams of his own so it gave me not just the opportunity to explore my birthright but to take it down uncharted territories. Due to my family background, my studies while it focused on technology, I did a lot of studies in business so it was easy to explore since I had book knowledge with some practical experience and the passion.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
I would have to say one of the biggest challenge I have had to overcome was “my mindset”. What I found out was if I could master the thoughts in my mind everything else was easier to handle. Everything we see around was first a thought that was created in someone’s mind before they could even create a plan to make it a reality. Where I struggled the most was convincing myself that I can actually accomplish this massive vision that I had seen. Each time I convinced myself I could and I started the journey I encountered disappointments after disappointments and each time I felt I was not the person for the job. Finally it made sense, the disappointments were a form of distraction I needed to conquer. When I got that in my mind there was a shift now when I face any form of disappointment I absorb it, I take a timeout and I get back at it. I let my positives outweigh my negative and that is how I’m finding success, it happens daily first in my mind then in my actions. Which is why I say success is a journey in all areas of life and we must work at it daily. Early on the journey I thought of quitting daily, did quit a few times, now I think of quitting then I tell myself “girl are you crazy, keep going” and all of that happen in a single thought. That’s success, fight for it
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
Through my company Legacy Builders Academy, I specialize in a helping entrepreneurs and professionals improve their leadership and communication skills while providing business consultant training to aspiring, new and existing entrepreneurs on how to properly structure their business, write a business plan and effectively operate their business venture. What sets me apart from my competition is, I am teaching from my own life experiences I have been the person who didn’t have it together who struggled, doubted and overthink before really pursuing my dreams. I know too well the highs and the lows, the ups and downs, the blunders so what you get is a real person not a concept, an idea or something that was air fryer a few minutes ago. The ideas, how to, concepts maybe similar to what you read in a book but the heart of is you will find my own personal journey and transparency mixed with my heart of compassion to see them succeed. I can take them in my world and make that concept relatable, my honesty mixed with my level of passion to see them reach their destination is second to none.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Stop thinking of success as a status or a destination; Success must be seen as a multi layered life journey that comes with small wins that sets you up for bigger wins. Success is you getting up everyday and creating new positive habits to overcome negative habits, at first your negative habit will have the positive habit beaten but that is no reason to give, it’s why you keep going. Let’s take an alcoholic journey as an example, he/she doesn’t quit drinking at once, an alcoholic quits one drink at a time, each time they say no to a drink they are building their resistance, then it’s one day without a drink before you know it, it’s one week and they may slip and have one drink or a bad day but you don’t throw the progress away you simple go back to saying no. That’s how we say. “Josh kicked his drinking habit”, Josh did it daily and he has to keep saying “no” to be successful at it and that is why success is a journey and not a destination. And that principle can be applied to any thing we would like to do in life, begin a little at a time and before you know it will become you and you be successful at that thing or in that area of life.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Success for me is being and remaining teachable in all areas of my life, being a student of life, while constantly improving what I did and the version of me you saw yesterday. The day I stop learning and improving is the day I begin to digress which means I am no longer successful. I never want to hear the words, “she was so successful in 2023” in reference to me. Each day I can inhale and exhale without the help of a machine I have a responsibility to do better than yesterday, not to maintain a status but to improve on myself and the immediate world around me. Success begins in my mind first, I see it in my mind then I create the action to accomplish what I envisioned.
What’s next for you?
With the help Legacy Builder Academy I want to begin to expand my training and mentorship program to the next generation instead of only entrepreneurs and professionals on what it means to be a great leader and showing them how to redefine success beyond financial achievements and social status and recognition. That program launches Fall of 2023.
I am a strong believer of giving the next generation the proper tools as early as possible so they can slay the giants the previous generation couldn’t because of when the information and strategy was provided.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
www.keisharichards.com
Email – info@keisharichards.com
IG – ikeisharichards
IG – legacybuilderacademy
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/KMDRichards