Althea Jo-Ann Smith is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with her. She impressed us with her spirituality and passion.
Having a rough childhood, Althea faced many obstacles along her journey but she didn’t let them stop her from becoming who she was meant to be in this life and inspiring countless others to find their own purpose.
She studied mental health and graduated with a degree in Social Work and a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a philanthropist and actively helps others.
Talking with her, you can sense how strong her faith is. She is a vessel of God and she allows God to use her body and mind to help others. Here is what she said.
Meet Life Coach Althea Jo-Ann Smith:
Name: Althea Jo-Ann Smith
Pillar: The Spirit
Who is this coach for: For anyone who wants to resolve trauma, discover their purpose and find inner peace.
How they can help: Through faith therapy, talk therapy, helio, and bibliotherapy.
First of all, how are you and your family doing in these Pandemic times?
We have survived quite nicely. God has been in the mids of these troubling times for us.
How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?
My family and I have survived contracting the horror of the virus.
We all assembled on the Christmas of 2020. Twelve members of my family, nine adults and three children with comorbidities ranging from obesity, dementia, open heart surgery, cancer survivor, respiratory ailments, and hypertension.
Not one member was hospitalized or sought the services from an urgent care.
We put God in front of our situation, and he kept us using home remedies learned in our native island of Jamaica.
God’s mercies kept us alive and supplied us with an inner peace that amazed our work and church communities.
I would tell others that I loved the pandemic period because it slowed me down, and through the quiet time, I was able to spend more time with God and grow closer to Him.
My clients expressed a similar sentiment. They could do some introspecting and evaluate their purpose and why they did what they do.
They became more resilient in using resources, and their family time was enhanced.
One client said that they learned new skills as a family. They prayed together, played together, and improved on their internal relationship as a family and community in general.
What are the biggest lessons that you learned in this pandemic?
You may say that I am churchy, but that is okay.
God has been my provider, and he has provided financially for my family and me in remarkable ways.
There were difficult moments, and they still are. However, God brought us through each obstacle, and our faith grew and still is today.
The Origin:
Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?
I received a scholarship as a graduate research assistant at my Alma Mata, Northern Caribbean University.
I studied mental health, beginning with a degree in Social Work and a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology from a Christian foundation.
I received a graduate internship and grew professionally within the mental health community as a counselor, mentor, and adjunct professor during my tenure and after graduation.
I worked with the national health authority as an intern counseling psychologist and finally as a guidance counselor with the ministry of education.
I served in various capacities that promoted students, parents, and teachers’ emotional health, wellness, and social adjustment skills.
I am presently a doctoral candidate in organizational leadership with a Christian ministry concentration at Grand Canyon University.
My gifting includes listening skills, empowering, motivating, and interpreting with insight from God.
God gave me coaching and showed me that coaching was more practical as it is more engaging than counseling.
The medium of coaching works at the level of beliefs, values, identity, and purpose that is more impactful as it creates long term change.
Coaching is a behavior modification process that holds each individual accountable for the success of their change process.
What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?
My biggest obstacle was being bullied as a child, both inside and outside my family.
I was called names, my nose was big, and I was a dunce. Which were lies the devil tried to use to derail my self esteem.
Look how confidently beautiful I am. Yes, my nose is big, so what? I think it is one of my greatest assets.
Then as a middle child, I had to fight to create my own space and a safe place where ai thrive.
I am the only one who received an academic scholarship in my family, and it was an entire package. That package included tuition, books, a computer, lunch, and a monthly stipend.
With Christ in the vessel, all things are possible. In Matthew 16:19, God told me that He would give me the keys of the kingdom of heaven; what I bind on earth is bind in heaven, and what is loosed in heaven is loosed on earth.
As much as the devil did not understand what he meant by evil, God used it for good.
I can see into the hurting souls of individuals. It does not matter how they mask the pain. I see it, I feel it.. I pulled it up in my spirit because of the anointing purpose.
The Coaching Style:
How do you innovate with coaching your clients?
Coaching is eclectic as there is no one technique for each individual.
The innovative technique that I incorporate in the change process is the active engagement of the Holy Spirit, who mends the brokenness of the mind, emotion, spirit, and will of the individual with new life visions.
As a Spiritual Coach, the anointing is on me to evangelize through coaching.
I would help each individual on an initial 90 days fasting which is paramount for honing new behavior that promotes inner peace and cultivating good habits in the soul.
Through this inner healing, each individual will identify their authentic, resilient purpose and the gifts they were blessed with by God the Father.
Also, as a trained teacher, I teach essential principles, homework is given, spiritual songs are sung, and soul fasts are conducted using Daniel’s fast.
At the end of the process, the coachee will experience newness and an energetic embodiment shift in vision and perspective of life.
What’s unique about your coaching approach?
As I stated earlier, I have an eclectic approach that I integrate throughout the process. The uniqueness of my coaching approach is that it is the Holy Spirit that works through me.
I use faith therapy, talk therapy, helio, and bibliotherapy.
To understand the origin of the traumatic life event, I use the empty chair technique differently. The chair is used in conversation with the offender, a parent, an employer, or a deceased individual.
What benefits do your clients get after working with you?
They receive their inner peace, find their voice, become energized, new as a new person, the art of forgiveness, their true worth, their purpose, and save their lives of the suicidal.
They uncover their grace and glow as they become authentic, resilient people who walk according to their gifts and talents.
Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?
The tools of compassion, non judgementalism, understanding, empowerment, and unconditional brotherly love.
I am an earthen vessel used by the Holy Spirit, through which God speaks. It is not me but the God who uses my voice, mind, and charisma, as He gives me wisdom for each individual.
The Impact:
If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?
My message to the whole world is that a life of content begins with healing the soul from the contaminants of traumatic events.
We must become our most authentic selves when free from guilt, shame, sadness, loneliness, infertility, a spirit of orphanhood, almost success, and the imposter syndrome.
Through a relationship with Him, God will take all the pain away and give you the inner peace that others want and that this world and mere success can never give.
All weary and heavy laden, come and sit with me, and I will usher you into the presence of God (Psalm 23), the restorer of your soul, and you will receive a refreshing drink of water you will never find thirst again.
Coaching of this nature is not about religion or church but a hand in hand relationship with God.
What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?
The greatest lesson I have learned is that we are living souls that must develop holistically and spiritually.
We need to cultivate good seeds that produce love, stewardship, joy, happiness, empathy with goodwill to all humanity.
When we have love, we will be our brother’s keeper and not be greedy.
I have also learned to give back. I was instrumental in the feeding of over 200 individuals three weeks ago.
I started a project for women who will learn how to show up as the best version of themselves.
“Passion, Power, and Purity” mentoring and grooming is an essential part of nurturing the leaders of tomorrow.
Your final thoughts?
Do you remember Poo in “Kung fu Panda”?
Poo had a soul of a lover and a funny guy who was a defender of people and would die to defend them.
He was a sniveling coward, who a bird of a cook raised. His destiny had nothing to do with his past but with his future as the delivery.
When he received his inner peace, he was unstoppable. So is it with you!
What are and were you created to do? Are you aware of the condition of your soul? Who were you created to defend? Are your talents lying dormant? Are you the next innovator? What is your purpose? Do you understand your worth?
Please stop listening to the false narrative of who people say you are. There is no shame in your game in asking for help.
Do you want to make this world a better place?
If this article resonates with you, please reach out to me. I am willing to have a conversation that will give you a glimpse into your future as an authentic, resilient man or woman with an overflow of inner peace.
Where Can You Find Althea Jo-Ann Smith?
If you liked this interview and you would love to find your own inner peace, make sure to connect with Althea through her LinkedIn. She will help you discover who you were really meant to be in this life.
You can also find her on Heal.me and book an appointment, or join and become part of her Facebook group.
She is a speaker for “The Total Women Xperience” a global event for empowered women starting from June 12 to June 18 (from 7 pm to 10 pm) you can find more info about that event here.
Check out her YouTube video for a glimpse of her coaching and a peak of her beautiful voice and subscribe for more FREE value pieces. It was an honor having this interview with her.
