Today we’d like to introduce you to Yolanda Henderson.
Hi Yolanda, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story starts in the military. I served in the Air Force, and that season taught me discipline, structure, and how to survive under pressure. But it was also during my time in service that I experienced domestic abuse. I was sexually assaulted as a young teenager as well, so by the time I was serving, I was already carrying trauma that I had not fully faced.
I walked through what I now call my own personal hell, more than once, and for a long time I did not know if I would make it out whole. But God kept me. While I was still in the military, I began doing advocacy work, standing up for others who were going through what I had survived. That advocacy did not stay behind when I retired. I carried it forward into everything I have built since.
Those walks became the foundation for everything I do now, and it is why I named my book series My Walk Past Hell. Not stuck in it. Past it. The series carries my story, but it was never meant to be about me alone. I wanted to give other survivors a voice too, so the books include stories beyond my own, because healing multiplies when we stop carrying it in silence.
From there I rebuilt, and years later married my husband Frank. We stepped into ministry together at EPIC Fellowship Church, where I serve as Executive Pastor and Director of Women’s Ministry, because I believe healing and faith cannot be separated. I became an advocate and social worker because I know what it feels like to need help and not be able to get it alone, to need resources that were not there when I needed them most. I refuse to let another woman feel that alone.
And I built YJ Empowerment Solutions, my company, as the vehicle to carry all of it: the books, the speaking, the coaching, the products, all rooted in one truth I live by. Your setback is a setup for a major comeback.
Through every bit of it, my daughter has been my why. Everything I have built was so she could watch her mother turn pain into purpose and know that no setback gets the final word.
I am still in it. Still building. Still walking other women through their own version of past hell, into their own version of redemption.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has not been a smooth road, and I do not think a story like mine could be.
The early struggles were personal. Surviving sexual assault as a teenager, then domestic abuse while I was serving in the military, meant I was carrying trauma long before I had the tools or the language to deal with it. There were seasons where I was functioning on the outside while barely holding it together on the inside.
Rebuilding after that was its own struggle. Retiring from the military means learning a whole new identity outside of the uniform, while also healing from what happened inside it. I had to figure out who I was without either.
Building YJ Empowerment Solutions from the ground up has come with its own road. Learning entrepreneurship with no background in it was tough, and balancing that with life, ministry, going back to school, and being a wife and mother meant there were rarely light days. Even trademarking my brand was a lot of back and forth before I finally got it done. Financially it has been up and down more than once, but I keep going. Along the way I have learned from some really good people, too many to name, and I am grateful for every one of them.
But every struggle became material. I do not waste pain in my story. I turn it into a book, a program, a sermon, something that can reach the next woman standing where I once stood.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I wear a few hats, but they all serve the same mission. I am the CEO of YJ Empowerment Solutions, a company I built around empowerment, survivor advocacy, and helping women rebuild after their own version of hell. Through it I create books, coaching, workshops, and products, all designed to walk women from surviving into thriving.
I specialize in trauma informed empowerment. That means I do not separate the emotional work from the practical work. Whether I am writing a devotional, teaching a life skills class, or preaching on Sunday, I am always working both sides, the healing and the rebuilding.
I am known as the Empowerment Advocate. My book series, My Walk Past Hell, is the anchor of everything I do, and my signature message, your setback is a setup for a major comeback, shows up across my writing, my speaking, and my ministry.
What sets me apart is that I do not speak from theory. I speak from having lived it. I am a God fearing survivor, veteran, wife, mother, pastor, and business owner, and I bring all of those seats to the table at once. I do not just tell women what healing looks like, I show them because I am still walking it myself.
What I am most proud of is the reach. One of my most celebrated contributions is an article titled “The Day I Decided to Leave”, which was handpicked by Shonda Rhimes to be featured on her platform, Shondaland, in 2020. I have also been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Knowing that women I will never meet are reading my work and finding the courage to take their next step, that is the proudest I get.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I am honest, I am still learning this region. I am a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and I have only lived in North Carolina for about three years, so Rocky Mount, Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding areas are still fairly new to me. What I like best so far is the connections I have made. The people here have welcomed me into community, into ministry, into this work, and I am genuinely thankful for that.
As for what I like least, I am still growing into the area, so I would rather speak to what I am discovering than what I do not like yet. If I had to name one thing, it would be missing the deep south seafood and the spices from home. New Orleans food is a whole culture, and it is hard to find anything quite like it out here.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yolandajhenderson.com
- Instagram: @yjempowers
- Facebook: @yjempowers and @yolanda.j.henderson
