No matter what country you go to or what city you visit, you will undoubtedly find people who are “fighting the good fight.”  The individuals fighting against police brutality.  The women striving for equal rights. The women and mothers fighting for their black sons and husbands. Through various protests, marches, and other demonstrations, people everywhere are working towards a common goal.  However, there is one area that is often overlooked in the sea of issues. That area is education.  As other platforms continue to grow greater and greater in number, it is important that we strive to creative positive and motivating environments for our children to learn and grow. Luckily there are still people willing to “fight the good fight” in areas of education.  One of those people is Alanda Posey, founder, and creator of Soulful Beginnings.

MGS: What is Soulful Beginnings and how did all start?

Alanda Posey: Soulful Beginnings was founded for children, more specifically African American children, to become proficient readers and writers at the elementary level. I wanted to create a place for children who look like me to feel safe in a learning environment and inspire them to believe that they are capable of achieving at a high level.  When I began teaching in 2009 I encountered children who looked like me that could neither recognize nor spell their name.  They also were not familiar with how to handle books. Instead of becoming disheartened, I decided to increase my skill set for developing proficient readers and writers through my company.

MGS: What type of programs and skills does your organization provide?

AP: This business is multi-faceted in the sense that I offer individual and group tutoring sessions for elementary students, teacher training’s for a childcare center and elementary schools, as well as advocacy to provide mediation between parents and teachers. I hope to become a motivational speaker for schools and districts to help instruct, influence, and inspire educators to believe that they have the power to help children achieve!

MGS: What is the ultimate goal for your organization?

AP: The mission of Soulful Beginnings is to empower and engage children to have a belief in themselves enough so that they have the confidence to do ANYTHING. Our goal is to promote literacy and increase the reading abilities of children in every area. The children will be able to read across the curriculum and respond as a mathematician, historian, and a scientist. The focus is to develop citizens for the 21st century so that children will be articulate and be able to make informed decisions.

MGS: As a black woman, do you feel that business ownership is important, why?

AP: I absolutely think that black female business ownership is important because of the adversity that women have faced in the job market and the discriminatory practices that black women have faced in their careers.  Instead of being controlled by such practices, black women have risen to the occasion to promote themselves as business owners that will have a major impact on the economy.

MGS: What kind of challenges have you faced in creating this organization?

AP: Soulful Beginnings is a home-based business, and so in the beginning, it was difficult to get people to believe in the mission of what I was trying to do. Building the brand and gaining respect was a slow process in the first few years of operation but once people started to buy-in and share with others this thing REALLY TOOK OFF.

MGS: What advice would you give to other women who hope to start their own business?

AP: My biggest piece of advice is to be clear about who your target audience is and what mission you’re trying to achieve. People will want to know more about your “WHY” so that they have the opportunity to decide whether or not they should support you. Stay true to your principles, be a risk taker, and always display your values in your business. Never stop planning your next move, and be on the lookout for anything that will set you apart from the competition

To follow Soulful Beginnings click on the link  https://m.facebook.com/soulfulbeginningsllc/