Kingdom Leadership featuring Shakeeta Torres

Interview with Shakeeta Torres, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the owner of EmPowered2Shift Counseling Services. Her mission is to, EmPower Christian Leaders to UnPack Pain, Discover their Passions so they can walk boldly in their God given purpose.

What does it look like for you to combine your gifts of the Spirit and your work as a therapy practitioner? 

Shakeeta: I work with a lot of people who had therapy prior to me. I saw that they would make some progress then revert back to their old ways. When I see them God will begin to speak to me and show me the roots of things. The roots of why they behaved the way they behaved and why they spoke the way they spoke and where their trauma came from. So I was able to lead them to the root instead of addressing just the symptoms. 

I believe that a lot Christians are afraid to go to counseling, because there is still a stigma on it by the church. They are told "God can fix it" and so feel shame in seeking out therapy or help in other places. 

What do you think makes a great leader? 

Shakeeta: Vulnerability and not just for the people that you are serving. We are leading the people we're serving and serving the people we're leading, so they need to see that you're human too. That you too have things you're still working on or have already worked on. Even in your private time, "ok where am I at? How am I feeling? Am I being controlling? Am I being too hard on myself?" Having that vulnerability and transparency with yourself is so so important. When you're able to do that, then you're able to pinpoint areas where you need to grow as a leader. As you grow in leadership then those under you should be growing too.  

What do you think is the most important skill that someone needs to master to sustain a successful business?

Shakeeta: Bouncing back! Because when you embark on entrepreneurship and business you are going to have disappointments. You are going to have setbacks. You are going to have tests. There are going to be so many things that come up that are going to want to cause you to quit. So you have to make a decision, "Am I going to walk away or am I going to continue to push forward in the vision that God gave me?"

If you could talk to your 12-year-old self, what would you say to her?

Shakeeta: I would say that God loves you and He has such great plans for you. 

👑 Watch the full conversation here