Rebecca Joseph shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Rebecca, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day for me now looks like waking up at whatever time God chooses to open my eyes. I don’t even sleep with an alarm anymore. I immediately do praise and worship, have my prayer and quiet time and read my Bible. I still send a Bible verse via text to over 45 people a day on weekdays. I try to work out shortly after that. Then I get ready for work. My first client isn’t until 1130am most days and I’m off every Friday now.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Rebecca Joseph. I am a provisionally licensed mental health therapist. I have my own counseling company called Throne Counseling Services and I am a contracted clinician for a private practice out of Broward County. I see children to adults from ages 10 and up to even 65 so far. I see couples and married people and I also see families for family counseling. After I complete these last two courses of education, I will be able to be fully licensed in the state of Florida as I have completed all other requirements.
I am a three time self published author of books of poetry titled Smeared Lipstick Volumes 1-3. I have sold hundreds of books and perform poems from my book when I am able to. I am also a singer and songwriter and continue to perform at monthly open mics, weddings, events, etc. I will always be a singer and one day I will put music out on platforms for listeners to hear.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I would say that my late mentor, Ukeme Ekpo, saw me well before I knew who I was to become. She was my youth director at church and I absolutely adored the way she carried herself, the way she was honest and outspoken and took the lives of the children in the youth group as the most important thing in her life.
I remember her telling me that I could do anything and she would force me into roles at church. I directed the youth choir for 16 years after she reminded me that I could. She was also my first recollection of someone who went to school for psychology. I too went on to go to FIU and major in psychology just like her.
She encouraged me and supported me at every turn. She also gave me Godly perspective on things I still use to this day. She also recommended that I be her successor and become youth director when she stepped down. I took on that role for an I short time before COVID, completing my first youth retreat without her presence in 2019 after she taught me everything I needed to know! She will never be forgotten.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me that regardless of what you think you have acquired, your self worth is not on money. Not being able to pay my bills or losing my job and not even shedding one tear showed me that I could recreate my life over and over again. It taught me that God truly makes a way where there seems to not be one.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friend would say that God and love really matter to me. As a Christ follower for the majority of my life, I have always been active at church often choosing it over other things people weee doing at the time. I have continued to send out Bible verses every weekday for possibly 12 or so years now. I have people contact me to ask me for prayer or to put their prayer request in my prayer closet for them.
They would also say that I am a lover above all else. I will always choose love over hate, anger or disagreement. I have often been told by friends that I love too easily or quickly. I’ve been told that I give too many chances. I’ve decided from a very young age g age that love is greater than anything. God showed me what love looks like and I desire to model Him in that way if not in any other way!
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
I am setting my business up for success. My desire is to have a private practice where I have clinicians who work for me the way I work for one now. I desire to become a clinical supervisor to help interns become licensed. I want to be able to see clients only because I want to. I will be able to have the practice pay me and pay for itself. I will be able to make money with my eyes closed! The work I’m doing today will have this pay off!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/rebeccadarling?fbclid=PAVERFWANKw_5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp7RRI9x1YvjD4YjUu_JR8GonV57QmLbLaNXnrYurP3m8-Ho76t2A26mrU0B8_aem_n1EcG9zFySbg94Fif4gXvg
- Instagram: RebeccaJSings__
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RebeccaJDarling
