She Creates: kemi adeodu
Kemi adeodu is A Writer & creative strategist who has been helping us with WF&S this spring. Read more about Kemi and the whisper that led her to writing and WF&S.
We women are good—maybe too good—at juggling. At any one time we balance jobs, families, relationships, volunteering, pets, laundry, dishes, and carpools. Last summer, I added caregiving for my mother to an already full plate of writing, coaching, and teaching and running WF&S workshops and by fall I was exhausted.
When my mom died in November, I was overwhelmed by a lot of things and I thought seriously about shutting down WF&S for good because I wasn't sure I could keep doing all the things. One one hand, I was worn out but on the other hand, there was the little whisper reminding me how much I loved our workshops and retreats. And then, as if the Universe was sending the help I needed, I met Kemi Adeodu at a publishing workshop I was teaching.
As a fellow writer, Kemi had attended the workshop to get tips on the self-publishing process, but she was also very intrigued by WF&S. Kemi had fresh ideas to help us streamline our processes and grow, and reached out to see if I wanted to hear them. We met for coffee and her passion for the work we were doing at WF&S was contagious—and life-giving. We soon began dreaming together for 2023 and beyond, and it has been so helpful to collaborate with Kemi on all things WF&S this spring!
Kemi's full dream for her own writing can be seen on Honey Salted Words. You can also follow her on Instagram @honeysaltedwords.
—Kathy
__________________________________________________________________________________________
You had been working in education but are now pursuing your own writing dreams. Tell us about the whisper you followed that led you to writing.
The whisper that led me to writing was rather unexpected. My love for kids and my passion for reading and early literacy made teaching a natural path to follow and I started my career in the classroom, working primarily as a second grade teacher. Getting to be in the presence of 7-8 year-olds who were filled with creativity, a sense of possibility, and who were always entirely themselves was a joy, and I absolutely felt called to be a teacher.
What I didn’t realize, however, is that calling is dynamic. It isn’t static. It grows and changes and we’re often called to more than one thing throughout our lives. But when I started my teaching journey thirteen years ago, 24-year old me didn’t know this, so I was rather thrown off when, around the 8-9 year mark of teaching, I started to feel a nudge that there might be something else for me in my future. When I started teaching, I knew that I probably wasn’t going to only be a classroom teacher, but I assumed that whatever I did would be within the realm of education, such as being a principal or reading specialist or something like that. The nudge was exciting, but then the whisper that clarified my new path came…and it whispered something totally unplanned—pursue writing.
That word of direction like making a hard-right turn. I was totally prepared to make a change within what was familiar to me, but this prompting to pursue writing was foreign territory and the call to it didn’t make sense to me. I knew that I needed support in thinking through this change, so in 2019, I started working with a Christian life coach, as well as a Spiritual Director. Wow, those two decisions were monumental in helping me trust the whisper and start to move forward.
In the first “get to know you session” with the coach and before we had even decided to start working together, my coach said something to the effect of, “I think you need to think about writing. There’s something in there for you.” My jaw dropped to the floor because I hadn’t said ONE WORD about writing. I had made a brief comment that I journal, but that is true of a lot of people! However, it was a key moment because the fact was this: she was right and I knew it.
The pull to write had been a thread in my story since my early years and in truth, I’ve always loved to write. Throughout my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood years, I wrote a lot and also shared my writing—essays, poems, reflections—with friends and family. Privately, mind you, but the call was now to make my work public. That’s the part that was hard for me. But the whisper persisted and I couldn’t shake it. Eventually I got to the root of why I was resisting so hard. It was because I had a bunch of wrong assumptions about what being a writer and writing publicly meant. Once I identified and let those go, I was able to move forward and began to dream about what it could like for me to pursue writing.
While thinking through my “why”, “what”, and “how”, I went on retreats to “just dream” and I also continued to talk with my spiritual director. I also remained in the classroom one more year, then transitioned to working for an early literacy company where I began to hone many of the skills involved in being a creative strategist. During this period of time which lasted for about 3 years, I was able to identify my what, why, and how, and in early 2022, I knew the time had come to leap into pursuing writing fully. And I did. I said goodbye to the job, laid down my “educator hat”, replaced it with “writer” and “creative”, and launched my website, Honey Salted Words in September 2022.
What advice would you give to someone who is sensing a whisper to make a career change or a calling change?
The first thing I would say is this: Let YOUR process play out. By that I mean, it’s okay if your change rolls out slowly, step by step. It’s also okay if it moves quickly. Your process needs to match and be right for who you are—you aren’t “behind”, so there is no need to rush. By the same token, you don’t have to keep waiting to start. If you have the conviction within yourself to pursue a change, then you are “ready” to take the leap.
Another piece of encouragement is this: Cultivate an “enoughness” mentality. This just means that you tell yourself that you will have the time you need to fulfill this new call. Fear of running out of time or not having enough time is a motivator alright, but a bad one because it is fear-driven. Instead, believe that there is a season for everything and that you will have the time you need to complete it. This will allow you to set a sustainable, life-giving pace for yourself as you take your next steps.
Another way to cultivate a sense of enoughness within yourself is to tell yourself that whatever age or life-stage you are in when embarking on your new path is just-right and enough. In other words, you aren’t too young or too old to make a change and start something new. Your story and experiences thus far are enough for your new path.
Also, as you lean into the whisper, talk with neutral third parties. Change is hard and we entertain so many false narratives around calling and what we think we can or can’t do. Fighting the inertia of what’s familiar, known, and safe is a stretching and sensitive time, so you need to talk with the kind of people who will listen and follow up with a, “Tell me more…” rather than a, “Yeah, but what about…” As you talk with people who coax you into greater freedom and faith, the gravitational resistance to change lessens!
Finally, I would encourage you to talk to God about what you think he is whispering to you. Tell him all your fears and hopes about it. I think this last part is so important because we tend to think that we need to “just do it”, but God actually wants to do this with us. It’s a co-creating process. You don’t need to figure out this transition on your own. There is help—heavenly help. Get your support systems in place, then have a ton of fun beginning to dream anew!
Tell us about the whisper you followed to come to Charlotte from Chicago and that connected you to Women | Faith & Story.
As these things often go, the transition out of a “professional career” to a “creative one” as a writer and an independent contractor came with a change in physical location too. The same coach who worked me through my new calling fears also told me at one point, “I don’t know if this is me or the Holy Spirit, but look everywhere for your next step…yes, outside of Chicago.” That, amongst other things, planted the seed. I also realized that I would need to live in a city that had a lower cost of living and also had a really strong collaborative and creative entrepreneurial community.
I began to really pray about relocating in November and December of 2021 and thought I settled on a place. However, I began to sense God tell me to not ask for the place I had been praying about, but rather be open to his leading. Again, the whisper. I still have the little piece of paper where I wrote down, “I think I’m supposed to lay down what I’ve been asking for and be what opens to whatever comes up.” And you know what came up over and over again that December? Charlotte, NC. Over the next 4 weeks, in random conversations with different people who had no clue I was thinking about moving, it was mentioned time and again. I knew it was a nudge, so I did my research and found that Charlotte checked all the boxes—even more so after I visited and talked with friends and family who lived there. I had my answer and 6 months later, I moved.
When I moved, I knew that I wanted to do something alongside Honey Salted Words that aligned with my values, passions, and favorite strengths. I wrote down all the things I was looking for...basically my pipe dream, then got down to settling into my new home.
The dream came true about four months later. I was at a coffee shop thinking about my next steps and the prompt came again: ”Pause for a moment. What would you really like to do?” And then I remembered meeting Kathy at the publishing workshop and all the ideas that had flooded my brain as I looked through the website for Women | Faith & Story. So I answered back in my heart, “It would be really cool to collaborate with Kathy in some way.” It was so clear that I should at the very least contact her, so I proceed to draft an email to see if she wanted to meet and hear my ideas…and she did!!
We met two weeks later and talked. And talked. Then talked some more. The next thing I knew, I was creating a proposal that included ALL of the things I had written down about what I was wanting to do when I first moved. It is truly amazing how everything came together.
As a Creative Strategist, what excites you about Women | Faith & Story and what do you think is next for WF&S’ future?
I love that WF&S is all about helping women connect in real ways—to their own story, to other women, and to what’s calling to them on the inside. When we know ourselves, we can show up as ourselves. When we show up as ourselves and others do too, connection happens. We don’t need to be the same to connect. We just need to be able to show up as ourselves. Facilitating this is what WF&S does so well, and I’m excited for the ways Kathy can continue to model and create the space for this to happen because women truly need more places where they can experience authentic connection.
When we aren’t dreaming and collaborating together on WF&S, you are working on Honey Salted Words. Can you tell us about it?
With all that’s happening in our world, I believe that hope is the great need of our times—that along with the need for true belonging & connection (love), as well as perspective & purpose (faith). I write at Honey Salted Words to offer the kind of content that nurtures soul wellness, so this means that I write a lot about faith, hope, and love because this famous trio is how we get well, stay well, and flourish at the deepest level. At its heart, Honey Salted Words is about encouraging and equipping others to become best friends with these three graces.
_____________________
Kemi Adeodu is a lover of words and cheering people on. She writes at Honey Salted Words to connect people to the One from who soul wellness and life flows. Following a nudge to move, she relocated to the south and makes her home in the Charlotte-area. Her experience of growing up in Canada then living in the US as an adult, coupled with her Nigerian cultural heritage, has shown Kemi how much we have in common. It has also taught her how to create the kinds of spaces where people feel seen, valued, and able to show up as their authentic selves—whether they are 7-years old, 27-years old, or 57-years old. Learn more about Kemi here or follow her on Instagram @honeysaltedwords.
Kathy Izard is the founder of Women | Faith & Story (www.womenfaithstory.com) and the award-winning author of three books. Her first memoir The Hundred Story Home released in 2016, received a Christopher Award for outstanding inspirational nonfiction. In 2019, she created a children’s book, A Good Night for Mr. Coleman with artist Evelyn Henson, encouraging kids to dream big and do good. Her new memoir, The Last Ordinary Hour, is now available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback through your favorite booksellers. Kathy’s work has been featured on NPR as well as the Today Show inspiring people to be changemakers in their communities. Learn more www.kathyizard.com.