Today we’d like to introduce you to Nakeya Fields.
Nakeya, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been a people person. I enjoy being social and interacting. The most enjoyable time for me is a great conversation with someone about life, love, travel and family. This trait led me to choose Communication as a major in college, which led to working in special events and eventually, a master’s degree and License in clinical Social Work. Caring about others and interacting with them as a healer using talk, play therapy and now yoga and breath has been great! But the more I interacted with fellow healers, more particularly, social workers that worked with at risk youth and families, I realized how unhappy we can be while we do this healing work because we are not free to make our own schedules and be compensated what we are worth. Now, I am passionate about not only healing clients, but also providing opportunities to other social workers or mental health providers to work for themselves to be free of the 9-5 grind.
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?
My road to working for myself and owning my own business has not been smooth. I had a great special events position and then 9/11 happened and business wasn’t going to well and I was laid off. That layoff forced me to think about where I wanted to go in my career and it led me to graduate school to study social work. While in my graduate program and in the beginnings of gaining my experience in the mental health field, there were many experiences that were stressful and at one point, I even had to leave work for stress related illness. It affected my confidence in myself and whether I was a fit for this type of job. But I’ve found that when I’m down is when I am my most enterprising and decisive. When I realized my mind, body and spirit cannot cope with a large caseload and no control and too much time working with not enough time for self care or positive human interaction; I made change. And I quit my full time job as it was making me unhappy and decided to start a business. And the gamble paid off. Along the way, I’ve had dealing with shady people, vendors, had significant monetary losses and bad hiring decisions have burned me more times than I can count.
Fields Family Counseling Services – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Fields Family Counseling Services provides mental health services such as counseling, corporate employee wellness, assessment and consultation. FFCS also contracts with local agencies to supply and benefit organizations and programs with quality professional staffing, consulting and executive coaching services to meet their customized needs.
Services provided further include talk, play, mindfulness based and yoga/movement therapy in a private practice setting. Individual, couples and group therapy with particular specialization in working with dynamics related to children and families. FFCS also provides in-home and school based counseling and offers in-service trainings and seminars for parents, colleagues and those seeking clinical supervision or mentorship.
I am most proud that I am 100% owner of a thriving company. As a Black woman with no persons to reference in front of her on how to do this, it feels like an accomplishment. Also, I am very proud that I wrote a book to help others gain a similar freedom in the field. I think my willingness to always engage and help others grow and find opportunities makes me a valuable part of a network.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Honestly, when I did the pre-release on my book, Mental Health Entrepreneur Gain Freedom and Escape the 9-5 Grind: How To Treat Mental Illness and Monetize Your Expertise (https://www.amazon.com/Mental-Health-Entrepreneur-Monetize-Expertise-ebook/dp/B078DZKBWB) and it gained best seller status on Amazon within 1 week. I am so proud, not only because I’ve always wanted to be an author and all the time and effort that goes into writing a book, but I was also proud because all proceeds go to The Therapeutic Play Foundation (www.therapeuticplayfoundation.org), an organization I support for its message of building resilience in communities.
So not only am I helping other would-be entrepreneurs in the mental health field to think bigger and dream larger, but I am helping to fund the healing of communities in need. I am so happy to be a part of that.
Pricing:
- $14.99 for paperback of book
- $7.99 for Kindle version
Contact Info:
- Address: 530 S Lake Avenue #236
Pasadena CA 91101 - Website: www.nakeyatfields.com
- Phone: (323) 422-4093
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @thefeelwellcoach
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefeelwellcoach/
- Other: www.ffcounseling.com
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
