MHS Celebrates Natasha A. Pierre

The month of February is dedicated to honoring and celebrating Black history, excellence, resilience, and innovation while acknowledging where systemic racism persists and giving visibility to the people and organizations creating change. It is also a reminder that Black history and culture is to be celebrated all year round.??

Today, MHS wants to take time to acknowledge the contributions of Natasha A. Pierre, CEIC, CPLC in the field of professional development. We sat down with Natasha to discuss emotional intelligence, mental health, and her experience in the professional development space.??

Natasha is an award-winning speaker, author, Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, and mental health advocate with over 25 years of coaching, consulting, and training experience. Natasha assists individuals, small businesses, and corporations in gaining the clarity, strategy, and implementation support necessary for accomplishing personal and professional goals. She has devoted much of her time to mental health education and advocacy, and previously served as the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Hillsborough affiliate in Tampa, Florida.????

Natasha is now the Chief Executive Officer of The Set Mind, a consultancy that provides coaching and courses that aid women in gaining clarity on their life’s goals and that equips them with the strategy and tools necessary to execute their goals boldly. As a certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, Natasha utilizes MHS’ EQ-i 2.0? and EQ 360? in her practice. She has also recently released a book, Jumpstart Your Happy: Get Closer to Happiness Now.???

Tell us about how you started The Set Mind? What inspired you to offer coaching services to women????

NATASHA: The Set Mind Consulting is a company I formed in July 2022. I experienced extreme burnout in my last two professional roles. They were toxic environments. I wasn't supported and appreciated for my contribution and for what I brought to the table.??

My work in emotional intelligence began in 2017. It was the first time I heard about emotional intelligence, I latched on to it as a tool for my personal development. In addition to being a coach, author, and speaker, I am also a mental health educator. I was diagnosed with a mental illness for over 20 years, and I share my recovery journey frequently. It is imperative that I do everything I can to safeguard my emotional and psychological well-being. Emotional intelligence has equipped me with greater self-awareness to know that I was in work environments that were not working for me. If I was going to be speaking to women about living their best life and creating environments that are supportive and fulfilling, I needed to walk my talk.???

After leaving those organizations, instead of starting with another company, I started my own. When the Set Mind launched, I was still reeling emotionally and mentally for the abuse endured at work, so I became my first client. I coached myself in the way I have coached other women for many years. Today, I am stronger and wiser and reminding women that they have permission to create the lives that work best for them, and that they can have careers and passions that won’t break their soul, as Beyoncé said.???

As a Black woman working in the Professional Development space, what are some challenges you have faced that you hope your work might help others overcome????

NATASHA: My ethnicity is African and Indigenous. I was born in a U.S. territory, and I live in America, so my nationality is American. My culture is Trinidadian, as my parents are from Trinidad and Tobago. America told me that my race is Black. “Black” was not an identity that I embraced or understood until 1994 when I moved from the Virgin Islands to America. Over time, I recognized that even if I identify as a Caribbean woman or a Trinbagonian, America says that I am Black, and because of that labeling, I will have different experiences in this country.??

I was not raised with a race consciousness, and I wasn't raised in an environment that was structured to keep me from advancing. In the Virgin Islands, everyone in power looked like me. I was encouraged to “be all that I could be.” After arriving in America, and especially in the last ten years, I have had a greater awareness of what it means to be a Black woman in America. There are moments where I feel that being a Black woman in America is to be doubly Black, to be Black twice as I am neither the preferred gender nor the preferred race.????

So, what does this mean, and how does it show up? It means that there is implied pressure as well as self-induced pressure to be the best at all times. Professionally, I show up with full makeup on, heels, dressed to the nines with a stellar slide deck because I have learned that I won't always receive a second chance to make a first impression. I live in an authentic, assertive, and confident space.? I do not apologize for my skills, talents, education, training, and abilities. I am not trying to prove them. Wherever my feet are is where I am supposed to be. If I was hired, if I was invited to the table. If I was given an audience, given a stage, or given the mic, I deserve to be there. So, imposter syndrome doesn’t show up for me. This confidence did not come from a seminar, an assessment, or a conference. This came from me doing the work, from therapy, from working with coaches, from my own self-awareness, self-discovery and journaling, etc. It came from me being a subject matter expert on myself.????

Brené Brown has a quote, “do not shrink, do not puff up, stand your sacred ground.” I take this quote with me wherever I go. Being a Black woman in America is a delicate road to walk. I am very aware of how I present, and that it can make others insecure.?I have frequently been either the only Black person or the only woman in professional spaces and have been told that the strength I display is intimidating to others. I often feel that the expectation is for me to dumb down. I can be pretty; but not be smart. I can be smart; but cannot display that I’m too smart. I must allow my brilliance to be discovered. I can be effective and capable, but not funny or well-liked. It is an unnecessary, exhausting addition to being a professional. So, when I show up and I am dressed, I am effective, I am educated, I articulate, and (God forbid) people like me, it is deemed overpowering. Brené Brown reminds me that I need only to stand my sacred ground. I encourage Black women and all women to stand in their “is-ness”, their authenticity, and to find spaces where they can show up fully. Marianne Williamson says, "As we let our light shine, we unconsciously permit others to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others." I live this quote.?

What is the core message behind your newest book, Jumpstart Your Happy: Get Closer to Happiness Now????

NATASHA: My new book is about how I lost my happiness amid 11 deaths, two professional splits, and sepsis. With everything I experienced over the last three years, people kept asking me: Are you happy? I got sick and tired of hearing the question, and one day I sat still for seven hours and wrote the book. This is what I say about happy in the book:???

Happiness and joy are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Happy is an emotion, joy is a state of being. Happy is external, joy is internal. Happy reacts, joy responds. Happy is momentary, joy is long term. Codependent joy can stand alone. Happiness is circumstantial, joy is eternal. Happy can be derailed, joy stays. Happy can be diluted, joy increases in potency. Happy can become stagnant, joy transcends.???

So why name the book Jumpstart Your Happy if joy is the goal? Great question.???

Happy is the low hanging fruit. Happy is the human emotion that people can readily identify, understand and desire. Happy fuels our ability and desire to hope. If I can get you to jumpstart your happy, you will inevitably be on the path to joy. Happy is the journey, joy is the destination.

If I can get people to begin thinking about how to infuse their day, hours and life with happiness, then they will be on the path to joy, and joy is often required to overcome, to push through, and to keep going.???

It is not the big things that we do that create the positive changes we desire. It is all the little things we do consistently, and sometimes that means starting with infusing more happy moments. Instead of working from home, I may work from a café or shared space, and purposely speak with one new person that day. I log my gratitude moments at the end of each day, and it challenges me to identify moments throughout the day where I can be grateful, moments where I can bring joy to myself and/or someone else. Sometimes giving green mental health ribbons brings a happy conversation.? Other times, I randomly distribute copies of my book. Those are some of the ways that I infuse my day with greater joy.???

How has the EQ-i 2.0? impacted your work in coaching and training clients????

NATASHA: Emotional intelligence is a new find for many people. When I first heard about emotional intelligence, I was looking for relief from my mental health symptoms. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder over 20 years ago. I utilized medication, therapy, coaching, gut cleaning, etc. Although they were beneficial, I needed more. I needed a mindset reset. I often share that there are two things living in your head: your brain and your mind. We can only do so much with the brain, but when it comes to the mind, we have 100% control. We can do the work to reset our thinking in ways that best serve us.???

When I initially embraced emotional intelligence, I started with the five basic tenants - self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills. I used them as a guide to create a wellness strategy that worked for me. It was a natural progression to expand to the MHS model and to explore the 15 scales/subscales, and to be certified in administering the EQ-i 2.0/ EQ 360 assessments. When I coach people experiencing various mental health challenges, we begin with emotional intelligence not just because it's cool or trendy, but because I know it works. It worked for me, and it empowers the individual to take 100% responsibility for their recovery journey. With my diverse client base of coaches, authors, influencers, politicians and more, the EQ-i 2.0 is in my opinion the most comprehensive assessment for total life transformation.?

What advice would you give to young professionals entering the workforce who are looking to build their emotional intelligence skills????

NATASHA: First, complete an EQ-i 2.0 assessment. Review it, digest it, and use it as a roadmap for personal and professional development. Emotional intelligence requires daily awareness of your emotions and the emotions of others. It is your starting point. The EQ-i 2.0 report will then allow you to explore areas of opportunity for greater personal and professional development and to ultimately do what "Dr. Hank" Clemons says: “Make EQ a habit.”??

Do I expect everyone to embrace emotional intelligence as much as I have? I don't know. Maybe they will in their own way. I don’t have a choice. Anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder are daily realities for me. I do not have the luxury of ignoring the importance of emotional intelligence because it allows me to be, to do and to serve. A huge part of mental health is wanting to live a “normal life.” I want to have a fulfilling life. Can I still work? Can I still accomplish my goals and dreams? Can I be a professional? The answer is “YES!” I single-handedly led a mental health organization through a global pandemic, and supported hundreds! Me - a person living with a mental illness raised tens of thousands for the benefit of others while enduring unfathomable abuse. As a mental health educator, I share my story and the message that a diagnosis is not a death sentence. I challenge every stereotype held about people living with a mental illness because I shattered them. As a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, I have tools to help people chart their personal and professional development pathway.?

Emotional intelligence normalizes the existence of emotions. For years, emotions were taboo in corporate spaces. Well, I think the coronavirus pandemic evidenced that emotions affect us professionally, too. When we are aware of our emotions, they can help us be more sensitive, empathetic and compassionate to the emotions of others. Empathy means, “I don't need to break my leg to know it hurts.” Empathy is how to be human. That's what emotional intelligence helps to cultivate our humanity.????

Is there anything else you would like to add on the topic of emotional intelligence????

NATASHA: Emotional intelligence, in my opinion, is the missing link in our society. It gives a greater and elevated awareness not only of ourselves, but about others. I am a huge proponent of mindfulness and being present in the moment. Emotional intelligence slows us down enough to examine if hustle culture, 12+ hour workdays, are truly as beneficial as they are purported to be. The scores on the EQ-i 2.0/EQ 360 report are a snapshot of where an individual is right now in time. It equips them with a roadmap to chart change.??

Emotions are human. We should value them and make space for them. Having emotions doesn’t make you crazy. (Natasha’s Mental Health Story, Let's Talk About Crazy.)??

Learn more about Natasha’s services as an Emotional Intelligence Coach here: https://thesetmind.com?