We recently had the chance to connect with Keisha Gaddis and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Keisha, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity is most important to me because it’s the foundation of trust. When someone leads with integrity, you can feel it. It shows up in how they treat people, how they make decisions, and how they do business. Integrity creates safety. It lets you know you’re working with someone who values you, and values themselves enough to always do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Mental Health Coach with over 15 years of experience helping people improve their mental and emotional well-being. My journey has taken me from counseling students in schools to speaking and coaching women across the country. Early in my career, I founded a nonprofit organization that focused on building confidence and self-esteem in teen girls. Through my speaking, counseling, and coaching programs, I had the privilege of impacting the lives of thousands of girls nationwide.
Over time, I began to notice a pattern. The same struggles with insecurity and not feeling “enough” that I saw in girls were showing up in grown women too. High-achieving women. Strong women. Women who looked like they had it all together but were quietly carrying the weight of burnout, guilt, imposter syndrome, and perfectionism.
That realization hit close to home because I’ve lived it. I know what it feels like to be an over-doer and an over-thinker, to always be in hustle mode trying to prove your worth through productivity. I’ve learned that constant hustle isn’t healthy and that we can be both ambitious and emotionally well. We don’t have to choose between success and peace.
Through my own journey, I’ve developed daily habits that make mental health a lifestyle, not an afterthought. Now, I teach other ambitious women how to do the same. Women are often praised for being strong, but frowned upon when they pause. I’ve learned that rest is not weakness; it is a strategy for growth. My mission is to give women permission to rest, to make their mental health a priority, and to stop performing “fine.”
Right now, I’m focused on speaking and raising awareness about mental health, helping people learn simple ways to incorporate daily habits that boost emotional wellness so they can thrive in their relationships, careers, and at home. Because when your mental health is in a good place, everything else improves. You make healthier decisions, your communication is clearer, your relationships are stronger, and you show up as your best self in every area of life. Through my coaching programs, I help women build emotional resilience so they can pass down generational peace and emotional wellness to their children. Bottom line: When women are emotionally well, everyone around them benefits. We all win!
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I started modeling and participating in beauty pageants when I was ten years old. It was fun, I made new friends, and it helped me build confidence, public speaking skills, and grace under pressure. Those experiences shaped so much of who I became as a woman.
As an adult, I wanted to give that same sense of confidence to other young girls, so I created my own version of beauty pageants. I called them “Inner Beauty Pageants.” Makeup was optional, and the focus was on public speaking, community service, special talents, and personal growth. Through those events, I was able to award thousands of dollars in college scholarships and help hundreds of young women develop self-esteem, poise, and purpose.
But the truth is, I’ve reached a point in my life where that chapter has served its purpose, and I need to release it.
The pageant and modeling world, even in its most positive form, still carries an undertone of performance and judgment. Today, I no longer want to be associated with anything that asks women or girls to prove their worth. Especially now that I have children, I want them to know that they don’t have to perform, produce, or perfect themselves to be loved or valued. I want them to embody their worthiness simply by being who they are. I want them to understand that they are human beings, not human doings.
Now that I am a mental health therapist and coach, I see those same patterns showing up in so many women who are constantly overachieving, overperforming, and trying to prove they are enough. That is why I know it is time for me to release that part of my identity. I cannot lead women toward authentic self-worth if I am still holding on to old ways of measuring it.
True confidence and self-love do not come from trophies, applause, or approval. They come from within, from knowing you are enough just as you are.
As mothers, career-driven women, and high-achieving professionals, we are so used to earning our worth through what we do, how well we perform, and how much we accomplish. But the truth is, our worth was never something we had to earn. It was already ours. Other people’s approval is not required.
That realization is my release.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
I miss riding my bike outside for hours as a child. I would pedal through my neighborhood without a plan or a destination, completely lost in the moment. I wasn’t worried about what time it was, what I needed to get done, or what was coming next. I just rode.
I miss that feeling of being carefree, unhurried, and untethered from responsibility. I miss waking up and letting the day unfold instead of managing it. Back then, I didn’t overthink or overplan. I just trusted that wherever I ended up was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Now, as a mother, therapist, and high-achieving woman, I often find myself missing that version of life – the version that didn’t need a to-do list, goals, or structure for the day. These days, my life is full of schedules, deadlines, and responsibilities, and while I’m grateful for all that I’ve built, I sometimes long for that childlike ease.
That memory reminds me to slow down. To ride through life with more trust, less control, and a little more freedom. To remember that peace isn’t something I have to earn or plan for. It’s something I can choose, right here, right now.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Where I think smart people are getting it totally wrong today is believing that success comes from what they know. We’ve built a culture that worships intellect, credentials, and strategy – but none of that matters if your emotional world is falling apart.
You can be the smartest person in the room, but if you don’t have emotional resilience, you will eventually break under pressure. If your mental health isn’t well, you can’t think clearly, make sound decisions, or communicate your knowledge effectively.
I’ve seen brilliant people self-sabotage not because they lacked intelligence, but because they lacked self-awareness, emotional control, and the ability to manage stress. Knowledge alone doesn’t make you powerful. Emotional stability does.
Real success isn’t just about how much you know. It’s about how well you can stay grounded, clear-minded, and emotionally steady when life doesn’t go as planned.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say that I was a good mom – not just a provider or protector, but a present mom. The kind who listened, laughed, showed up, and made her kids feel seen, safe, and deeply loved.
I hope they say that I lived with intention, that I poured into my family and community with my whole heart, and that I helped others believe they were enough – not because of what they did, but because of who they were.
I hope people say that I taught girls & women to make their mental health a priority and to stop living like their worth was tied to their productivity. That I helped change what success looks like – that I made peace, purpose, and emotional resilience part of the definition of wealth.
And when it’s all said and done, I hope they say that my life made others want to love themselves more, believe bigger, show up authentically, and live freer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CoachKeisha.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mycoachkeisha
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keishagaddis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachkeisha
- Other: Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/keisha-gaddis-frisco-tx/1598234
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mycoachkeisha
Image Credits
Kevin Gaddis Jr.
