I Swear I’m An Introvert

She left a practice she loved because God made it crystal clear it was time. She thought it would just be her. She looked up and had a whole staff.
In this episode of I Swear I’m An Introvert, Your Savvy SheEO Lindsey T. Evans sits down with Arrie Simpson — therapist, group practice owner, and founder of The Heart of Counseling & Wellness PLLC and nonprofit Josephine’s Way — for one of the most honest, layered, and necessary conversations of the season.
Arrie opens up about growing up in a chaotic household that taught her how to adapt to change, finding her identity as an introvert who learned to turn it on when needed, building a group practice of seven therapists — six of them Black women — and running a nonprofit dedicated to bridging the gap between underserved communities and quality mental health care.
She talks about imposter syndrome, rejection, the loneliness of being the boss, and why she still goes to therapy herself. Because how can you hold everyone else’s weight if nobody is holding yours?
This is the conversation Black women in business — and Black women in general — need to hear.
In this episode we cover:
∙ Building a group therapy practice from one person to seven therapists
∙ Why Black women can absolutely work together — and do it well
∙ Navigating mental health as a mental health professional
∙ The loneliness of leadership and what it really feels like to be the boss
∙ Josephine’s Way — bridging the gap between underserved communities and quality mental health care
∙ What positive representation of Black women in mental health really means
Connect with Arrie: The Heart of Counseling & Wellness PLLC — theheartofcounselingandwellness.com
Josephine’s Way — josephinesway.org | Instagram: @josephines_way
Connect with Lindsey T. Evans: heels2sneakers.net
Girl, you got this.

She inspected and repaired locomotives as a 22-year-old Black woman walking into rail shops full of older white men who questioned why she was there. She fixed the locomotive — and never looked back.
In this episode of I Swear I’m An Introvert, Your Savvy SheEO Lindsey T. Evans sits down with Nikeva Lawrence — electrical engineer turned wedding planner and owner of SouthWind Events — for a conversation about purpose, pivoting, people-pleasing, and why the most powerful thing you can do is trust yourself.
Nikeva opens up about falling into wedding planning through a church committee, hearing God speak on a random Tuesday that changed everything, navigating entrepreneurship without a mentor, battling anxiety and depression while running a business, and why the same project management skills that served her in engineering are exactly what make her extraordinary at planning the most important day of someone’s life. She’s complex. She’s calm in chaos. And she will tell you the hard truth with a smile every single time.
In this episode we cover:
∙ The unexpected journey from electrical engineering to event planning
∙ Building a business with integrity while still working a 9-to-5
∙ Navigating anxiety, depression, and finding the right therapist
∙ Why “no” is a complete sentence and boundaries are learned the hard way
∙ What it really looks like behind the highlight reel of wedding planning
∙ Positive representation of Black women in business and why legacy matters
Connect with Nikeva: SouthWind Events on Instagram @southwind.events, TikTok, and Facebook
Connect with Lindsey T. Evans: heels2sneakers.net
Girl, you got this.

Meet Oladoyin (Doyin) Ajilore She made a promise to a cousin fighting leukemia. A contractor stole her savings. COVID hit before she could open her doors. And she still built Dreamers Academy and Dreamers Academy II from the ground up. In this episode of I Swear I’m An Introvert, Your Savvy SheEO Lindsey T. Evans sits down with Oladoyin (Doyin) Ajilore — founder of Dreamers Academy and Dreamers Academy II — two top-tier, Black-owned early childhood education centers serving the Chicagoland area with heart, curriculum, and community.
Born in Benin and raised across Nigeria, England, France, Gabon, and India, Doyin brings a global perspective to early childhood education rooted in village, purpose, and promise. She gets real about losing her startup funds to a contractor who vanished, putting her home on the line when no bank would back her, paying eight employees to sit home during COVID just to protect her license, and the one woman who refused to let her walk away from her dream.
This is not a highlight reel. This is the full story — the betrayal, the breakdown, the pivot, and the breakthrough.
In this episode we cover:
∙ Building a business through loss, betrayal, and a global pandemic
∙ Why banks and minority-focused institutions still failed her
∙ The connection between entrepreneurship, mental health, and physical illness
∙ How to recognize and release the naysayers in your circle
∙ Raising daughters — and employees — who lead
∙ Why failure is not the opposite of success
Visit Dreamers Academy: dreamersacademyhome.com Connect with Lindsey T. Evans: heels2sneakers.net
Girl, you got this!

Before we introduce you to the women breaking barriers this season, you need to meet the woman behind the mic.
In this premiere episode of I Swear I’m An Introvert, Your Savvy SheEO Lindsey T. Evans gets interviewed by her producer, her partner, and her biggest supporter — her husband, Bryan Evans — in an honest, unfiltered conversation about who she really is beneath the titles, the businesses, and the boardrooms.
Lindsey opens up about her ADHD diagnosis and the journey of discovering it as a superpower, her battle with major depressive disorder, a hospitalization that changed everything, and the tattoo on her wrist that reminds her to simply breathe. She talks about growing up in a blended family of entrepreneurs, what it means to carry imposter syndrome while still showing up, and why she built this podcast — because our little brown girls deserved to see themselves in women who looked like them, led with class, and told the whole story.
This isn’t a highlight reel. This is the real story. Topics covered: ADHD & mental health awareness, imposter syndrome, Black women in entrepreneurship, representation in media, the origin of Heels 2 Sneakers, and what it truly means to do it scared.
Girl, you got this.