Featuring: Swiyyah Woodard of Swiyyah Productions, Inc.

Project Ownership had the opportunity to connect with Swiyyah Woodard, a trailblazer in the world of mental health. Swiyyah is a best-selling author, national speaker, and mental health advocate who has inspired audiences around the globe with her story of resilience, hope, love, and perseverance.

What inspired her to become an owner, and how did she get started?

Swiyyah took us back to “the story before the story.” As a child, she was inspired by Oprah and dreamed of being famous — but never imagined the path that would lead her there. After a frightening experience of being Baker Acted, hospitalized in a mental health facility, and diagnosed with schizophrenia, she felt called to use her life as a platform to help others who are navigating similar circumstances.

Determined to break the stigma and spark conversation, especially within African American communities, Swiyyah wrote, Don’t Call Me Crazy, I’m Just In Love — a fictional love story inspired by her real-life experiences. The book uses humor and romance to open the door to meaningful conversations about mental health. Her work quickly gained national recognition, becoming required reading in several high schools and colleges.

Since then, Swiyyah has released Don’t Call Me Crazy Again, Let’s Be Inspired, as well as a mental health coloring book and journal — each expanding her mission to educate, encourage, and empower others to live productive lives beyond their diagnoses.

What impact has ownership had on her life, family, and her community?

Owning her story has opened countless doors for Swiyyah. She and her husband have traveled the country presenting at conferences, facilitating workshops, and even appearing on television to share their message. Along the way, she’s gained new perspectives on the psychology industry — seeing it through the eyes of therapists and even pharmaceutical companies. This helped her recognize that there are people who genuinely care about clients and are working hard to create medications that support their mental wellness.

Swiyyah’s work has also strengthened her family. She collaborates closely with her husband, Dederick Woodard, an author and motivational speaker with nearly 25 years of experience, and even involves her young daughter in their family bookstore. Together, they inspire one another’s creativity and perseverance.

Millions have heard Swiyyah’s story, and she treasures the moments when people say, “If you can do it, I can do it too.” She is proud to be an African American woman helping to remove the stigma around therapy and mental health. For her, the growth she witnesses — in individuals and communities as a whole — is the most rewarding part of her journey. It’s this growth that has helped her continue learning, healing, and growing.

One of her greatest honors was being nominated by her community and interviewed by Bay News 9 as a Community Hero — a moment she describes as her community “loving on her.”

What fears or challenges did she have before becoming an owner, and how did she overcome them?

When Swiyyah began speaking about mental health in 2006, very few people — especially African Americans — were sharing their personal mental health experiences. There were no book coaches or trainings available. So she taught herself how to publish by reading books, but marketing remained a challenge. As a result, her very first royalty check with a small publisher was just $12.

Refusing to give up, Swiyyah later found a group online and invested in their courses, read more books, experimented with Amazon ads, and steadily grew her sales. Additionally, Dederick inspired her through his support and work, and taught her how to speak and engage with her audience. Swiyyah is proof that persistence pays off.

Her journey has not been without hardship. In 2018, while in labor, Swiyyah was accused of neglecting her baby, leading to the temporary removal of her daughter by Child Protective Services. Leaving the hospital without her baby was a deeply traumatic experience for Swiyyah and her family. This resulted in another hospitalization for her mental health. Yet even through this painful chapter, she persisted, and she and her family eventually regained custody and emerged stronger together.

Today, Swiyyah continues to rise! She has returned to speaking, relaunching her workshops, working to turn her third book, Let’s Be Inspired, into a film, and preparing to launch coaching programs to teach aspiring authors how to publish, promote, and profit from their own stories.

Swiyyah sees her journey — both the victories and the challenges — as part of her healing. Her mission is clear: to show people that their mental health diagnosis does not define them, that they can overcome, and that their extraordinary and productive life is still within reach.

What advice would she give someone who’s never owned an income-producing asset but wants to start a business speaking and writing about their personal story?

Swiyyah’s advice is both practical and empowering:

• Train, study, and read everything you can about publishing and marketing.

• Keep learning your craft, no matter how much or how little money you make.

• Do as much as you can for yourself until you find the right people to partner with.

Work with Swiyyah

• To book her for speaking engagements or interviews, visit: www.DontCallMeCrazy.com

  
  

• Explore her family bookstore, which features a powerful catalog of Swiyyah and her husband’s books: www.Swiyyah.com

  
  

• Coming soon: Her coaching program for aspiring authors on publishing, marketing, and increasing royalties.