Meet Bianca Ash of Beautiful Legacy and Bianca Renee’

At that time, I still wasn’t sure what that meant so I just continued with the things I was already involved in such a church and volunteering with nonprofits. In the midst of this, a friend of mine got pregnant and asked me to be the godmother. This was the beginning of the change in my career path. I remember going to the hospital and witnessing my goddaughter being born and while holding her in my arms it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

At that moment, I realized neither her mother or I would be enough to give her all the support, guidance, and direction she would need or deserve. I realized I wanted to be greater for her and provide her with everything she needed to be the best version of herself possible. At the same time I realized that if she did not have that support there were others girls out there that needed it to.

My goddaughter, as well as many of the girls I was mentoring at the time not really understanding that’s what I was doing, became my motivation and inspiration. I wanted to create a network/sisterhood that would help young ladies create their own legacy and help them to be the people they desired to be and not what others wanted them to be.

During this process I was very active in my church working with the youth ministry and I could see the need for a girl’s mentoring program, so I created a proposal and gave it to my Pastor. From there everything went really fast we started the program at church and it went strong for a number of years. After a while I could see that there was a greater need than just what was in our church, so that became the foundation for Beautiful Legacy.I also decided to go back to school and get my masters degree in public administration focusing on nonprofit management.

The focus of Beautiful Legacy is to educate, equip, and empower girls and help them to fill in the gaps of life. We help our young ladies by giving them tools, information, and opportunities. I am firm believer that you don’t know what you don’t know so you must be exposed to something different to see if you like it or not. We pair them with an adult mentor however it’s much deeper than that. We take the time to get to know them and figure out what they truly desire in life and help them to set goals to achieve it.

After running the nonprofit for four or five years, I could see that there was something more than I had to offer I just wasn’t sure what that was or how to go about it. So about two years ago, I launched Bianca Renee which is my coaching and speaking business focused on young ladies who are generational first, lacking a voice of their own, or just need help figuring it out. I also have a program for mothers and daughters and helping them open the lines of communication and learning how to better understand each other. I look at Bianca Renee as an extension of Beautiful Legacy because it allows me to work with girls one on one but also in a much more strategic and intentional way. It gives me the opportunity to work with those girls that need a little more support or whose parents desire a champion to walk along side them.

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?
Definitely has not been a smooth road. I knew that I would face challenges as a woman and especially as an African American woman. I also knew nothing about running a business or a nonprofit I just knew that there was a need to be met and I had a solution. So because of that I read and did a lot of research trying to learn everything about the business, leadership, nonprofits, etc. that I could.

Every conference, podcast, training, lunch meeting I could get I took it no matter what the sacrifice was because I understood how important this was to me and the girls I was trying to help. I think the biggest challenged I faced along the way was myself. I doubted and quit so many times that I had convinced myself I was not cut out to succeed or fulfill my dreams.

I’ve always known I had the power and ability to talk myself into or out of anything I desired. So along this journey I had to have real conversations with myself that no matter what I faced whether it was lack of support from family and friends, financial struggles, or somebody telling me “no” I had to keep going. It took a long time for that to sink in and for me to push past the things I seen on a daily basis.I had to become my own hero and believe in myself more than I desired anyone else to believe in me I also had to realize I did not need the approval or permission of anyone woman to go after my dreams. So often we mess ourselves up waiting for someone else to be our rescue, support, or hand up when in reality that power already lies within us if we are willing to tap into and take the leap of faith.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Beautiful Legacy Inc. is a nonprofit organization designed to provide young ladies ages 8-22 with access to the tools and resources necessary to achieve social, spiritual, financial, and academic success. Our goal is to help each young lady achieve overall and individual success in all areas of her life. Beautiful Legacy Inc. has developed programs to meet the needs of the young women and help them acquire success on all levels. Our programs discuss a range of topics from teaching self-esteem to etiquette to leadership skills. It is our belief that you must cater to all aspects of the young lady in order to help her reach optimal success and live the fullest life. Beautiful Legacy’s mission is to educate, equip, empower, and expose through mentoring, leadership, and life skills.

Bianca Renee’ is a coaching business for young ladies who are generational firsts, lacking a voice of their own, or just need some guidance along their journey. My goal is to be a champion for girls while also supporting parents. I specialize in 1 on 1, group, and mother-daughter coaching. I focus on helping young ladies remove limiting beliefs, build a sense of self-worth, and create a plan for their lives to help guide their journey. Through my signature programs each young lady will create an action plan while also be given the right tools and support to help her achieve the goals she sets.

What were you like growing up?
I was a nerd as a kid and slightly timid at times. I was one of those that hung around everybody because I didn’t quite fit into a specific box or group. I hung with the cool kids, athletes, nerds, outcasts, etc. it didn’t matter who you were as long as you were nice to me and we had something in common. I’ve always loved music, dance, books, and anything dealing with the law. My faith has always been the foundation for everything that I do and has definitely shaped the woman I am today. It also kept me super grounded as a child and young adult and kept me from making to many bad decisions.