At her core, Atlanta native Shavonne Reed is authentic and influential in her life and work. Whether fundraising for causes close to her heart, helping shape future generations as a wellness advocate who works hand in hand with organizations or in her most prized role as a wife and mother to daughters, Lauren and London, she is an unapologetic leader who is setting the bar high for other’s to do the same. Let’s meet her.
Let’s start off with your upcoming book, Ugly Duckling: What You See Is Not What You Get. Can you give our readers a brief synopsis?
A tale of mentorship, hard truths, and the path to success takes you on an adventure in this fictional account of a young woman’s troubled rollercoaster ride to the top. In this easy reader, Jara is fired up with ambition and has a dream in place to rise in the ranks at an advertising agency through hard work and determination. Her best efforts go unnoticed until they don’t, but hopes and dreams are thwarted at every turn, it seems. The unlikely sponsor emerges and helps her to realize her dreams of owning her own marketing and advertising agency. Through all the tough lessons, she realizes she is cut from the very fabric that will allow her to be recognized for all of her beauty and talent inside and out. Click here to learn more & purchase
You have accomplished much in your career. What moment or achievement speaks to Shavonne at her core and gives you the most pride when you look back?
Pivoting into my purpose of social impact marketing and philanthropic advocacy. Those opportunities where I was able to be deeply involved with corporate social responsibility initiatives such as employee engagement to drive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) to foster community within the workplace, with corporate philanthropy were my proudest moments. So, raising funding and awareness for March of Dimes with Kaiser Permanente and partnering with Atlanta Falcon’s by way of the Team Smiles organization and supporting campaigns such as the #MomentsThatMatter with Elekta have all energized me at my core.
Where is your favorite place to travel and why?
I am a huge fan of tropical destinations with aqua waters. My favorite travel destination by far has been Varadero Beach, Cuba. The water and skies are beautiful here. It is so peaceful and tranquil. It’s definitely a place that will leave a lifelong impression.
What is The Amplify Your Inner Rockstar Initiative and what is the mission and values that it is based on?
This initiative is a fun, interactive, highly charged, and engaging workshop that will energize attendees at every level of their careers with my AMPLIFY Framework.
Accelerate with Actions
Move with what Motivates You
Pivot on Purpose
Listen to Lead
Ignite your Intentions
Formulate
Your YES
In this system, l clearly outline tangible strategies for women to emerge as leaders with the intention to advance their careers starting as they sit in the workshop. I provide anecdotal stories from my 20+ career in Marketing & Sales about how I overcame the common challenges they are experiencing and how to prepare for the new era of Business. Attendees will definitely walk away feeling refreshed and confident they can accelerate to their fullest potential.
Three values are self-awareness, boundaries and self-promotion.
- Self-awareness and courage to step out of comfort zones to explore opportunities for enhancing and acquiring new skills through creative means.
- Setting personal and professional boundaries to make room for advancement by eliminating burnout and increasing capacity to tackle high-visibility projects that lead to promotions.
- How to develop a strategy to increase visibility in a meaningful way to challenge perceptions about whether or not you are suitable for high-impact responsibilities and the most coveted projects.
All sessions included must share tools/strategies that the attendee can take away and immediately incorporate into their personal and/or professional lives.
Tell our readers about OPUA Agency.
OPUA Agency offers clients marketing consulting, strategy, and activations. This includes the overall marketing strategy development from ideation, research, strategic partnership collaboration, and custom campaign creative development through execution. We deliver experiences through activations that incorporate virtual and live events. Our goal is to help our clients amplify their messages to ensure marginalized communities connect with them and are mobilized for change. It requires a special skill set that comes easily to us, as our strengths lie in a deep understanding of traditional media, and we are savvy with new media. This, combined with our medical writers, allows us to provide accurate messages that are informed through clinical research and with a spin that meets the intended audiences where they are.
Tell us about your charity foundation, Future Health NOW Foundation Inc.?
The Future Health NOW foundation is rooted in the belief that each and every day, we make choices that will dictate future health. After witnessing the harmful practices of systemic racism and how it affected my mother at the cellular level and ultimately contributed to her demise, it has become my life’s work to ensure this does not continue to happen in our community. The Future Health NOW Foundation provides an outlet for generational health through health literacy programs and activities to keep girls active and build self-confidence, empowerment, and financial stability for lifelong health and harmony.
What would you say is your passion?
Connecting like-minded individuals with others who would benefit from knowing one another. I believe the power of relationships and communications has fueled a natural gift to attract and transfer positive vibrations to uplift all of humanity.
As your children were growing up have you ever felt any quilt during a period of overwhelm that you may have encountered about such issues such as time spent away from them while focusing on your career or just balancing life in general? If so how did you adjust?
I experienced an incredible amount of mom guilt over the years. There have been times when work required me to miss monumental moments, like the first day at a new school and soccer team picture day. The emotion and anxiety surrounding these events were incredibly harmful to my self-perception as it relates to being a great mom. Although I knew I was a great mom, it caused many self-doubts. The way I was able to get through this was with the strong support of my spouse. The fact that he would document the activities I was missing and share them with me helped me to feel included. I would always try to carve out time to engage with my family while away. Many times this was extremely difficult when I was in opposite time zones. I was able to get through it and my daughters and I have talked at length about these times and they offered forgiveness and understanding which ultimately led to me giving myself grace and accepting those times for what they were.
What do you want your legacy not only to your daughters but to the world to be?
I aspire to leave the world a healthier place than I found it. I want to leave a legacy of love, laughter, and harmony. My childhood was riddled with adverse experiences, and I watched my mother suffer from several preventable chronic diseases on a journey of survival. As a result, I would love to be able to influence the next generation of leaders to pursue their passions while preserving their self-dignity and health. I would love to see better health outcomes, especially for marginalized communities. Each choice determines our future health, so I want everyone to start honoring the mantra of future health now.
What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?
I enjoy dancing, swimming and roller skating in my free time.
Tell our readers how they find out more information.
www.shavonnereed.com
www.opua.agency
@iamshavonnereed and @opuaagency on social platforms
