Inspiring Conversations with Shonna Tillman of Spencer Way Consulting.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shonna Tillman.

Hi Shonna, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a proud native of Grenada, Mississippi, and my story is one of learning to separate who I truly am from who other people expected me to be. After graduating from high school, I entered college carrying the pressure to have my future figured out. I knew people believed I was capable of doing something meaningful, but I did not yet know what that would look like for me. Instead of exploring who I was, I often focused on becoming the person I thought everyone else wanted me to be.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in educational psychology, believing that completing college would bring the clarity I was searching for. Although I was proud of that accomplishment, I still struggled to understand my identity beyond academic success and other people’s expectations. That personal struggle eventually inspired me to create Operation #iAM, a nonprofit initiative centered on mental health, self-awareness, and helping people recognize that they are more than what others expect them to be. The name reflected the question I was learning to answer for myself: Who am I?

Creating Operation #iAM taught me that the difficult parts of my story did not have to remain hidden; they could become the foundation for serving others. As my involvement in community work grew, I discovered that I felt most fulfilled when I was listening to people, helping them navigate systems, and creating opportunities for them to lead. Those experiences helped me recognize that my purpose was not simply to collect titles or accomplishments. I wanted to use my education and experiences to strengthen communities and help people turn their concerns into action.

That realization led me back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. This time, I approached education with a clearer sense of purpose. My research examined how grassroots organizations influence Black women’s decisions to pursue political office. I found that leadership often begins long before someone becomes a candidate. It develops in churches, advocacy organizations, neighborhoods, and other local spaces where people learn to organize, serve, and respond to the needs around them.

That research and my community experiences eventually became the foundation of my TEDx talk, “Why Grassroots Matter.” In the talk, I explored how grassroots organizations help empower underrepresented voices, particularly Black women, and prepare everyday people for political leadership. Delivering that message allowed me to bring my research and lived experiences together while highlighting something I have witnessed throughout my career: meaningful change often begins with people who may never receive public recognition but continue showing up for their communities.

Today, my work brings together advocacy, leadership development, teaching, research, writing, speaking, and program design. I have had the opportunity to develop initiatives, train emerging leaders, teach political science, and help organizations engage more intentionally with the people they serve. Each part of my work is connected by a commitment to ensuring that communities are not treated as an afterthought in decisions that affect their lives.

My journey has also given me the confidence to start my own consulting firm. For years, I used my skills to strengthen programs, support organizations, develop leaders, and help other people bring their ideas to life. Building my firm represents my decision to invest that same energy and belief in myself. It allows me to combine my professional and academic experiences while helping individuals and organizations transform their ideas into purposeful, community-centered work.

For much of my life, I was comfortable working behind the scenes and helping other people shine. Stepping forward required me to trust myself in a way I had not always known how. I am still learning and becoming, but I now understand that honoring my purpose also means allowing myself to be seen, sharing what I have learned, and creating something that reflects the fullness of who I am.

My journey has not followed a perfect plan, but every stage has helped me become more grounded in my identity. What began as a personal search to answer “Who am I?” has grown into a life committed to helping others recognize who they are and what they can contribute. I have learned that becoming the person you were created to be sometimes requires letting go of other people’s expectations, trusting God amid uncertainty, and giving yourself permission to take up space.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. One of my biggest struggles has been feeling like I was racing against a timeline that did not actually exist. I had created this picture of what my life was supposed to look like by a certain age—the career, the degrees, the marriage, the family, and everything else that supposedly meant I had “made it.” Even when I was accomplishing meaningful things, I sometimes struggled to enjoy them because I was focused on what had not happened yet.

That made my struggle with identity even more difficult. I began questioning whether I wanted certain things because they were truly important to me or because I had been taught that they were evidence of a successful life. I could earn another degree, receive another opportunity, or reach another milestone and still feel behind. I was checking boxes but not always giving myself the space to ask whether those boxes reflected the life God was calling me to live.

I had to realize that I was in a race nobody had asked me to run. There was no prize for reaching every milestone before a certain birthday, and rushing would not make something right for me. Some of the things I thought should have happened earlier would have required a version of me who was not yet ready to receive or sustain them. The waiting, detours, and uncertainty were not proof that I was failing; they were helping me become more grounded in who I am.

Today, I am learning to define success by alignment rather than arrival. I still have goals and desires for my life, but I no longer want to miss what God is doing now because I am consumed by what I thought should have happened by now. I am giving myself permission to move at my own pace, celebrate the life I have built, and understand that my journey need not resemble anyone else’s to be meaningful. I am not behind. I am becoming.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Spencer Way Consulting was created for the organization that knows it is doing meaningful work but struggles to explain whether that work is actually making a difference. Maybe the team has launched a new program, hosted several successful events, or built strong community relationships. People are showing up, and the work feels important, but when a funder, board member, or community partner asks, “What changed because of this?” the organization lacks the data, systems, or language to answer confidently.

That is where we come in.

Spencer Way Consulting is an organizational assessment and community strategy firm that helps mission-driven organizations move from good intentions to measurable impact. We begin by listening, not by entering with a predetermined solution. We take the time to understand the organization’s mission, people, culture, goals, and relationship with the community. Then, we assess its internal readiness, communication systems, structure, and current programs to identify what is working and where gaps may be limiting its impact.

Once we understand the full picture, we help the organization build a clear path forward. That may include designing surveys and interviews, creating an evaluation framework, strengthening internal workflows, developing an actionable strategic roadmap, or helping the organization communicate its impact more effectively. We do not simply hand over a report and wish the client well. We remain engaged as a partner, helping turn the recommendations into action.

Our services include organizational assessments, community impact evaluation, strategic structuring, project management, ethical storytelling and public communication, and speaker development for individuals preparing for TEDx and other public platforms. Although these services may look different, they are connected by one goal: helping people and organizations understand their story, strengthen their strategy, and clearly demonstrate the value of their work.

What sets Spencer Way Consulting apart is our ability to bring data and community together. We understand that numbers matter, especially when organizations are seeking funding or trying to demonstrate results. However, we also know that a spreadsheet cannot fully capture trust, lived experiences, history, or the relationships that make community work possible. Our approach combines assessment and research with cultural understanding and real-world experience, particularly within communities across the South.

The phrase at the center of our brand is “Every Story Has a Strategy.” To us, that means an organization’s story should do more than sound inspiring. It should reveal who is being served, what has changed, why the work matters, and where the organization is going next. Our role is to help clients connect those pieces and build the systems needed to sustain their impact.

I am most proud that Spencer Way Consulting is not built around quick fixes or one-time moments. It is built around helping organizations create something that lasts. If you are doing meaningful work but need help measuring it, strengthening it, or telling its story, Spencer Way Consulting can help you move from simply knowing your work matters to having the evidence and strategy to show why.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I do not know if I would describe it as luck. I believe my life has been shaped by faith, grace, preparation, and God placing me where I needed to be, sometimes before I understood why I was there.

There have been moments when opportunities seemed to appear unexpectedly, but they were often connected to a relationship I had nurtured, work I had done quietly, or a seed I planted years earlier. People have spoken my name in rooms I was not in, remembered how I made them feel, or trusted me with an opportunity because they had seen how seriously I approached the work. Some people may call that good luck. I call it favor, but I also recognize the responsibility that comes with it. An open door still requires me to be prepared to walk through it.

I have also experienced closed doors, delayed plans, and opportunities I was certain were meant for me but did not work out. In those moments, it can feel like bad luck, especially when you have prayed, prepared, and done everything you know to do. My faith has taught me that every closed door is not a loss. Some doors are closed for my protection, while others remain closed because the timing is not right. I may not understand the reason immediately, but I have learned not to force what God is asking me to release.

Starting Spencer Way Consulting required that kind of faith. I spent years helping other people and organizations bring their ideas to life, but creating something of my own meant trusting what God had already placed inside me. I did not have every detail figured out before I began. I simply reached a point where remaining comfortable felt more frightening than stepping into the unknown.

My faith does not allow me to sit back and wait for success to happen. I pray, and then I prepare. I trust God, and then I do the work. I believe He can create opportunities I could never arrange for myself, but I also believe I am responsible for being ready when they arrive.

What others may see as luck, I see as God’s grace meeting preparation. Even the disappointments have played a role by redirecting me, deepening my faith, and teaching me that His timing need not match mine to be good. I may not always understand what God is doing in the moment, but I have seen too many pieces come together to believe that my journey has been accidental.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shonnatillman.com/
• Instagram: @Dr.Tillman_