#urmorethan

What is #urmorethan about?

For the past few weeks I have been posting graphics combined with my own sentiments that relay to others what I want the #urmorethan movement to be about. Think of #urmorethan like a best friend heart necklace; it is a 2 part movement which both tie together to create something beautiful.

Embracing mental health & empowering women.

Embracing mental health: Mental health across the board is something that is stigmatized. My goal is to erase the stigma of mental health and treat it in a more proactive way. Historically and currently society tends to treat those who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses as disabled, “crazy”, unappealing or less than. Those adjectives are far from the truth. Many people with mental illness diagnosis lead healthy, happy lives, if you have yet to seek help know that this could be you. The World Health Organization cites that women are two times more likely than men to develop certain mental health conditions. It is my belief that one contribution to this statistic is women living the lives they are “expected” to live and not their truths. Having a diagnosis doesn’t diminish who you are and shouldn’t be viewed as a negative no more than having a physical illness is: #urmorethan your diagnosis, #urmorethan the medication you take and #urmorethan a loner in this fight!

Empowering women to be more than: Initially accepting this passion in my life and starting this movement I did have hesitation. I did wonder if people would think I was a mother who hated my children, my husband, and my life and wanted out. I wondered if my thoughts seemed selfish. But l only wrote truth and only wrote from experience so I didn’t know what else to do. I am so blessed that my intentions and my message has been so well received. I am actually blown away that friends I have yet to meet and friends I may never meet have commented things such as “I just love this”, “love your feed” and “keep the encouragement coming!!! It helps us as mommies.” #urmorethan is not about hating our lives, it is about acknowledging guilt free, with confidence that we are all more than what meets your eye. We are more than mothers, more than wives, more than students. #urmorethan is not only an external movement, it is an internal movement. See many women, including myself have been through struggles in which we didn’t know which side of the coin we were one. Many women, again including myself have lived one life externally while longing for another one in our minds. Many women constantly give affirmations and inspiration while needing someone to pour back into them. Society is full of double standards, most of which affect women in a negative way.

Is this movement just for wives and mothers? Absolutely not! The #urmorethan movement is for women of ALL kinds. The slogan I use for #urmorethan is More than a wife, more than a mother, more than _____________. That blank can be for ANYTHING.

Comment below and let us know what #urmorethan & until the next time! Be more 😉

Who are you?

I've been working on this blog for what seems like years. I had the concept, I would tell people to look out for it but yet it stayed in draft status. It wasn't until recently that I realized why. One of my friends Natisha posted this thought provoking gem:

Who ARE you?

What are your deepest desires?

What do you want more than anything else in the world?

When you are able to speak from THAT place, this is when you're really able to get CRYSTAL clear on who and where your clients are.

It was at that moment it hit me. I realized that while I had many people I wanted to serve, there was one group that consistently stood out to me. I had avoided identifying my target audience because I am new at this entrepreneurial thing, who am I to focus on certain clients only? But when a friend puts a mirror in your face like she had done, what other choice did I have but to take another step in my purpose.

My ideal client is women, it's mother's, wives, working moms, stay at home moms, etc. I wanted to serve the woman. To empower her that she is more than just a __________.

My ideal client was me!
See many moments in my life I had struggled with people labeling me, identifying based on my roles. Oh you're his daughter or you're her mom. And everytime it would get under my skin and internally I would shout NO! I AM ME, I AM KATESHA!

I had struggled with society's loudly unspoken statement that you can either be a career woman or a family woman. You can either live life to the fullest or you can be married. Again I rejected this! I was determined to do it all. To have my family AND my career. To be a great wife AND mother as well as a great friend. To enjoy family time AS WELL AS me time.

Have I always done it right?
Not at all

But what is life without failures? Even when tracked on a machine, the heartbeat goes up and down.

So to any woman reading this, know that you are "more than". Know that it doesn't have to be or it can be and. <insert note to self here lol: I can walk in this purpose AND still help others as well>

So, allow me to reintroduce myself:
My name is Katesha Reid, owner & therapist at KDReid Services. I am a mental health professional to all but my speciality is serving women!