Welcome to Most Popular, the podcast about pop culture and the impact it has on society. I'm Dr. Adrienne Trier Bieniek. I'm a professor of sociology, and I will be your host. I found Rasheda Williams via a podcasting social media group, and I interviewed her. I immediately knew that I wanted to talk to her about the organization she runs.

It's called Empowered Flower Girl, and it's located in Detroit, Michigan. As a side note, for those of you who have taken my classes, you know that I am from Michigan and my dad's side is from Flint and Detroit, so Michigan girls and the work they're doing is very, very close to my heart. But that wasn't the only reason I wanted to talk to Rasheda.

There is a growth in an area that's called social entrepreneurship, and Rasheda is a really great example of how the folks who are doing the work in their communities know what needs to be done to make it a better place. With Empowered Flower Girl, she talks about and works to advocate for youth. As we talk, I learn about her creation of this organization.

We [00:01:00] also talk a lot about the important role mentorship plays in the lives of young people. And you will hear me kind of freak out at the end when Rasheda tells us what she would vote most popular. I am not sorry. for advocating for this choice. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Rasheda Williams. So thank you for having me.

This is a wonderful opportunity to have a conversation with you. My name is Rasheda Williams and I'm the founder and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl. Empowered Flower Girl is a. Is a social enterprise that is on a mission to transform the way young people relate to one another and themselves.

So a lot of the work that we do is partnering with schools, community organizations, and other nonprofits. It's to help young people live above challenges they face in and out of the classroom from cyberbullying to societal pressure. [00:02:00] I've been doing this work for almost 14 years and I reside in Michigan in the Detroit area.

And, and as I mentioned, I'm from Michigan originally, even though I'm in Orlando now. So this is extra exciting for me. Awesome, because I can be like, Oh, you know, downtown Detroit, the Fox theater. I've been there so many times. Exactly. And then we recently hosted the NFL draft and record breaking crowds.

So that's awesome. Yes. Yes. No, I I've been, I went to lion's games ever since I was, I mean, my parents brought me as soon as I think they probably could tolerate bringing a child to lions or to tigers and lions games. So I've seen every iteration of every stadium, like all of the, all of the changes that have happened.

Like, it's very exciting for me to talk to you, but we'll try not to nerd out too hard. Okay. Fine with me. And even if we do, that's fine. That's totally fine. So let's start with your background. So what's your background and how did you end up getting into this work? Yeah, so [00:03:00] it's interesting how, how it all came to be.

My background is actually in journalism and communications. I got a degree in print journalism, specifically from Wayne State University. And I really enjoyed the work that I was doing in interviewing business owners, interviewing politicians, entertainers. I've always had a passion for research and hearing people's stories and learning about their stories.

And as I graduated, I, Shifted more toward communications and working with organizations, particularly nonprofits and school districts, because I've always had a passion for helping young people, whether I work with them directly or not. I just love to tell the [00:04:00] stories and promote the good work that.

Those in the community who are making a positive impact with our youth. I just wanted to make sure that they got the recognition that they deserve. And, you know, other people to hear their stories of the amazing work they're doing. I love that. That's exactly why I do these episodes, these podcasts. I'm more interested in other people's lives than my own.

I just think it's so interesting. Yes. And, and, you know, that work. You know, that that was my basis for everything. And I was actually interning with a local newspaper when I learned about an opportunity to volunteer with the youth. And I became a mentor and I was experiencing some challenges in my life at that time as well.

With grief and loss, I had lost 2 people who were vitally important in my life. The 2 people who raised me, my aunt, she passed away in 1998 and then my uncle passed away [00:05:00] in 2000. And they, they took me in when I was a teenager and they had a huge impact on my life. And when they passed away. That kind of led to me experiencing depression for the 1st time, or actually knowing what depression was.

And I was having a hard time, but I wanted to do something to take the attention from myself and take the attention off myself and do something to help someone else. Because I figured if I can distract myself, I won't have to worry about the sadness. If I distract myself, I could put my energy into focusing on helping others.

Right? Little did I know that becoming a mentor would transform my life. So I started mentoring and was inspired to help the young people that I was mentoring at the time. And eventually, you know, down the line, I launched empowered flower girl, and that was back in 2010. [00:06:00] So, yes, our 14 year anniversary. So, what do what does empower flower girl do?

Yeah. So, a lot of the work that empowered flower girl does is really to help young people move through the challenges that they face. I grew growing up, I was bullied and teased relentlessly and I know that many young people today are experiencing. Physical bullying, but even more so cyber bullying and other forms of digital harassment.

So a lot of the work that we do is to address these issues that young people were facing in and out of the classroom. So, a lot of the drama that's happening with social media and. Young people having unlimited access to one another through smartphones. Sometimes they receive unwelcome, unwelcoming messages, right?

Mean, mean text. Even though it's now X formerly known as Twitter, I remember the celebrities would do the mean tweets. I think it was Jimmy Kimmel or one of those [00:07:00] they would do the mean tweets and have celebrities read them. But. And unfortunately, our young people continue to receive those, those unwanted messages, those unwanted That unwanted attention as they're engaging more and more through social media.

So, 1 of the things that I do is try to help them be safe, smart and kind online through a number of workshops that empowered flower girl offers, but also bringing attention to young people who are doing good in their communities. Because I don't just want to focus on the negative, right? I want to acknowledge young people who.

Are are providing solutions to these challenges that they're facing in their communities and globally as well. So a lot of the work we also do is showcase young people who are change makers who are activists and artists, artists, those who are using their gifts and talents to bring joy to others. I [00:08:00] love that you do.

It sounds like you really make it a point to try and celebrate what kids are bringing to the table. Yes. Most definitely because oftentimes there's this narrative about young people, especially the new generation, right? There is every new generation. There's always some stigma. I've heard it time and time again from some adults.

Yes. That, oh, this generation, Gen Z and Alpha, oh, they're soft, or they have it so easy that could be the furthest thing from the truth. Just seeing everything that they're experiencing, everything that's happening now in the world the challenges with, you know, social media, but economic downturns, inflation 9 11, there's just so much that they've been through, right?

But, yes, I've, I've heard those conversations that they're soft. They're lazy. They don't know the value of work and all of these things. But many of the young people that I've met and those that we showcase are, are the complete [00:09:00] opposite. They, they are very, they're very on purpose. About the work that they're doing, many of them have started nonprofits or launched initiatives to create change.

I met 1 young lady, she had authored probably about. Five or six books by the time she was eight years old. That's amazing. Yeah. , it is so amazing. I'm like, what was I doing when I was that age? . I don't know if I was writing a, a, a book or even thinking about publishing it if that , but yeah, there just.

Really, I think they're, they're really in tune with with each other, even though it may not seem like it, but they're really in tune with making contributions to society. It's almost like innate for them, like, volunteering isn't a thing that you [00:10:00] necessarily have to. Not with all, all young people, right?

But with a lot of young people, you don't have to beg them to volunteer. Some of them will do it even if they don't receive credit, you know, the credits that they need to graduate, they'll do it, or they'll ask for opportunities to get involved. So that's, That's the narrative shift that I'm trying to contribute to by highlighting the, the work, highlighting the contributions of young people to our society, to our planet, you know, whatever I can do.

Before I talked to you earlier this week, I interviewed a woman who's an expert on screen time, and she was talking a lot about how, like, this generation, when you were saying that, you know, the, the, the kind of nonsense that they don't, they don't know, they just don't understand. And, you know, I'm, I'm in my 40s, so I'm, I'm a solid Gen Xer and I remember being called the slacker because, you know, we liked computers and [00:11:00] those types of things.

And she was saying that what's unique to, this generation is that no one else knows what it's like to constantly have someone be able to get ahold of you. Like I could have hung up the phone when I was a kid or taking it off the hook or, and, and you could go days without talking to somebody if you wanted to.

And now it's, if you don't return a text in a timely way, people get upset, or if you don't return a DM or whatever, but there is that's that onset now. Yes. And it's leading to quite a, quite a few complications. It's not good for your mental health or physical health. Just always having, always having to be on, right?

Always receiving notifications, news. You know, that's, that's a huge Well, even as a former journalist, like, I have to take a break. I have to take a break from the news, the 24 hour news cycle. I, growing up, I didn't have that. Right. But now you get notifications on every [00:12:00] major conflict that's happening.

You know, the stock market crashing any, any type of news. A lot of it can be negative. It's. You're getting notifications of it. People were posting about it. When there's a tragedy that happens sometimes. Yes. It's good for people to capture some of these moments on video to, to help. If if they need to find a suspect, or they need proof of what happened, but at the same time, there's really no regard for people's privacy and safety.

So they share these videos and you. Unfortunately, see videos of violent, tragic occurrences, right? Things that we didn't have to worry about saying, opening our phones, going to social media and seeing a video of a mass shooting or, or, you know, just constant. Constant images that they have to navigate through and see and [00:13:00] things that they're exposed to.

So it can be quite a challenge living in the digital age and just knowing when to shut it down and shut it off. Yeah. So you, I know you said you went to Wayne State, which is in Detroit, and I'm, I'm curious how Detroit factors into the work that you do, because a lot of the perception and you and I know this isn't true, but a lot of the perception is they hear Flint water crisis, they hear Detroit is on a downturn.

So I'm curious how, how the city plays into the work that you're doing. Yeah, well, it's, you know, there are, there are a lot of challenges that play cities like Detroit and other major cities across the country, and even around the world. But Detroit actually has been on an upswing in recent years, lots of development, although some, some people are being left behind and that, but it has gotten a lot better.

There's still some blight, there's still [00:14:00] challenges with violent crime, but. There are a lot of collective efforts from community members that are really trying to transform things and turn things around. And there are foundations in the community that are really. Focusing on youth powered solutions to some of these problems and really engaging young people in the process.

They are more involved in figuring out. Okay. How do we use this funding? You know, if a corporation or an organization has half a million dollars. And instead of them being told, oh, hey, this is going to be used for after school program, or this money should be used toward starting a kindness club in your school, but really having a participatory style of distributing those funds.

And I really. Have a huge respect and appreciation for those [00:15:00] organizations that are coming in and saying, hey, what, what do you all think as young people? How should we be spending this money? We want to help you, but we know that you. Are going to be the ones to be impacted or benefit from this funding.

How should we spend it? What are the, what are your needs? Right? And I see a lot of that happening in Detroit and I am, I'm really excited for the possibilities and seeing how there has been such a surge in. Youth activism young people really wanting to get involved in, in their communities. There's amazing organizations here in the Detroit area.

That are getting young people involved in the political process and coaching young people to someday run for political office and and whether or not they decide to run for office, just [00:16:00] having those skills and giving them a background and community organizing. I think is, is really is awesome.

These are skills that they could have that can transfer into other careers. I'm really glad you said community organizing, because what I was kind of hoping that we could get at with that question is that what's beneficial for most cities is for not for groups to come in and say, we know how to fix you, but for things to place people to come in and say, you know how to fix whatever this is.

problem you're having, what can we do to help? And there's the support aspect as opposed to the I don't know, savior complex that some places get. So I, I love hearing that that's what you see happening because I think that's the trick, right? Is asking folks, what do you need? You already are doing this work.

What else can we do to help? Exactly. And, and that's why I've, that's why I've focused so much more over recent, over recent years on the work that young people are [00:17:00] doing in their communities. Because again, these are youth led initiatives, young people who have, they've seen a problem in their community and they said, you know what, I want to do something about it.

I'm not going to sit back and wait for the adults to do it. Myself and other generations may be familiar with this old saying young people should be seen and not heard. I knew you were going to say it before you said it. Yes, right. And you know, for the life of me, I could never understand what that meant.

I'm like, not only should they be seen, they should definitely be heard. Most movements throughout history have been started by young people, young people who were. You know, they were sick and tired of being sick and tired. They were, they were wanting change. And most of these movements have been led by folks in their teens, right?

You know, civil rights movement. Just so many times we could look back at history and see where young people have [00:18:00] led the change. They've, they've been the catalyst and I see it with, Young people like what is her name? The young lady who was targeted by the Taliban for educating. Oh, Malala.

Malala. Malala Yousafzai. Yeah. She is one young person that I I really commend, you know, for her courage and bravery young people, like also known as little miss Flint. So the work that she's doing to continue to spread awareness about the need for clean water for people. All over the world and here in the United States.

I mean, Flint still doesn't parts of Flint still doesn't have clean water, right? Like, how is that possible? But young people who are leading that activism, right? Who are saying enough's enough you're going to hear us. We're going to be seen. We're going to be heard. So I definitely commend those who, you know, Are breaking barriers and saying, [00:19:00] just because I'm young, doesn't mean that I can't make a significant contribution.

And that's what I want to continue to support and encourage. What do you think makes for good mentorship for youth? Yeah, mentoring, let me just first say, before I answer that. Mentoring is something that I am very passionate about. You, you may have picked up on that. Yeah, I can tell. I absolutely love being a mentor, but also even encouraging young people to be mentors.

Peer mentoring is so dope. A lot of people, a lot of people don't realize just how impactful peer mentoring can be. But It's really important for mentors to, to have good listening skills. So when people approach me and they say, you know, I've been [00:20:00] considering being a mentor, what should I do? I want to give back.

And I always ask them like, okay, do you have patience and good listening skills and listening without judgment? A lot of times. You know, young folks, they don't need people to come in and, like you said, be the savior, right, to fix them. Sometimes they just need you to listen. You don't have to solve the problem.

They'll figure it out. So some guidance and some coaching is always, always great. And it can be appreciated, especially when they're looking at career exploration or starting businesses, but, and, and just every day. Sometimes they just need someone to vent, to to hear them out because they may not have that in their homes.

They may not necessarily have that at school all the time as well. So just having someone there who can [00:21:00] listen to their challenges, but also their joys, things that they're excited about and just being playing a supporting role. Like I look at it like when we watch the Academy Awards. They gave me the Oscars.

Right. You have, you know, all the people behind the scenes who are rooting on person who won best actor or best actress. Right. But then you have the supporting cast that make that film, you know, it's the best film, you know, so that's that young person's life and they're the main protagonist and we're all there to help support young people.

You know, so that they can, so that they can win, like at the end of the day, we want them to win. We want them to succeed, whatever that looks like for them. I love that. I think that, that when you're talking about mentorship, I think the thing that what you're saying is what, how I feel also that the first step is to learn how to listen to [00:22:00] someone and truly listen and hear what they're saying and know when, like you said, they want help and they just, or when they just want to get it out and do it.

They'll get there on their own, but you got to let them get it out. And I think that if people realize that was the 1st step, I think that'd be a great 1st step toward getting better mentorship going. Yes, for sure. What I tell people is that really for mentoring, people think that you need to have the perfect career or a cabinet full of accolades and awards and all these things.

Like those things are great, but. I don't know many teenagers who really care about that stuff. Yeah, it may be impressive to see all of your awards, but really, at the end of the day, when they're struggling, and they're having challenges, and they need someone to be there. That's what they need. They need someone who's there who cares.

And if you have a big heart and a little time, as well as a willingness to undergo a background [00:23:00] check to provide some references you, you could be a mentor, right? Yeah, what do you say when someone says, I want to. Become active and I don't quite know how to get started and that, you know, that is a great question.

And that's often where we all start. Right. But I would say to them, you know, find resources and there's plenty of resources in their community. So they just need to find them. If you're looking at specifically mentoring, I would say, think about the demographic of young people you want to mentor because there are so many opportunities.

Right? If you want to do 1 on 1 mentoring, or you may want to do group mentoring, you may want to mentor young people in school. Out of school, so think about the setting or the capacity in which you want to get involved in school or out of school what age range of young people you want to work with, [00:24:00] but also thinking about the demographics, young people who are in and aging out of foster care, they definitely need mentors or girls and young women who are really struggling with, you know, Body image issues as well as being safe online young people from all backgrounds, all genders and non genders.

They have been experiencing challenges with cyber bullying, but girls are being adversely impacted. And it's it's such a crisis that UNESCO recently had to release a report about how. Girls interactions online, especially through social media is causing mental harm and some things that we can do to, to help them and to prevent it and to again, keep them safe online, but.

Thinking about other demographics. Do you want to work with young people who are neurodiverse those who are LGBTQ plus? [00:25:00] I mean, there are so many sectors of young people who need help. Those who may have some academic challenges and need help gifted and talented young people need help, right? Basically every young person.

And some of us who are not so young, I mean, in my career, I've relied on mentors coaches to help me through even launching empowered flower girl. I had help. So, we can all use the help of a mentor and I would definitely say those who are interested in giving back and volunteering in this capacity to really think about those things.

There's resources. I always turn to mentor. The national mentoring partnership, they have so many different resources for people who are interested in becoming mentors, starting their own mentoring organizations. I coach others as well in doing that, but mentoring dot org is a great site because if you're wondering, oh, what's.[00:26:00]

Organizations and my community need help. Well, you could put in your zip code code in and then you can say, well, I want to work with. Organizations within 5 or 10 miles of me, it'll pull up all the organizations, their needs, the process, that sort of thing. Or you can say that I don't have time to do in person, but I can help someone via zoom or teams.

You know, I can do video conferencing boom, you have virtual mentoring opportunities. So the possibilities are endless. I love that. Yeah, it sounds like you're saying, you know, pick the thing that gets you real, that gets you feel kind of stirred up and then figure out what's out there for that, you know.

Yes, definitely. So there's one question I ask everybody as we wrap it up, and I don't include it on the sheet because I want an organic answer. But if you need a minute to think about it, it's totally fine. I can always cut any time you need to think. But I ask [00:27:00] everyone. So the podcast is called Most Popular.

So I ask everyone who or what do you think deserves to be voted most popular? And it can be anything that you want to talk about. Oh, wow. Look at you coming with the coming with the punches. Okay. Who or what should be the most popular? You know, I am, you talk about nerding out, but I really think, I really think, and I'm laughing because there's such a movement toward this, but I think that kindness should definitely be the most popular.

You're the third person in a month to pick that. I love this. I love that this is becoming a theme. It is becoming a thing. Okay. I am a rock to this. Okay. So random acts of kindness foundation. You [00:28:00] know, they're there. They have a great, great website, tons of resources that tell you ways that you can be kind suggestions for doing something kind.

And of course they have random acts of kindness. Acts of kindness week and day and those of us who feel like kindness should be the most popular can sign up to become Ractivists to spread kindness throughout our communities and people of all ages. So youth can become Ractivists, adults it doesn't matter if you're a senior citizen or if you're a young professional, it doesn't matter.

You can spread kindness. But I think, yeah, that should definitely continue to Go viral. Kindness. Yeah, let's make it go viral. Let's have it just Embedded in our being. Okay. A hundred percent. Yeah. I did not know such a thing. I just do random acts of kindness for fun, but I did not know that there was a place you could go and learn more.

I will be doing that. Yeah. You should definitely check it out. They'll [00:29:00] give you a calendar. Like yes, for the month of May, May 1st, this is what you should have done. That's you know, they'll give you a calendar. Calendar for the month of, I think I think random acts of kindness week or something is in February every year.

So they give you ideas for that during different times of the year during the holidays, things that you can do to be kind during the holiday. So, yes, a wealth of resources. I love this. Thank you for that. I'm going to link to all of that. Well, thank you so much for talking with me and letting us learn from you.

This has been so fun and I just appreciate the work you do. And my dad is from Flint and my mom is from Battle Creek. So, and then I have a lot of family around Detroit. So I am really aware of. Of the area and I just love, I love your program. I love your mission. If I can ever return the favor, please let me know.

I'm more than happy, but it just, it's such a great organization that you've got going. Thank you. [00:30:00] I appreciate you and I appreciate what you're doing. And I wish you much success. Thank you so much for listening. You can find more episodes of Most Popular on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Please take the time to follow, rate, and review, and if you are so inclined, and you are not one of my current students, a Patreon for Most Popular is set up and linked in the show notes. More information, including additional resources for educators, can be found on my website, adriennetrier-bieniek.com. The website is also linked in show notes, and I am on Instagram at at dradriennetb. Thanks, as always, to my students for the encouragement to keep making these episodes, and I'll see you next time. Bye!