Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriane Smalls-Owens.
Hi Adriane, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
The Gullah-Geechee culture is a foundational fabric of my existence; a prime color, my choice, would be purple to symbolize royalty. Gullah is my native and first language. It can be defined as a dialect and language transpired and derived from enslaved people brought to the Southeastern region of the United States of America from West Africa. I live in the Snowden Community, considered one of the most prominent African-American Historic Settlement Communities of related families on land inherited and initially purchased by freed slave ancestors during the 19th century, post Reconstruction. Tourists travel from around the world to learn of our rich history from Gullah storytellers on the grounds of the local plantations. The Sweetgrass baskets, once handcrafted by slaves to ease the labor in transporting, shucking rice, and harvesting goods, are now sewn and sold as historical symbols, artifacts, crafts, and souvenirs on the plantations and markets within the Gullah-Geechee corridor. The expression of our faith, raising our children, singing, dancing, community gatherings, and feasting as one family community has sustained our culture, dialect, cooking, traditions, customs, learning, teaching, growing, and development.
We use various unconventional approaches to train and teach community-youth life, technical and soft skills ensuring they harness the ability to thrive with or without a formal education. We understand not all youth will attend college. However, our duty and purpose are to teach family and community members the importance of literacy, comprehension, land ownership, and entrepreneurship.
Gullah-Geechee is described as a culture of “backward thinking people” and a dialect of “pidgin talk” or “broken English.” Listening to these biases can make people of our culture feel inferior and less confident in sharing thoughts and ideas. In some cases, similar to myself, the stigma and emotional ridicule associated with these biases decrease confidence, courage, and vocalizing thoughts for fear of judgment and persecution. I chose to remain silent for many years, comparable to the thoughts or sentiments of said notable dignitaries, also choosing to stay silent during oral arguments. Constant sayings of “I don’t understand what you said” or iterations influenced by derogatory comments about the Gullah-Geechee dialect contributed to my self-consciousness, making me reluctant to participate in open dialogue. And then there is the desire to return to your home and be subject to scrutiny, persecution, and adversity because of breaking educational barriers, attending top-ranking academic institutions, and innovatively creating strategies, programs, and processes to improve the inner-workings of disparities among a target population who seek change but are reluctant to embrace change, posing conflict between the loyal to the foundational fabric and the intricate details and embellishments that were added to the initial fabric from the personal, academic and professional growth after a venture into the world to “nurture your gift.” In this type of situation, the balance of sustained focus and emotional intelligence (or beatitudes for our spiritual readers) is almost impossible obsolete of a strong faith and prayer life.
As a community organizer and executive coach in leadership and professional development, I serve as a leader, testimony, and advocate assisting in the transformation of youth and young adults of the Gullah-Geechee culture to minimize the stigma associated with and within our culture in socio-economic disparities.
My former personal experiences of feeling inferior to individuals unfamiliar with Gullah-Geechee culture and the belief that natives are “an uneducated people” drive my determination to lead Gullah-Geechee youth to live by three core principles: Be Optimistic, Embrace Your Culture, and Nurture Your Gift. I share the hope of each developing youth’s opportunity for greatness within my spirit. I understand that God’s purpose for my life is to ensure that for every obstacle I overcome, every degree I obtain, every lesson I learn, and every country I visit, I show confidence in understanding that my milestones were achieved by a Gullah-Geechee native that chose to walk in her purpose, to be optimistic, to embrace her culture and to nurture her gift.
The “gift” is God’s purpose for our lives. Nurturing the “gift” is allowing God to guide our thoughts, give us instruction, lead us into the path in which we should learn to serve and serve others, practice the way of Christ, and remain faithful to carry out his assignment. I have developed a transformational leadership style resulting from experiences attributed to my professional and personal life trajectory.
The collective purpose of diversity, equity, and inclusion is to not conform to a single cultural standard but to embrace the differences between cultures to gain holistic perspectives in unification. Right? An individual’s culture is what makes them unique. Our thought processes are what make us unique. Becoming comfortable in uncomfortable conversations and situations fosters a more substantial purpose to absorb every opportunity to grow and develop in thought and theory.
I was fortunate to gain opportunities and made it a mission to share them with every person developing into a career professional and young adult.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
While the road has not been smooth, it has been rather rewarding. The biggest struggle has demonstrated relevance in the Charleston and Mount Pleasant areas. Leadership and Executive Coaches are valuable assets in larger cities and big corporations that focus on training and development and investing in human capital. My field’s opportunities for small business owners are limited in both the business and educational industries based on my initiative in the Charleston area. The reward of this challenge is that I have been pushed to pivot and explore opportunities beyond the Charleston and Mount Pleasant area, which contribute to the augmentation of client-based services for a larger target population. While outsourcing services in educational systems would benefit both students and the business, it is not exclusively ideal for the direction in which my business is growing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am the Founder and CEO of The Pineapple Carriage, LLC. I started this business in 2018 with the purpose to teach, train and empower my clients to Be Optimistic, Embrace Your Culture and Nurture Their Gift.
I am an Executive Leadership and Professional Development Coach and Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Program and Event Manager, and the creative of Xigrbōl (shu-ger-bōl) Apparel Brand. A brand that says, “I never thought about it like that.”
I provide Leadership and Professional Development skills training and executive and career coaching services, creating career exploration and career readiness programming for middle and high school students. I offer personalized career coaching and consulting and plan, organize and manage events, workshops, Speaker Series, and conferences.
Leadership through strategic thought processes through the collection of holistic perspectives.
Influence, Inspiration, and Motivation through transformational thought leadership and client and community engagement
Through integrative coaching based on my professional and academic experiences, studying abroad, and actively applying blended theories of business, education, community engagement, health, and human performance, I provide holistic, unconventional approaches to the status quo methods of leadership, problem-solving, decision-making and enhancing human capital by acknowledging and incorporating transformational thought processes which leave clients, students, and leaders with the impression of “I never thought about it like that.”
I grew to understand that the constant reminder of my intrinsic and holistic thought process was acquired from my knowledge, academic, professional, and cultural explorations in the following careers and countries in which I gained experience notably but not exhaustively:
Surgical Technologist, Licensed Practical Nurse, Healthcare Management, Community Engagement Leader, Youth Director, Executive Coach, Consultant, Program and Event Management, Entrepreneur, Military Families, and Veterans Advocate, Town of Mount Pleasant Comprehensive Planning Forum Member (2017-2019)
Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Performance, Master of Health Administration, Global Executive MBA, Certificate in Women Entrepreneurship, and candidate for Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership
White House Intern – Obama Administration, The Washington Center Intern for Science, Technology & Society Program
Study abroad and cultural explorations in Amsterdam; Madrid, Spain; Changhua, Taiwan; Beijing, China; Singapore; Fiji; Australia; Puerto Rico; and Guatemala;
have tailored the multi-facet interconnecting experiences into the culmination and birth of The Pineapple Carriage vision (BE Optimistic, Embrace Your Culture, Nurture Your Gift) and the purpose of the Xigrbōl brand and apparel; A colorful, expressive definition of “I never thought about it like that.”
I am most proud of aiding clients in the discovery of nurturing a gift harnessed within and witnessing clients evolve through the application of tools and skills provided during coaching, consulting, or programming.
The Pineapple Carriage delivers hospitality and excellence as the vehicle (royal carriage) of individual leadership, professional development, and intellectual growth from transactional to transformational thought processes.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
There are two things that most people may not know about me.
First, I am creative and visionary. I like to create and design clothing. I take a very particular interest in creating, managing, and hosting events connecting global cultural aspects to Gullah-Geechee tradition.
Second, starting a profession in leadership and professional development was by mere chance and designation. Early in my career, after short periods of initial employment, I would become the designated person for conflict resolution, training, and process improvement. My leadership skills often led to me being chosen or selected as the leader to restructure or create an organizational structure and culture for companies or organizations that either had a weakened system or did not have an organizational/departmental culture or structure established. These opportunities helped to fine-tune my leadership, coaching, training, and professional development and also led me to what I love doing, non-stop. I love to see others flourish!!
Contact Info:
- Email: mrsadriane@thepineapplecarriage.com
- Website: https://www.thepineapplecarriage.com
- Other: https://www.xigrbol.com
Image Credits
Calvin Brown
