Damita Miller-Shanklin, Writer

January is the beginning of change, reset and a start anew. Jenkins is a Growth Facilitator, who is perfect for our issue this month. As you have read, our issue is about not staying stuck because you are thinking too much. This also includes thinking you have to get things perfect which can lead to procrastination.  Here is the written Q&A with Denisha Jenkins.

UM: How do you define a Growth Facilitator, and what led you to this work?

DJ: Honestly? I’m the person who sits with you in the messy middle—that uncomfortable space between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming. I don’t show up with a one-size-fits-all playbook. I help you figure out what’s actually true for you and what needs to shift.

What led me here was getting my own world rocked. I spent 7+ years building a consulting practice, and then the anti-DEI backlash hit. Suddenly, work I’d poured myself into felt irrelevant to the market – but not the people. I had a choice: shrink back or reimagine everything. I chose to bounce forward—and that personal transformation became the work I now do with others. Turns out, the hardest seasons of our lives can become our greatest qualifications if we’re willing to learn from them.

UM: January is all about fresh starts. How do you help clients who struggle with overthinking or perfectionism when setting goals?

DJ: Oh, I know this struggle intimately—I’m neurospicy and can overthink with the best of them! Here’s what I’ve learned: perfectionism is just fear wearing a productivity costume. You’re not actually trying to get it perfect; you’re trying to avoid getting it wrong.

So I help clients shift from “What’s the perfect plan?” to “What’s worth testing?” We create 30-90-day experiments instead of rigid annual goals. It takes the pressure off. You’re not committing to forever—you’re just seeing what happens when you try something. And here’s the secret: purposeful action generates clarity. You learn more from one imperfect step forward than from six months of perfect planning.

UM: What services do you currently offer (intensives, workshops, teaching), and who are they best suited for?

DJ: Right now, I’m offering a few different ways to work together:

Leadership Gap Intensives – These are half-day or full-day deep dives for leaders in transition. Maybe you just got promoted, your organization is restructuring, or you’re personally reinventing yourself as a founder or leader. We close the gap between where you are and where you need to go—with actual strategies, not just inspiration.

Team Resilience Workshops – I work with intact teams going through disruption—M&A, rapid growth, major pivots. We build what I call organizational resilience, so your team can stay stable without losing momentum.

Speaking & Teaching – I do keynotes, panels, and workshops on bouncing forward, leading through uncertainty, and building cultures that can handle whatever comes next.

All of this works best for people who aren’t looking for cookie-cutter answers. You want a real thought partner who gets that transformation isn’t just about strategy—it’s personal too.

UM: What is the most common challenge clients come to you with at the start of a new year?

DJ: The exhaustion-aspiration gap. They know what they should do—set big goals, level up, finally launch that thing—but they’re running on fumes from last year. There’s this guilt around not feeling more energized about fresh starts.

My first question is usually, “What if you didn’t add more?” Not because I don’t believe in their capacity, but because real growth doesn’t come from piling on more stuff. We work together to figure out what actually matters and what’s just noise. Sometimes the most powerful January move is releasing what’s been draining you, not adding something new. People are honestly worn out by transformation – right now I’m helping people stabilize. I frame it as communal nervous system healing.

UM: How do you support clients who procrastinate or feel stuck taking the first step?

DJ: I help them get honest about what’s really going on. Procrastination usually isn’t about laziness—it’s about unclear next steps or fear that taking one step locks you into a path you’re not ready for.

We break it way down: What’s the smallest, most honest action you can take? Not the impressive thing you’d post on LinkedIn—the real thing. Sometimes it’s a 15-minute phone call. Sometimes it’s saying no to something that’s been sucking your energy. I also give people permission to sit in “not knowing” if that’s where they are. Sometimes being stuck is actually your intuition telling you something. We explore that before forcing movement just for movement’s sake.

UM: How do you personally manage overthinking or perfectionism when planning your own goals?

DJ: Ha! I use my neurospicy worldview as a superpower. It literally won’t let me overthink for too long—I get bored or hyper focused with my own spiraling and have to do something. But I’ve also learned to set what I call “decision gates.” I commit to testing something for 14 days, then I check in: Did this work? Does it still fit where I’m going? Then go for another 14 days…and so on.

That container keeps me from perfecting things to death because the goal isn’t to get it right—it’s to gather data. I also lean heavily on my people – a niche community/life board of directors. When I get stuck or bored, I pull out various orientation data about myself from friends/peers and then —Gallup Strengths, Enneagram, DISC, even Human Design. I’m a Manifestor, which means I’m not designed to figure everything out alone. I need to process out loud with people I trust who’ll call me on my BS when I’m overcomplicating things.

UM: What helps your clients build confidence and resilience as they move forward?

DJ:  Evidence. We map their “bounce forward” moments—times they’ve already navigated hard things and come out stronger. Most people completely discount their own resilience because they’re so focused on what’s not working yet.

But when we look at their actual track record, patterns emerge. They see: “Oh, I’ve done this before. I know how to adapt.” I also teach them my NOVUM Resilience framework—a practical process they can use every time they hit uncertainty. Confidence doesn’t come from hoping things work out. It comes from having a method you trust.

UM: Is there anything you’d like to add that feels important to this conversation?

DJ: Yes. I want people to know that “bouncing forward” isn’t toxic positivity. I’m not here to tell you to be grateful for your trauma or pretend disruption doesn’t hurt. It does. It’s awful sometimes.

But I also believe we get to choose whether disruption is the end of our story or the middle. I’m writing a memoir called Bounce Forward and launching a podcast with the same name because I think we need more honest conversations about what it actually takes to transform your life and leadership—the messy, faithful, imperfect journey of it.

I call myself a marketplace missionary because my work is about calling, not just consulting. If you’re a leader who wants to bring your whole self to your work—faith, values, quirks and all—we’re going to get along really well.

DJ: Where can our readers connect with you or learn more about your work?

DJ: The easiest place is my website: Grow with Denisha. You can also find me on LinkedIn, where I’m pretty active sharing real talk about leadership, resilience, and navigating transitions.

My Bounce Forward podcast is launching soon—sign up on my website if you want to know when episodes drop. And if you’re ever in Austin, let’s grab coffee. I’m always up for a good conversation with fellow leaders who are serious about their growth.