Jade Kearney of She Matters: “Time management is the key to success”

I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jade Kear.ney

Jade Kearney is a Mental Health Advocate, Founder & CEO of She Matters, and a mother, with a professional background in Education and Talent Development.

Jade’s mental wellness journey began soon after giving birth to her daughter. Jade experienced postpartum depression and anxiety, and had difficulty finding a community and culturally competent resources to turn to. The birth of her daughter made her realize the neglect Black mothers face when it comes to their mental well-being.

Jade’s drive to take charge of her own mental health inadvertently led to the creation of the She Matters platform — an online/offline safe space for Black women to relate, connect, and inform on all things mental health.

Jade’s educational background includes degrees and training from NYU, Montclair State University, Georgetown, and Rutgers. Her wellness related credentials include certifications in Hatha Yoga, Mindfulness for adults and children, Tui Na (Chinese medical massage), and Ayurveda.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

You are so welcome! It was really a culmination of all of my experiences, both personal and professional. I pursued many degrees and always had a passion for mental health and entrepreneurship, but I didn’t know how to leverage my skills. Overtime, as I became more confident as a person I started to say. ‘No” to things that didn’t resonate with me and yes to passion projects and here I am.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I applied to work with Digital Undivided as their Entrepreneur in Residence and Kate McCrery, the Director of Programs was already using my site as an example as a Black woman in tech whose site took their customers on a journey. She said when she saw my application she couldn’t believe it. We have been super close ever since.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake was paying for Facebook ads, it was unnecessary and I accidentally spent thousands of dollars. I learned that its necessary to research marketing tools, know your customer and bring in a professional if need be. We don’t use Facebook ads anymore.

Can you share three reasons with our readers about why it’s really important for a business to have a diverse executive team?

Oh my God! Yes! In order to have innovative solutions, you need diversity of thought and you can’t have diversity of thought without diversity. I mean diversity at all levels: race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, education and professional backgrounds.

More broadly can you describe how this can have an effect on our culture?

The more you see yourself and others in positions that make change, it becomes a standard and then it’s not taboo. Some of us have never seen a Black female video game developer, so when we see her, we are shocked. If more Black women had the opportunity to become video game developers, we wouldn’t be a unicorn that mystifies everyone, it would just be our societal norm and that would change culture.

Can you recommend three things the community/society/the industry can do help address the root of the diversity issues in executive leadership?

Acknowledge diversity, don’t gloss over it! Have a cultural day, let people know that they are there because of their skill set, but also let them know you see the entire person.

Create programs at the high school /college levels that prepare children of color for leadership roles and mentorship. I often hear that people can’t “find” the talent, which I believe is a direct result of a lack allocated funds towards leadership programming for diverse populations.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Leadership is responsibility. I recently spoke with someone who said what was your first entrepreneurial mistake and I said not understanding the responsibility you have to others whether they be your team or your customer to deliver and guide.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. You can’t do everything! I am a mom of two beautiful girls, I started a company and finished a Master’s degree from NYU in two years. I was burnt out! I was competing with some imaginary clock, don’t do it to yourself, mental health is first.
2. You will struggle financially when you are pursuing your dreams. That’s pretty self explanatory, entrepreneurs spend so much time on their business and you don’t see that return right away, so you have to have a financial plan, so you aren’t sweating when you check your bank account every day.
3. Time management is the key to success. You need a calendar, I thought I could have a schedule in my head and just deliver. You have to write it down and put it on your calendar and set a reminder. Plan out your week!
4. Your personal team is just as important as your professional team. This path is hard and you need people around you who support you, check you when you are being outrageous and love you, because you are constantly being told, “no” ;as an entrepreneur.
5. You make the decisions and that is it, You have a team that gives their input, but the decisions for your business are made by you. I used to ask 3 different mentors before I made a decision because I was scared to fail. Now I know that failure is a part of the process and that is how you learn.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

To elevate Black women in the startup space. We are here and we are proven to be successful so invest in our ideas, mentor us and provide access so we can continue to help change the world for the better!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If everybody in your clique is rich, your clique is rugged. Nobody will fall because everyone would be each others crutches’ Jay Z

I am a huge fan of hip hop and will always pull a quote from a lyric.

Immediately, you think he is talking about your team or circle being financially rich, but he means to surround yourself with people who are mentally wealthy, who can give you support throughout whatever journey you are on and there is no way you will fail.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I want to sit down with Meena Harrison. I love her messaging and her brand and her energy. We are close in age and we both have two little Black girls who we are trying to change the world for. I bet we would do awesome things together!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

IG:@ shematteers.io

@ Jadekearneyofficial

Twitter: @startupdivajade

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!