Meet Emma J. Anderson | Director of Operations, Walk With Me Impact

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emma J. Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emma J., we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Early in my adult life, I worked with adolescent males age 12 – 18 in a group home setting. Although working with the youth warmed my heart and I felt valued, I needed to earn more money while raising a child in San Diego. I began working full-time as a sales representative in 2006. This lasted roughly 16 years. Over the last 4 years I gained a few of the perks some people living in San Diego would consider successful. A six figure income, medical benefits, a growing 401k and I could afford rent without being stressed. However, I was unhappy 5 days a week. I worked with some wonderful people, the company was great but I was unfulfilled and experiencing burnout. Needing the opportunity to do and be more is why I opted to start a partnership.

One of my partners, Armand King, has been working in the community for over 12 years. He co-founded a successful non-profit, Paving Great Futures. His life experiences and community involvement led him to starting a new youth mentoring curriculum called Walk With Me Impact. Once Armand I started talking about the many creative ideas he was working on, including Walk With Me Impact, I knew this was a great opportunity to be a part of something that will add value to our youth and community.

What should our readers know about your business? 

Walk With Me Impact is a 3 book set that will be modified accordingly for course instruction in elementary, middle schools and high schools to help mentor youth and teach coping skills, addressing existing and future trauma. Our curriculum looks to provide both intervention and early prevention to help our youth avoid toxic lifestyles such as substance abuse, homelessness, poverty, gun violence, gang involvement, and incarceration.

This curriculum will also include music assignments and video visual aids for youth connection and instructor support helping to provide relatable content from lived experience experts. The curriculum is a tool for counselors, social workers, schools, parents/guardians, mentors, juvenile detention facilities, and any persons looking to touch the lives of youth in a positive way. To reach this goal we launched a fundraising project on Kickstarter that ended on August 31^st, 2022. We were successful in reaching our goal. With the enormous amount of support received, this affirmed what we knew to be true, the youth and our community need this curriculum to help save lives.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today business-wise. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My proudest moment in business and my career is having the confidence and self-reliance to step outside of my comfort zone. The decision to leave my employer was not easy. I struggled with the decision for nearly a year. What helped me move forward was talking with friends of mine that started their own business. However, what made my experience unique to theirs is I did not have additional income in my home. I have no one to fallback on. To help minimize my fear, I paid off tax debt, credit card debt, vehicle debt, created a healthy savings and a solid budget.

My partner, Armand, often reminded me of how hard I worked to generate revenue to keep another person’s dream going, while not cherishing or chasing my own. I began to internalize this viewpoint, and decided to grab ahold of all that I learned while working for my employer and apply it to my vision. I knew I possessed the core values, business acumen, professionalism, and commitment to excellence to succeed.

Walk With Me Impact encourages youth to believe in themselves as well. If you don’t believe in your own abilities, how will you be able to change your circumstances? Knowing that being cautious is important when making decisions, proper planning and weighing consequences is key. These are some of the life and foundation strengthening skills we look to provide our youth.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite place to relax and meditate is Sunset Cliffs. I love Petco Park. There are literally no bad seats in Petco Park and the Padres are doing ok these days, which doesn’t hurt. My Itinerary depends on who is visiting.

Petco Park
SeaWorld
San Diego Zoo
Drinks and Mexican food in Old Town
Rhythm’s Chicken and Waffles
Felix BBQ
Louisiana Purchase
Sunday Brunch on the Hornblower
C Level Lounge
Seaport Village
Balboa Park
Liberty Station
Concert at House of Blues
Enjoying live music and drinks at our local Casinos is nice also.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe many thanks to my business partners, friends and family. I am not going to name anyone, as I am sure I will miss someone. However, those that have entertained my conversations about starting a business and/or endured my frustrated rants along the way are owed a huge thanks. I am truly grateful to those that shared our Kickstarter campaign and/or donated as well. Thank you to you Shoutout as well for the time and acknowledgement.

Website: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/walkwithmeimpact/walk-with-me-impact

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wwmimpact/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walk-with-me-impact-30274b240/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwmimpact

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WalkWithMeImpact

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnFwItLbxM_PMVnr98WE_Cg?app=desktop

Image Credits
Image credits Personal photo is credited to @ebofcourse Remaining photos of Walk With Me Impact youth mentoring curriculum belongs to Walk With Me Impact