Today we’d like to introduce you to Shenise Rawlings.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m originally from the Virgin Islands, and at 20 years old I moved to Houston with my daughter. I didn’t have much no money, no business background, and no real roadmap. I was a college dropout with one suitcase that held my daughter’s clothes, diapers, formula, and three dresses total. One I was wearing and two packed away.
I had to figure things out fast. I was navigating a new city, cultural and dialect barriers, and the pressure of being a young mother trying to build stability from the ground up. Nothing was handed to me. I learned by doing making mistakes, adjusting, and keeping it moving.
What kept me going was my faith and my vision. I always believed God had a bigger purpose for my life, even when my circumstances didn’t match it yet. I live by the idea that God doesn’t call the qualified He qualifies the called. So I trusted the process and kept showing up.
Over time, I built a successful career without taking the traditional route. I learned how to lead, manage responsibility, and create structure through experience, not textbooks. My journey later pushed me into leadership and community work because I know what it feels like to start with nothing and still be expected to succeed.
My story is about faith over fear, resilience, and growth. Every challenge shaped me, and it’s why I lead today with confidence, compassion, and intention.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Along the way, I’ve navigated major personal and professional challenges that tested me on every level. I went through a difficult divorce that forced me to rebuild emotionally, financially, and mentally while still showing up as a mother and a leader. That season reshaped how I view stability, trust, and resilience.
I also experienced the loss of my only sibling, which was a profound and life-altering grief. Losing someone so close to me forced me to confront grief in a very real way while still having to function, provide, and lead. There was no pause button I had to learn how to carry pain and responsibility at the same time.
In addition to those personal challenges, I faced financial uncertainty, cultural and dialect barriers, and the reality of building a career without a traditional educational roadmap. I learned everything through experience often by trial and error while managing immense pressure to keep moving forward.
These experiences strengthened my emotional intelligence, empathy, and ability to lead with clarity during difficult moments. They taught me how to stay grounded, adaptable, and focused even when life is unpredictable. The obstacles didn’t break me they refined how I lead and how I support others today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Strong Women Advancing Against Turmoil (SWAAT) is a mental health–focused sisterhood created specifically for women struggling with depression and functional depression the woman who still shows up, still works, still smiles, and still takes care of everyone else, while quietly fighting battles no one sees.
SWAAT exists because too many women are suffering in silence. They appear strong on the outside, but internally feel overwhelmed, disconnected, exhausted, or emotionally numb. Our focus is providing safe, judgment-free spaces where women can take off the cape, be honest about their mental health, and not feel pressured to explain or compete.
We currently support women across 33+ states, creating community through healing circles, retreats, outreach, and intentional sisterhood experiences. These spaces are designed to normalize conversations around depression, grief, trauma, divorce, loss, and emotional burnout especially for women who don’t “look” depressed but are deeply affected by it.
What makes SWAAT different is the structure of our sisterhood. Many women join as complete strangers and quickly become family. Because sisters don’t come with preconceived ideas of who you used to be, there is safety in being known for who you are now. That safety removes competition and comparison, allowing women to open up honestly about their mental health without fear of judgment or gossip.
SWAAT is there for women in their lowest moments and also when they’re winning because mental health doesn’t disappear when life improves. Depression doesn’t only exist in loss; it often shows up in high-functioning women who are carrying too much alone.
This vision was given to me by God, and it’s built with longevity in mind. Our goal is to create a mental health–centered sisterhood that outlasts 150+ years, impacting three to four generations of women globally. When women feel mentally supported and emotionally safe, they heal and when women heal, families and communities change.
SWAAT isn’t just a support group. It’s a lifeline, a sisterhood, and a legacy rooted in mental health, faith, and genuine connection.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is that being strong doesn’t mean doing everything alone and functioning doesn’t mean you’re okay. For a long time, I thought survival meant pushing through, carrying the weight, and not letting anything show. I learned the hard way that unaddressed pain doesn’t disappear just because life keeps moving.
Through divorce, grief, loss, and seasons of depression, I realized how easy it is for women to suffer in silence while still showing up for everyone else. I learned that healing requires safety, honesty, and community not just resilience. You can’t heal what you don’t allow yourself to feel, and you can’t grow in spaces where you don’t feel emotionally safe.
I’ve also learned that God will give you vision before He gives you resources, and purpose before clarity. Obedience mattered more than having everything figured out. Each difficult season taught me how to lead with empathy, create safe spaces for others, and build something rooted in truth rather than perfection.
Most of all, I’ve learned that when women are allowed to take off their cape, feel supported, and be seen without judgment, real healing happens and that’s where lasting impact begins.
Pricing:
- $40 applications fee
- And $35 dollars a month but can only be paid quarterly, biannual or annual
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Swaatsociety.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1822Zqizbh/
- TikTok: Swaat.society
