Meet Ellysa Smith | Chief Human and Choiceness Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellysa Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellysa, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As a first generation American, my parents emphasized hard work. As immigrants, their goal was always to provide a better life for their children and to live the American Dream. Much of the responsibility, to use their sacrifice as a greater blessing, came to me as the eldest child. Work life balance was nonexistent and it showed up as pursuing higher education strongly. In highschool, I had one of the highest GPAs at 104 yet balancing seemed impossible between basketball and school work. College was just as much of a struggle. Imposter syndrome attending a prestigious school as a minority also made balancing school, work, and life hard. My choices were to give, give, and give of myself. It was normalized so much that the erosion of life for work was unnoticeable.

Shortly after college, I experienced the betrayal (what I perceived at the time) of my body. The lesson I learned and continue to learn is that healthy boundaries are an act of self-love. Instead of attempting to keep these aspects separate, a whole person approach considers our mental, physical, and emotional state at any given time. The betrayal of my body forced me to pay it more attention and over the past eight years as a person with a disability, balance has shifted. To me, rather than work life balance, I focus on maintaining work life integration. Integration acknowledges that work and life are naturally going to ebb and flow. My pursuit of integration is really to have work life harmony. At any given moment how we practice work life integration and what that looks like will change as we grow and evolve, that is part of the human experience. Anytime I feel work edging over to overwhelm my life, I remind myself I am in the business of being, BEING human at work.

Now I find harmony in putting myself first, rather than anything else. I do not chase money, materials, or relationships that are not supportive and conducive to mutual growth. As with most relationships it’s impossible to ever be 50/50 consistently. At any given time, there are shifts 20/80, 60/40, or any other combination. Rather than focusing on unattainable equilibrium, awareness is the key to shifting when too much is being devoted to either work or life. Most of us do not want to work for a living, and most of us resent living to work. It is not the duality of being either of those things, it’s actually the journey to harmony. Coaching has given me the gift of clarity on my wants and desires coupled with the confidence to make decisions that move towards that work life harmony. As we consider the workforce of the future, wisdom will be demonstrated in finding a way to ebb and flow through work and life instead of insisting on its separation.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
CuraHuman is the culmination of my lived experience. Truthfully, I am most proud of how deeply CuraHuman resonates with various stakeholders. My unique style is probably what sets us apart from others. CuraHuman is not a traditional consulting firm by any means.

I have the pleasure to serve as Chief Human at CuraHuman. CuraHuman is about cultivating and caring for your whole human, especially at work to create transformational cultures. I identify as a Choiceness Coach to empower each leader to reach their full potential. I am a Maverick Curator Engagement Lightkeeper of Exquisite Beings with a purpose to develop workforce engagement culture. These sound like a lot of descriptors and the intention is to be clear that my expertise in Human Resources feeds well into my coaching style.

At Curahuman we believe every exquisite being in the world contributes to the success of a community goal with their whole selves and we reactivate choiceness to care for your human. As Chief Human at CuraHuman, I will Coach Human. I choose to embrace being human, leading with trust, then innovation. My work is going to foster better leadership at all levels curating, engaging, and lightkeeping culture at work. It starts with the individual who is willing to be vulnerable, face uncertainty, and cure their human to show up as their best self. Our mission at CuraHuman is centered on the individual human yet balanced in the unity of being connected. The key here is that coaching is not for everyone because there will be some that choose to stay stagnant in their leadership and life, which is the impact of choice.

Embedding my New York attitude into my coaching leadership style, I boldly lead others building trusting relationships for teams to innovate and grow together in unity. I have shined in my decade Human Resources career serving with well-known nonprofits in the States, including Phoenix House, QSAC, The New York Academy of Sciences, and Teach for All. My pursuit of Human Resources was rare at the time because most professionals in that industry fell into it. I had to consciously seek out Human Resources opportunities starting with nonprofit unpaid internships. This was post undergraduate graduation and involved working part time as a hostess for a small business restaurant owner in Columbus Circle for months.

The business was always a dream and in my early research I learned that it would take ten years before anyone would consider me knowledgeable enough to be a Consultant. Originally ten years seemed far away and I yearned to do it sooner. Eventually the opportunity came in 2023 to create the business I had dreamed about. I got where I am because of the people that have supported me to this point. Many had shared with me growing up, not to change who I was. I found that a peculiar comment and yet those expressions continued straight into adulthood. I thought that they were limiting my potential and growth with their comment. Yet now I discovered that what they were doing was serving as a reminder to stay true to my authentic self. Each time I heard the words it was a mirror back, getting me closer and closer to transforming my self-leadership.

The world wants to know that they can be their whole self in the workplace and that is at the heart of the brand and story of CuraHuman. CuraHuman specializes in offering bespoke services tailored to empower a diverse array of professionals and organizations. We provide strategic support to individuals, including employees, HR professionals, managers at all levels, new hires, board members, C-suite executives, current and potential leaders, as well as small business owners. CuraHuman co-creates a better future and business with you at whatever stage of growth you and your business is at.

Our logo is symbolic representing a fire flame and the balance of a heartbeat between the initial red flame and the hotter sustained blue flame. CuraHuman combines a powerful experience primarily through leadership coaching and secondarily through fractional HR services. The values encompass the power of CH bonding within oneself. CuraHuman embraces being human at work by taking your most vulnerable energy and repurposing it through trust, innovation, and channeling it to authentic leadership. Coaching gets you to the best version of yourself so you can lead others in harmony. The benefit of CuraHuman is that they prioritize the human in curating a business solution that generates harmony at work. At the heart of caring human CuraHuman’s value proposition is about cultivating and caring for your whole human, especially at work to transform cultures.

Entrepreneurship is never an easy endeavor as each person will design that experience in a unique way. I became an HR professional who is passionate about serving the underserved and that is a rare combination. As a first generation American I have seen the impact of access to resources making the difference for lives that people lead. In my nonprofit work I have cultivated work environments for people to flourish. My coaching style is authentic, which is one of my core values. I will support you on your coaching journey with honor and respect. Many view on paper how “accomplished” I have been to date. Yet a resume does not put respect on your name for the challenges along the way, and for me there were many. Some misinterpreted my time spent at jobs as being a “job hopper”. Others connected my name and college education with a particular race, which I do not identify as. Additionally, my career has progressed faster than most, causing some to pause and question how I have gotten this far as an established well known trusted advisor. The irony is that I was always an entrepreneur in how I functioned, on a basic level. Our being translates to our doing. This is why I am in the business of being, BEING human at work. I had been tapping into my inner Entrepreneur for the past ten years in the workplace. That meant I was observing more to tap into my own potential, that innovation happened as a staff collaboration, that I had to design a dedicated lifestyle best for me, that I had to see the world with courage and tact in order to transform to a better reality. The last year has only made a shift to bringing that creativity, energy, innovation, and imagination into CuraHuman. No matter what chaos life seemed offer, I sought out what was invisible to most.

An example of this is moving from my hometown in NYC. Relocation to North Carolina meant no option to return to the nonprofit sector. The gift of moving let me dabble in other industries including hospitality, technology, education, entrepreneurship, and healthcare. Since moving to North Carolina in 2018 I worked at Transloc in Durham, Global Skyware in Smithfield, and Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) in Raleigh. I hold a Bachelor of Science in General Science with a Philosophy minor from Fordham University. I also hold a Master of Science in Human Resource Management and Development from NYU SPS. I completed my SHRM-SCP certification in June 2022. My certification sets my expertise apart as Senior Certified Professional for engaging in strategic support for organizations.

There are too many lessons to name them all. One of the most salient at the moment, is that within work cultures there are too many leaders that do not lead from a place of love. These ones are normally the center of employee conflicts, miscommunication, misunderstandings, and disengagement. Rather than blaming these ones for their inability to lead holistically or accepting their leadership for what it is, coaching can be a way to teach better leadership. When leaders have a safe space to be vulnerable with themselves they can challenge how they lead and develop a better understanding of what drives their behavior. My history in HR is tainted by so many awful toxic work environments because of the choices that people made, often rooted in selfishness and the their own fears of inadequacy. The other lesson is that every lived experience helps to cure your human. My choice to serve as a department of one for Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) gave me the creative space to evolve. It was there that I became their first HR Manager building the function from scratch. Within a year, my leadership demonstrated true power and I became HR Director, expanding my team by hiring my first direct report. The HR experience was amazing. Yet more impactful is that CSBDF supports minority owned small business in North Carolina. It gave me the resources to pursue my entrepreneurship at CuraHuman with more insight than others had.

CuraHuman is a gift to me every day because in order to serve, I have to keep myself whole as a human and continuously cure my human. CuraHuman has also taught me the significance of supporting and being in community. Historically Human Resources professionals were considered back office administration, and that meant not being visible for staff or community, our value was limited. As a leader, I choose to be selective in my local community. I am active at the local Raleigh Chamber in their Young Professional Network (YPN) serving on the Community Involvement Taskforce. I also serve as the IED VP on the Board of Directors overseeing the Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity Committee for the RMSHRM chapter locally.

I previously served as a Junior Board member for the national Lime Connect nonprofit which rebrands disability through achievement. I currently serve as a Board Member for the Disability Rights of North Carolina nonprofit focusing on advocacy for people with disabilities. My community involvement reflects my commitment to sustainable change inside and outside of work as I care human. I have been recognized locally as an Emerging Leader nominee and Athena Award nominee by the local Triangle East Chamber of Commerce. My small business is celebrating a year of existence this June 2024 and recently was recognized as a 2024 BBB Spark Awards Finalist. In the Fall 2024 I will be recognized by ATHENA of the Triangle as a Young Professional Award Finalist. My statement to summarize this incredible lived experience is that Choiceness has become my every day excellence. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to story share with you all.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I know this was based on my favorite spots in the city, except I am boldly ambitious. My best friend has never been to North Carolina so this would be a packed itinerary beyond just the city. Wow this is complicated, okay so we would start on the Western side of the state for a day or two. We would visit the Blue Ridge Parkway, hike some of the areas for Waterfalls, and eat at some of the local restaurants including a farm to table brunch spot. Since we are on that side we would also take in the Arboretum and Biltmore Estate.

Then we would hit up central North Carolina in Raleigh. The coworking spaces are fun to check out for inspiration and shared learnings. There are beautiful restaurants etc. Dessert would be stalking the Mr. Softee truck in Durham together. Probably would include a DPAC show as well. I would definitely have to visit the Old Well at UNC Chapel Hill. Being kids at heart, we would also want to visit the local museums like Marbles.

Lastly we will spend a few days on the Eastern side of North Carolina in Oak Island and Wilmington. Again visiting local small business restaurants swimming in the ocean and learning about the community. My best friend is originally from NYC yet is a huge fan of being in the environment with nature. So paddle boarding, bird watching, and swimming are all cool things to do.

Of course in true CuraHuman fashion we would also hold space for curing our human, which always involves deep meaningful connection and conversations with each other throughout the adventures.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Yes, let’s do it. My baby sister is who I have the pleasure of dedicating my shoutout to. My sister and I are 3.5 years apart so when we were younger tensions were high, you could say. As each of us matured, we began to rely on each other in a very trusting, open, and vulnerable way. Many say you have to endure your family and that may be true. However, my relationship with her has been a fruitful one because we both make the effort. We could not be two more different human beings, yet we celebrate our differences and support each other whole-heartedly. Her love has always been felt in whatever activity we engage in. Yet, the most powerful expression probably came when I faced that health scare as a young adult. She had the stamina and consistency to provide care. She cared for my mental attitude, reminding me that this was just a temporary situation and eventually we will manage it (which ended up being true). She cared for my physical well being, staying with me in the hospital, helping me eat, sleep, and shower. She cared for my emotional state, riding through my volatile moments of frustration, anger, and resentment, sometimes directed at her in my desperation. The mark of a powerful relationship though is not just the friend who is there in times of distress.

Ellaina also happens to be my biggest cheerleader, whatever I set my heart and mind to doing, she gladly bolsters and encourages. And I have some lofty goals and dreams at times, some may even say I can be stubborn. After my diagnosis, I decided to go back to graduate school. While in school, I sought the opportunity to travel abroad to study International Human Resources. I insisted on saving to purchase my first car and my first home. I launched my own small business. The latest of my escapades is traveling to Italy this summer in the midst of my Maid of Honor duties. Accomplishing these activities are challenging for the average able bodied human, it was harder for me. Ellaina is a huge part of my ability to be my authentic self every day. She serves as a mirror to my core values, to my identity, and to my love. She does not just deserve a little credit, she deserves all the credit. Without her unconditional love, I could not continue to exist.

Website: https://curahuman.co/

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