Daily Inspiration: Meet Kourage Proby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kourage Proby.

Hi Kourage, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The first vision I ever had for Kreating Kourage was as a middle school student. I remember seeing how cruel other students were to the students who had different abilities than they. I couldn’t understand why there had to be a social difference between us students based on our learning differences. I knew then that I wanted to create an environment that would bridge the gap but just hadn’t figured out how.

Throughout the remainder of my childhood until now, I have stayed involved, serving the disabled community through volunteer work and entry level employment. Though the work I did was very rewarding, I still felt like I wasn’t able to reach my clients on the intimate level that I was looking for because it was only me making the difference instead of me teaching others how to do it. I always knew that I was meant to be an entrepreneur coming from my parents who were both business owners so I decided that I would start my own company that catered to children of all abilities. I feel that if children are introduced to the idea that everyone does not look, act, learn, or play the same but are still worthy of respect and friendship in the early stages of development; then there will be less opportunity for the scrutiny children with these differences face in social environments. Today Kreating Kourage offers monthly scheduled Saturday workshops for children to come and learn about each other’s strengths and weakness as well as important academic and creative lessons. We create environments for children to grow together through love and compassion. We are a growing company with a team of like minds working towards the same goal, inclusion.

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?
Nothing you really want is ever easy to obtain. The first obstacle was answering the question “How do we start and where?” I knew this was something I wanted to do but how do you start a business caring for children when you’re only 22 years old, have no property, and no money? You pray about it and let God order your steps. I started by creating my business name. I thought long and hard about it with a few of my cousins and friends and once it came to us that was it! My Aunt Phee told me to go home and come up with something that could make me an extra $100 a month and to have an answer by the end of the week. That inspired me to start renting jumpers because it would associate my name with children, I could meet parents, and inform clients of the next phase of operation “Kreate Kreating Kourage” all while making extra money.

I took $500 out of my savings to buy a used jumper, rented it out a couple of times, then saved up again to eventually have five jumpers circulating. Once I had a little change and a dependable team, my Mom offered to allow us to use her daycare space to run our Saturday workshops. So then we had money and a space. All we needed were a few parents that believed in the dream enough to allow their children to come hang out with a few eager and young adults. Our first one was successful for it being our first time. We didn’t make a profit but we made nine kiddos very happy to be around kids their age and learn about chemical bonds. We were just happy to have them, especially in the middle of a pandemic. From there, we learned how to promote, keep the play environment safe and keep moving forward.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I like to say that I live a double life if you will. I work as a behavior therapist, providing services to children with a wide variety of behavior disorders during one part of my day, a full-time kinesiology student in the hours that I am not working and see after adults with physical disabilities during the night at my family’s residential facility. I am a caretaker, my work is a reflection of who I am personally. I feel that everyone deserves to feel what it’s like to be cared for even if it is from a professional relationship. My goal is that every person I have the pleasure to work with will walk away knowing that someone cares for them and is willing to fight for them. God has given me the gift of sensitivity and empathy and I believe that is what sets me apart from others. Also, the fact that my name is Kourage Fayth.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson that I’ve learned is that every day is not a win but you have to lose in order to keep winning. Some days are hard, some people are hard to work with, you will be tested to great lengths but the reason you do it has to be good enough to make you want to keep doing it anyway. I have made my reason my priority. Nothing anyone says or does is going to stop me, I’ll just find a different way to get what I want. I’ve also learned that as much as we think we can, you can’t do it alone. You always need someone in your corner to help you up or cheer you on. God didn’t create us to be alone and that’s why I am so grateful to have the team of supporters that I have. Whenever I can’t there is always someone there to help carry on.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: KreatingKourage.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kreatingkourage?igshid=1rd81jotsmxz2