Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenya Young.
Hi Kenya, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I didn’t set out to create a foundation. I set out to survive. What came next didn’t just change my life—it gave me the blueprint to help other women break free from survival mode.
After hitting a breaking point where motherhood, ambition and grief collided, I was drowning in my own life. I had all the credentials, the career wins, the businesses—but I was falling apart. When I vented to my sister about how out of control everything felt, she looked at me and said, “Girl, get it together. You’re a big-time project manager and successful business owner. You need to project manage your life.”
I was offended at first. Here I was, almost in tears, and she’s bringing up my career. But her words haunted me. If I could help companies fix their problems, maybe I could fix my own life using the same principles.
That personal breakthrough led me to search for other women navigating similar struggles. What I found broke my heart: I wasn’t alone. Women everywhere were silently drowning—managing everyone else’s life but not their own, exhausted from holding it all together, too afraid to ask for help because they looked like they had it all figured out.
That’s when it hit me: only the ones who’ve been through the fire can truly carry the flame. My breaking point wasn’t just something to survive—it was what qualified me to help other women survive theirs. I couldn’t just heal and walk away. I had to build something.
The empowerHER Legacy Institute for Entrepreneurship Excellence was born from that revelation. It’s both a foundation and an institute because women don’t just need inspiration—they need real tools. They need an organization that understands that wholeness isn’t a luxury; it’s a requirement for sustainable success.
Every program we offer, every workshop I lead, every piece of jewelry from ProjectME Gems, which helps fund this work—it all exists because I refuse to let other women stay in survival mode when they’re built for so much more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It wasn’t just burnout. It was a breaking point. I was trying to mother, grieve, lead and build—while silently unraveling. I didn’t have the luxury of pausing. Like so many women, I was expected to push through it all, keep showing up, and not let the cracks show.
But the real challenge wasn’t just the weight of responsibility—it was the silence. The pressure to perform while pretending I was fine. The fear that asking for help would make me look weak. The shame of feeling like I was failing in private while succeeding in public.
The truth is, I nearly walked away from it all. The businesses. The career. The calling. I questioned everything. But breaking point isn’t always the end—it’s often the invitation. In that season, I realized: purpose doesn’t always feel powerful. It often feels like pain first.
I refused to stay in survival mode—and I refuse to let other women stay there too.
As you know, we’re big fans of empowerHER Legacy Institute for Entrepreneurship Excellence. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The empowerHER Legacy Institute for Entrepreneurship Excellence is a nonprofit operating foundation established by ProjectME by KMY, my business consulting company. I created it to expand access—to give women who are too often overlooked the business education, mental wellness support and funding opportunities they need. Because legacy-building should never be reserved for the privileged few.
We exist to ignite the dreams of purpose-driven women—mothers, visionaries and legacy builders—who are still called, still capable and still in the game. Through education, mental wellness support and funding opportunities, we equip women with the strategy, tools and sisterhood to launch and grow sustainable businesses that honor their purpose, protect their peace and create lasting impact.
This isn’t just about entrepreneurship—it’s about the whole woman: her faith, her wellness, her future. That’s why we weave education, mental wellness support and funding opportunities into everything we do—because real legacy isn’t built from business alone, it’s built from wholeness. This is legacy in motion. Rooted in faith. Propelled by purpose. Built for legacy.
And here’s the truth—this isn’t theory. I built our foundational course and certification program, Project Management for Real Life: Entrepreneurship Edition, out of my years managing multi-million-dollar projects at PwC, IBM, AT&T Solutions and Bowe Bell + Howell—and then proving those same strategies in the businesses I launched and grew myself. It’s already live online, serving women who need practical, real-world tools to bring their visions to life. Beyond that, I’m actively hosting our flagship workshop, Still Called. Still Capable. Still in the Game., bringing this movement across the state to meet women where they are—and soon across the nation—to help them rise in real time.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
This wasn’t just about getting back on track. It was about building a different track—one that aligns with my values, aspirations and real life. Establishing the empowerHER Legacy Institute for Entrepreneurship Excellence was a risk rooted in urgency—not convenience. I didn’t have traditional nonprofit backing. What I had was lived experience and an unshakable conviction: that women deserve holistic entrepreneurial support built around their real lives, not textbook theory.
The true risk was designing a nonprofit that dares to honor the whole woman—prioritizing mental wellness, real-life business education, access to funding and legacy—while equipping her to build sustainable businesses that thrive and impact the economy. I challenged the narrative. I’m stretching resources and building infrastructure to match the vision, not the other way around.
Through Phase 1 of the Institute, we’ve launched accessible programming like Project Management for Real Life: Entrepreneurship Edition (currently available online) and we’re actively touring with our flagship workshop Still Called. Still Capable. Still in the Game. These initiatives are funded in part through reinvestment—including support from my affirmation jewelry line, ProjectME Gems—because the mission isn’t theory. It’s lived.
This wasn’t just a risk—it was a quiet commitment to the truth I discovered in my breaking point: that women shouldn’t have to choose between wholeness and success. And I’ll keep taking risks to prove that when you support a woman’s wholeness, you spark generational transformation.
And if the empowerHER Legacy Institute can remind even one woman that she’s equipped to make an impact and already built for legacy, then every risk was worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://empowerherinstitute.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectmebykmy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectMebyKMY
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenya-young-83417917/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ProjectME_GEMS/
