Aryana Charise is a communications specialist, trainer, and coach with over twenty years of experience, specializing in helping people achieve clarity and focus. She is also one of the twenty-four authors of the Bestselling anthology, The Great LeadHERship Awakening, which features inspiring stories on life and leadership and empowering women; causes Aryana truly believes in propelling. As a communications specialist, she emphasizes clarity and focus.
Aryana serves as the Vice President of Client Services for BlackOwned.com’s DEIM (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Mental Health Transformation) Strategic Consulting Service division.
Aryana calls Atlanta, Georgia home, where she enjoys hiking and being outdoors.
Can you describe your childhood years growing up? How did those shape you into being the powerful professional leader you are today?
I have, since childhood, been encouraged by my parents to excel academically and in extracurricular activities. I excelled, achieving honor roll and was at the top of my class. I excelled in track, swimming, gymnastics, dance, flute, and ballet. I was taught by my parents and teachers to read and apply the knowledge that I discovered to grow daily and appreciate the opportunities I was afforded and to be prepared to lead others on this journey. I still apply these childhood lessons in my life today.
You’re a part of the new Bestselling anthology, The Great LeadHERship Awakening, with the topic of caregiving. Can you describe how this embodies the core of female leadership?
Caregiving is at the core of female leadership. We all make choices in life and choices make us. I first discovered the power of caregiving as a teenager when my great grandmother requested my assistance. Mama Clyde lived to be 101. She embodied courage, determination, and success in all that she did. She was an entrepreneur with a gift to sew magnificent garments. She inspired me to develop my gifts and share them with others.
A wearer of many hats, we know you are also a communications specialist who has been speaking, training, and coaching for over twenty years. Talk to us about how rewarding it is to have empowered so many women in the past and why it’s important to keep the momentum going forward?
The ability to speak, train and coach has been extremely rewarding. I have spoken in many cities and countries throughout the world, inspiring people to embrace their gifts and talents and share them with others. I speak in my sleep, so I’ve been told. I love what I do and do it effortlessly. It is who I am. Therefore, I do it everywhere I can with fervency to keep the momentum going forward.
What do you look at as your biggest success to date?
Nursing my mother back to health has been my biggest success to date! Mom was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis, and cachexia. She began losing weight, and her body became extremely frail. She dropped twenty pounds which was a challenge considering her small frame of 135lbs and a height of 5’4. She lost the use of her left foot. She went from being active and traveling the world to using a walker and then a wheelchair and bedridden. I utilized everything she taught me, the lessons learned by my father, grandparents, and great grandmother. I took my mother to many doctors in search of a solution to give her the quality of life she deserved and desired. I researched tools and techniques to alleviate the excruciating pain she was experiencing on a daily basis. I refused to give up. It became my mission to restore my mother’s health. She has since made a remarkable recovery and I am grateful.
If you could have dinner with anybody in a leadership role, past or present, who would it be and why?
I chose Michelle Obama – a strong female leader. I am inspired by her success as a wife, mother, daughter, author, and her actions as first lady of the United States that inspired a nutritional movement to raise awareness and improve the health of young black students in our country. She does what she does with courage and grace. Michelle Obama leads from her heart.
Follow: Aryana Charise https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-mckay/
For media and press inquiries with Aryana Charise, contact Michael Beas at info@atlaselitepublishing.com
