Meet Dr. TJ Jackson Shaw | Co-Owner/Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. TJ Jackson Shaw and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. TJ, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Marcene Kinley and I (Dr. TJ Jackson Shaw) started Intentional Hearts Counseling and Consulting, PLLC (IHCC) because we wanted to expand our reach and help more individuals and families. Before starting IHCC, I was an intervention counselor at an alternative school and Marcene was the Director of Intervention Counseling Services. We both were ready to move forward with our careers. We knew that the work we did, the programs we’d created, and the relationships we’d built with others in mental health, education, and social services could be combined in a different way to reach beyond the school district we were in.

We wanted to decrease barriers to services and stigma related to seeking help for substance use and addiction, trauma, and personal empowerment. This is part of the reason we have services that literally meet people where they are. Part of the services we offer include in-home, in-community, and virtual individual counseling. For example, we once partnered with a local apothecary to offer free consultations to its customers. We were in the store once a week around lunchtime. The partnership was formed because the owner had customers seeking her advice on various life situations, some of whom were purchasing products to alleviate symptoms rather than addressing the root of their needs.

We also knew that people do not heal in isolation, so we wanted to be intentional about providing or partnering with organizations that offer services to individuals, families, and communities. For example, when we work with schools and districts, we involve the students, families, and staff. We want to ensure that everyone receives the same information and uses the same terminology. This fosters meaningful conversations, relationship-building, and increases the opportunity for positive change to happen.

What should our readers know about your business?
The vision of Intentional Hearts Counseling and Consulting, PLLC (IHCC) is “To strengthen the heart, renew the mind, and rebuild the lives of those who want to be intentional about positive change in their lives.” We provide counseling, coaching, and consulting services for individuals, families, and organizations.

We are unique because of the school-based, personal empowerment, and professional development programs we offer. Marcene and I are experts in dropout prevention and creating evidence-based, effective, and individualized programs and services for students, staff, and families in PK-12 education. We also lead workshops and healing experiences for all ages on topics such as self-love, managing perfectionism, and overcoming imposter syndrome (to name a few). In these, we help people to learn to live life as their full selves and turn what may look like flaws into superpowers. For organizations, we lead professional development and provide consultation that leads to work teams that are more agile and resilient, resulting in decreased burnout and improved outcomes for the organization. We view organizations as small communities (the organization/business) comprised of different families (departments) that function based on the overall well-being of their individual members (employees). We offer professional development opportunities that address communication in an e-world, working within cross-functional teams, effectively collaborating across generations, and promoting workplace wellness (and other topics). We also consult executive leadership to assist with needs related to mission and vision alignment, work climate, and employee satisfaction.

Today, I am most proud of our Self-Love Workshops. We created a screener and assessment to help people identify the top self-love expressions. People often discuss their love language and work-appreciation language, which focus on how we receive love and appreciation from others and how we give it to others. Self-love expressions refer to the ways we show love to ourselves. In our workshops and weekend intensives, we engage in intimate discussions about understanding what self-love is (self-care is not self-love), being honest about personal barriers to self-love, and then learning, practicing, and allowing ourselves to express self-love.

IHCC is where it is today because of a lot of hard work, struggle, partnerships, support, and learning. Entrepreneurship is hard! This has not been an easy road. However, I enjoy the fact that I am building my dream instead of someone else’s. Marcene and I are great counselors; we are becoming great businesspeople. Our education and licensure did not include learning about business and entrepreneurship. We have made mistakes. More importantly, we have learned from them. We have supportive family, friends, and colleagues who have sacrificed their time, skills, and resources to get us here. We have people who have said our names in rooms we were never in, which created opportunities that enable us to do the vision and mission of IHCC. The first major event we attempted was a complete failure. We literally could not give tickets away. After cancelling the event, we experienced a moment of disappointment and sadness, then we turned to others – business owners, event planners, and community partners – to receive insight on what went wrong and what we could do differently in the future. We applied what we learned to our next major event. It was great! It was well attended, fully funded, and the attendees had a wonderful experience. There’s nothing wrong with failing; it’s what we choose to do afterward that determines everything.

What I want people to know about the IHCC story is that Marcene and I are two coworkers who decided to bet on ourselves to create positive change in the world. We each have our mottos. Marcene’s is “You are your best accessory.” What this means is that you already have everything you need inside of you to manifest your vision of success. You may need help accessing it or learning how to use it, and that’s where we step in to assist. My motto is: “Hold on to hope.” Hope is what keeps us going despite what we may feel, see, or experience in the present. Hope is everything. For some, it isn’t easy to hold on to hope. In these instances, we hold on to hope for you until you can hold it for yourself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is difficult for me to answer because I’m such an introvert and homebody when I’m not working.

Eat – Margarita’s in Justin (one of the best margaritas around). Olivia’s in Roanoke. Jamaican Summers Eatery in Burleson

Drink – Not sure

Visit – The Lenora Rolla Heritage Center Museum, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (they have good drinks there too)

Hang out – Hooky in Southlake, Denton Square/Downtown Denton (a lot of good drinking places here too)

Shopping – Clearfork

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shout out to my business partner/friend/sistah, Marcene Kinley. Thank you for taking the leap and joining me on this entrepreneurial journey. As we say, “2 Vibes 1 Vision”. We differ in our personalities, life stories, and many other aspects, but we are united in our vision of providing hope and healing to people, their families, and their communities. I wouldn’t choose to do this with anyone else. We’re only just beginning. Love you BIG!

Website: https://www.intentionalheartscc.com

Instagram: @intentionalhearts

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentionalhearts

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntentionalHeartsCounselingAndConsulting

Youtube: @intentionalheartscc