Jssmine Robinson

My journey started at Prairie View A&M University where I wanted to participate in the Miss Prairie View pageant, but I was told I couldn't because I was a mother. The rules said you can't be a mom, married, divorced, have ever cohabitated with the opposite sex, or have ever had an abortion. When I went to the university president, they told me their idea of Miss Prairie View is someone who's pure and suggested I just do a Mother's Day program instead. I was furious, but my advisor told me if I can't join them, beat them - start my own thing. So the Miss Collegiate Mom Scholarship Pageant was born. We did it for 2 years, sold out the auditorium, made the front page of the newspaper, and got Student Government Association to fund us for the first time in university history. I graduated with my bachelor's in Architecture and my Master's in Community Development, both by age 24. During my master's program, I taught classes to veterans about credit, budgeting, and resume building, and I realized this is information everyone should have. I started helping friends and family clean up their credit and understood how detrimental it is to walk through life not knowing your credit score. My nonprofit grew from there - we now partner with Regions Bank, Northwestern Mutual, and Comerica Bank to teach financial literacy classes that have reached 209 people from Nigeria, Alaska, Canada, LA, and everywhere in between. We teach moms how to dress for interviews, speak confidently, build resumes, and find job placement. I focus on professional and educational development because that's the real niche - less than 2% of teen moms graduate college before age 30, and I'm in that small percentile. I didn't have a Plan B, only a Plan A. I've learned that women often hold off on their lives to focus on their kids, and while there's nothing wrong with that, they don't realize how much money they're leaving on the table without education - it impacts their 401k, generational wealth, everything. I've always been an advocate for community, for us banding together for education and professional development. Last year I was let go from my job in November, and instead of panicking, I threw my hands up to God. I focused on my nonprofit work, helped three Black women get hired at my former company through LinkedIn referrals, never fell behind on a single bill, and actually paid off my car during that time. I only applied to maybe 3 jobs and started my new position in March. I'm a single mom with two kids, and I've learned that balance is a myth - when you pour your whole heart into one thing, you're neglecting another, and I've made peace with that. I'm 37, approaching middle age, and I finally got help for my anxiety and depression after realizing it was a chemical imbalance. Getting on medication was the most relief I'd had in years. I'm in a season where I'm no longer doubting God - I trust Him completely, and every time I think about giving up on the pageant, He sends a sponsor, an opportunity, an angel. My calling keeps calling, and I can't run from it. God didn't call me to follow someone else's path - He called me to be a trailblazer, to create the path, to be the Harriet Tubman of it all and guide other people to freedom.