Exploring Life & Business with Michelle Harris Jefferson of WhyWeLEAP Consulting, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Harris Jefferson.

Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Henderson, NC. After spending much of my elementary years there, I moved to Georgia and Florida before returning to N.C. for high school. During my adolescent years, I suffered a tremendous amount of trauma. From poverty to molestations and neglect, my teenage years presented many challenges. Even amid my struggles, I could hold fast to my love for learning and my desire to remain an academic scholar. With the help of some amazing adults in my life, I graduated with honors and received several scholarships to attend N.C. State University in Raleigh, NC. Becoming a part of the Wolfpack helped me blossom into an amazing educator, but I could never escape the impact of childhood trauma. Through a trauma-informed lens and healing on purpose and our loud! In my struggles to find my sense of normalcy, I dedicated my life to healing on purpose and out loud and helping others do the same. In 2017, I published my memoir What Doesn’t Kill You: A Memoir, sharing my struggles with the impacts of childhood trauma with the world. From there, I went on to speak for many organizations and at many conferences and events about the importance of intentionally healing from trauma. I established my consultancy WhyWeLEAP Consulting, L.L.C., dedicated to helping individuals and organizations view the world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would not say that the road has been a smooth one. To say that that part of this journey was easy would be dishonest. However, my transparency has been the key to healing for many. Anytime we share our most private life with the world, some fear comes with it. Releasing that story has also been the key to my healing journey. I have also spent over a decade in public school education during my healing journey. It has been disheartening to watch so many young adults cycle through the criminal justice system because the adults in/her life didn’t know enough about Adverse Childhood Experiences to get the needed help. In many respects, it has been challenging to watch young people struggle with the impacts of trauma and have just written off as “bad behavior.” Seeing the world through a trauma-informed lens comes with the burden of living in a world that often doesn’t.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are WhyWeLEAP Consulting, L.L.C., where:
– Our mission is to empower individuals to take the L.E.A.P.; Leverage Endurance to Assure Perseverance through trauma-informed living and resilience training!
– Our vision is to help all individuals, organizations, businesses, and school districts to create a trauma-informed environment and community in which resilience is explicitly taught, modeled, and nurtured.
– We are unique in that all of the consultants on our team have first-hand experience in walking their trauma-informed journey, and as founder/C.E.O., my story acts as the foundation for all of our training and services. So we don’t just share our message; we live it!
– We are proud of our work with primary school districts and the organizations we partner with to share the message of trauma-informed living.
– We provide support for individuals and organizations, including Trauma and Resilience training and workshops, group and individual Supportive Listening Sessions, Memoir Book Talks, Motivational Speaking, Take the LEAP Journals, and so much more! We can customize any of our services!
– We are dedicated to helping those impacted by trauma live extraordinary life! We would love to partner with individuals and organizations to continue to spread the word and do the work of trauma-informed living.

​Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting?
When starting, the most important thing to remember is that all great things take time. There is no such thing as an overnight success, so don’t aspire to be one. Stay true to the mission and keep your motives pure. When you come to the world of entrepreneurship in search of the spotlight and fame, it will allude to you every time. but if you enter this space with a sincere heart and pure motives, you will always find your way. “Your way” may cause you to bend and transform and be born anew, but you will find your way, and don’t be afraid of not knowing exactly how or why the path or direction of your vision is changing. As long as your actions and your team’s actions align with the objective, keep going!

Pricing:

• Full day workshops start at $1,500.00
• Our journals at $14.99
• What Doesn’t Kill You: A Memoir $15
• Supportive Listening Sessions start at $45 per hour
• Guest Speaker Bookings start at $300.00

Contact Info:

• Website: www.WhyWeLEAP.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whyweleap_chellebelle252/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MrsHJtheResilienceExpert

Image Credits
I own the rights to all images