Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. April Bee.
Dr. Bee, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I come from the descendants of addiction, abuse. Trauma lodged into neurological defects and physiological dispositions, poverty (financially, emotionally, and mentally), and the grief of systemic occurrences that have inflicted my family over the generations.
Whew, now that is over, I was brought up through resiliency, love, faith, and determination. I have been engrained to do my best, to love hard, and to chase after your dreams until they come true. I have learned over each obstacle I have a face that there is light, and we all possess light within us. Therefore, I am deeply passionate about helping others find that light and teaching others on how to help one another find their light, too. That’s my simple rationale for becoming a social worker and becoming a wellness coach. Everything I do – everything I am – is about fighting for the light to be ignited in everyone, and for us all to remain equipped to keep burning, despite anyone trying to put us out. It sounds so cliche, but if you think about it, it is quite a daunting task especially when you are keeping your flame. Thus, this is what my business and Platform is about igniting and liberating us all from the systemic and generational trauma that has inflicted us, and learning how to become sustained, well individuals and communities.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Honey, if my life was a road, it would be the highways in Columbus, Ohio, where the whole street is a pothole. I can HONESTLY say that I am grateful for all of the struggles, as it truly made me exactly into who I needed to be. I often leave out a lot of my struggles, as I don’t want to publicly bring pain to those involved. Nonetheless, there were a few that I can never breeze over mentioning.
I lost my mama at 14 to Multiple Sclerosis. I was then introduced to suicide for the next ten years. I lost my grandpa (one of the closest people, and who raised me) at 17. I lost my Big Mama (another huge supporter) during my junior year of college. I lost two mentors to a sudden heart attack during college. All of these, along with transient friendships, taught me that I didn’t deserve for anyone to support me. So many narratives from my childhood and young adult years enhanced my behavior of devaluing my thoughts, actions, and decisions especially my existence.
I never understood the concept of helping myself before others. I gave all of myself to everyone and continued to leave none behind for me, or God. Can’t nobody debate me that God isn’t real, because there were way too many times that I tried to make a choice on not being here anymore. It now brings me to tears that the woman who He promised I would become during the last moment I tried to take my life – she’s truly here. I’m so grateful that He kept His word.
Please tell us about RAW Honey Wellness and Coaching.
RAW Honey Wellness and Coaching is a Platform and business that uses artistic expression and therapeutic strategies to help liberate individuals, groups, and communities from the impact of intergenerational trauma and systemic ideologies to help us all become healthier people. In the end, by going through this difficult and authentic, RAW, process, we will endeavor to reach our sweetest honey that is plentiful and long-lasting.
The Platform includes the RAW Honey blogs, the Nectar Podcast (now on Apple and Spotify), two photography platforms: #thisisMYbeauty (empowering women) and Breathe (expression and empathy of black men), poetry, and wellness coaching. The Platform has also recently introduced a body care line, Mahoghoney By Bee, which utilizes all-natural ingredients to assist in practicing holistic wellness. We also have talks and workshops to share community education about holistic wellness. We are here to make an impact!
I am a Wellness and Strengths Coach. This means that I evaluate your wellness strategies both personally and professionally, mix them together, and suggest on how you can utilize your strengths (what you already do great) to stay healthy, become more productive, and balance your life so that you are happy, fulfilled, and of course, successful! I am also a Journalist and a Poet, which most people know me for. I love to drop a good poem. I am also a transformational speaker and photographer. I like to keep myself busy with fun things!
The thing I love about building RAW Honey is that it flips those “soft skills” on its head and shows that skills such as empathy, pausing, boundaries, emotional intelligence, and vulnerability is what is going to make you extensively more successful than others. I also love that we meet people where they are. We are here to listen, express, and share, as our experiences are our greatest educators. We utilize empirical research, but we make it relatable and assessable to everyone, which is something that is not commonly done. We aren’t about the numbers. We are about the impact on each person.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck, I believe in purpose. Alignment is one of my favorite words. Truly, the more I become aligned with the purpose that was prepared for me, the more things work in my favor. The more things go wrong, the more that I realize that I wasn’t even doing something that was in my heart to do. I have cried over so many heartaches and losses, but I realized that all of those losses were truly lessons. I have allowed the space to grieve so I can learn more about myself and more about life as a whole. In that perspective, I never run out of favor.
Pricing:
- Stinger Coaching Session (60 min Boost Coaching with Goals): $125
- Full Coaching Sessions (8-120 Min Sessions): $275/session OR $500/month
- Workshop (see categories on website): $300 (cap-15 attendees)
- Business Wellness Curriculum Development: $900 (includes Strengths Map)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rawhoneypf.com
- Email: apriln@rawhoneywc.org
- Instagram: dr.aprilbee
- Facebook: Dr. April Bee
- Twitter: draprilbee
- Other: Personal Website: draprilbee.com
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