Today we’d like to introduce you to Hasan and Naa’ila Clay.
Hasan and Naa’ila, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hasan and I met years ago with a common goal of creating business. He wanted a curriculum created for his company and I happen to a high-grade niche at devising curricula and workshops. It seemed an ideal business match. At the time, my mind was on my coins and completing graduate school. One day, he let me know he had his mind on me. He literally asked for “access to me.” So unromantic! However, there are better parts of him. I came to know later.
As husband and wife, we began with a million-dollar original plan. We secured a contract with Fulton County with youth. Another evidence-based program to reduce bullying and to instill decision-making skills was completed in a local Atlanta school. We were on a roll! However, as I’m a social worker and counselor by profession, I kept my foot in the mental health door doing contract work. I am who I am!
I was intrigued by Hasan’s “Man Mind” when seeking to understand the mentality of men I encountered in therapy. Say what you want, but no one teaches “Man Mindset” in graduate school. I could see reasons men may be reluctant to come to counseling. Even when talking to colleagues I respected, I could see they weren’t hearing the men in couples counseling. Meanwhile, we were doing relationships, marriage and dating videos on social media. Folks ate it up and asked for more! The speaking engagements, requests and clients came. It took about three years, but we were traveling all over the country, doing radio and interviews in Pakistan, Egypt and had clients on five continents.
It sounds good, but we made many business mistakes. There were months we barely earned $500. We had no technical skills. I learned marketing and copywriting. I’m a social worker and we’re trained to work for the good of the community as if the community runs on $Free,99! Hasan, with his MBA, was the Money Master and reinforced the business aspects. I can’t say he taught them to me because I require ongoing reminders, but I get it.
Now, when we met, Hasan was legally blind. This never interrupted our lives or relationship. Truthfully, I googled “legally blind”, but never knew what it meant to him. Prior to marriage, he had been told he’d lose his sight within ten years. His faith and his fear never allowed to grasp the thought, so we kept on living. Sure enough, about the 8th year, his eyesight abandoned him. It wasn’t a gradual loss. The disappointment was a sudden one. This tragedy hit as soon as the business seemed to be getting on a consistent path.
For about 1.5 years, we continued working, but Hasan tapped out on me. He had to meet himself as a blind man. Me on the other hand felt anger for working alongside my husband to build a business with literally no start-up money and being alone as a wife and a business partner. When Hasan resurfaced as a husband, mentally and emotionally, I wanted no parts of his cooperation. As a business partner, I wanted his brainpower. Our intellect is a powerhouse when propped side by side, but other than that, I didn’t have anything left. I was going through the reality of being a wife, mother, a caregiver and a business partner. Hasan was grabbing at whatever was in front of him to retain the life he knew as a husband, father, businessman and independent human being.
It was the hardest time of our life. Funny thing is, the business continued as more clients and speaking engagements increased. It was a heartfelt relevance to be authentic to ourselves and to practice our own teachings. We’ve always insisted a genuine imperfect, “I Got You Babe” marriage, and not time, was the root of a union. It took two years for our marriage to catch up with the robust fever of our entrepreneurship drive, but we did. One way this showed up in our marriage was unless it was an event specifically for men or women when an organizer or agency contacted us to speak, you had to take “That Clay Couple.”
I may not have wanted to talk to him! He could have been grumpy! I may have been working in a separate room. He might’ve been glad I was in another room! Yet, at the end, and the start of each day, no one was leaving this marriage, this family and this business. One day Hasan said, “All of this can go! I don’t need the business if I don’t have you.” What he didn’t know is while he was adjusting to living as a man without sight, I became married to the business. While he was losing his eyesight, I lost my vision also. However, our ongoing commitment of making the decision years ago to remain married, we saw what we needed to see in each other and as business owners. We haven’t followed a traditional path. Yet, we don’t have a conventional life, business model or niche. And for this, we’re grateful.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest struggle has been watching the man I love to go blind. For him, it was learning how to live in a way he’d never imagined. He learned braille, met like-minded people, took mobility classes and created his own personal ways to guide himself in a sighted world.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about That Clay Couple Counseling – what should we know?
While we’re a counseling agency guiding people to master the relationship with self because this is the glue to all other relationships, we’re known for our couples and premarital counseling. We’ve designed our own premarital curriculum. In five years, not one couple who has taken the course and followed our recommendations has divorced. From the hundreds of couples we’ve counseled, we have less than a 2% divorce rate. Our YouTube channel ranks as the #12 counseling channel internationally, It’s not due to the best editing, lighting of special effects. Our content did that!
We’re most proud of referrals from former clients. It may not be a public testimonial or a national broadcast, but for us, each one means so much to us. It means someone we’ve worked with trusts us with someone they love and know. Wow!
As a company, we’re proud of how broke we were and how far we’ve come! Our start-up costs were about $200. For three years, we didn’t have a website. We’re embarrassed by the first website we had, but then, we thought we were making boss moves! Those humble beginnings got us here.
Our standing ovation trait to set us apart from others is we’re a counseling team. We have individual clients, but all couples are counseled by us together. This balances the masculine and feminine vibe as well as ensuring each spouse feels an unbiased opinion exists, especially for men. As a result, we’re known as “The Ossie and Ruby Dee of Counseling.” Being compared to such an iconic love story, while using our platform, feels good. In addition, while many counselors have gone online in this pandemic environment, we’ve provided this service since the onset. Thus, we’re masters at it, have worked out the kinks and have created an international client base.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
It would be great to say we had people teaching us. We paid for classes to learn copywriting, social media tips and marketing. There hasn’t been anyone stepping up and guiding us. No one invested money in us. However, God and our online supporters, which we call the “Love Thang Village” has shown up for us in ways to move us to tears. When people have bad-mouthed us online, we’ve never had to say a word. Our village has defended our honor and intention. This feels good and is a direct result of God’s mercy and being genuine.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thatclaycouple.com
- Phone: 6789953242
- Email: info@thatclaycouple.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatclaycouple/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thatclaycouple
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