Meet Keyonna Monroe | Certified NLP counselor and EQ coach.

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

Hi Keyonna, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
So the thought process behind me starting my organization is realizing how important it is to create something that solves a much needed problem in my community, that can live on as a solution long after I’m gone. Being born and raised in South Central LA, sexually abused majority of my childhood through incest and trafficking, and being surrounded by so many who have succumbed to a bad dealt hand and conditioning, I recognize that coming out of those weeds as a rose was a triumph among losses. I didn’t have any mentors to help shape my mindset and pour into the broken pieces of me. I believe that I made mistakes that I didn’t have to make if I knew better, and I can only imagine the damage that didn’t have to be caused by my own hands to my heart due to lack of self worth. Taking all of that into consideration, I recognized reflections of me as a child in so many other young girls and even the adults who suppressed their inner broken girls while volunteering at my son’s middle school and working (at that time) in television. When I took my volunteering a step further and more seriously, I noticed what my presence was and did for all the young girls who vulnerably opened up to me, and I also noticed the affect and what was felt in my absence. I saw small parts of myself in so many of the students, and decided that I would be to young girls what I needed when I was their age. It went from using my sick and vacation days to volunteer, to quitting what I thought was a dream career towards a passion and purpose much bigger than myself. The impact and response was so effective, that when the demand to do this same work with adults arose, I felt more than equipped and empowered to bring it full circle.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
So as you know I started in the field of Journalism and left that to start a nonprofit organization. I’ve always loved writing and reading things that made a difference in the world, but more so focused on things that supported love (because I felt like it was always lacking in my life). I think what sets me apart from other organizations is that my mission and the principles behind my work come from actual lived experience. As someone who was only every sexualized and objectified, I never knew how much conditioned programming of unworthiness I had to uproot and replace with belief systems that supported the actual love I’ve always wanted. To see how LYF (aka Loving Yourself First) played a pivotal role in the decisions I made or didn’t make in my life. I had to comb through the harsh ugliness of my experiences and learn what unconditional love truly meant, that I actually deserved it from myself and others, and also how important forgiveness played a huge role in that. Now, I get to guide others to do it as well, and assist them in an emotionally safe/loving way as a mirror. THIS is what set’s me apart from others…my experience! A lot of people thought I was crazy for wanting to start a nonprofit with no knowledge and no experience. I did a lot of Google research, and I asked every entrepreneur I met questions on how to run a small business. LinkedIn became my best friend at the time and I started connecting with others who ran nonprofits. I made a ton of mistakes and it was hard because I knew the passion/purpose behind it, but I underestimated the operation details behind the curtains. I learned the importance of grants and seed money (I used all of my savings and almost went bankrupt more than once). I leveraged the relationships I had through college, volunteering, and also in the television/entertainment field to get support in areas where I had none. I also learned that even though you’re doing purposeful work, that you can’t always do it for free and that it’s okay to be paid for the service that you give. For the first 3 years I wasn’t charging to do this work and I didn’t know what to charge for changing and saving lives. I want people to know that I’ve built a brand on self-love (LYF) and that everyone deserves to experience that without conditions, regardless of where you come from, what you look like, what you’ve been through etc. That you will always know what unconditional love feels like when you experience it from within. That how you think/feel/treat others is a reflection of how you think/feel/treat yourself. We all operate out of our belief systems which creates habits/patterns and can shape our character/personality, so it’s really important for your beliefs to be rooted in love so the fruit of it bears the life experience you deserve and are worthy of.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Los Angeles so the beach is always the go to option. I love the museums and believe it or not, I really love going to the Zoo. I would take someone to experience dinner near the ocean such as Geoffrey’s in Malibu, take a drive down PCH to catch at least one sunset. Some places that are a vibe to me are Fixins DTLA, Poppy & Rose, 1010 Wine and events, Hilltop, any restaurant with a view (Yamashiro is one of my favs). If someone is visiting then going to a game at the Staple Center is always fun near LA Live. If you like the outdoors then Sequoia National Park is great as well as Big Bear and Lake Tahoe. If you like wine then Nappa Valley is just a quick flight away to do a turnaround trip and maybe peek into San Fran. If you need a pick me up, you can never go wrong with the laugh factory.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a big shoutout to my son Christian A Monroe. My son was my reason to live and still is. It takes a lot of love and understanding to share your mother with thousands or other kids and people. My son, even at a young age, always thought it was important for girls who needed help in anyway to meet his mother. Building great character in my son has been a huge driving force because it was important for me to be to him the mother I didn’t feel I had. To give him an example of unconditional primary love, compassionate, empathy, and all the things I really wanted from family but they didn’t have the capacity to give. Growing up I was told I wasn’t going to be much of anything, so I decided to work hard to prove them wrong. When I had Christian, he became my reason for working hard and to not only create a life of opportunities that I never had, but to build a legacy that he can be proud to be apart of through his mother. I wanted him to see what commiting and believing in yourself can do. My son gave me a reason to forgive and release others, and being his mother challenged me to a level of maturity, self evaluation, and self love that I never thought possible. Through that, I became someone who’s cup was so full that the overflow has continuously blessed the masses. I also want to thank my friends & Spelman sisters who became my family on this journey (you know who you are) and loved me more on my lowest days without judgement. The book that I read that gave me the jump to do this work is called “Love Without Conditions” by Paul Ferrini. It’s a book that I read at the top of the year every year to remind me of my why.

Website: www.keyonnamonroe.com

Instagram: @keyonnalovesme

Linkedin: Keyonna Monroe

Twitter: Keyonna Monroe

Facebook: Keyonna Monroe

Youtube: LYF Matters Projects

Other: You can watch me every Monday at 10am on www.urbansoultv.com and listen to the audio version of my podcast on Anchor, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are played. You can also listen to any of my music which is playing everywhere music is streamed.

Image Credits
Keyonna Monroe