Living the Dream: Turning Purpose into Reality

Join me as we explore the transformative journey of Scrub Life Cares, my nonprofit, born from my experiences in Antigua and Uganda. Have you ever wondered how a simple vision can spark a movement for change? Discover how a profound encounter in Uganda ignited my passion for menstrual and reproductive health education and led to a ripple effect across Antigua and South Carolina communities. You'll hear my heartfelt story of perseverance, the challenges faced when building a nonprofit from scratch, and the joyful celebrations of our recent successes. Each step of this journey has been a testament to the power of belief and community.

In this episode, you'll find inspiration in Scrub Life Cares' impactful work as we engage with men, women, and children to advocate for reproductive health. I share emotional moments of realizing our broader impact and express sincere gratitude for the overwhelming support from the community and our podcast listeners. I invite you to join us on this mission as we celebrate our four-year anniversary. Pursue your dreams with courage, and remember: with dedication and community, change is possible, one step at a time.

To learn more about Scrub Life Cares, check out our website, and feel free to reach out.

Chapters

• 0:00 Finding Purpose Through Non-Profit Endeavors
• 9:03 Embracing Impact Through Community Engagement
• 21:23 Inspiring Success in Non-Profit Endeavors

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Tea with Tanya. I'm your host, tanya Ambrose, an average millennial navigating life as a maternal health professional, non-profit founder and grad student. Join me in the tea tasting room where we spill the tea on finding balance and promoting positive living while doing it all. Hey friend, welcome back to another episode of Tea with Tanya. Today it's just me, and on this episode I'm trying to contain my excitement. But I want to take a moment to reflect on something that's personal and close to my heart and I don't think I talk about it enough here on the podcast. But I'm going to talk about my journey. Well, a little bit about my journey as the founder of my nonprofit organization, scrub Life Kickers. You know what it's been like to live out my dreams, the joy and fulfillment it's brought me and even the ripple effect it's having in the communities that we serve. Because, let me tell you this, your girl is talking to you on a high, high off of life, high off of a successful event that my nonprofit organization recently had. It's just, it's just been everything, and I could not share this with you Now. Last week we spoke about from inspiration to impact and how to create purpose and serve your community, and we had the amazing Justice Faith on the episode where she's a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree. She's also a member of the United Nations Women Leaders Network and she is the co-founder of the amazing organization Revolutionaire that she co-founded with her sister, nia. But something stuck out to me when I was talking to Justice on last week's episode and that is the quote that she said find your spark, lean into your spark and build community around your spark. And at the time because sometimes you know you record episodes, not knowing exactly when they're going to air, but most times I often do, because I have an amazing editor who ensures that we have a schedule we know what's going on. But besides that, you know, at the time when I'm planning this season, I recorded an episode. The episode came out the same week, the same week where my nonprofit had an event, something new that we tried, and it came out the day after and it just put so much into perspective.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Now I think back. You know I want to talk about, you know, having a dream to not live in the reality. And I think back to when I first had the idea to start Scrub Life Kids. You know, growing up in Antigua, I've witnessed people face many challenges in their lives as well, and I often talk about.

Speaker 1: 2:29

The reason behind starting Scrub Life Cures was when I was first migrating to the United States. I thought that you know, I'm going to come and I had to be a millionaire in order for me to give back to Antigua, because I often said, no matter where I am in this world, I am going to give back to Antigua because I often said, no matter where I am in this world, I am going to give back to Antigua in some way, shape or form because I truly believe that being raised in Antigua that put me in a position to survive anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter where in the world I am, I will be able to survive because of my upbringing in Antigua, and it wasn't until I did that study about stinting in Uganda, africa, and we took gently used clothes or menstrual products, hygiene products to individuals who were in the villages that were underserved or living in the slums as well, and I just remember that once seeing someone free, bleeding on themselves, then wondering, when I go back to my place of privilege, what happens to this individual, and I remember thinking you know what? This could be something that I can do back in Antigua right Now. I will say no dating in the Caribbean.

Speaker 1: 3:29

When you're trying to find data to figure out where is the need, where is an urgent need, it can be very frustrating because we are not where we should be when it comes to data collection, right, and that's one of my goals here at Scrub Life Care as well. So I think back to the first time when I had the idea and one of the things that I said you know what I wanted my nonprofit to be global. We're not quite there yet, but we're making some waves. But one of our primary focus is essentially providing health education, primarily in the reproductive health standpoint, especially when it comes to menstrual health, menstrual hygiene management as well. So I have that spark in me, especially after seeing that individual just walking around free bleeding because, again, they didn't have access to these menstrual products that some of us have access to, and I just had the vision of creating a space where underserved communities, especially our women and girls, could access not just resources but also the education you know, empowerment and the knowledge that we all deserve, that they deserve, and I remember feeling a sense of urgency, like you know what. This has to happen now.

Speaker 1: 4:35

But as we all know, my friend, or, if you didn't know, dreams do not, they don't come to life overnight. I've had to learn that the hard way, because one thing about me I'm a dreamer and I tend to have very vivid, visceral dreams. But again, I've had to learn that they don't happen or come to life overnight. And you know, it took some time, but perseverance is key. So, you know, with perseverance and, most importantly, belief in the vision, you know, scrub Life Kids is now thriving and impacting many lives in Antigua and here in South Carolina. But this is a result of years of planting the seeds, of planting the seeds of overcoming self-doubt sometimes I even still struggle with that, to be honest, my friend and pushing through the many challenges that comes with life.

Speaker 1: 5:21

But also running a non-profit organization, especially especially if you're an overachiever like myself, you know. And about a week and a half ago because by the time this episode episodes air, it would have been a week and a day at least where we had in very intimate event, because we have a program that's called work the flow and with that program we have an after school program, an in-school program, where we provide comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, focusing on menstrual health as well, menstrual hygiene management, period poverty and, if you don't know, period poverty is a lack of access to menstrual hygiene products as well, and every year in May, around the week of Period Poverty Awareness Week, we have an event that's called the Grow With the Flow Women and Girls Health Expo, but this time around here in October, we had an event that's called Grow With the Flow. Your Voice Matters and let me tell you I will say this because we have been blessed to have so many different supporters we are currently partnering with a company outside of, in England actually, where we're working to figure out OK, where is the need? How can we better serve that need? How can we ensure that you know the products that we're using are safe? You know like, what were the consumers? What do they want in a mensual product, in a period product, so that we can continue to work at ensuring that this become a reality as well, and I remember bringing it to my team and letting them know.

Speaker 1: 6:42

You know what we have to have a qualitative focus group, research focus group X, y, z, and I created a flyer because, you know, sometimes we're still a small organization, so we don't have a full-blown social media manager. Okay, we have a team. We're not a manager like that. And I always remember that I created the flyer and some members of my team were like you know what? We need to remove certain words. We got to tailor the words to cater to the, the, the target audience that we're serving.

Speaker 1: 7:06

And another thing as a non-profit founder, sometimes I'm having to one check my privilege but also to being a public health practitioner. You know there's certain jargons, certain terms that we use that the general public may not always understand. And as a public health professional, one of our goals is to ensure that when we're providing the education to our population, that they're able to fully understand what is it that we're sitting and talking about. So, you know, you want to come down to their level, and I remember thinking when my team said to me you know, we got to change the wording, and I was like no, I was kind of giving them a little pushback as well. But one thing about me I'm a fear. I'm a fear fear leader and I also take the.

Speaker 1: 7:48

So this event was called, you know, grow Up the Flow, your Voice Matters, and one of the goals for this event was for us to, of course, have some data collection, but you can't just go into an event and, because Square Black is, we just cannot do anything small, as small and intimate as this event should have been or was. Essentially, the experience is always top tier. Anything that we do, we want to ensure that those who are in vulnerable communities, those who are underserved or whatever challenges, you're just vulnerable, you're going through whatever in life, because we are going through something in life Doesn't matter if it's poverty, whatever it is. We want to ensure that we are elevating an experience so that, when you're in the presence of anything that Scrub Life Kids does, you can walk away feeling empowered, feeling good about yourself and feeling confident. Right. So, as much as we were supposed to be collecting some data, we had to make an interactive session and let me tell you guys, I don't even know what I feel like, I'm still processing this feeling, but I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and joy, because this event, it wasn't just another project for Scrub Life Kids. It was a reminder. It was a reminder of the power of community connection and education, and I remember just sitting there because I'm going to tell you this this event was planned and I purposely ensured that I wasn't a part of the event.

Speaker 1: 9:03

When I say a part of the event, I was there physically, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't educating, I wasn't doing anything. I reached out to different facilitators, different people of the team, whatever it was, to ensure that the event, the vision that I had for it, came to life. But I didn't want to be the forefront of it because, I mean, I'm already the face of Squad Life KS. But I wanted to have, you know, different perspective, different people and just being on the sidelines, I got to actually, for the first time in a long time, fully engage in what was happening that night and you know we were able to welcome women and girls and boys from various walks of life, you know, all gathered in one space to learn, engage and advocate for our health. You know, one of the most powerful moments for me as I was watching was, you know, having the young girls, from the young to the old, just asking insightful questions during the various subgroups that we had. And I just knew, right then and there, that we were making a real difference.

Speaker 1: 10:01

And this is not saying that I didn't know this back in May, I didn't know this back in last May, but one of the things that I struggle with as a founder is that you know you want to create an environment where individuals are again having an elevated experience, they're getting the knowledge that they need, they're getting the products that they need, they're getting whatever they need, whatever gap there is that Scrub Life Kids can fill, and every time that I'm there I we have an event or a session, I'm always so up and down making sure that everything is running smoothly that I don't often get to fully embrace and see what was happening. So just seeing from the youngest person there to the oldest person, to again even the boys we had a decent turnout as it relates to boys and men and seeing them being a little bit reluctant and shy in the beginning to being actively engaged in conversations by the end, truly honestly warm my heart. And I often tell people you know at Scrub Life Cares as much as we are focusing on individual, you know women and girls, people who menstruate. We also we don't want to forget about our boys. You know our men in this as well, because we cannot talk about reproductive health and just only focus on women, because of course that's not. I understand why we would tend to do that, but that's not what we. We thrive to do in Scrabble Life Care because it's a collective. You know a boy is going to have a partner, a sister, aunt. You know a girl is going to have a brother, whatever it is. So it's just important that we have that health education and we know what it is that is happening in our body.

Speaker 1: 11:28

So that that was just um, seeing how theators were, the note takers were. You know how empowering these young voices were and you know taking control of their own narrative as it relates to their reproductive health. The energy was just so positive. I'm trying to relay because you know I'm sure you can hear the excitement in my voice. I hope you can. The energy was just so positive from, again, I guess, the speakers who did their presentation, who shared invaluable insights to those who participated, you know, who embraced every opportunity to learn.

Speaker 1: 12:01

I, just I. In that moment of the four years that I've been doing the Described Life case, I saw I was able to see the impact of what we're doing in real time and that was just surreal for me. Like you know, people left not just with just knowledge but with a renewed sense of purpose and empowerment and having individuals walk up to me and telling me you know, tanya, you're doing good work in the community. You're going to this community, like you know, again, all the and I'll use the word praise or the thank you, but anything that we do as public is anything that I do, it comes from the heart and it's not coming from a looking for an accolade or even a thank you. You know, of course, a thank you can go along we don't get me wrong now, but it's, it just brought. I was just, I was just grateful. I was grateful, I was emotional, but I had to keep it together because, you know, I got to be a tough girl out here sometimes. But, um, it's, it's just, it was just, it just gave. It gave me, I guess, the answer that I was looking for.

Speaker 1: 12:56

As far as you know, am I doing the right thing, walking in my purpose? You know, and I think there's an indescribable joy in watching your dream unfold, like I've seen it with Scrub Life Kids First, our program that we first started is offering strictly menstrual products and now working on comprehensive reproductive health education, to working on a curriculum, to doing all these amazing things that we're doing, to partnering with different entities, different businesses, go from a dream to an idea, into something that is tangible and impactful, and I don't take that lightly. You know, every time we deliver educational materials, every partnership that we form, every individual that we help, it really does fill my heart, because I know this dream is no longer just mine. It's becoming a part of, it's become a part of the fabric of the community as well. You know, again, seeing the smiles receiving, you know, words of gratitude and knowing that someone's life is better because of Scrub Life Cares, that's honestly what keeps me going. That's what keeps me going.

Speaker 1: 14:07

It's just like this podcast. Like you know, the last several episodes have been doing extremely well. You know, there's been moments where you know numbers will fluctuate and I try not to play the numbers game because if I do, then I'll probably just not even continue this podcast, to be honest with you, my friend, but just the support from you listening to this podcast, giving me your feedback. So whenever I ask for your feedback, it's not because I want to gloat and, you know, gas myself up, which I mean. Sometimes we gotta gas each other up, don't get me wrong now, you know, but gas myself up, which I mean sometimes we got to gas each other up, don't get me wrong. Now you know.

Speaker 1: 14:35

But it's more so about ensuring that I'm serving you in a way that makes sense for you as well, because when I, when I sit down and I have to plan a season or a series or whatever it is, I want to ensure that I'm comfortable talking about the things that I'm talking about. You know, I've I'm not going to I don't want to say rebranded, but I've shifted the direction of Tea with Tanya so many different times, and that's because, again, it has to be in alignment with what my heart is telling me and what my heart is feeling as well. So this is what keeps me going, you know. But more importantly, it's a reminder that dreams aren't meant to serve just us. They're meant to serve others, and I'm going to say this again, my friend, you know, dreams aren't meant to serve just us, but they're meant to serve others.

Speaker 1: 15:23

One thing that I was also incredibly proud of at our Work to Flow your Voice matches event was the safe space we created. You know, when we come in here to the Tea Tasting Room, I want to create a safe space, a safe environment for us to have conversations that we don't often talk about. So that's the experience that I aim for, that we aim for at Scrub Life Care. So that safe space that we created, you know, from discussions on menstrual hygiene to mental health, you know, it was a place where women and girls and the boys and guys there could be vulnerable, share their stories and also feel supported. And that's the kind of environment that I've always dreamed of when it came to creating Scrub Life Kids, where there's just no shame or stigma, just open dialogue and learning.

Speaker 1: 16:03

So seeing the community engaging this way this night made me realize that our mission is resonating and that the work that we do is truly, truly transforming lives, and I can't get enough of it. Like, I'm talking to you and my mind is racing so fast because, again, you just never know what you're going to do when you're having an event. Cause, let me tell you, hosting an event is no easy feat. Okay, it is no easy feat, but one of the biggest lessons I've learned through this journey is the importance of staying grounded in your why Right, because that's that's going to be very important. Like I mentioned something from the last episode that Justice would have said to us and that is, you know, when you find your spark, you want to lean into that spark. You want to find your spark, lean into your spark and build community around your spark.

Speaker 1: 16:51

And for me, it's always been about addressing health education. You know, we focus on period poverty, mental equity, but just ensuring that people, especially those in the underserved communities, have access. Have access, that's a big thing. Have access to the resources and knowledge that they need. And every time we hold a workshop or we distribute any sort of products, I'm reminded of my why. And that's what keeps me focused, especially when it comes to the different challenges that may arise as well. You know, I want to encourage you, my friend, that whatever your dream is, whatever vision you have, just stay rooted in why you started. You know, I'm not telling you, you know, hey, go go find a non-profit, but whatever dream, whatever your dream is, whatever your, whatever vision you have, stay rooted in why you started, because they're going to be moments where you're going to doubt yourself or question if it's worth it. Because, let me tell you, I've had many of these moments too often than I, than I care to admit. But if your dream is aligned with purpose and service, trust that the impact will be greater than you can imagine. I want to tell you this again, my friend if your dream is aligned with purpose and service, trust that the impact will be greater than you can imagine.

Speaker 1: 18:07

Because one of one of my most joyous thing from this event was witnessing again the women and girls and boys actively engage with the discussions, the panels. You know, whatever we had going on, you know the icebreakers. Like we've always emphasized that Scrub Life Kids is about giving a platform to those who are sometimes, often silenced or overlooked, and this event embodied that spirit of empowerment. Like, I know, I've always talked about empowerment, empowerment, empowerment. But this event, like, I literally could see the word empowerment flowing through the venue that night and it just truly warmed my heart and it was a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do to create environments where individuals can feel seen, heard and supported. And the knowledge shared at this event will undoubtedly, you know it will ripple out into the lives of many, creating, I don't know, waves of change and confidence. And I believe it wholeheartedly because, again, that's been the theme throughout the feedback that I've been receiving from individuals who attended the event.

Speaker 1: 19:11

You know, growing up, many of us didn't have access to the type of education we're now providing, to our events that go out the floor. You know, seeing the young people walk away with knowledge that will empower them for years to come is one of the most fulfilling parts of my journey with Scrub Life. It's not just about distributing information, because, I mean, that's always easy to do, but it's about witnessing a true shift, my friend, in how women and girls, and even our boys, understand their bodies, their rights and their voices. And for me, and especially as a public health professional, you know I've always believed that real change starts with education. And seeing the individuals who attend the events, the communities that we serve, see them leave with tangible knowledge, resources and even a newfound sense of self-worth, was an emotional moment for me, like I had to. Again, I had to hold the tears back because it's like, girl, don't let anybody say you're a big crier, you know. But it's also just a testament to the idea that dreams don't just live in the realm of possibility, but they come to life and create meaningful change when you commit to the vision. So that big word, you got to commit to the vision, my friend.

Speaker 1: 20:21

So again, you know, to all, to all the dreamers out there listening, I want for you to know that you know your dream matters, whether it's starting a non-profit, whether it's launching a business, whether it's, you know, start, you know wanting to start a youtube, whatever it is, writing that book that you've probably been thinking and sitting up, sitting on for the longest, while you know your vision has the power to change lives. Now I'm gonna say this it may not, it might not happen immediately, because that's if you, if you found a dream that you can, that happens overnight. Please contact me because I'd like to know. You know your vision has the power to change lives and it's not going to happen immediately, but I will tell you this and take it from me if you don't listen to anything else from this episode you know, with consistency and faith in your purpose, you'll see it come to life. So, again, if you have that consistency and faith in your vision and your dream, you will see it come to life. And when you do, the joy of knowing that you're impacting others will outweigh every challenge you've ever faced. And remember this, my friend it's okay to start small.

Speaker 1: 21:23

The Scrub Life Cures did not begin as a huge organization. You know, we're not even a huge organization yet. It started with a desire to help a few people. My mantra has always been if you can just serve and help one person, then I'm doing my job. But as you stay consistent and committed, your dream will grow and your impact will multiply Again. As you stay consistent and committed, your dream will grow and your impact will multiply. So, my friend, please don't give up and don't let fear or obstacles deter you.

Speaker 1: 21:55

Okay, now I will say this. You know organizing an event comes with its challenges. You know you got to think about logistical hurdles, last minute adjustments. We had a lot of last minute adjustments and I'm so grateful to everyone who was flexible and of course, there are moments of doubt. That moment of doubt for me was when we started at a particular time. We were 15, 30 minutes late because, again, it's a middle, it's the beginning of the work, of the work week, and the numbers weren't looking how I wanted it to look. And then, by the time I blinked, it was like, wow, the numbers exceeded what I thought we're gonna have as well.

Speaker 1: 22:24

But but looking back, you know every single challenge was worth it, the joy I felt watching these participants many from underserved communities absorb the information like sponges and could regurgitate it. Knowing they were walking away empowered reminded me of why, again, we, we do this work. So every obstacle was a stepping stone to that moment of collective. You know empowerment as well. It's a joy. It's a kind of joy that comes when you know your dream is no longer just yours, you know it becomes a like a catalyst for change in the lives of others. So I'm just so happy that we had a successful event and I'm going to be honest, like I said, we are celebrating our four-year anniversary this month and this small, intimate event how successful it was, you know. It gave me so much clarity about how crucial our mission is and how much more work we still have to do, because the work is honestly just getting started. I'm going to be honest, it may sound cliche for me to say, but the work is getting started and this night proved to me and gave us the answers that we need as to how best we can serve our community as well. So it was a huge success.

Speaker 1: 23:30

I had to come here to the teacher's room to tell you because let me tell you this, your girl, when I say I'm tired, when I say I'm busy, I'm doing the most. It's always in a good way. It's always to give back to the community and there's just a lot more work to do when it comes to providing comprehensive health education. You know, tackling period poverty, mental equity. You know I'm already thinking about how we can even expand on this intimate event because, of course, you know we have a big event in May. But how can we bring it to more communities and reach more people, because that also has been a theme throughout the feedback that we have gotten. So I'm just so excited about the future of Scrub Life Cares, you know, for more events to expand in our educational programs, building our curriculum and to continue to form partnerships that amplify our impact.

Speaker 1: 24:13

You know the journey, again, my friend, is not always easy, but moments like these, like that night, you know, make it so, so worth it. So again, whatever your dream is, whether it's starting a business, like I said, whatever it is, challenges will come, but the joy of living out your purpose will always outweigh the obstacle. Take it from me. I know I'm living in my purpose by having this podcast here with Tanya. I get to come here with you every week to talk about something that's going to be empowering, whether it's to me, to you, to a friend you may tell about this podcast. You know, it's really just a great feeling living out your dream and knowing that you have to take things one moment at a time. So, as I reflect on my journey, you know, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the people who believed in me, for the communities that have embraced my nonprofit organization, scrub Life Kids, and for the opportunity to live out my dream. And there's much more to come. So I will tell you, I will leave you with this If you, my friend, have a dream that's been on your heart, please just take the first step.

Speaker 1: 25:16

Just take it. Start where you are, what you have, what you have, and trust the process. Now, I know that trust the process phrase can sometimes be a bit cliche, but let me tell you this, make me tell you this here. Listen to me, okay. Start where you are with what you have and trust the process. Start where you are with what you have and trust the process and, as always, always, always, just continue to believe in yourself. You know, thank you so much, my friend, for tuning in to Tea with Tanya. Let's continue to chase our dreams and make an impact one step at a time. Now, if you want to support Scrub Life Careers, there will be a link in the show notes to learn more about how you can get involved or contribute. There will be a link in the show notes to learn more about how you can get involved or contribute.

Speaker 1: 25:56

Until next time, you know, keep on sipping that tea, keep thriving and keep believing in your dreams, and I hope you do something for yourself between this episode and the next episode, because I want to hear about it so definitely. Thank you again for being a part of this journey with me. The future of this podcast is bright, the future of my non-profit school life kit is bright and I'm excited to see where we go from here. So until next time, my friend, keep believing in your dreams and keep working for change and, of course, keep sharing up here in the Tea Tasting Room sipping with me. I love you for listening. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Tea with Tanya. If you like this episode, be sure to share it with a friend. Don't forget to follow on Instagram at Tea with Tanya podcast, be sure to subscribe to the weekly Tea Talk newsletter and, of course rate on Apple or Spotify and subscribe wherever you listen. See you next time. I love you for listening.