How a Trauma-Informed Therapist Built a Purpose-Driven Wellness Business

0:00It's a toxic trait to think that is wrong to like put you first, no put you first. Oh no, I want to see people get better and healed and grow and break down generational cycles. And so that's one thing that separates us. We do like a thorough hire in process where we make it sure that these are really genuinely good people who want to help. Nilecia Williams is a trauma informed therapist, visionary entrepreneur and transformational leader who serves as the founder and CEO of ACE Wellness Center. A behavioral health organization dedicated to supporting children, youth and families across Ohio. There's one message that you could give to anybody out there that might be watching it. What would that message be? I think it's that you can do this. Focus on ourselves. Let's do some introspection. Let's figure out that if we're well, it's exactly that. Three group. Let's worry about ourselves and then let's bridge back out and see, well, what can we offer to the world? Because all of us can offer something, but what? The life of a super high school, Internet Elvis.

1:00Ready? Fire. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the bomb. It's not over until our weird. The living your legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. That's extremely great. It's awesome. Oh, that is sensational. Open. She covered with the lead. You can live your dream. Welcome back to another episode of the Living Your Legacy podcast. I'm your host, today, Jason Tyler. And I am joined by Miss Nilecia Chanel. Correct, correct, correct. Now we're on the other side of filming your episode of Women in Power. First of all, how do you feel? I feel amazing. I'm very excited. Thanks for having me. You didn't have any of those like pre-filming jitters. You weren't nervous or anything going into it? No. I really wasn't. I think I'm always just like we're on vacation.

2:02So it's like it's hard for me not to be late back. Especially in Miami. Yes, I'm from Ohio. So being here just makes you loose. Like we just was in here for I've just tried not to be late. Have you been to the beach yet? Yes. We have. As you should. Luckily you weren't here last week. Because last week is when we got like our one week of cold for the entire year. Yeah, it went down to like the 40s. I would not have been happy if we were here. It's 40s back home. Oh, no. I'm from Jamaica. I don't do the cold. Oh, nice. I don't. So you run a wellness center, correct? I do. Talk to me a little bit about first of all what got you into the wellness space. Right. I mean, I'm sure this is, you know, unanimous among a lot of the business owners that we interview here at Inside Success. But a lot of people are obsessed with their wellness, whether that be mental wellness, physical wellness. Talk to me about how you got into the space. So the funny part about it is like since I was like a kid, it's been supernatural

3:05for people to just talk to me. Like I was like 12 years old and my parents, friends were literally telling me about their marriage. So it's something. Not the gossip. No, they were. Like, literally. And my parents were like, you guys, she's like 12, but I'm literally intently listening to them and giving it. You're still like, you need to tell me more. Okay. And what did you say? Oh, maybe she didn't say that. So, um, what I think about it is supernatural for me. Like I love this feel when I got into it. It doesn't feel like work. I love people. I love hearing about people. I'm very like solution oriented by nature. So it's almost just like something that is very enjoyable for me. Like, like, um, some people get overwhelmed by hearing too many like negative stories, but for me, it's really like good. Like, let's proud. I used to, I used to date a therapist once upon a time she would bring home all of that energy and talk to you all night. And then just dump it back onto me and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

4:05All I asked was what was for dinner. Oh my god. So did you have to? Like, of course, also my dad's a psychologist. So my dad's a sports psychologist. So he's the, uh, represented the IOC representative for Jamaica. So he's our Olympic sports psychologist. So cool. He was you saying both sports psychologists, Shelley and Frazier. And now his current athlete is Obliq Seville, the current 100 meter world champion. That is so awesome. So I've been dealing with psychology my entire, I'm somewhat of a psychologist. I was about to say that I was about to say you probably got pretty good advice for people. Yeah, but it's like sometimes it's hard to turn it off in a relationship. So do you find yourself like telling me like, I have to turn it off. I have to turn it off. I have to set like clear boundaries of like, hey, if a conversation is too emotionally charged, we both need to take five. Yes. We both need to take five. And it's the same way I take five on set. Like, if, you know, if I'm on a film set and I can see that my crew is bothered and like everybody's sort of in a fit. Oh, everybody take five.

5:05We're all just going to recollect somebody go get her a snack and then we'll be back. We need to go back to school and do it. My dad has been asking me to get a master's in psychology for the long, I think you should. I think you should. You're missing your calling because even in podcasts, there's a lot of psychology behind podcasts. Like you have to know the right questions to ask. You need to like feel where it should move and like, it's right in your department. So that's what I think makes me good at what I do. Like I specialize as a documentary filmmaker. I do a lot of documentary interviews and a lot of times like what what Kofi was doing with you here for your women and power episode. When I do that, like I take the script that they provide us and like that's like the bones of the conversation. But I have a tendency to just add in my own like I'll add live in my own questions. But that's enough about me. I know I'm starting to get so into me. You see, you see, you're doing the thing. And the worst part is we'll both do it. So it's been going to go back and forth.

6:05This is it. We should have this should have never been you should have we should have got Ray in here to do the podcast today. So you're you have a focus on mental wellness. Yes. Got you. So tell me a little bit about first of all, just you know, it's not just that you are gifted in what the in what you're doing. But you're also a business owner. Like what are some of the ups and downs that you're dealing with in you know running and operating this business. Yeah. So it's primarily staff. So you know, everybody's human in life happens and trying to make sure your staff is always well can be really difficult. And making sure that they're carrying out every role of responsibility to his entirety. So that's actually more stressful for me than even like the kids. Because if you're in this field, as you know, even like as yourself and your dad, you care about people not just like your clients, but your staff too.

7:05And so sometimes I carry the weight of them not doing well or you know, like, oh, you could be doing better or oh, pay attention here. Oh, you know, and so it's too full when you're a business owner and you're really hands on because I'm very hands on. And so it's making sure that you are taking care of the staff just like you are the clients and it can be very difficult. And so I preach self care, right? Because you can't take care of kids and other things. And even your household, if you're not taking care of yourself. And so that's one of the biggest challenges is making sure that everybody's doing the self care because I've lost good people just because they weren't taking care of themselves. And that's that's the issue in relationships. If you can't, if you're not loving yourself, then nobody else is going to be able to come in and love you the way that you need to be loved. Right. If you can't define what that looks like within yourself, then it's how how can you expect another person to come in and do it for you? Humans, humans toxic trait is sometimes they think like self love is selfish or like taking too much time for yourself is like in some way negative like, oh, am I being selfish?

8:13And it's like, no, no, you're not. It's because in our society, we have this preconceived notion that a lot of people when they take time for themselves, I just need rest. Right. Like I just need to and we've coined all these funny terms around it like bedriding and you know, spending a Sunday in bed. Lazy, if you, yeah, we call it lazy because we live in a society that's hyper focused on productivity. Right. And if I'm not being productive, I'm of no value to society. So what am I really doing? Yeah. But like if you're not being a value, you can stop being a value to society and be a value to you. And that's perfectly fine. And that's the key because that's where people go wrong. And I see it so much. And then they feel bad for like wanting more for themselves or taking care of themselves. And it's like, no, you kind of have to do that. It's a toxic trait to think that it's wrong to like put you first. No, put you first. But then when you put you first and you're going to leave room for other people and that's like the key, you've got to put yourself first. And then watch this. Now you show up better for everybody else.

9:15I know people forget that you do. And that's why even partially when I was in there doing the other part, I was saying that that's where people go wrong. They forget to take care of themselves first. You literally got to do it or you can't help other people. So all right, stick up in there because I have a feeling that we could go on this topic for about an hour. I want to just talk a little bit about like your brand, your business, and what are what are like the separating factors for your clients? Like what separates you from anybody else in the wellness space? Right. And so what I would say is what separates like Ace Wellness Center from others is the way that we care for our clients and how we try to meet their needs and how we wrap around them. I mean, like, let's say I got a client and I do my assessment with the family and they are barely making it right. You got this really stressed out parent who may be emotionally abusive to this client that I need. And so we have to help them figure out how to stabilize their bills and how to make sure they're eating well.

10:16And then we can get to like the therapy part and family therapy part. So we just wrap around them in such a way that is very caring. Like I was telling Kofi, we don't even hire people if they don't like what they do. You know, you can easily wean out somebody who's here for a job versus someone who's like, oh no, I really want to help people. Oh no, I want to see people get better and healed and grow and break down generational cycles. And so that's one thing that separates us. We do like a thorough hire and process where we make sure that these are really genuinely good people who want to help and care about people. Because I've seen it myself like people can work a job and not care. They just can't pay you know, however the kids turn out is on them in the barons and it's like, no, that's not cool. That's not what we're looking for. No, that's not what we're looking for. And it's super important like this goes to any business. I don't care what niche you're in. I don't care what industry you're in. If you care about your customer, you will do well. Like that's to me is the highest law of business is if I care about the result that the person is coming to me to spend money that they worked really hard for.

11:23I need to take absolute care of that person. And I need it like and you know going back to what we use like we care about people deeply. So it's like, I want to make sure that this thing that I'm offering, this thing that I'm putting out there into the world is actually able to do what I set out to do. I tell a client, hey, come into my business and you'll achieve X result. And they don't. Yeah, I broke my promise. You deserve every dollar back. Because I didn't give you what you paid for. So like I think that just that just goes to show like any business that you have out there, any industry you're in, any company that you're running, any offer that you're putting out. That should be your main focus. Can I do the thing that I say that I was that I'm going to do? I want to take a second here to just talk about you. Okay. So first of all, tell me where you from. I am well, I was born in Long Beach, California. We're doing this super backwards. By the way, I should have done that way at the beginning. It's okay. I know you guys can chop this up. I was born in Long Beach, California.

12:23And I currently reside in Ohio. Yeah, I got you. Yeah. So when did you, where was the moment where you said, you know what? I care so deeply about people. I'm going to go and study this. And this is going to be my career path. Like when did you make that decision? Probably high school. Like maybe like sophomore, like when I was about 15. I knew that this was a niche for me. But like I was going to do pediatrician, but in career day, the pediatrician who came for career day discouraged me. It was like, oh, you kind of go to school for 12 years. You don't want to do it. I know. And I was like, oh, yeah, 12 years sounds crazy. I even at that age was like, oh, it's going to start when they're young. Let me see how I can help kids when they're young to like overcome. So when they're adult, they're not having all these issues because adults are still you can change, right? But you're a little more stuck in ways that kids aren't. They're very malleable when they're kids. So probably about 15 is when I was like, oh, this is what I want to do. I want to help see changes in kids. And that's a great thing that you're getting in getting those, you know, getting the mental aspect in early for kids.

13:25Because you're creating habits that are going to live with them for a long period of time and only get better with time, right? Like I wish when I was like 12, 13, 14 years old. Well, no, my dad was psychoanalyzing me at that age, but I wish that I had started working on some of the habits that I've built into my daily life now, like going to the gym, making sure I'm eating right. And at the time, it's like, I don't give a damn. I'm going to eat McDonald's. Yep. And I don't need to go to the gym. I'm going to go outside and play. I can't believe I used to eat McDonald's. The thought that I used to eat McDonald's is crazy to me. And feed it to my kids. I'll be honest here. I still eat. Oh, sometimes, sometimes, sometimes. Do you know, do you eat McDonald's? Yeah. By the way, for those of you that are listening, we do have an extra guest with us in the studio. This is on Mike's. She's on Mike. So if you see that and you're like, who is she talking to? She's, she's right off camera. So now that we're on the other side of your women and power interview,

14:28what do you think the people out there that are watching your episode are going to learn about you specifically? What people will learn about me? I don't know if it came through, but I'm funny. If it doesn't come out in the episode, it's going to come out in this podcast. I was like, I want you guys to know that I'm funny. That's, that's the most important to me. And then second is that I, I love business. Like, it's just something that is supernatural to me. It's very fun. It's like, I love the plan. Come up with a vision and just like take steps to like learn it. So that's something else. And then I just care about people. Like I care about people and like all people, you know. One thing about me is I don't really pick sides. I don't believe in pick and sides. Like, I believe in make a solutions for any problem. But without like pick and sides. People always want you to pick a side. Because like, no, I'm not. How about let's just solve whatever? Actually, the solutions often in the middle. Thank you. Often is right in the middle. I think it's so fun that like you're at the, you're in the,

15:28you're what I like to call in the pocket as a business owner. You're right at the intersection of two passions for yourself. Yeah. And so you're going to be able to go infinitely harder, infinitely further than the average person that starts a business just to make a quick buck. Because you care. Right. You care about what it is that you're doing. So for anybody that's out there watching at this point, take note of the fact that if you are at the intersection of two things that you love to do, I guarantee you will see some modicum of success. You may be, you might not be a billionaire. You might not be Elon Musk. But you will see success in that you will feel good in your day to day interaction. I agree. And I always say like when, because I talk to people around me about business, as I will, I'm going to write another book. I wrote one book, but it's more about emotions and stuff. But my second book too will probably be about business. And like number one about a business is make sure you know how to do it. Because I see, listen, I know that sounds really simple, but I see so many people who like start a business about something that they're not knowledgeable about. It's just like, oh, I think this is a good thing.

16:28But it's like, I have approximate knowledge of this. Yeah. So it's like do something that you're knowledgeable about that you will enjoy. You'll make a lot of money because that's where I see most success from. But when you start a business and you're like, I'm just doing it for the money. No, it probably won't go too well. You're going to probably give up. You're going to fizzle out. Yeah. Then I've seen that happen time and time again, where it's like you start off with all this enthusiasm. Yeah, I'm going to start a business. First couple of months, you make a little bit of money. Like, yeah, I'm going to just keep doing. And then when it gets really hard. Because it's going to get hard. Because it's going to get hard. You're going to have chargebacks. You're going to not be able to make payroll for a month. There's so many different variables to having this business that when it gets hard, you're going to realize I kind of want to salary again. Yeah. I know. And that's terrible. It's happened to me. It's happened to me. Look, I'll be the first to tell you. I've started three production companies at this point. And the first one was in a niche that I wasn't really too happy with. And the second one was in another niche that I was to it was real estate. That was a great one. I don't like real estate for talk.

17:29No, but you don't like real estate guy. Like, I love looking at a pretty house. Don't get me wrong. Love it to death. But like, I'm a storyteller at heart. So like, finding my niche in documentary filmmaking and in telling people stories, that was when I found like, again, that intersection. Yeah. I love, listen, put a camera in my hand. I feel like Michael Jordan. Really? Like, I'm him with a camera. Okay, that's cool. But when it comes to telling stories, that was like the real it point for me. And so once I made it to that point, that was when I was like, oh, okay, this is what I needed to be doing this whole time. I actually love to get your opinion on this. I'm going to be doing this process of helping my dad write his second book. We have a section in there that I'm writing. And I've coined this term that me and my dad keep using called proximity of awareness. And you're the person for me to test this theory out on. But the proximity of awareness basically posits that anxiety comes from being aware of too much at once. So your proximity of awareness is spread too wide.

18:29Think of it, for example, if I'm thinking of all the problems that are out there in the world at large, plenty of opportunities for anxiety. Okay, shrink that down. Let's just think about my city. Still a lot going on. I don't like that bridge that they're building with the spider legs. It irks me. Shrink it down again. Just my neighborhood. Everything pretty cool. I'm really going on and then shrink it down again. Just these four walls. Yeah. Everything that are all of my immediate needs are within these four walls. I actually have nothing to be worried about. So that proximity of your awareness, it's almost like your lungs. You need to be able to expand and contract it at will. And so that's kind of a key term that me and my dad had used for managing anxiety. What's your take on that? I think it's brilliant. And I think that the next step would be as you expand, you do like a little bit of bodywork. So like, because you will have a big part of it.

19:30Breathwork is a big part of it as well. But that's brilliant because it's true. I went through panic attacks when I was in grad school and I had to do that. It's my field. I'm having panic. I don't know what I'm going to emergency room because I don't know what school I'm going to want. I never had one before. Find out it's panic attacks. And it's the same thing I had to do to get over it. So I had to shrink my world. So where I'm only taking care of me. I'm just taking care of everything that I do when I'm having a tough time. I go like this. And so everything in this circle is the only thing I'm allowed to pay attention to. And I was like, you know what? That's almost exactly what I was just talking about. Yeah, it's so true. But guess what? At some point you do have to expand or you'll be too isolated. So the rule is that, yeah. So I think for survival purposes, yes. Shrink. But then slowly open it. But with tools now. So I think I love that idea. And I think it's because you do have to expand. Because you do have to expand. Because you know what?

20:30If you don't, it's isolating. It's unaware. And so you have to do it to survive the time. But then eventually expand. But with your tools now. Because there's a lot going on. But you can handle it. Right. So it's bigger now how to handle it as you expand again. But I love that. That book will be coming soon. But that's good. So just the basics. So. That's great. It's like, their coffee motions. I know plenty of people that take that advice. Yeah. So I'm very proud of it. in a couple of little things that I'll be prone to. But primarily, I'll probably be prone to my Instagram and one of my website. While we're on the subject of that, guys, if you are still watching at this point in the episode,

21:32I want you to go ahead and make sure that you follow. At. Yeah, it's Nailisha underscore LPCCS, which is like my license. Nailisha underscore LPPS. LPPS. I'll make sure that we put a nice little tagline there on the screen. So make sure that you guys are going and following her everywhere that you possibly can. Also make sure that you check out her episode of Women in Power, which will be dropping shortly after this episode drops. Is there anything, if there's one message that you could give to anybody out there that might be watching and what would that message be? What would my message be? I think it's that you can do this because I think a lot of the times are so much going on right now where it's like people are freaking out. And I want, yeah, I want people to not be distracted by noise that you aren't even involved in. One thing is that be distracted because if you're going to do something about it. But if you're not, how about let's refocus to you and I'm almost like to what you're going to be writing about.

22:34Let's focus on ourselves. Let's do some introspection. Let's figure out that if we're well. It's exactly that. It's exactly that. Because sometimes we're not well and that's why we're getting distracted and like losing our minds about these things that's going on. Let's take a second. Let's regroup. Let's worry about ourselves. And then let's bridge back out and see, well, what can we offer to the world? Because all of us can offer something. But what, right? It's not going to be negativity. It's not going to be discord. What can you offer that's going to actually help, right? So that's one thing that I think people need to figure out and learn, who are you, what's your purpose and what can you offer to the world? Not just being distracted and like, yeah. Also, if you're watching, I don't know if you can tell. So Nailisha is an expert at podcasts. And please plug your podcast for us here. Oh, yeah. So my podcast is, say it out loud with Nailisha Chanel. And one thing about it is nothing's off the table. So we talk about you, your life, religion, politics, nothing's off the table.

23:34So if you think it, we're going to say it. Now, normally I don't promote other podcasts on this show. However, having sat down with Nailisha and spoken for a little bit, now I can tell that I'm going to be a viewer. And so should you. But with that guys, that is pretty much it for this episode of the Living Your Legacy podcast. Make sure that you guys go out and check out at least this episode of Women in Power, which will be coming out shortly after this episode is dropping. So I'm really excited. You guys are going to get to hear her whole story, everything that's going on in her business. We did, I mean, we just had like a conversation. You guys get to actually go and do a deep dive into what it is that makes Nailisha tick. So make sure you guys go ahead and check that one out. And we'll catch you guys in the next one.