Meet Shelia Curtis | Corporate Attorney and Compliance Professional; Founder & President of SHE for Girls

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shelia Curtis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelia, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
At my core, I thrive on stability and playing it safe. I have learned over time it has kept my potential locked and limited. While I invest a significant amount of time into my nonprofit organization, I have held on to my career as Corporate General Counsel and Compliance Officer. I love the work that I do in corporate – but SHE (Safe Haven of Empowerment) for Girls is the birth of my passion. I rely heavily on my Board of Directors and team of volunteers to ensure the successful operation of SHE.

I love the law, and I love compliance – but there is something about getting into a room and empowering those girls that fills my spirit in an intangible way. It gives me balance.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
SHE (Safe Haven of Empowerment) for Girls is non-profit organization designed to transform teen girls into confident, self-aware, self-determined, self-loving, empowered women. I started this organization because the tools I gained over my 20s and 30s, would have served me much better having carried them into adulthood. Life sharpens tools, but you acquire them with information. Why can’t young women already come equipped with the information necessary to give them a greater lead on life? SHE for Girls provides a solution to that question/problem.

This project has been brewing on my spirit for many years. I let life stop me from pursuing it. Once I decided to prioritize giving birth to this project, it was easy. I don’t do it for money, and I actually just secured our first grant by winning 1st place in the Black Girl Ventures Pitch Competition – Detroit. It is funny, because I was not originally selected. Someone had to pull out of the competition at the last minute, and I was called three days before having to record a pitch, and one week before having to deliver it live. But we won.

Everything about SHE for Girls is as easy as the air breathe, because it is not work for me. For the last several years I funded the project with my own money. Sure, it is hard work, but the reward is so much greater. I think because I don’t have goals beyond making an impact – it will stay that way. Our success is measured by reaching more girls in more schools in more cities and improving statistics year over year.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend and I will spend the vast majority of our time in Downtown Detroit, either soaking up historic culture or indulging in black-owned everything. We would ice skate in Campus Martius, cruise Belle Isle and slide down the giant slide, stay at The Cochrane House, do a wine tasting at House of Pure Vin, have dinner at YumVillage and SavannahBlue, late night cocktails at Willow, we would be stopping by Estella’s Cuisine for some vegan lemon poundcake, we would swing by MiaRay’s holiday pop-up for some glamaholic handbags and luggage, manis at the Ten Nail Bar, massages at Woodhouse Day Spa… I could go on and on! Are you sure we can only have a week?

Of course we cannot leave home without our Key Essentials Skincare – all-natural, plant-based body butter to keep our skin moisturized and protected in Detroit winters.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In this season of my life, everything has to be authentic. From my friendships, to my familial relationships, to my love life – I need nothing but genuine, authentic connections around me. Only allowing myself to occupy spaces and places where I was met with genuine love, support, motivation, and positivity around me has freed me mentally, spiritually, and emotionally to transform my purpose into promise. My recent success in both my corporate and non-profit paths, as well in more personal endeavors such as my podcast, I owe to my village. My son, my bonus babies, the supportive family I was born into, my day-one friendships that have only cultivated over the years, my new friendships that have added significant value, and the loving, supportive, encouraging and dependable man I get to come home to everyday, my husband, Key Curtis – they all are truly the foundation to my success.

Website: www.sheforgfirls.org

Instagram: @sheforgirls

Linkedin: @sheforgirls

Twitter: @iamshe_official

Facebook: @sheforgirlsdetroit

Youtube: @sherogamepodcast2030

Image Credits
French Quality Pics