Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Henderson.
Hi Christina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
My name is Christina Henderson. I am the Franchise Owner of We Rock The Spectrum-Southwest Dallas and Founder of Coloring Life My Way, a non-profit organization. I have worked in the education field both in state and abroad for over 15 years. During this time, I challenged myself to learn and grow as I encountered students with disabilities, specifically autism. Autism is a term used to describe an array of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect a person’s social, behavior, and communication skills. What I have learned is that many families are not knowledgeable and/or misinformed about the disability. These same families are also unaware of services and resources available to help their children with autism. Oftentimes they do not know about these services and resources because they are not readily available within the minority community. This disparity tugged at my heart so hard and for so long that in 2018 I decided to birth Coloring Life My Way and did not stop there. Later, I became the franchise owner of We Rock The Spectrum-Southwest Dallas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! The entrepreneurial journey has its ups and downs, twist and turns. When I first started the journey, I had no clue on where to begin. All I knew I wanted to serve and educate my community while bringing awareness to autism. It was tough doing this while working and going to school. However, I remembered my “why” and that helped me to stay motivated.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym -Southwest Dallas is a franchise gym that provides children with all abilities a place to play and grow together. We believe in offering a fun and motivational environment to help children in the areas of strength, movement, sensory processing, communication, positive behavior modification, social interactions, and self-care skills. Our specially designed, sensory-safe equipment and the classes that we offer all encourage exercising and stimulating any of the seven senses through positive physical, emotional, and social development.
Coloring Life My Way is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization that provides supports and services to underprivileged and minority families with children who have autism, behavioral and sensory disorders while bringing awareness to the community. We offer advocacy services for parents who need support navigating the Annual, Review, Dismissal (ARD) process, provide grants, partner with the DeSoto Police Department and local school districts offering autism training. In addition to our services, we host and participate in events to bring autism awareness to the community.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would like to see We Rock the Spectrum continue to expand and become a household name. As far as Coloring Life My Way, as the diagnosis of autism increases, so will our services and prayerfully more business in the community will become sensory-friendly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.werockthespectrumsouthwestdallas.com and www.coloringlifemyway.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wrtsswdallas and https://www.instagram.com/clmw_autism
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wrtsSWdallas and https://www.facebook.com/ColoringLifeMyWayAutism
Image Credits
Kevin Henderson
