She Steps Forward International

Meet Eunice M. — the seventh of our 10 Dream Builders Cohort graduates! 🇰🇪🎬

Eunice is a self-taught filmmaker, published author, counseling psychologist, and former Kenya Film Commissioner who has produced over 6,500 minutes of content for major Kenyan TV stations. She’s building a film production company that specifically nurtures women entering the industry — bridging the gap between classroom theory and real-world production skills. Through our Dream Builders Group Coaching Cohort, Eunice learned to think bigger and bolder about what’s possible for herself and the women she’s raising up.

World changer, I need to say something to you that you probably already know deep down but have been avoiding:

You cannot build a God-sized dream all by yourself. You just can’t. And the longer you try, the more exhausted, frustrated, and stuck you’re going to feel.

I know why you’re doing it. You care deeply about your entrepreneurial venture. You have high standards. You know exactly how you want things done, and it feels risky to let someone else touch what God gave you to steward.

Maybe you’ve even tried getting help before and it didn’t go well – the person didn’t follow through, or the quality wasn’t there, or it ended up being more work to manage them than to just do it yourself. So you went back to doing everything alone and told yourself, “It’s fine. I can handle it.”

But friend, can I be honest? “I can handle it” is not the same as “this is sustainable.” And it’s definitely not the same as “this is what God designed.”

Think about Moses. Here was a man called by God to lead an entire nation, and even he hit a wall trying to do it all himself. It took his father-in-law Jethro pulling him aside in Exodus 18 to say, essentially, “What you’re doing is not good. You’re going to wear yourself out. You cannot do this alone.”

When Moses listened, he didn’t lose control of his calling – he multiplied his impact. If Moses needed help leading Israel, you and I can probably admit we need help running our ventures.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 says it plainly: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”

God didn’t design us to work in isolation. He designed us for community – in our lives, in our faith, and yes, in our entrepreneurial ventures. The sooner we embrace that, the sooner our ventures can grow beyond what one person can carry.

If you haven’t already, grab a copy of our FREE ‘Eight Mindshifts that Lead to Confident, Strategic, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship’ eBook today! https://www.shestepsforwardinternational.org/

Meet Elaine Lankford – President & Founder

We're excited to introduce you to the visionary leader behind She Steps Forward International.

Elaine Lankford is a passionate advocate for Christian female entrepreneurs, dedicated to empowering women to launch and grow successful businesses, ministries, and nonprofits with confidence, strategy, and sustainability.

As a certified John Maxwell Team member, Elaine brings deep expertise in speaking, leadership development, and entrepreneurial coaching to her faith-based approach. Through She Steps Forward Coaching, she provides targeted strategic planning and individualized support to aspiring female entrepreneurs navigating their critical first 0-3 years.

Elaine holds a Master of Arts in Theology degree from Jakes Divinity School (JDS) in partnership with Vanguard University, where she also completed a Women in Leadership certificate program and received the 2022-2023 Outstanding Student Award. She was selected to present at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.

As an author, Elaine self-published her first book, "Love Echoed Back," in 2014. Her leadership articles have appeared in Suffolk News Herald and Inside Business, and she's been featured on podcasts including The Unstuck Movement, EntrePastors, Reclaiming Your Hue, and The Profitable Christian Business.

Having started her own entrepreneurial journey with limited resources, Elaine personally understands how scary God-sized dreams can be. This lived experience, combined with over 16 years in clinical nursing leadership, fuels her passion to help everyday women discover their hidden gifting and step boldly into their destiny.

Recognizing the global need for women's entrepreneurial empowerment, Elaine established She Steps Forward International (SSFI) – a nonprofit organization equipping both American and African women to lead impactful ventures in the marketplace. SSFI's flagship event, the She Steps Forward International Women's Conference, unites like-minded female entrepreneurs annually each March in the United States and July in Africa.

When she's not empowering women, Elaine can be found in her native Virginia area, spending time with her husband, Darrell, their son Nicholas, and her bonus children Julie and Bradley.

She Steps Forward International is a nondenominational faith-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is working to equip everyday women to fulfill their God-given destinies – one business, one ministry, one nonprofit at a time.

Want to learn more about SSFI or connect with Elaine? Visit: https://www.shestepsforwardinternational.org/ Or DM Elaine directly – she'd love to hear from you!

Why does growth without a foundation crumble?

Here’s what I’ve seen time and again: a woman launches her venture with passion and purpose. She’s clear on her calling. She’s doing the work. And then things start to pick up. Maybe she gets a burst of new clients or a speaking invitation or a partnership opportunity.

And instead of pausing to assess whether her current operations can handle the increase, she just says yes and figures she’ll work it out as she goes.

Sometimes that works for a season. But more often, it leads to wobbly growth – it looks impressive on the outside, but underneath, everything is held together with duct tape and late nights. The quality starts slipping. The personal touch that made her venture special begins to fade. She’s busier than ever but producing less fruit.

And eventually, something gives. Either she pulls back from growth entirely because it’s unsustainable, or she burns out trying to keep it all going.

World changer, that is not what God intends for you. He doesn’t call you to something and then watch you drown in it. But He does expect you to steward what He gives you with wisdom.

And wisdom says: build the foundation before you add the floors.

Proverbs 24:27 puts it plainly: “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.” In other words, do the groundwork first. Get the field ready before you start building. That’s not a lack of faith – it’s faithful preparation.

Swipe through to see what building a strong foundation actually looks like →

If you haven’t already, grab a copy of our FREE ‘Eight Mindshifts that Lead to Confident, Strategic, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship’ eBook today! https://www.shestepsforwardinternational.org/

Friend, let me ask you something and I want you to answer it honestly.

How many times have you prayed for growth in your entrepreneurial venture – more clients, more impact, more reach – and then when things started picking up, you felt like the whole thing was about to fall apart?

If you just raised your hand, you are not alone.

This is one of the most common struggles I see among women in their first few years of building a business, ministry, or nonprofit. They pray for the increase, and when God sends it, they realize they don’t have the infrastructure to handle it.

The clients come, but there’s no system for managing them. The opportunities show up, but there’s no process for evaluating them. The money starts flowing, but there’s no financial structure to steward it well.

And what happens next? Overwhelm. Burnout. Dropping balls. Feeling like you’re failing at the very thing God called you to do – not because the calling was wrong, but because the foundation wasn’t ready for what God was building on top of it.

Jesus addressed this directly in Matthew 7:24–25. The house that survives the storm isn’t the prettiest house or the biggest house – it’s the one with the strongest foundation. And that parable isn’t just about spiritual maturity, world changer. It’s a principle that applies to everything we build.

The same is true for your entrepreneurial venture. Before you scale, before you expand, before you say yes to the next big thing, you need to make sure your foundation can hold what’s coming. That’s not a lack of faith. That’s faithful preparation. And it changes everything.

If you haven’t already, grab a copy of our FREE ‘Eight Mindshifts that Lead to Confident, Strategic, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship’ eBook today! https://www.shestepsforwardinternational.org/

Something new is coming to She Steps Forward International.

We are building a Writer & Speaker Team — and it is designed for women who are just getting started.

Not the ones with the big platforms.

Not the ones with the polished speaker reels.

Not the ones who have already "arrived."

This is for the woman who has a message stirring inside her but has not had the space to develop it.

The woman who knows God has given her something to say — through the written word, behind the mic, or on the stage — but she has not had the structure or support to step into it.

Through our Writer & Speaker Team, you will have the opportunity to:
➡Contribute content that reaches a growing audience
➡Co-host podcast conversations that sharpen your voice
➡Speak at workshops where your expertise matters

This is not about being ready.

It is about being willing.

We are up to 6 women of a 10-15 person team we are building! Seats at the table are limited.

If this resonates with you, send us an email at [email protected]

She Steps Forward International
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." — Luke 1:45

If you don’t know why you’re growing, you won’t know how to grow well.

So many women in their early years chase growth because they feel the pressure – pressure from social media, pressure from watching other entrepreneurs seemingly skyrocket, pressure from their own impatience. And I get it. I really do.

But pressure-driven growth and purpose-driven growth lead to very different places.

Luke 14:28 asks a question worth sitting with: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Jesus isn’t just talking about money here. He’s talking about intentionality. He’s asking us to think before we build. To plan before we scale. To make sure the growth we’re chasing is actually connected to the purpose He gave us.

Scaling your venture doesn’t mean doubling your revenue or tripling your client list overnight. For many of us, growth looks like moving from an idea on paper to actually launching. Or going from serving five people well to serving fifteen with the same excellence. Maybe it’s finally putting systems in place so you’re not doing everything by hand.

That’s real growth. That’s moving the needle. And none of it requires you to abandon what makes your venture special.

The key is making sure every growth step you take is rooted in your God-given assignment. When you filter growth through purpose, you gain the freedom to say no to opportunities that look impressive but pull you off course – and the confidence to say yes to the things that may seem small to others but are exactly where God is moving.

Swipe through for purpose-driven questions to filter every growth decision →

If you haven’t already, grab a copy of our FREE ‘Eight Mindshifts that Lead to Confident, Strategic, and Sustainable Entrepreneurship’ eBook today! https://www.shestepsforwardinternational.org/

Meet Edith — the fourth of our 10 Dream Builders Cohort graduates! 🇰🇪📚

Edith founded The Great Overflow Academy in 2017 with just two students — today she serves 125 learners, including 16 orphaned children who live with her full-time. Now she’s launching a tutoring business so strong that students from other schools across the county are seeking her out. Through our Dream Builders Group Coaching Cohort, Edith transformed her school from an informal operation into a professional, reliable service that families and her entire community can depend on.