Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney King.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brittney. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was adopted as a baby and grew up in a single-parent home in Memphis, TN. If you don’t know a lot about Memphis just know that it is a place where street sense is a childhood essential.
Many people now know me as a Licensed Professional Counselor, Anxiety Specialist, and Speaker living in Atlanta, GA but as life often has this is definitely not where I started. My mom worked hard to keep me involved in positive activities so that I could get to this point. I remember getting to college with aspirations of becoming a lawyer but feeling like there was something else for me to do with my life. I wasn’t quite sure what it was but I knew I was supposed to help people in a way that did not include law school.
That realization led me to majoring in non-profit management and then one day on the library steps, I had the bright idea of becoming a counselor and owning a non-profit. It was truly just that random. I had no plan, no research, it just sounded like it made sense. I haven’t quite made it around to establishing the non-profit just yet but hey becoming a licensed counselor is no quick process. You see, I had gone to counseling quite a bit as a teenager and the one counselor who impacted my life the most to this day is the one who encouraged me to be honest. That was one of the most freeing experiences in my life and it allowed me to see the power in releasing what’s been bottled up.
Funny enough, even after completing my graduate program and working to become licensed, I constantly wanted nothing to do with counseling. Even when I started gearing up to move to Atlanta, I would only look at a limited amount of counseling jobs because I wanted a fresh start at my career. Well of course, the only job I was offered was as a counselor and it wasn’t until I volunteered at a women’s luncheon at the convention center that I believed counseling was truly my calling. I only volunteered at this luncheon because I wanted to take a break from counseling and not 15 minutes after arriving one of the other volunteers shared her entire mental health history with me. I talked with her and the second I got a free moment walked away, cracked some jokes with Jesus about his humor and finally surrendered. I told the Lord that I was done running because obviously, I can’t and that since this is what He desires for me, I will finally give it my all.
This led to my desire of becoming an Anxiety Specialist and the relaunch of my business Imagination Beautiful. Imagination Beautiful started as a blog on my 25th birthday in 2013 and has now grown to become Your Live Well Boutique specializing in providing private concierge therapy, online content, and talks on faith and mental health.
Has it been a smooth road?
We’ve been sold a delusion that we should always feel good and be happy when in reality bumpy roads are necessary to develop discipline, determination, and all the characteristics that are not easily attained but essential ingredients of progress. So with that in mind my personal road is no different and has come with several bumps. I won’t go into my entire life story but let’s talk about some of the things that created my obstacles. Insecurity, fear, abandonment issues, and selfishness can pretty much sum up the fabric of my life’s rocky roads.
With counseling in particular, it’s been a whirlwind because for the first four years of my career, I wanted out. During my last semester of graduate school I wanted to drop out of school and my mom and best friend convinced me to relax and not give up. Well, I finished but lived in resentment of my choice for years yet somehow God consistently continued to open doors in this particular area of my life. It wasn’t until I moved to Atlanta and took a day off work to volunteer as a luncheon that I finally accepted counseling as part of God’s plan for my life. Crazy to think that same person who wanted to drop out is now the person who can’t imagine herself doing anything different. You see often times we create additional struggles in our life because we refuse to let go of whatever has been holding us. Whatever it is that you feel is leading your life in the direction that’s opposite of what you believe or desire then don’t just try to make a quick switch but own and address whatever the “it” is in your life. For me I was too selfish to see why being a counselor is so important and I’m thankful I didn’t quick based on a desire to do whatever I wanted to do.
I want other women to know that they don’t have to be afraid to dig up the roots of what’s driving their life in the wrong direction and just don’t quit. Had I dropped out because I was tried and over it, I’m not sure what I’d be doing and quite honestly, I don’t want to know. What I do know is that a lot of people either quit the minute it gets hard, or they settle for their disfunction and mask it as normal. That doesn’t have to be you but the road won’t be easy and you will have to cry and do some things that stretch you but if you don’t give up, there will come a time when it all starts to make sense.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and I specialize in treating anxiety and issues related to low self-esteem. Many people don’t know that Imagination Beautiful started on my 25th bday in 2013 as a blog on Blogspot. I was so excited just to get something out and start the process of building what had been on my heart for years. Little did I know that so much would change since those days and it has honestly taken time for me to fully understand the different elements of my business how to build it.
Now, seven years post that blog. I am honored to work with so many people desiring to improve and transform their lives. One of the benefits of offering concierge counseling services is that I get to be creative in how I connect with my clients. There are some beautiful places around this city and sitting with people in the park, by a river, or even on their own couch allows us to remove the barriers and really dig into what they need to change.
In addition to counseling, I get share my heart for teaching with a wide variety of audiences through talks on faith and mental health. Lastly, I think that what sets Imagination Beautiful apart is that I truly look at everything through the lens of faith and mental health and aim to serve my clients in way that allows them to know that their faith and mental health don’t have to separate entities, but rather they can work best together.
Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
This may be a bit cliche but I believe that for women and really anyone, the greatest challenge we face is the one in our mind. A major part of positioning comes from what you believe about yourself and the chances you are willing to take. I think it’s no secret that there are social barriers for women, ethnic minorities, and of course the list could go on. However, I have learned that I don’t want to be anywhere that I am not wanted because I am too valuable to subject myself to be treated as any less. So don’t fret over a closed-door and trust that you will indeed end up exactly where you are supposed to be.
First focus on positioning your heart and the rest will flow from there because that’s where your true opportunity lies. If we only see opportunity as external amenities then we will gain all sorts of things never really knowing our true calling. I believe that this generation of women has an opportunity that many of our parents and grandparents never considered and that is to truly know your purpose and seek to live it out.
In conjunction with that, there are many powerful women, that I am thankful for, who have gone before me to lay the foundation for my ability to view myself as powerful. So to every woman, I have to say don’t give up because you are worth it and seek to learn more than you seek to come up. The come up will come, it always does.
Pricing:
- Private Counseling Sessions begin @ $75 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: www.imaginationbeautiful.com
- Phone: 678-744-4280
- Email: imfo@imaginationbeautiful.com
- Instagram: @bkinglive @imaginationb_
Image Credit:
@imaginebyanthony (personal photo)
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