Kenyatta Powers-Rucker

I attribute my success first and foremost to my faith. I'm definitely a woman who believes in a good Lord above, and everything I do, I circle around that. That is number one. I'm also a servant leader that wants to see others grow. One of the things that I valued most in my position was, as I moved up, everyone else moved up. I want to make sure that I teach people to do my job when I'm no longer there. That was important for me because it was not taught to me when I was moving up. I want to make sure that I'm delegating, making sure that I'm teaching my job to someone else to take on my role. I really went through a lot in 30 years of being in male-dominated fields, and I really want to see more women in technology, more women in leadership, more women in these male-dominated fields. I wanted to help them not have to go through some of the things that I went through. I'm giving them clarity and conviction so they can lead powerfully, lead unapologetically, making sure that they have things that I didn't have growing in my career. My success comes from understanding my purpose and what God has called me to do, and now being an entrepreneur, I'm really following my own specific values and doing what God has called me to do.

I have embraced a mindset of being confident, visible, and unapologetic about claiming my space at decision-making tables. My lived experiences have reinforced the importance of advocating for myself and leading with clear intention in every room I enter. I believe that true leadership comes from using your voice, showing up authentically, and creating opportunities rather than waiting for them. This perspective now fuels my passion for helping other women step into their power and lead with confidence and purpose.

The biggest thing that I could give is have a community. Just have a community. Have a mentor, have collaboration, have where you are associating yourself with other women. And, you know, I will say that there are men that are big allies as well, but with other people that understand you, other people that can encourage and support you. A community in this day and age is very much needed. That is my big takeaway for everyone is to have a community. And that community could include, you know, your mentor and your sponsor, or what have you, so it's definitely having a community.

The challenges that I see now is that, from what I'm hearing more and more from my mentees and clients, is that the workplace is getting a little more, I'm gonna say, out of control. They are facing things now that they hadn't, it's just worse now. Environments are toxic, you can't have certain conversations. People aren't sharing information. People are being disrespected while other people are getting promoted, and these different things. I see, I'm hearing these have always been happening, but I'm hearing it more and more now. I want to say it's due to a lack of leadership and a lack of positivity. And when you also have people that don't know their own way, the biggest thing for me, the opportunity is understanding who you are. This is something we really were not taught throughout the years, identifying the type of person you are, the leader you are, and from a spiritual perspective, what have you been called to do, what is your purpose in life. And knowing these things can help you even get through those challenging situations with those people that may not respect you, that don't understand you. Knowing who you are can help you get through those situations.

My number one value is faith. I'm definitely a woman who believes in a good Lord above, and everything I do, I circle around that. That is number one. I start every morning with my prayer time, my devotion and my meditation time every morning. I'm identifying what I'm grateful for, I'm identifying these things in my prayer closet, meditating every day, starting my day with that. Serving people is also core to who I am. I'm a servant leader that wants to see others grow. One of the things that I valued most in my position was, as I moved up, everyone else moved up. I want to make sure that I teach people to do my job when I'm no longer there. That was important for me because it was not taught to me when I was moving up. I want to make sure that I'm delegating, making sure that I'm teaching my job to someone else to take on my role. Inclusivity is definitely one of my values. I am a leadership member of my church and my community. I'm very active in that. I'm on the Missionary Society, where we help different organizations in the community. I am also on a board of directors of a nonprofit scholarship foundation that helps to send kids to college. I'm big on helping my community.