Today we’d like to introduce you to Keisha Reaves.
Keisha, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in a small town in South Georgia called Milledgeville. Our town once housed the largest mental institution in the world, Central State Hospital, and several people in our town were employed there. Hearing about mental health was always something that I was exposed to. At an early age, I knew that I wanted to be in the mental health field to assist people as they navigate their lives. I’ve always found people to be fascinating and even their family construct has been a huge interest to me. After completing undergraduate school at Clayton State University, I worked a couple of years in the DFCS/Foster Care setting but eventually completed my Master’s Degree from the University of West Alabama. After finishing my graduate work, I then worked in a mental health hospital as well as in community mental health in the West End area. Soon, after obtaining enough experience and becoming fully licensed to practice in the state of Georgia, I opened my private practice in 2014 and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I thoroughly enjoy helping break the stigma of mental health from people thinking you can’t talk to someone about a break-up or issues at the job or conflict with a friend. Or even being in a good place in your life and going to therapy to maintain that. I’ve been on a mission to “re-brand” the idea of mental health and along with that journey, I’ve discovered my huge love of serving women. In 2017, after giving birth to my son, I realized a strong desire to help women dealing with postpartum depression, infertility, infant loss and transitioning into motherhood. I not only wanted to help women with their lives but also obtain specialties to assist them during their maternity journey. Being a maternal health advocate and a therapist has enabled me to create my second business, Push Thru, an afterbirth survival kit for moms.
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?
It hasn’t all been smooth. I’ve run into obstacles like finding the right office space that’s not only conducive to me, but also to my clients. With being a therapist, you have the ebbs and flows of clientele and also reaching people that may not find the value in maintaining their mental health. Also, with launching Push Thru earlier this year, there’s this hustle to market and maintain a loyal customer base. Every day is a new obstacle, but what’s most important to me is understanding my passion and allowing that to drive me. Large businesses and corporations weren’t successful overnight, but contributing to the business in any way through email or note-taking or networking on a daily basis adds up.
We’d love to hear more about Push Thru and Workout Couch.
Being a maternal health therapist has opened several doors for me in being able to connect with local doulas, meet midwives and obstetricians. I’ve learned so much about the medical field and how mothers who may live in a lower socioeconomic status suffer more and may not have the opportunity of getting the same resources as others. I’m proud that through my practice I try to help mothers prepare for motherhood as best they can mentally. We live in a society where we focus so much on the physical and the “bringing home the baby” part, that we neglect the fact that this is a huge mental adjustment for any woman at any age in any culture. This is the reality, but it’s also something we don’t really talk about. With my company Push Thru, it’s a 4-month subscription box service geared towards providing moms with items, they will need during that fourth trimester that will help them physically and mentally. Each month, it offers six different items such as products to help with a vaginal birth or c-section or breastfeeding or other side effects to giving birth. Accompanying these items are also mental health tips to help cope with anxiety, stress, feeling overwhelmed, sleep deprivation and other side effects of motherhood. Adding to this mental health piece is something that sets us apart from other subscription box companies. Our subscriptions are also only for four months, which is also something that makes us different. We’re there to support moms during this critical period to offer resources, tools, and support.
Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
I can honestly say that networking has been struggling for me only for the mere fact that I am an introvert. This is odd, I know, being that I love people and the truth of the matter is that I love helping people. I can help strangers all day, but networking with strangers has always been a challenge. However, as of late, I’ve discovered that when networking in the field that I’m passionate about it’s not as hard. When we end up discussing mental health or pregnancy or infertility or women’s issues, I can talk with them for hours and learn ways to collaborate. I find that networking with this type of intent takes some of the pressure off. It’s not set up in the way of having a mission to use someone for your benefit, but with the goal of working together to reach more people.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1050 Crown Point Pkwy, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30338
- Website: www.workoutcouch.com and www.pushthrubox.com
- Phone: 678-827-5441
- Email: workoutcouch@gmail.com
- Instagram: @workout_couch and @pushthrubox
- Facebook: workoutcouch and pushthrubox
- Other: Keisha Reaves (youtube)
Image Credit:
Lasundra Davis (personal photo), Bri Lyn Photography (other photos)
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
