Conversations with Alayshia Grisham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alayshia Grisham.

Hi Alayshia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory
I am a first-generation college student. I first transferred from The University of the Virgin Islands to Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Georgia. After completing my associate’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, I transferred to Agnes Scott College to pursue a Dual Degree in Nursing. Leaving behind my home on the islands to attend college in Georgia was a big transition for me, but I have been able to have so many memorable experiences at Agnes Scott College.

I am now a junior and I have seven more months before I transfer to The Nell Hodges School of Nursing (Emory) to further my education and pursue my dreams of becoming a nurse. I have traveled to several different countries. My most memorable country was Caseres, Spain. While in Spain, I was given the opportunity to shadow doctors. I was blessed to be apart of this experience. My ultimate goal is to become an Obstetrician. I enjoy working with babies, and I want to make sure that a mother stays healthy during her pregnancy. I’m currently working towards these goals by gaining experience as a Certified Doula and as a delivery nurse while furthering my education. I am on track to graduate in 2022!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Sometimes I am mentally and physically tired. The trials and tribulations are REAL getting to this journey. When I transferred from the Virgin Islands, most of my credits were not transferrable. I was so down on luck that I felt like my career was over because I had to restart my freshman year. I was very disappointed because I worked very hard in school and to have to repeat classes made me want to give up on school. But I kept going because I had a strong support system cheering for me. I also lost my Aunt Libby.

The year of 2018 was very rough for me because she passed away and that was my go-to person for everything. She was like my bestfriend and I could talk to her about anything. I have always maintained my grades and GPA and although I was going through depression and very emotional, I never lost hope or gave up on my education. I was determined to finish school. I have always been self-driven. I am very passionate when it comes to my education and nothing in this world can get in the way of that.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a professional child-care provider. I have worked with children since I was ten years old. I watched my mother take care of adults and children with disabilities. She has always inspired me to care and help others. I’m a Holistic Doula. I specialize in supporting women and their families who bear children. I advocated for the use of holistic, natural, and traditional approaches to supporting birthing families from pregnancy to postpartum through early pregnancy. I also help my two younger siblings with home-school, whose births inspired my work. I started my journey as a Doula in 2018 to support the women in our culture. My revolution as an African American woman is to uplift our women. My mission is to empower women, especially African American women, incorporating methods of harm reduction, risk management, care and support, to make informed decisions, restore balance in the mind, body, spirit, soul and our collective feminine health and wellness.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Knowing my worth was very important to me. That is something I had to discover over the last few years. I also learned that I have the potential to do anything if I keep a positive mindset. I choose to be happy and do what I love the most, which is helping others. Surrounding myself with like-minded people that wanted to see me improve instead of being around people that mean me no good.

 Contact Info:

• Email: alayshiagrisham@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.dona.org/
• Instagram: alayshiagrisham