Simone Kelly laughs her way to success
By MICHELLE HOLLINGER other people’s fear and they’re placing it on you.”
Her laugh precedes her. Once you’ve heard it, you can
enter a room without knowing she’s present, hear that
laugh and know without question that Simone Kelly is
in the space. She uses her own professional experience to illustrate
her point.
Filled with a jovial freedom unencumbered by her sur-
roundings or the people populating it, Kelly’s laugh is
filled with an appreciation for life and a sincere inter-
est in seeing others – especially women - thrive. In her
laughter flows a determination to extract every ounce
of goodness from her journey while helping others dis-
cover their own.
Years ago, I encountered Kelly and her laugh at an
event where we were both panelists and immediately
felt drawn to the authenticity oozing from the intuitive,
radio host and holistic business coach.
Multi-talented and determined to maximize each one
of them, Kelly’s free spirit has led her to become an
author of ‘Like a Fly on the Wall,’ “an erotic thriller with
a supernatural twist.” She’s about to embark on a book
tour that will take her up the east coast to meet and
sign books for her growing fan base.
The Sisterhood caught up with the dynamic entrepre-
neur, who shared how she landed a book deal with a
major publishing house, her take on fear and how she
teaches others to step out of their comfort zones.
“I’m a writer, coach, Bronx girl by way of Jamaican
parents, a nice eclectic background,” is how Kelly de-
scribes herself. “I love empowering women, all people
really,” however, she has a knack for helping women
starting their own businesses. It’s something she’s
been doing since she started her business in 1996,
right out of college.
Deeply intuitive, she has taught others how to tap
into their own innate intuition via workshops and
coaching. She created Own Your Power Universi-
ty to serve as a vehicle for teaching and training
people in Reiki (levels 1 – 3), Develop Your Intu-
ition (levels 1 -3) and marketing courses to help
people not only monetize their passions, but to
step boldly out of their comfort zones.
“I have to not let people’s opinions bother me. At this
point in my life, I just really don’t care,” she said of her
healthy detachment from others’ thoughts about her
and how she lives her life.
She can’t even comprehend what it means to entertain
‘haters,’ because she hasn’t encountered any. And sis-
terhood, she shared, is essential.
“I couldn’t make it without sisterhood. Most of my suc-
cess is women taking me under their wings. I started
off in the music industry, I was so blessed to have some
really powerful women…teach me what it takes to be a
successful smart businesswoman.”
Kelly is savoring the success of ‘Like a Fly on the Wall,’
her novel that she initially self-published in 2015. Re-
connecting with an old mentor who is now an executive
with a publishing house is how she went from having
an Amazon bestseller to being published by William
Marrow/Harper Collins.
“I gave her the book, she read it, loved it and in two
months I had a book offer.” The book launches on July
11 and will be available wherever books are sold.
For more information on Kelly’s coaching services or to
order ‘Like a Fly on the Wall,’ visit Ownyourpower.biz.
CATCH UP WITH SIMONE
July 14th July 28th at 7pm
She traces her intuitive and entrepreneurial
skills to childhood, “I’ve always had leadership
qualities, since I was 10,” she shared. “My girl-
friends said, ‘we knew you would be a director
or producer’ because I always bossed everybody
around,” she said with that signature laugh. Miami book signing Launch party
Books and Books Indigo
265 Aragon Ave 4060 NE 5 th Terrace
Coral Gables, FL 33134 Oakland Park, FL 33334
Able to see the light in others when they can’t
see it in themselves, Kelly helps people change
their lives with her holistic business coaching.
Living in her own light is a major part of her
journey and has been instrumental in her nav-
igation of fear. July 22nd at 2:30pm July 29th at 1pm
South Florida Book
Festival Book signing
“When it comes up, you have to be really clear
on where is it coming from,” she explained.
“Most of the time it’s not coming from you; it’s
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“Most of my career, I was told get a real job. ‘What are
you doing, you’re playing. How is that work,’” Kelly said
others would ask. She said her mother would hear her
laughing on the phone with her clients in disbelief.
THE SISTER HOOD | JULY 2017
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By Michelle Hollinger investment adviser, financial planner and stock broker.
Hyacinth Henderson is intentional about her life. She’s
walking in her truth, living her purpose, enjoying herself –
and yet – she experiences nano-seconds where she’s sur-
prised by her life’s occurrences. The disbelief doesn’t last
long, however, because she is quick to remind herself that
she is reaping the results of careful sowing. “I look at the growth plan and make sure we’re on target to
continue growing this business,” she said of the company
founded by her father, Robert Henderson Jr., with whom she
works.
Henderson, the managing director of the Henderson Finan-
cial Group was recently inducted as the president-elect of
the National Association of Women Business Owner’s Miami
chapter. Although not its first African-American leader, Hen-
derson clearly brings much needed diversity to the predom-
inantly white, Coral Gables based organization.
Our interview took place in her office; a space filled with
positive energy and a tranquil vibe not typically found in a
financial services firm but very much in tune with Hender-
son and her outlook on life. Deeply spiritual, she recognizes
that her role at the Henderson Financial Group and her new
position with NAWBO are part of a divine plan.
Of her aligned life, she said, “It’s interesting. I think some-
times you have to take a moment to realize that you’re there.
We’re so used to wanting to have control over everything.”
When an internal voice began to question why she was nom-
inated and elected to become president, she forced it to
hush, telling herself, “Hyacinth stop, you want the answers.
You’re trying to make it make sense. When you’re doing the
work you’re supposed to be doing, it doesn’t have to make
sense. It’s called walking in alignment, fulfilling your pur-
pose.”
Alma Kadragic, immediate past president of NAWBO Miami,
said Henderson’s energy and commitment make sense and
are welcome qualities to the organization. She said Hender-
son’s presence, participation and great ideas are leadership
traits the group will benefit from.
She’s been at the firm for nearly 15 years and because she
looks far younger than her 36 years, she has become more
open to divulging her age, “thanks to my daddy,” she shared.
He warned that clients might assume she’s too young to be
as wise as she is.
DADDY/DAUGHTER DYNAMICS
As it relates to working with him, “It’s interesting. I love it. I
see my daddy almost every day. The amount of value that’s
in that…,” said Henderson, who authors the Women and
Wealth column for this publication.
Acknowledging the powerful impact her father has had on
her life, Henderson said, “I know that I would not be the
woman I am today without him. He played and continues to
play a huge part.”
His parenting style, she shared, has always been “Open and
honest and sharing his wisdom, always very non-judgmen-
tal,” even when she and her siblings erred.
SISTERHOOD
She views sisterhood like a gold link chain. “It’s important
that links are able to be added and removed . As you remove
one link, it doesn’t take away from the links that are still
there,” she explained.
The sisterhood circle in which she exists, “Encourages each
other, lifts each other up,” and is also lovingly honest.
FEAR
Henderson’s goals during her tenure are to increase mem-
bership and deepen engagement. When it comes to navigating fear, she said the first step is to
acknowledge it.
“I want to go deep before I go wide,” Henderson said of en-
gaging the organization’s existing 35 members. Then her strategy is to quickly shift her thinking from “what
could go wrong,” to “I’ll flip the coin and think about what
could go right.”
Although NAWBO Miami is a city-wide chapter, the member-
ship tends to be primarily comprised of women who live and
work in Coral Gables, explained Henderson, who is also a
graduate of the rigorous Goldman Sachs 10,000 program.
“One of my main goals is to expand it beyond the city limits
of Coral Gables,” she said, identifying other municipalities
like Miami Gardens, Aventura and Miami Lakes as target ar-
eas for membership recruitment.
Her role at the Miami Lakes-based Henderson Financial
Group, “depends on the day,” she said. In addition to man-
aging the day to day operations of the firm, she is also an
The pensive Henderson closed her eyes frequently during
our interview, thinking silently before answering several of
the questions.
Her eyes closed, once again, when I asked her, “so, who is
Hyacinth?”
“I’m just a spiritual being covered in flesh navigating life and
I’m regular. I am that girl who wants to change the world,
wants everybody to be living their best selves, wants peace
and wants to enjoy life and learn every lesson I can possibly
learn in this lifetime.”
THE SISTER HOOD | JULY 2017
Henderson, above, is joined by friend, Jameelah Trimble and
daughter, Platinum, during the June 15 National Alliance for
Women Business Owners installation ceremony where she
was inducted as president of the Miami chapter.
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