Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Dr. Annise Mabry of Conyers

Dr. Annise Mabry shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Annise, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I’m being called to rest out loud. To heal out loud. To lead from a place that is whole, not just high-achieving. For so long, I believed my value came from how much I could carry for other people. I wore strength like a shield, and I buried my exhaustion beneath degrees, titles, and service. I was building systems that saved lives while quietly losing parts of myself.

What I was afraid of before was choosing me. But when I finally made that choice, it was like a weight had been lifted, and I was free to be who I truly am.

But that fear cracked open something sacred. It’s what led me to become certified in Beach Coaching and Trauma Coaching. I stopped trying to outwork the pain and finally gave myself permission to feel it. To sit in it. To release it. The ocean became my sanctuary, and in that stillness, I heard the truth: my body wasn’t just tired. It was screaming for softness and screaming for space. And when I gave it that, I finally remembered who I was before I had to perform survival. This journey, this transformation, is what gives me hope and inspires me to share it with you.

That journey gave birth to Rise + Release, my trauma-informed beach retreat. It’s not a vacation. It’s a revolution. It’s where we reclaim what burnout tried to bury. It’s where women come to stop performing strength and start embodying freedom.

And Rise + Release is just one wave in the ocean of the Educational Disobedience movement. This movement is about challenging the traditional educational systems that often prioritize conformity over individual growth. It’s about re-educating ourselves on what liberation looks like. It’s about unlearning the lie that we have to be broken to be valuable. It’s about creating spaces—classrooms, retreats, lives—where we get to be fully human and deeply well.

So what am I being called to do now? I’m being called to model what healing leadership looks like. Healing leadership is about leading from a place of personal growth and self-care, and it’s about prioritizing the well-being of the community you serve. I’m being called to rest like it’s my birthright. I’m being called to show the next generation that you don’t have to trade your soul to serve your purpose.

And I’m not afraid anymore. I’m here to call you to action, to join me in this journey of healing, rest, and liberation. Together, we can create a world where self-care is a priority, and healing is a birthright.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Dr. Annise Mabry, and I don’t just build programs. I build movements. I turned my pain into purpose and created a national model for reimagining education, healing from trauma, and living unapologetically. From the classroom to the coastline, I’ve helped thousands of youth earn diplomas and guided hundreds of women to reclaim their power and their peace.

I’m the founder of the Educational Disobedience movement, a radical philosophy that challenges traditional education systems and empowers students to question, disrupt, and redefine what learning looks like. I’m also the visionary behind Rise + Release, a soul-centered beach retreat where we trade burnout for breakthrough and survival for self-sovereignty. I’m the voice you call when you’re ready to stop performing strength and start living free.

But my story didn’t stop at advocacy. After years of leading, building, and showing up for everyone else, I found myself burned out and disconnected from joy. That’s when I stopped trying to save systems and started saving souls, beginning with my own. I became certified in Beach Coaching and Trauma Coaching and created Rise + Release to hold sacred space for others who are ready to come home to themselves.

What makes my brand different is radical permission. I don’t just give people tools. I give them permission to heal, to be seen, to disrupt, and to live lives that are both powerful and soft. I’m now expanding the Educational Disobedience platform with a podcast, companion workbooks, and transformational retreats that empower people to rewrite their stories and reclaim their purpose.

I’m not here to be palatable. I’m here to be unforgettable, and to build bold, brave spaces where everyone, no matter their story, can rise.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that believed I had to earn rest. That version of me served her purpose. She got me through the fire. She kept everything afloat when it all felt like it was sinking. She showed up, overperformed, and wore strength like armor. But she was tired. She was overworked, overlooked, and praised for surviving what was never meant to be survived in silence.

That part of me believed that if I just achieved enough, proved enough, or helped enough people, I’d finally be safe. I’d finally be worthy. But I’ve outgrown her now. I don’t need to chase validation. I don’t need to sacrifice my peace to be valuable. That version of me helped me build the foundation. Now it’s time for the healed version to build the future.

So I’m releasing her with gratitude. I’m choosing softness without guilt. I’m choosing ease without apology. I’m choosing to thrive, not just lead.

And most importantly, I’m choosing to rest like it is my birthright because it is.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I stopped hiding my pain the moment I realized it was keeping me small. I had spent years performing strength for the world while silently breaking inside. Smiling through trauma. Working through grief. Leading while bleeding. I told myself the mission mattered more than my healing. But the truth is, I was building movements while hiding the very fuel that birthed them.

The turning point came when my daughter had her breakdown. That moment cracked everything wide open. It forced me to face my own silence, my own suppression, and the generational weight I had been carrying like a badge of honor. I couldn’t keep pretending that resilience alone was enough. That was the moment I stopped hiding. I started speaking. I started writing. I started telling the truth—not the polished, sanitized version, but the raw, inconvenient one.

And in telling the truth, I found power.

My pain became my platform. My scars became my strategy. Everything I had survived became the blueprint for someone else’s freedom. That’s when I realized my pain wasn’t a weakness. It was a weapon. Not for destruction, but for liberation.

Now, I don’t hide. I don’t minimize. I use every ounce of what I’ve been through to help others rise.

Because if I had to walk through fire, I’m going to light the way with it.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I’m committed to dismantling the lie that traditional education is the only pathway to success. That belief has caged too many brilliant minds, erased too many voices, and destroyed too many futures. I don’t care how long it takes, I will keep showing up for the students no one sees. The ones pushed out, left behind, written off. The ones who were told they were too broken, too complicated, or too far gone.

My lifelong project is Educational Disobedience—not just as a movement, but as a mindset. It’s a revolution that says healing is more important than homework, that lived experience is just as valid as a textbook, and that success should never require self-abandonment. I’ve spent over a decade building diploma programs for students the system gave up on, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure they know they still belong. That they can still rise.

This isn’t about quick wins. It’s about legacy. And I’m in it for the long haul.

Because when you’ve lived through what I’ve lived through, you don’t just create programs. You create promises. And I intend to keep mine.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am finally doing what I was born to do.

For years, I did what I was told to do. I chased degrees. I built programs. I followed the rules. I played the part. I checked every box that made other people comfortable. I was successful by every definition except my own. And behind all the accolades, I was exhausted. I was living in service of systems that never intended for someone like me to survive, let alone lead.

But surviving was never the assignment. Liberation was.

I was born to disrupt. I was born to heal. I was born to build spaces where truth is louder than trauma and where power doesn’t require permission. I was born to speak for the unseen, to hold space for the unheard, and to remind people they are not broken. They are breaking free.

Now I wake up every day knowing my work is my calling, not my compliance. I don’t just lead. I liberate. I don’t just teach. I transform. I don’t just show up. I shift the room.

This is purpose. This is freedom. This is what I was born to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.drannisemabry.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAnniseMabryPhD/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2A2_Aiccnkp8ZWicYC1avn2xGxVGmzb1

Image Credits
Book Cover Image: Selena Winert Graves
Headshot Image: SQS Photography
Graduation Photography: Ryan Krafthefer