Today we’d like to introduce you to Aishia Deal.
Aishia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always had a passion for helping people with matters of the heart; I’ve been giving relationship advice since high school. I was born into a Human Services family.
My Mother is the founder of Shepherd’s Door Domestic Violence Resource Center, my father teaches court ordered male batterers classes and my sister is the founder of Women Wealth Warriors an organization created to empower women. Helping people is what my family is most passionate about.
It was only a two years ago that I realized that changing the current dating climate meant changing the way people viewed relationships so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work using Twitter as a tool and platform where people can feel safe communicating and expressing their relationship/dating frustrations.
I felt the need to get formal education behind me so I completed the California mandated 40 hr domestic violence training and went on to officially become a Certified Domestic Violence Educator & Counselor. Eventually my social media family requested more talk dialogue so I decided to launch my super successful podcast “Sh*t Women Think About”. I now have over 40k downloads in 13 months! radio opportunities became available and now I’m able to discuss relationships over the mainstream airways which I’m really excited about.
I’m so grateful for all of these doors opening because it’s allowed me to get into the schools and teach healthy vs unhealthy relationships for grades 6-12 as well as my college partnerships.
My next goal is to take my workshops to the NBA, NFL, and NHL & MLB.
Great, 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?
I don’t think anything great comes without it’s fair share of tears, disappointment, sleepless nights and lots of doubt, now add being a woman to that combination and you’ll get an idea of what my day to day is like *laughing*…
I have my challenging days simply because in order to do what I’m doing and have a seat at the table I have to go through male-dominated industries and organizations, some find it hard to focus on the subject at hand while others don’t want a woman at the table at all. However, lucky for me I come from the Hip Hop industry so I’m very good at navigating my way through certain situations without compromising my integrity and character so if you’re asking me do I get tired, exhausted and some days pissed off? Absolutely, but that just makes the victories that much sweeter.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about A Pretty Big Deal – what should we know?
A Pretty Big Deal is the name of my company and I teach various self-worth, empowerment and healthy vs unhealthy interactive relationship workshops centered on interpersonal relationships. It’s my job to not only help you identify the signs of an unhealthy relationship but also make sure you’re emotionally, mentally, spiritually whole and healed enough to be ready to receive your person because what good is it to meet someone amazing if you’re broken and too numb to feel the goodness in your life?
My workshops are important because every person on earth was born into a relationship our very first relationship is the one we have with our parents, healthy or unhealthy that relationship sets the tone it & sets the standard for what we will and won’t allow in our romantic relationships as we journey on through our lives.
1.5 million High School students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner per year.
Violent behavior typically begins between the ages of 12-18.
College students are not equipped to deal with dating abuse – 57% say it is difficult to identify and 58% say they don’t know how to help someone who’s experiencing it.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. This includes a range of behaviors (e.g. slapping, shoving, and pushing)
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
These are just a few of the thousands of relationship statistics out there; it’s my responsibility to educate people on the difference between a disagreement, argument & a fight with the hopes that when or if it does happen they know how to keep themselves safe.
I’m most proud of the middle schools, high schools, colleges, youth & adult organizations as well as the professional sports leagues that have embraced me, it says a lot about how much value they put on healthy relationships.
What sets me apart is I’m teaching on healthy relationships from the radio airwaves to corporate board rooms to the classrooms as well as adult workshops and my podcast… I guess you can say I’ve got it all covered *laughs*.
I’m one person changing the way people view relationships… I’m forever grateful for that.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’d say the quality I feel is most important to my success is my ability to be a judge-free safe space, even if I don’t know you, I have a natural nurturing way about me that makes everyone feel at home and comfortable enough to open up and be vulnerable.
You can’t do what I do and be fake as a 3 dollar bill because humans are intuitive some more than others and they can feel who’s genuine and who isn’t. You also can’t do what I’m doing and have superiority energy. No one person is better than the other; we’re all doing the best we can with the cards that we’ve been dealt.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aishia.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram/aishiadeal
- Twitter: www.twitter/aishiadeal
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