I didn't become a Parent Voice Coach because I was naturally confident. I became one because I spent years doing exactly what many moms do.

Before I became Coach Okenya, I was the mom sitting there wondering if what I was seeing with my son was really something to be concerned about.

I knew something felt off.

My son wasn't meeting certain milestones. His speech wasn't where I thought it should be, and I was noticing things that kept making that little voice in my head say, “Okenya, something is going on.”

But whew… everybody else had something to say too.

And for a while, I listened.

I was already dealing with postpartum depression, trying to figure out motherhood, and scared that maybe I was making a big deal out of nothing.

So I waited.

And while I waited, I kept watching.

I watched the missed milestones. I watched the speech concerns. I watched my son struggle while that feeling in me kept getting louder.

Eventually, I realized I couldn't keep waiting for everybody else to tell me it was okay to be concerned about my own child.

So I started asking questions.

I pushed for an evaluation. When the first evaluation said he didn't qualify for services, I didn't stop there. I kept paying attention to what I was seeing, and I pushed again.

The second time, my son qualified for speech therapy and special instruction.

I realized that speaking up didn't mean I had all the answers.

It meant I was willing to ask the questions.

It meant I could be scared and still advocate.

And it meant I had to stop handing everybody else more authority over what I was seeing in my own child than I gave myself.

Today, my son has continued to receive the support and services he needs, and I have spent years learning how to advocate for him through Early Intervention, school services, evaluations, meetings, and IEPs.

But Mother's Voice Coaching was born from something even deeper than learning how to navigate systems.

And homegirl, THAT is why I do this work.

Because I know what it's like to see something in your child and wonder if you're making too much of it.

I know what it's like when everybody around you has an opinion.

I know what it's like to be scared of being wrong, scared of a label, scared of what you might find out and still know deep down that something needs your attention.

That's the mom I coach.

I help moms who see their child struggling with their development or behavior stop ignoring what they've been noticing, trust themselves enough to ask questions, and confidently speak up so their child can get the support they need.

Because you don't have to know exactly what's going on with your child before you use your voice.