SPEAKER_00 1:45

Welcome to another inspiring episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we are having today we are thrilled to have an a remarkable guest, Kowan Fitch, as our guest. She is a multifaceted powerhouse, a mother, an entrepreneur, published author, and co-author of 10 books, speaker, producer, playwriter, coach, and so much more. The endless list. With her vast experience and passion, she has made an incredible impact across various sectors. Kowan owns and operates multiple businesses, showcasing her leadership skills. She has over 20 years of experience in a nonprofit organization, social services, leadership, business in business markets, and entrepreneurship. As the CEO of Empowerment Corp. LLC, she has dedicated her career to working with women and families in transition. Her company has achieved incredible milestones, producing 10 books, six live stage productions in South Carolina, two in New Jersey, and co-producing two in Louisiana. Kowan works, Kowan's Works has also graced several local events, including Emara Women's Magazine Health Tour, and The Missborn Natural Pageant. And let's talk about She Pours. She's representing She Pours on her shirt. It premiered. And I I have to say that this film was a highlight of my life of the year. Because I swear it was the best short film, and it was dedicated to women. I love that about her. But with this short film, she shows the authenticity and the diverse voices that women depict and how they nurture, cultivate, and manifest positive changes and proving resilience in the face of hardship. So thank you for being here today. How are you? I am so well. I am so excited about this. Let's get started. Yes. I mean, so you have so many job titles. I do. The list goes on. Every time I meet someone in the community and they mention your name, I'm like, wait, she helped you with that too? And they're like, Yeah, I'm like, okay, I didn't even know she did all that. I just met you through the short film, but I met you through Corey, which was um amazing. But I also know you do James Patrick, also. So tell our audience a little bit about your upbringing. I appreciate you guys for having me. Thank you so much. I um I'm a transplant. I'm not a South Carolina, I'm not a country girl. I moved here almost 15 years ago. I'm a Jersey chick that just happened to land here. I came here to raise my boys. And when I got here, I spent my first year here doing absolutely nothing in the community. I didn't want to meet anybody, I didn't want to connect. I I had no desire to infiltrate Columbia the way that I have. Um and um in my first year, I moved in 2010, August of 2010. It was the first time my boys were able to go to school and come home at 3 o'clock without having to be in some after-school program till 7 in the evening. And I used that time to finish my first book, which I published in 2011. And then I did another in 2012 and another in 2013. And I just in that bubble of kind of regrouping, um, leaving, you know, where I was born and raised, and then coming to a place that I was not um, I won't say that I wasn't thrilled about being coming to the South, but I wanted my boys to have a different experience. We're from Jersey City. There's rural parts of Jersey that looks exactly like South Carolina, but where I'm from is basically considered the Sixth Borough. So um my eldest um at the time was just um supposed to be graduating high school and he ended up um having to do another semester. Um we had a really rocky time with um, you know, a lot of influences outside of our home, um, private school, but he still was very much attracted to um a whole lot of other stuff. And I just said with my younger boys who were 10 years behind him, I I didn't want to have to go through that. I didn't want him to go through them to go through all that he had to walk through Martin Luther King to go to his private school. Um, and it was just a decision to to get here and and see how I can make a difference in their lives. And um fast forward, they we got here, they were six and seven. They are now um 20 and 21, I think they're Dave will be, yeah, he's um the baby boy is in his third year at Wingate. He has a game today. I I didn't go to his game at 1.30 today in order to be here. Um but they one day they're in the championship next week, so it's okay. Um and his third year in college and playing ball and throwing a shock but and doing extremely well. And his um Irish twin brother is uh he took his 27 credits and went to the military. He's actually in training in California right now, and he'll go back to Kleene, Texas in a couple of weeks. Um and my eldest, who um I did not have to pull kicking and screaming to come to South Carolina. Um, he got here, um, found him a woman and girl. She ain't not worried about him no more. Listen, I am a proud mother of a young man who is 32, married with five kids, and all of them are with the same woman. Wait, that's the baby? No, that's the oldest. The oldest. The oldest. He went through it, and what'd you say? I mean, but it's it's it's um the fabric of kind of who makes Kawan who she is. You know, all the work that I've done in the variety of different areas have always been about how do I help women share their stories, how do I help women connect to their purpose. Um, and every piece of what I've done just led to something else. It wasn't that I started out that I was gonna do nonprofit leadership. It's I mean, unfortunately or fortunately, I've only worked in nonprofits. So when I started doing personal development, I created a curriculum that was really for me so that I would have my own tool to work with the individuals that I was working with. And then I said, you know what, there's other women who might want to use this. So Journey Towards Purpose Global Institute was born. The company came after the product. So I started doing it, I started making my own um my way of working with women, and I just kind of morphed that into an actual curriculum. Um, I know some people with some letters behind their names, so I got their input, and um it it it rolled from there. And I have been certifying people and coaches in my curriculum as a purpose coach to utilize my product and others. Um, and then I added a leadership curriculum to that. And with that, what happens when you give someone a tool, they say they want to make a business. So then it morphed into, well, now I'm starting to help people with not only their LLCs, but I'm doing nonprofits and doing nonprofit leadership because a lot of people want to do great, great work, but they have no clue what the heck they're doing. Um, and so it just it just one thing has led to the other. So it it but it all blends together. Most of my clients are women. Um, I do have a few guys like like our friend James who will say, Hey, come on, um, I need you know my business, whatever. Um, I never forget he was in a meeting or something. He was like, Hey, do you have my um my EIN and my stuff? And I was able to scan and send it to him. Um, but I I just uh I want to be a change agent. I want to be a partner, I want to align with folks to help them do whatever God called them to do. And in that, all of the different hats have kind of come over the years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Oh, I mean, I I'm sitting over here and taking everything in. I'm like, oh girl, I check, check, check. I relate to that. Oh, yeah, girl, girl, we're gonna talk.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

That's why I wanted Desiree on this episode because I know she would be good at asking nonprofit questions. Oh, I got a bunch of them too.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Because I'm one of the ones that's just like, oh, there's something I see, I want it done, I'm gonna do it. Now, do I know exactly what the official steps are?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Let me say this. This this is just I'm my my soapbox. I am on a mission now to, you know, it seemed like when COVID happened, a lot of people got really invigorated on how to help people, and they wanna to figure out how to do that. My business grew extremely whatever, you know, when during that time. From 2020 to 23, I I've done so many, not just South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, um, New Jer New Jersey, several. I am on a mission now. We don't need to create a whole corporation and get involved with the IRS to do what God has called you to do. Oh, exactly. It's not necessary. Create your LLC, do your business, find another nonprofit that's already existing or doing the work that you want to do. Support, write it off with your company. I began creating products because I want to peep, I want to teach my women, it's not just about how we're going out here and feeding people or helping them, you know, backpacks and we're doing all this amazing, amazing stuff. My my kids have gotten Christmases from people who were doing all that amazing stuff. It's it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

See, I kind of want to jump back a little bit because in the beginning, you, you know, you came, you're not even from here. You're, you know, uh what what they call transplant. Um, and a lot of people that I see that are actually doing and making the change aren't uh because we can see outside of what the people who've grown up here. Yes. And so uh my question for you um was when did you decide that okay, I'm not just a transplant. I have kids here, I want to see more of the community I'm putting myself in. Like when when did you decide that?

SPEAKER_00 11:58

I got roped in. I I won't say kicking in screaming. Um, but I think the first time that I actually um it was the boys were going to um Pine Grove Elementary. And the teachers and the staff have been really supportive of them. Um it was our first year. Um, they started playing football with a team that literally, when I was walking in the school to register them, there was a woman walking in next to me who was going to bring information about a football program. That that's how it started. Um, and they were doing Parents in Something. I can't remember what it was called, but with that, um, I remember the counselor said something, and I said, Well, I I did a project called Confessions of a Welfare Mom. And she's like, Well, would you like to do a group for the parents for this thing that they were? And I said, sure. And it was the first workshop that I had ever done here. I did it um at Pine Grove, and it was a few parents, one of which is still connected to me to this day. So we're going on almost what 15, 20 years. Um, and she, you know, I I don't, I didn't know I it just kind of happened. You know, I I saw something, I said this is what I have, and people said sure. Being on the outside, looking in, I've I I see some things. One of the things that's still an issue for me is that there are no prevention services. Lots of reactive, lots of things that, you know, if you're teen parent, there's stuff. But let's do where where's the prevention stuff? How do I, you know, there the money goes in the wrong place, in my opinion here. Um, I I want to do child abuse prevention. I think that if you help women, you give women resources, you give families what they need, we might not be so stressed and knock the kid upside the head. Right. So we can do better if we put our funds into the resources needed ahead of the issues as opposed to after the fact. We're I was a single mom, it was rough. It was we need to hear it. Listen, um, and and those boys needed a a a a real, you know, a mama who would yeah, knock myself. But I I I just wherever the the need was, you know, people, you know, say, you know, you do too much, you got a whole lot. You know, there's the books, there's the films, there's the uh plays and all of the different things, but all of it is about giving women a platform.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Period. And I I'm I'm not into the arts. I mean, I I think what you guys do is phenomenal. It was never something that I wanted to do. I can remember back when I really first started. I was seventh. I wanted to hang out with my friend Donna. Donna's mother mother was in the hospital, and her little brother, who was probably about three, Donna was actually older than me. So we wanted to go outside and play. Donna couldn't go because, you know, she had this little kid because her two older brothers and sisters, they're gone, right? And I was like, well, let's buy him some clothes so he could come, you know, we don't have to sit in this house. You don't, you you can come out, you can come outside. Um and I went in Donna's house, which was an absolute mess. I my mother is is still to this day. She's very neat, she's very clean. You know, she had lots of knickknacks, and on Saturday morning, me and my sister had the dust. Um so it was like, oh wow. You know, there if there were dressers, the clothes was all in bags. Um I had never seen, you know, kitchen look like that, or you know, if there were beds. You know, I I I just and I remember feeling so it invigorated me looking through them bags trying to find something for this boy to put on. I don't know. I'm pretty sure it wasn't clean. But we got some shorts and a t-shirt. Okay, you see if there were beds? Wait. I I don't know. So she don't know. Oh, oh, oh, oh. I I I don't I don't it wasn't like a bedroom with a bed, a dresser. Okay, sorry, you know, some toys. Like that was not the picture at all. At all. And you know, that's just how they were living.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

And that's because the mother was sick or poverty.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Um I I there there, I'm sure there was some drug addiction. It was a lot going on in this family. And when I tell this story, I know for a fact that my mother had no idea that I was in these people's house.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

And what you saw, she wouldn't never probably let you.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

It was the first time I ever cooked bacon by myself. They had food because I'm sure there was food stamps. There was food. And I cooked, and I cooked and served to the little boy, and we went outside. And I felt like I was grown. I was, I was, I I did it. Whatever the itch was, and with that came, I like that. I like taking care of people. I like doing what needs to be done for us to be able to do that. And it just it was wonderful feeling for me, and I I rolled with it. And you know, my career has been social services, and I've ran a better woman's program. I've worked Covenant House nine line doing crisis intervention over the phone. I've girl. Wow, you've done it all. Yeah, yeah. Um your resume probably like five pages. She said that's not even the half. I'd be trying not, you know. I you know, you put I pull from all those different experiences. I've had jobs I know that I didn't apply for.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

I know I didn't. I didn't apply for that. It was a that nine line. I don't know how that happened.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

So then I my my next question kind of is you know, walking in your purpose, you know, doing what you're called to do. Because so many people, we have like this burning desire that we're supposed to do more. So what but you know, then you have that question of what it is that you're supposed to do, and then you end up finding yourself walking in it if you, you know, really like because you were a doer, right? That's that that's the difference, right? We can think things, but if we don't do it or put it into action, then it never gets done. So you know what what would you say to people in that burning desire phase? Like, how do they get the most they are to me?

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Which koan you might get. Now the What do you mean by that? Because with the the the closer you are to me, the more Jersey Kwan you might get. Oh, so some some southern young people, you know, some people don't, you know, they don't want to hear the message of from the doer and you got something and you're not doing. That's that's a whole different move. Okay. Do you want the truth or the light truth? You know, it it it comes across differently when I'm speaking to someone.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Speak to a doer.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

My family from from north up north, all of them. Love it.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

I can take it. Oh, yes. My first of all, I need to be a baby. You need to be able to understand why you have you haven't. There there has to be reasons, right? There's gotta be reasons. I was talking to someone the other day, and she's used to be a doer. And she's gotten some health stuff, and it just seemed like all of a sudden she's crippled, and she can't, you know, and I said, Well, um, I need you to to do a brain dump. One of the things that people keep they get all caught up in it's not organized. It's it's here, there, everywhere, nothing is connected. You can't do that with it in your head. Yeah. And you can't do what you don't know to do. And you can't get the help that you need to do it if you don't take it out of your head. Yeah. I can't help you. Everything that you want to do, I might know someone who can help you do every piece of it. But as long as it stays in your head, that's it, and it's not gonna get done. And Darlin, I I can't do nothing with that. So is this where the purpose coaching comes in, the personal development? Absolutely. It's built on five principles passion, purpose, mentorship, work, and leadership.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Passion is wonderful. That's that that stuff. That fire, it invigorates us. We're gonna do it whether we like like it or not. Like to pay conditions or whatever, right? We're gonna do it. You're gonna show up, you're gonna do this stuff regardless. I'm gonna plan the event with a zero-dollar budget because that's just what I want to do. But when you connect it to your purpose, when you connect it to what you know that God has truly called you here to do, babe, there. It's not a it's not a hobby. It's a it's not a hobby. So what is it? Because it has a total purpose. Okay. Because it has purpose, it's no longer just something you like to do. Now, I've heard something that passion is something that you like to do for yourself and purpose is something you like to do for others. I believe that purpose gives pa I think that passion gives purpose a a place to go. Yep. Okay. Okay, it gives it a place to go. Because, you know, my purpose could solely be for my family. You know, it could it, but but those are my others. You know, I I just kind of went outside of my family. I mean, it it was self, it was community, and and and so on. You have to figure that out. I can't figure that out for you. Right. And a lot of us don't take that time, especially women, because we're so busy doing, we're so busy um just providing, we're so busy doing a whole bunch of other stuff. But baby, if you take that time to just do the brain dump, and that's one of my instructions for a good friend of mine. I need you to do the brain dump. I I don't don't think about the time. Don't think about how well how long it was. I didn't give you a time frame. I didn't say brain dump for the next one to two years. No, it was everything.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Let's see, I'm a Virgo. So I in my brain dump, it's uh it's about a five-year plan.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

That's so organized, and you can't you can't see it all if if you hold back pieces.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Oh no, I just did a brain dump two days ago because I had to because I had lost um the ability to actually use my planner. And I was like, my planner, you know, was the way that I like could just get things out of my head and I didn't have to be responsible for them. My planner became the responsibility, right? So I would just go to it. And over the last six months it's been chaotic, but I feel like there's a lesson there too, because in being and striving for perfection, it it's that's unrealistic, right? So you have to learn how to pivot and you have to learn how to uh take what's been thrown at you and make a gourmet meal, right? Yep. So uh like I definitely understand that, but I definitely gonna hit you up. We're gonna talk over there in the corner because there is so much more, and I do I would like that direction. I would like that um organization because I again I like organization.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, and it's it and you that's needed to actually be successful in what it is that you truly want to do. That it's it's necessary. The problem is we get stuck and then we don't move. Yeah, we don't we don't actually act, we don't actually do. I might not move. But like you know, I'm uh a two, maybe three. So we're gonna do it. We don't burghals, we don't stay still. You know how many people have come to me to help them fix a nonprofit that they they they incorporated in the state. They never did their federal paperwork and it's been four or five years. And how do you help them with that process? Well, it depends on what it is that they want to do. I mean, because I mean if you just incorporate it in the state, it's not as much of a big deal. Now, if you incorporate it and you got your actual 501c and you didn't do anything, that is a bigger deal because you that means that you haven't been filing taxes because you decided to get involved with the IRS and create an entity that you're not paying taxes for. Well, not paying taxes, but at least um you have to report your income for the organization. The 990. And yes, ma'am, that's the 990. And if you're not doing that and you have an organization that you're not doing anything with, it's fine to basically say we didn't, you know, but you have to stay.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

So you're saying if someone turned their nonprofit into an actual LLC. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

No, just she's just saying if you're not doing nothing with your nonprofit. If you it depends on where it's incorporated. If you've done both pieces, if you know there's three parts to creating a nonprofit organization. There's just state incorporation, first of all, your EAM, but your state incorporation, right? That in that piece, then you go to the IRS and you do that piece, which is your 501c. After that, you got to come back. South Carolina has a charities registration. That means that if you haven't done that third piece, which is register as a charity, you're not supposed to be soliciting funds in the state of South Carolina. We got I had a lot of those too. I think well, I don't think we did that third thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

I think it was like 10 years.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

So, and and then um one of the things that um that I started doing was nonprofit leadership courses, um, conferences, and getting, you know, bringing grant writers, which I love them. I have a good friend. We work together very, very well because a lot of people come and they want funding, but they're not grant ready. You don't have all your stuff together. If you're not you you don't even have that charity's registration in the state that you're in, you don't you don't have a a real concrete plan for the organization. Your mission statement needs a little bit of work. You're not aligned with yourself, you have a board really that is one. Um you you put your girlfriends and your sister and and your your peoples on there who you shouldn't be putting on there, and and you're not operating like an entity. Let's talk about that. How do you um decipher who's gonna be on your board for a nonprofit? Who are some good people that we should consider? What are their job occupation or roles? Start with your mission. Your mission, okay. Look at your mission. If this is the mission of the organization, what do you need? We always need to start with. You need someone from education, you need someone who from medical, you need someone from legal, you need someone from accounting. All of those different pieces are the things that the organization needs. But those people still need to be aligned with your mission. If this is an attorney but and they do family law, then maybe that's a good thing. But if you are doing something where you're doing coding for girls or whatever, that's what you guys are doing. Maybe you need to have a different kind of an attorney. You need somebody who actually does business law and or intellectual property law, um, you know, with uh what do you call that? I can't think, but you know, just think of you, the people who are supposed to be actually running the organization because it's not a solo thing, those folks need to align with your mission in order for you to find who out in the world will align with you. That's how funding happens. If I only fund organizations that, you know, work with babies, and you know, this is this is what this is all they do. That's all they why are you coming to me for funding for you know sending the girls to wherever? Like it it doesn't match. So um there's a lot of research and time that needs to happen behind the scenes, and people are in a rush. They want to do it quick. Who's giving you their money for and you have not proved that you are worthy? You have no statistics, you have you you've not done anything. You've had a thousand and one events, you ain't do not one sign-in sheet to show how many people you've you've actually touched. Oh, you need a data too. Absolutely. Absolutely. You you have to keep those kind of records. How many people have you touched? How many people um where are you trying to go? Who are your partners? Who's working with you? Who know who you are? Who I'm your people, my mom. Letters of support and letters of recommendation. Absolutely. You need to have those. Um even if you're not going to use them now. You know, I remember when I asked a friend, you know, PhD, yeah, I can I have your resume just because I might need you for something, and I need to be able to have it when I need it, not, you know, wait for you to bring give it to me. You know, but that's the collection of your resources and information that you need to be doing as you're building your organization.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

So as a business owner entrepreneur, you suggest having an a resume. Like, and then because I'm sitting here like, well, how do you how would you structure a resume for well I mean the resume of the people who you are connected to? Okay. Oh, as far as the nonprofit and the okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

You know, I I I I I'm I'm an entrepreneur, I always say. I hire what I need. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing this. She said I'm buying my time back. No, outsource. I but but I need to have those people already there ready. You know their credentials. There you go. Okay. Because if I'm putting together a grant package, and if this is what I do, then I should have those folks already in my repertoire because I'm supposed to be doing it. And let me also say this you know, what about nonprofits? You have to do what you were called to do as your company, as your organization, with no money before anybody will give you money to do it. You gotta create a a path of um credibility. Okay? If I have never done a women's program, if I had never connected with like there there's no credibility if anybody wanted to research and see, you know, what's what, because the you know that that's nobody does that. Nobody does that. Not with not with no real money. Now you might get you a good $2,500 from somebody, a small organization or something like that. And that's great. You know, I did a girls' group. I started it in Jersey many years, and I decided to do it here. It was supposed to be a one-week summer program. Well, we we did five years. And it was absolutely phenomenal. In that five years, we have one grant that was renewable. I think we didn't have that grant for maybe two or three years. After that, I said, Yeah, I'm done. I'm not doing that no more. One of your questions was about funding. I have consistently been self-funded. Period. My own fundraisers. Um, you know, if basically I looked at the budget, we have 20 girls. This is what we're trying to do, this is how much we need, uh, sponsorships. I need um you know, 20 people to give us $50 for these. And keeping it simple. And you get it every time? Well, I wasn't trying to do too much now, you know, my the week, and we probably met every other month. Depending on what we had to do. But there also, you know, we had to align with other organizations. You offering this, I I got the population. So I never skimped on what we offered the girls. It just had to be creative on how we were gonna go about doing it. And bringing it all together. Absolutely. Okay, that makes sense. Your wheels are turning. So, what are some tips you have for organizations to improve their internal process? That is that is first of all, you have to have a board that you can work with. You're the visionary behind it. It's I I get it, but but a corporation is a nonprofit corporation is run by a board of directors. You need to be able to work with those folks. They need to be aligned with you. My biggest tip is your board shouldn't be no more than three people. Really? President, secretary, treasurer. That's all the IRS requires. Other than that, there are some great, great people who are aligned with you, who come, they set up the chairs, they, you know, always gonna support, they're gonna bring the food, all of that stuff. That's your advisory board. They are not legal decision makers. Okay. Your board, their legal name and what have you, is registered with the state and the IR and the federal government as your board of directors when you are doing grants. They ask who's on your board. Their names are on that. Do you need your sister who, you know, helps out with your events on your board or as your advisory board who helps out and and offers insight and all that kind of stuff? It's a whole different thing. And if you are not, I guess, keeping that log of who's on your board, you can lose funding. I had two different grant writers that presented at conferences that talked about people who have lost funding because now funders are asking. And if you can't produce that list quickly, then that means that you're creating it. No, wait. They like, no, we need it, yeah. We need to know who you're aligned with. Yeah. Lots of organizations, and I don't know how often they're doing it as much now. Um, you know, we things have shifted so much um post-COVID, but lots of organizations we used to pay people, their staff, to go and be a part of organization. I'm Verizon. They would want them to connect in the community and different things like that. I never forget in North, in North, New Jersey, we had a program where Verizon employees they were collecting coats and all this other stuff. They got paid um for volunteer hours. $40 a piece. No, I'm sorry, our organization got paid for it. So them coming and volunteering and doing work with our organization, their company paid us for it. But they got to use their time for for over there. So, but again, alignment. You know, if you set yourself up to align with certain organizations who have a mission um for whatever their philanthropic, you know, area is and and they they support what you do, then when they have opportunities like that, there's um a company, uh Benevolent or something like that, it's some you know, jazzy name or whatever, but for the employees of Microsoft. So if they want to be able to donate, you know, from their check, however, you know, often, but you had to have somebody from there that met you, and you know, we we want to get you on that list so that I can just send you money from there. And other people in my company might be able to do the same. There's lots of that around, but you have to find the way in. Right. But you network, you talk to people, you never know. But if you don't share your mission and you don't share what you're doing, then people won't be able to align with you.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

But that comes from clarity of purpose. You have to know who you are as an organization. You have to know what you're trying to achieve. And that's why I said I'm on a mission to move people, because you don't have to get all, you know, I don't need a full corporation. I don't need a board of 10. I don't need all of this stuff. If there are adolescent girls that I want to serve, I can serve them without having to do all of that. I have a contract now. I work with the City of Columbia. We have a great program. We're going into year three called Gen Z, Growing Up Gen Z. I'm the life coach. I just I'm connected. I listen, baby had the nerve. It was so funny. So um when you're working with adolescents, you know, a part of the program, because it's actually um a grant that is between Columbia Housing and um DHEC. Um, so part of it is um um pregnancy prevention, um, you know, education and all that stuff. So I got, you know, I got about a thousand um condoms in the car. So if anybody were to go in my car, you would be like, oh, you get a condom, you get a condom. Why she, you know, he keeps saying, babe, you need to get this stuff out of here. They won't say we up to something else. You know, I could just go and can't pass him out. But um another friend with a nonprofit that serves adolescents. I was able to give her a ton, you know. But um, you might need them. Absolutely, absolutely. Um, but um a part of the program is educating um our young people. But that's that's that's what I do. Well, um, let's shift into she pours. Um girl, let's talk about that whole adventure. It's it it it I don't know what to say. Okay, so she pours was not even supposed to be what it turned out to be, but but other than what this is what God had. I did a um uh um something at a little it was like a lounge spot, right? And so you ever be in a nice space, like you can come to Miss Judy's spot and you know be like, mm, I could do this here, or I could do this here. And in that space, I saw this bar with a bartender and people coming and talking and women coming and sharing. And I told it to Corey. We used that spot. Remember, he did a scary movie gazillion years ago? Him and Arisha, it was really funny, right? So we used that spot to screen it. I said, told him about the project, and so for years it was when we're gonna do the bar project. When we're gonna do the bar project, and that's what it was called. It was the bar project. When God released it, he gave me she fours. And the concept for it, and I didn't want it relationship-based. I wanted it to be women's stories that was not about domestic violence. And so we chose four women, four stories, and um, and I I don't know, I've become the queen of monologues. I've done I've done several, all of my, like I did we did one play, play, but um, which was the mental health play. I did it at the comedy house, but we really, you know, have kind of honed in on how can I mean if it's a woman sharing a story, the monologue just works. So um Confessions of a Welfare Mom became Finding Hope in the Struggle on on in the monologue style. Um, we did that in um New Orleans, we did it in Jersey. It's it's um just the style of what I like. And so that's how we filmed the short film, which is now on Amazon Prime. Check it out. You can download it, you can buy it for like uh $9.99 or rent it for $2.99. It's just really, really dope. And uh, you know, so we're working on the fill feature. We're as in we're in development. Oh my god, the stories of these women are just yeah, yeah. I was blown away at the premiere because you know, I was only there for the I was there for the whole day of taping, but she's in the like, wow, I was a part of that. And then you're like, wow, the impact it'll have. So I'm very proud of you for producing. I'm so grateful that people say yes. Yeah, you know, when you have stuff in your head that you want to do, um, you you know, it's it's pretty awesome when somebody aligns with you and says, Hey, I'd like to be a part of that project. Then that that it just it lets me know that we're on the right track. But I'm on the right track. You are ah, thank you. Now, out of all your jobs, my last question, um, what's your favorite? Um what do you like to do the most out of everything you multi-personal development? Personal development. I I can teach um J2P, um, which is journey towards purpose. I can teach that curriculum every day. Um, I um we we're actually we just finished up with um 10 weeks um with um three ladies who are becoming per search for purpose coaches, and I s I have a full-time job. I'm a licensed property manager. So are you a Virgo? No, I'm an Aries. So I literally leave, you know, from there between my property management company, HUD, and my senior citizens, and I come home and every day I can jump this past week, every single day, but did I have a Zoom last night at seven? I might have. Every day, seven o'clock I was on a Zoom for something. Um she pours um is um just such an outward expression of that. Um, you know, doing the personal development and especially helping other women who want to serve. Um, it's a tool. You know, I I cannot stand people who won't, you know. I don't think everybody needs a four-year education to be able to impact. I I you don't necessarily need that, but you need something. So why won't you just spend this thousand dollars and get you certified and have the support team, resources, and tools, um, and and the clinical piece, because there's a lot of hurting people out here. And if you don't have the support and you go out here and say something that's gone, and you know, these people do some things, you know, I you you'll be you'll be very upset that you called yourself a coach and didn't have any kind of team, any kind of anything behind you. You know, um so I can do that every single day. Um, you know, um I get to get she pours. She pours is a book. I tell you that. No. Oh girl, we got an anthology getting ready to draw. Okay. 21 women share their story in the She Pours anthology, and I already have about six women for the second volume. He's on it. Girl. So yeah, um, we're doing more personal development courses. I I I have six that I've already finished and still kind of, you know, playing with. Um, one will start December 14th. Um, five, um, something about understanding your purpose and that kind of thing. Um, I I just want to teach people, especially women, how to align with more than other stuff. Align with ourselves so that we can do better. Yeah. Tell us about your the book that you're that's um Becoming Coach K, Birthing Purpose. That's the first um book that I did that was not an anthology and it's just my story. Um, Birthing Purpose. Um, I work with an amazing coach Tori Stocker, and um he's actually the um book coach who's working with the authors um for the She Poor's anthology, which drops November 30th. Um let's, you know, I did a whole different style. The women did not write. I interviewed them, and so they didn't have to write to do um to their submission. And so we had a reading, that's what was all these Zooms this week. Um, we had a reading and them hearing their words back to them. I mean, people, I mean it was it was quite emotional, like you know, so it was it's been such an amazing journey. And I started that project in February of last year of this year, so we're finally um about to go to print. Yes, it is it is done, it is done. But I created um a scent, and actually there's two scents. Um, like I'm not a scientist, I somebody else could do it, but I was in the lab and created these two scents, and um I named them She is Coach K and the J2P Classic. Aromatherapy, when you're doing personal development, works. And if I am truly want to be a holistic, you know, not just give them the tools, but how do I help women relax? I am not a massage therapist and never will be. Um, and you know, it was it was just my way of helping to create a certain type of space. You got lavender in there? I do. Okay, I love some lavender. I do. Um I I I love the formula. I am um the the room spray, it's candles and room sprays. It's two different candles, two different room sprays. And the room sprays, he the um, because he, you know, the like the guy, the owner that he liked it so much. This great couple on Sparkleberry, um WM Essentials. Um, so they're making it into a wearable scent. Okay. So um that that that's that's coming because um all this great work and helping people find their purpose and all that stuff, just to gotta um You gotta smell good while you're doing it too. I got grandchildren too. Yes. So how can people find you on social media, follow, support? At Kawan Fitch, K-I-W-A-N-F-I-T-C-H M-B-A. And then um my website is sheiscoachk.com. And are you looking to partner with anybody? Absolutely. Like who? Like who? Um, I am always looking for opportunities to share um all of the different things, I guess, with the books and the products and that kind of stuff. But any kind of opportunity I'm looking for now is specifically about how do I align my personal development curriculum with the populations that need. Um we have a foster care crisis happening right now. We have a crisis with our women who are incarcerated, we have a crisis with DJJ. So, how do I bring what I offer? And I've actually been working on to add the financial literacy component and education component to it so that it kind of has a full rounded um opportunity so that um we can be the missing piece. You know, there's not that there's not things happening in those different spaces, but there's something missing because people aren't getting what they need. Yeah, it's a missing link. There's a missing link, and I believe that journey towards purpose can fill that. Yeah. Well, thank you for being so purposeful. Oh, I love you. Walking in your purpose. I'm gonna keep doing it, honey. We appreciate you for sharing all the gems today because I'm gonna definitely go back and listen to this episode and write down everything, and you know, I already have your contact information. Absolutely. Please reach out however I can help. Um, you know, the the all of the hats, you know, um doing this stuff is is the best part. Yeah, so with that being said, we're gonna wrap up this episode and make sure you guys follow Kawan and all of her amazing journeys and adventures that she has going on. Tell someone you love them, and we'll be back for another episode. Phenomenal. Thank you.