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Life and Work with Kecia J

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Kecia J.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Life truly began for me when I was diagnosed with AIDS in December of 2006. When I say it began for me, I mean prophetically that my opened in a whole other way. After finding out by being in a partial coma for two and a half weeks, a doctor came in and told me my diagnosis. You can imagine that hearing that type of news at 22, that life would, in some form, STOP in its tracks, but my purpose was already set for me. Despite having AIDS, I still knew that I wanted to fulfill certain goals and I was not going to let the world’s stigma stop me from doing just that.

After only just being diagnosed three months prior with only two t-cells, I worked out, took my antiretrovirals and did everything in my power to make sure that I did not become apart of the world’s stigma. Before I knew it, my doctor was telling me that I was undetectable (meaning that the virus is so low in the bloodstream that it is not detectable in blood tests) and that my t-cells were beginning to rise. In 2007, I began to continue to pursue my passion for working in the music industry, by working with record labels on various artist’s promotional projects. From hitting the Houston, Miami & Atlanta pavements hard promoting projects such as “Dem Franchize Boyz”, Ying Yang Twinz, Papa Duck (Miami) and working with record labels as Slip-N-Slide Records, Def Jam, just to name a few; working among my industry peers and battling what I was internally became taxing most days.

In 2015, after putting in work years in the industry, and working with Veronica V, who was signed to Cash Money Records at the time, I started to fell empty. Like the music just was not enough. It was starting to no longer feel like a passion for me. For years, I wanted to write a memoir and tell my truth, but it seemed my industry life always got in the way. After years of making it a thought, I made a dream a reality and released my memoir, Dying to Be DIVA, officially in January of 2016. Alongside being an author, I dedicated my life to travel the country telling my truth. From sitting on women empowerment panels with some of your favorite housewives or discussing the strength of a woman in front of a room full of women with Megan Good, I totally changed my path of purpose to empower the masses. I worked hard to sit on as many platforms as I could to help educate and my hard work paid off as the mayor deemed, March 18th in the city of Houston, Kecia Johnson Day. The music industry created my backbone to withstand anything. It shaped me to be able to deal with the world and its side eyes or opinions when it comes to being a black woman with AIDS.

Today, I am focused more on being in line spiritually and being the best business mogul and mommy I can be to my healthy 6-month-old baby girl, Journei! The world only hears one side that the media puts out when it comes to the epidemic HIV/AIDS, but they never cover the part about someone living a healthy, normal, prosperous and fabulous life despite diagnosis! While traveling the country telling my truth, I met many individuals who had or cared for family members that have HIV or other various illnesses, and the main question I would get is, “How do I communicate with them, or what can or can’t I say?” The answer is simply, BE NORMAL! We don’t require any special treatment but to just treat us equally. From experiencing that, it motivated me to open a home healthcare business in Los Angeles, “Love of Anna Home Healthcare”, as a way to train individuals on how to care for their loved ones who are battling side effects from AIDS, Cancer, Lupus and Alzheimer’s. The business is named after my grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago. Although my company is based in Los Angeles, a year ago, I opened a location in Midtown, Atlanta, GA, so that I can work closely with the community on battling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Watching my grandmother change over these few years and understanding that our inner compassion comes from understanding and better education, helped me see that Atlanta needed me to go in and dig deeper. Atlanta is one of the top cities with the highest percentages of cases of those living with HIV and not knowing among the United States. It was only right, that I instill a branch of my business in the center of the city of Atlanta.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road to truth and success has not been an easy one. Since I am a woman of color that is attached to stigma, that plagues our society, I have found that there are times where individuals will hesitate working with me. Not necessarily because I am a woman with AIDS, but more so due to the unknown. The lingering question of, “is she capable of doing her job and making things happen?” Questions typically arise because of a lack of education around the virus. I have never let the diagnosis get in my way or stop me from pursuing all of my goals but in order to achieve that it takes a certain strength within to push past the nonsense. Despite working hard to fight for your passions and what you love to do, you still run into those who also will take your passion as a weakness. Yes, I want to speak my truth, educate, and face society head on to understand how important staying strong after a diagnosis is but, not if it is at the expense of feeling like a spectacle. Often times, I find that those around you have a tendency to treat you as such because they are matching the stigma in their head to the reality of your life. From being told that I was selfish for wanting a family and having a baby, to friends or loved ones throwing away dishes after me; the back end of me being open and so honest can sometimes come with a huge price to pay.

Please tell us about your brand.
The I AM Kecia J brand focuses solely on empowering! From strengthening the mind of an individual, but also going into the workplace and strengthening the core of the brand or company. What makes me as a woman most proud of within my brand is the ability to be able to walk into a room and have EVERY ear is listening. The power to captivate a room, leave with minds transitioned and wholeheartedly ready to take action toward change is incredible! Everyone can be a life coach, motivational speaker, author, or some type of guru, but our lives changes and are the masses LISTENING. That is truly the key to a changed mind and atmosphere.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
To truly network, you must step outside of yourself and your wants. By that I mean, understanding that your potential meeting of the minds to a person who can potentially change your life may have nothing to do with what you “like” to do. Your mentor may be into rocket science and you may be marketing strategist, but what makes the connection unique is the mindset and structure of how the rocket scientist got to where he is today. A mentor is not always about being in the same field, often times, it’s about the inner upgrade that person can help you to. The best advice I can give to a person in the midst of their journey to finding a mentor and networking is, STEP OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF!

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                  Image Credit:
Naja Lerus Photography

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.

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