Thriving at the Top
The Power of Prioritizing Self-Care in the C-Suite An interview with Dr. Rikesha Fry Brown, Psychologist, Educator, Author, Speaker, Womens Wellness Consultant Dr. Rikesha and I were connected by a mutual colleague centered around our work on behalf of Black girls. Her primary research focuses on the psychological and social implications of mediated images for African American women. Co-founder and clinician of the Kindred Family Wellness Group, she specialized in working with children and families. Felicia Ford: Share with us what led you to this work. I have been in the field of psychology for over 20 years. I started in psychology wanting to be an educator. I was in the classroom for seven years, did some counseling, did a master’s program and realized how much I enjoy the one on one work and the groups. As a Black woman in this field, I realized the intersectionality of the therapeutic benefits of sharing this on a larger scale. While it’s not therapy, it is a therapeutic space. I do; however encourage everyone to participate in therapy. In consideration of how your career and business has matriculated, and the roles that you have, what would you say is something that you’re seeing among people who also hold multiple roles?
From the people I work with specifically, too many of us are burning the candle at both ends. We have conditioned Black women, women in general, to hold up struggle and strength as a badge of honor - that we can do that and still produce. And it’s time the message shifts into self-love, self-care, and self preservation. We can still be productive, useful members of society and still take care of ourselves. We are losing people far too often and far too early because we are giving, giving, giving and not taking back. I’m seeing a desire for the narrative to change but a lack of information and an understanding of what is required to change. So, I’m assisting women in taking the steps to care for themselves in a way that doesn’t take away from the things they value. Who do you think has created this expectation? Men. I think we live in a patriarchal society [in the US] and the standards of patriarchy have been engrained and ingratiated in men and women. The original standards were set and established by men, but unfortunately and realistically, women perpetuate these stereotypes as well. Too many of us have rooted our identities in the values and expectations in the society in which we live. I won’t say there is any one person - we’re all guilty of it, but I think it started with the ideals of patriarchy.
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