Risha Grant

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Be Better Than Your BS with Risha Grant!

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The best part of giving a keynote isn’t the applause, it’s what happens right after.

It’s when a leader who walked in holding their breath finally exhales and says, “Thank you. That was exactly what my team needed.”

It’s the quiet moments afterward, when someone approaches and tells you:
"You made me see this differently."
"You named something I've felt for years."
"You gave me the courage to tackle this tough conversation."

That's what you're seeing in this photo, the glow that comes from realizing your message landed exactly where it needed to.

I know what it takes to lead through fear, to speak truth in rooms where it would be easier to keep it surface-level.

But here’s what I’ve learned (and what leaders realize after these conversations):

Culture doesn’t shift in comfort.
It shifts when we have the courage to speak truth clearly and compassionately, even when it feels risky.

So if you’re that leader, the one wondering if your team can handle a tough conversation, the one worried about how your message might land, the one pushing through fear because you know it matters...

This glow is for you, too.

Keep speaking. Keep leading. Keep showing up.
Because this is the work that changes people and changes cultures.

You ever look at a photo and think, Whew… if only they knew what was really going on. This was one of those.

I was smiling.
I was sipping.
I was sitting in the sun.

But nothing about my life felt light.

Everything under me felt like it was falling apart.
I couldn’t see straight from the confusion.

I was carrying questions I couldn’t answer, and stress that made it hard to breathe.

And still… I got in the car.

I couldn’t explain it.
Couldn’t afford it.
But I knew I needed space.

I need more than just an escape. I needed to find a way to survive.
To think. To pray. To feel something solid again.

And no, it didn't fix everything. But, it helped me keep going.

Life wasn't suddenly better.
But, I could breathe. Because I gave myself permission to.

I could breathe just long enough to remember that I could.

That I would.

So for the person who’s hanging on by a thread...
The one who’s smiling in public but unraveling in private...
Who’s wondering if it’s time to quit, or turn back, or disappear.

Hold on to the words, my Aunt Nay, gifted me, "No matter what it looks like, keep going".

There was a time I almost gave up. I mean really gave up.

I mean walk away from everything I’d built, and everything I’d hoped for gave up.

I was tired. I was hurting.
And I made the call you make when you’re ready to be done.

I called my mom, and I told her, “I can’t do this anymore.”

She listened. Calm as ever.
Then she hit me with something that changed everything.

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
But it was exactly what I needed.

That moment pulled me back.
Because it reminded me that belief doesn’t always look like a pep talk.
Sometimes it sounds like someone holding you accountable to the future you said you wanted.

And in that moment, I had to decide, was I really done?
Or was I just afraid?

🖤 Want the full story, and what she actually said? It’s in this week’s email.

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If I could hand someone one hard-won piece of wisdom, it would be this: Success is on the other side of the sh*t you don’t want to do.
That’s it.

Most people start businesses or step into leadership because they love something. Maybe they love speaking, sales, graphic design, spreadsheets( yes, these people exist, my sister is one of them), or leading people.

But then the rest hits.
The billing.
The budgets.
The difficult conversations.
The broken systems.
The culture issues.
The unlearning.
The fear of getting it wrong.

And that’s where most people stall out. And it's unfortunate because I've seen it over and over this moment of resistance is exactly where the real growth happens.

It's where the shift starts.

Culture doesn’t change through inspiration alone. It changes when leaders lean into the uncomfortable parts, when they take responsibility for the "people stuff", they’d rather avoid.

That’s the work I help people do.
The work of showing up when it’s hard.
Leading when it’s not easy.
Transforming culture from the inside out by starting with the parts we usually skip.

So if you’re just starting out or you’ve hit that moment where the work feels heavier than expected, here’s what I’ll say:

Do the hard things.
Find your people.
And get support that knows how to help you lead through the mess, not around it.

That’s how real change happens. That’s how culture shifts. That’s how you win.

What matters most to me? The people. Always the people.

The speaking, the coaching, the videos, those are just vehicles.
But the actual work?
It’s teaching people that there is no “them.”
There’s only us.

That’s the lesson I keep coming back to.
And I don’t just mean in moments of crisis.

We’re supposed to show up for each other, on regular days too.
Because life is easier when you know someone’s got you.
When you’re not out here trying to carry it all alone.

I grew up in a town where we understood that.
If someone was sick, my grandma cooked for their whole family.
Pies, casseroles, fried chicken.

I know I'm not supposed to say this publicly, but Black folks always bringing chicken somewhere. 🤣

That’s how we loved each other.
That’s what community looked like.

That’s what I’m trying to build in the workplace too.

Because culture isn’t just a business strategy, it’s a human one.
It’s about knowing the person next to you matters.
That your success isn’t threatened by someone else’s freedom.

This work isn’t about making anybody feel bad.
It’s about making sure nobody gets left behind.
Not the folks who’ve been excluded for generations.
And not the folks who are just now afraid it might happen to them.

Fear won’t move us forward.
But shared humanity will.

So yeah, what matters most to me?

Teaching people we belong to each other.
And building a culture where that’s not just something we say,
It’s how we lead.
It’s how we live.

That's what my work is about. That's what I help companies do.

I’m not just writing in a journal. I’m writing my freedom.

The freedom to move how I want to move, love who I want to love, and lead in a way that actually leaves people better than I found them.

When I put pen to paper, I’m not just dreaming for myself. I’m mapping out a culture where people don’t have to shrink to survive.

Because the future I’m building isn’t just about me.
It’s about every person who’s ever had to hide parts of themselves at work.
Every employee who’s ever asked, “Will this version of me be safe here?”

This is why I do what I do.

Company culture isn’t policies or posters.
It’s people.
It’s how we treat each other.
It’s whether someone feels free to say, “I went to the movies with my girlfriend this weekend,”
without hesitation, without code-switching, without wondering if it’s going to cost them.

When I help leaders shift culture, I’m helping them write their own vision too.
A vision where freedom and belonging aren’t perks. They’re the norm.

Where people don’t just survive the workday.
They thrive through it.

So no, I’m not just journaling.
I’m documenting a world where we all get to show up fully.
Where the company AND it's employees win.

That’s my work.
That’s the future i'm building.

Every now and then, I get to be ReRe again.

That’s who I was before all this.
Before the stages, before the strategy, before I chose to make this work my life.

And ReRe isn’t worried about business, bills, or anybody’s bottom line.

She’s laughing with her cousins about old whoopings and Big Wheels.

She’s eating good food, clowning, being loud, and remembering what it felt like to be fully free.

Recently, we were all together to celebrate one of my little cousins (he's 27, and yes I feel old).

And it was everything I needed. The kind of gathering that makes you forget what time it is.

The kind of gathering that doesn't require performance or pressure, the only thing that is required is love.

And when someone called me “ReRe” it stopped me for a second.

Because in that moment, I remembered, I haven’t gone anywhere. I'm still me
And it felt damn good to be reminded who I truly am.

More than a speaker.
More than a best-selling author.
More than executive coach.

I'm ReRe,. first.
Always.

Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. I chose it.
I carry it with pride.

But sometimes, I need the reminder that I’m not just what I do.
I’m still her.
Still ReRe.

And she’s proud of me.
But she also wants me to sit down, laugh, and eat something fried every once in a while.

So I'll be doing it again this weekend.

What y'all got up for this weekend? Who will you be?

They told me to leave. I stayed. Here’s why:

When I started this work, it wasn’t called DEI.
It wasn’t trendy.
It wasn’t profitable.

And in Oklahoma? It definitely wasn’t welcomed.

But I had a simple belief: Everybody deserves to be treated with kindness.

No matter who they are, what they look like, how they pray, or who they love.

At the time, I could count on one hand how many people even thought that was a problem worth solving.

But I saw the cost of silence.
And I decided, I’d rather stand alone and make change than blend in and stay safe.

That same pressure I felt then?
It’s what so many of you are feeling right now.

Leaders who care about culture but feel stuck between values and business politics.
Companies that made promises in 2020 but are backpedaling in 2025.

Employees who are quietly checking out because leadership stopped speaking up.

Look y'all, this is your moment.
Not to make a statement, but to make a choice.

Will you be the leader who keeps showing up?
Or the one who disappears when it’s no longer convenient?

I help companies rebuild trust.
I help leadership teams align culture with action.

And I do it because I know how hard it is to stand firm when the world says quit.

So if you’re in that moment now, I have your back.

You don’t have to lead it alone. I am in your corner.

You ever override your gut because someone else sounded smarter, and ended up paying for it?

That’s a lesson I had to learn the hard way, more than once.

I’ve ignored that voice inside me, the one that knows who I am and how I move, because I thought someone else had the “right” answer.

They had the title, the clout, the confidence. But every time I didn’t listen to myself, it cost me. Time, money, peace, people.

And I’m watching companies do the same thing right now.

Leaders are tuning out their own values to follow the noise. They’re second-guessing what they stood for, just because the political climate shifted.

And in doing so, they’re not just losing trust, they’re losing their people. And in some cases… they’re losing themselves.

Unless it was all performative to begin with.🤦🏽‍♀️

This moment is a gut check, for all of us.

Because real leadership doesn’t just happen when things are easy. It shows up when things get uncomfortable, and you choose to stay true anyway.

So if something feels off, trust that.
If your people feel distant, check in.

And if you’ve been wondering where to go from here, start by getting back to you.

That’s the work I’m doing right now, helping leaders reconnect with their values, rebuild culture from the inside out, and move from performative to personal.

Because when you lead from your truth, your people feel it, and trust starts there.