Meet Shauntae E. Lewis | Certified Grant Writer/ Business Success Coach
We had the good fortune of connecting with Shauntae E. Lewis and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Shauntae E., what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I am Shauntae E. Lewis, USAF Veteran and proud Founder/CEO of Grant Life Consulting. I initially started the business to help girls and women reclaim their identity after sexual assaults, domestic violence, divorce, and other mental and physical trauma. The idea was to start a nonprofit that creates healing and wholeness programs. Understanding that I would need a team, I started my search for funding, only to find that I needed help securing a grant. Speaking with other grant writers left me feeling lost, confused, and overwhelmed, so I decided to become a grant writer.
After obtaining my professional credentials, I took to the community to connect with other passionate business owners. In doing so, I was awakened to many domestic and international community needs. From the lack of PPEs during COVID-19 to the stigma mental health carries in minority communities, to veteran homelessness and increased suicide rates, to new abortion laws, educational disadvantages, and discrimination in the LGBTQIA and other minority communities, I realized that it wasn’t just women and girls that needed my talents and tenacity. I now had the ability to create funding solutions for companies globally.
Over the last five years, I have had the privilege to help men, women, and children from all walks of life. I am honored to have written grants that helped daycare centers and assisted living facilities keep their doors open, grants that have built transition homes for returning citizens, and grants utilized to purchase buildings and other equipment. I have had the pleasure of helping nonprofit and profitable businesses develop funding strategies for various veteran-led, women-owned, minority-owned businesses. I’ve had the opportunity to assist companies with budget development, recruiting, and retention. I have been blessed to utilize my education and talents to effect change globally for underserved, underprivileged, and marginalized communities throughout the U.S., Africa, and Europe.
In the future, I aspire to hire and train more grant professionals and create a cost-effective curriculum that helps businesses train staff on the art of grant writing and effective written communication. In the interim, I look forward to assisting businesses to become grant-ready, one company at a time. If you know of a company needing the services Grant Life Consulting offers, please share our company information.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
In the grant writing world, written art is the ability to use writing to create and articulate a subject or situation that allows the funder a clear definition of the organization’s inner workings. I have met with multiple businesses that could verbally state their mission or vision but never wrote these values down.
At Grant Life Consulting, we set ourselves apart by helping businesses tackle the blank page artfully. Yes, we provide grant writing and grant management but we also assist in creating standard operating procedures and a blueprint of the organization’s structure, budget, and program design. The documents are then used to create boilerplate templates that help with grant writing and reduce manpower hours. In addition, we help with board and staff development, retention and recruitment, marketing strategies, collaborative management, and we strategically align organizations with funders more likely to fund their programs and projects, increasing their chances of receiving funding
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The road to entrepreneurship is not for a weak-minded person. As a mother, it is important to maintain a proper work-life balance, which is not the easiest to do. I thank my children for understanding and supporting me through the late nights and super early mornings. I would also like to thank my friends and family for being the support I needed while raising small children and over the years as they grew into adults.
As with parenthood, entrepreneurship also takes a village. Being a veteran, sometimes it takes another veteran to help guide you through the journey. I am honored to be part of a veteran-led village that helped me quit my day job and focus on my dreams and passions. To Bunker Labs, I am forever indebted. Thank you for creating programs that provide resources needed for our servicemembers, veterans, and spouses to excel in their natural talents.
I would also like to shout out Julo Strategy Global for providing next level business coaching that helped me take my business to the next level.
Website: www.grantlifeconsulting.org
Instagram: www.instragram.com/grantlifeconsulting
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauntae-e-lewis-cgw%C2%AE-clc%C2%AE-chc%C2%AE-142a94a7/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestGrantGurus
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grantlifeconsulting
Other: Veteran Spotlight with Bunker Labs: https://bunkerlabs.org/veteran-entrepreneur-spotlight-shauntae-lewis/ 2022 Brainz Awardee: https://www.brainzmagazine.com/crea-2022/shauntae-e-lewis Brainz Magazine – https://www.brainzmagazine.com/executive-contributor/Shauntae-E-Lewis
Image Credits
Olive Grey Photography – https://www.olivegreyphotography.com/
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