Becoming Just Keshia: Ditching the Masks, Embracing the Mission

In this episode, host Lekeshia Hicks, also known as Just Keisha, shares her journey of embracing authenticity and letting go of perfectionism. 

She discusses the importance of creating a safe space for conversations about identity, corporate culture, and personal growth. 

Join us as we explore the mission behind the Inclusive Business Lounge and how it aims to empower individuals to show up as their true selves in both personal and professional environments.

Transcript

>> Lekeshia: 0:00

So it's a journey, right? Letting go, of perfectionism, and the things that we were kind of taught growing up or being in these spaces that we had to kind of change and assimilate and do things in order to climb those corporate ladders. So that brought me to this space. And what is that? What is the Inclusive Business Lounge, the podcast, all about? What is it that I want to share with the world? And what type of messaging do I want to have out there? We're gonna get better. Welcome back to another episode of the Inclusive Business Lounge, the podcast. I am m. Your host, Lekeshia Hicks, and today's episode is all about becoming just Keisha. How does that happen? What does that mean? And getting to know you and letting you get to know me a little better and why I created this podcast. So Just Keisha kind of started as a joke in a business group where someone asked who I was, and I said, just Keisha. And everybody, locally now starts to call me just Keisha. But it really hit me about who I am and what I really stand for and what I want to accomplish with sharing my knowledge with people. So let's take it back to the beginning. I have a whole episode on my name and my mother giving me my name and what all of that means. And m. What I've had to go through with having a name like Lekeshia and switching to using my middle name. If you kind of dig back into some Google searches on me, you'll see that I was going by Angelique, which is my middle name, and that was because we know that name discrimination is real. So becoming Just Keisha has been this evolutionary process of me really embracing who I am and what it is that I want to do and how I want to show up. Perfectionism is still a very real thing that I think a lot of people struggle with and how to let go of that. Even recording this podcast episode, I think this is take that I'm on. So it's a journey, right? Letting go, of perfectionism and the things that we were kind of taught growing up or being in these spaces that we had to kind of change and assimilate and do things in order to climb those corporate ladders. So that brought me to this space. And what is that? What is the Inclusive Business Lounge, the podcast, all about? What is it that I want to share with the world, and what type of messaging do I want to have out there? And I want this space to really be a space for you, built by you. What it is that you want to see, want to hear what it is that makes you stay up at night? What answers do you need that you feel like you can't get from any other space? Right. Sometimes I think it's very hard for us to let go of that perfectionism and presenting ourselves in a way that is more vulnerable because we are afraid of kind of the rejection that may come with that. And some of that is very real. Right. Some of it is very space driven. In corporate spaces, we know that there are written rules that we have to abide by. And while we want to say that we want to show up as our authentic selves, sometimes that really is just not possible. So taking that determination, and I'm one that believes that authenticity in ourselves is for. Not for everybody. Right? There are certain people who have experienced me in ways that other people don't deserve to experience being in. And what I mean by that is how I am, with my friends and family and laid back there. Those are safe spaces. And I'm not safe in all spaces. So being able to determine where you're safe to be yourself, where you have to kind of wear this mask, I think is a, level of protection that we as black women, andrepresented communities, kind of need to hold on to. So the pressure to, you know, show up as your authentic self, especially in the climate that we're in now, shouldn't be a reason to, you know, hold you back or cause more anxiety, right? And now it's like, oh, now I need to show up as my authentic self. This podcast also will be very random. You know, I am very random. And I think the more I fight trying to not be random, the more difficult it is for me to show up. Right? So that's part of me being who I am. So I experience people in a lot of different ways, and I just love having conversations with people, letting them know, like, what's out there, what people are struggling with, what people are succeeding with, and how that translates to your everyday life. And your life, whether you're an entrepreneur or you are in corporate federal spaces, you know, whatever life looks like, it looks a lot different for everybody. Stay at home, moms, you know, what type of things and what type of conversations are you like? Man, I wish I knew how to do that, or I wish somebody else experienced life in the way that I am experiencing. I think that we can create a space where we can do that. So my vision for this channel is really to have a, curated space where we can have conversations about how to show up and how to figure out what we want to be when we grow up as well as having really high level conversations about life and things in the workplace. Right. So by nature I am a human resources consultant. So a lot of my work revolves around strategic planning and creating policies for the workforce that lead to better spaces in hiring, retention, you know, entire lifeycle of the employee. Right. So what does that look like and how does that help you show up more like yourself in those spaces and creating those policies that will allow you to do that? We know that in 2025 as of this recording, there is an attack on DEI and shifting from DEI focused language to language that really focuses on merit based hiring and equal opportunity is something that I've been working with and getting organizations to see that di, whether you call it DI or leadership development or whatever you want to frame it, it won't go away, right? It's just we're giving it a new name, we're reframing it to something else. But the end goal, right, is to have spaces where everybody has the same opportunity. So that is some of the things that we'll talk about'll have guests here that are experts in employment law, equal opportunity, all kind leadership development, you know, seeing people that look like you and are striving to be where you want to be on the podcast to give you that expert level advice. And then in life like, you know, there's so many different areas, like I want to start a garden, I want to bake sourdough bread, do all of these things, right? So how do we find people that look like us that are doing all of these things? And I feel like that is going to be my mission to find and seek out all these amaz, amazing different people that look like us and can give us advice on really just living and feeling better and help you to become just whatever your name is, right? We have our professional polished selves and then the, the self that just, you know, takes it all off at the end of the day, at the end of the night and is just, just Keisha. And that is who I want to be probably 95% of the time and only have that 5% be Lekeshia being very polished. I guess I don't even know what the differ. Well, I know what the difference is, but you know, how, how to turn that on and off, when to turn it on and off and to where it's not anxiety producing. I can ramble for days about all kinds of different things. If you're an entrepreneur, one of the things that we'll have as well is securing government contracts and understanding the political climate, getting money and being able to fund your business through the foundational pillars of everything that happens when you start a business, right? Your ein, the llc, all of those things to help you get funding through the government, which is still a very real thing that can happen for your business. So lots of different things because we are not just these straight line. You may be in corporate and dabbling in entrepreneurship. You may be in corporate getting ready to be a stay at home mom. Like, there's so many different intersections because we are not a monolith, as we all know. So I really want this space to be a space where you can come get that type of advice and feel comfortable. I know there's a lot of spaces on the Internet where people say that it's a safe space and then somebody gets attacked for, you know, voicing their opinion. Not everybody is in the same place in life. And having that space where you can come as you are and grow into who you want to be, I think is very important. I always wished I had a space like this to have these questions answered and just figure out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. And because I didn't, I had to kind of become, you know, my own space. But luckily for me, I ran into some amazing leadership that really changed my perspective on what community looked like and what that was that I was really seeking, which was mentorship and sponsorship for someone who really had my best interest at heart. So I'm a huge advocate for those two things specifically, and they're deeply embedded in my secure workforce model, which is the program that I market to corporate agencies and getting their strategic human resource policies and all of those things together. So that is a little bit about what I want for the channel and why becoming just Keisha is very important to me for as far as my background and, you know, like, who are you? Why should we even listen to you? I probably should have led with that. But who am I and why should you listen to me? So I have been in human resources for 22. I keep saying 21 years, but that was probably like four years ago. Ever since I was 19. I was one of those that started out very early working for the federal government. I started at 19 working for the federal government. Don't try to do the math to figure out how old I am. But I have been all over, worked in different positions in human resources. My favorite has been, of course, equal employment opportunity and those programs that lead to equitable Spaces that has been, of course, my absolute favorite. I am a veteran. I served in the army and retired from the Army Reserve in 2021. And that career, again as a human resources professional for the army, has taught me a lot about leadership and getting to know different people in different walks of life. You know, the army, the military in general, is a very diverse place. Even though it mirrors, you know, the United States demographic, we are still the minority. So it did teach me a lot of resiliency and a lot of different ways to lead different people. So while I know there's a lot of controversy about women, women of color and people of color being in the military and serving a nation that may not be as grateful for our service as we are for it, it still was something in my life that I don't think I would change at all. It gave me a lot of skills and a lot of opportunities that I don't think I would have had otherwise. I was a teen mom. I had a beautiful baby boy in 1997. Again, don't try to do the math. And again, lessons learned from being a teenage mom, being 16, and having my first child, which is kind of what drove me to the decision of joining the military, taught me a lot about, again, resiliency and selflessness, doing stuff for the good of someone else. I think that's where that first lesson came in, because, you know, as soon as I had him, the only thing I could think about was protecting him and how I would provide for him. And luckily, I had a great village, my parents and my family, who were, surrounding me to ensure that I would be successful in accomplishing whatever it was that I wanted to, as well as being, you know, a mom to a little baby boy. I now fast forward all of these years, have, you know, five kids that are four, four, three are adults. The math is hard because I've had two at a time twice. So five kids who. Three are adults, which my son, who I had when I was 16, and then I have twin girls who are 23. They're amazing, and they are, you know, starting their lives. And one has two of my grandbabies, which is really the light of my life. You know, being a grandmother has been such a different experience than being a mother. And I think I get it now because, you know, being a mother, you're really focused on surviving and, you know, raising your children to be the best that they can be in productive citizens. But when you can become a grandmother, you're finally in this space. Hopefully, for me, I was, you're finally in this space where you are able to really rest and enjoy. You know, I have time because I'm retired and run my own business to take random days to go play with them, you know, buy them whatever they want. We always got McDonald's money over here, all of that. Right. So just a different experience. And then I have the 13 year old twins who were soon to be 14 because it's March, like 14 in April. I mean in May, goodness, I can't keep up. Right. The double birthdays. I was thinking April is next month because that's what month we're in. But in may they turn 14. And so at home, just the two of them, my amazing wife who is a psychiatric nurse practitioner in mental health and she sees and does a lot of things. She's amazing. She was previously an ICU nurse. So lots of conversations that we have in reference to mental health in the black community and all of these different things. It's just a lot of conversations that need to be had. And I'm gonna try to drag her on here becausee she's shy and doesn't like to really be in the spotlight. Unlike me who's on all of these different social media platforms. But it works. So we live in a little city outside of Nashville, Tennessee. So imaging being in a red state, living the life the way that we live, it's sometimes difficult, but I've found that getting involved in local politics has been something that has really helped me to understand everything that's going on in the world and how that pertains not only to me, but to the people that I care about. So we'll have conversations about civics and getting involved locally in all of these things. So that is kind of me in a nutshell. I continue to serve as a business consultant for minorities. So m, a business mentor. So you'll see some information about that, if you follow me. Certifications, you know, utilizing everything that you have in order to make your business successful, as well as, you know, my space in human resources consulting and the biggest of all, being a wife, mother and grandmother to everyone. Right. So that's why this channel was so important to me and why it's. While it might seem random, it's very well curated, I think, to really capture the hearts and the essence of what it is to be a woman of color in 2025. So you'll see lots of different things. Some may pertain to you, some may not. You may know someone else who it relates to, but I really want it to Be a safe space where, again, we can have these conversations. I'HOPE that you've enjoyed our soft launch episodes, which were about many different things. Your hair as a black woman, which is very important to us. We're here almost in spring now, so we'll be bringing back Bethany to have another conversation about the summertime in your hair. You know, these are important things. Skin care. There's just so many different things I can talk about. I guess there's infinite topics that we can really tie into this. And as we continue to grow to channels, then we will, you know, separate them so that you can pick kind of your. Your route, you know, which. Which, sessions you want to listen to and which ones kind of don't pertain to you. But, yeah, and shame, you know, so many different amazing conversations in the beginning that kind of, I hope, led you to see what you can expect on this channel. And now hear me rambling about becoming just Keisha, and what you can expect. So expect the unexpected. Expect a, you know, not scripted, really. I just wanted to feel like conversations with friends of mine, friends that hopefully become friends of yours, people that you can count on in your network, and not so much of a space that's just overproduced and you don't get any value out of it. So what should you do today after listening to this episode? One is making sure that you like and, subscribe and share, of course. But to go back to the other episodes, take a listen, see what you liked, and also download the Winter Arc Challenge Workbook. I know that winter is over. However, the principles of the Winter Arc Workbook really will help you establish what it is, especially if you're lost and, like, I don't know what it is, something just fills off. I don't know what I want to do, where I want to go, but I know something's not right in my life. It'll help you really establish those values and the things that you need to understand about yourself so that you can kind of create that plan and curate your life in the way that you want to. So after downloading that, you know, take a peek, send me an email. Dm. follow me on all socials and really let me know what it is that you know you want to hear and what you want to have on the channel. Because, again, I really want this be a space that's for us, by us, and I don't want to be putting out information that's just not relevant to anyone. So I hope to see you on the next episode. Also in my DMs, and that you're following me. So until the next episode, have an amazing day, month, year, everything. We can tryither. Either way, we're gonna get better.