Conversations with Aisha Cox

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aisha Cox.

Hi Aisha, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hey, I’m Aisha. I’m a SoCal girl who has been living in Colorado for the past 6 years. I’m a Leader, Mentor, and Speaker. I am known to encourage, get people out of their comfort zone, and on their feet dancing. My life is the definition of a plot twist. I had my plans and then God had His.

My story begins with saying “yes” to something I felt called to step into, yet at the same time was completely terrified of doing. In February of 2020, I went with a team of women from my church to host a Women’s Conference in Cuba. For the past 12 years, I have been mentoring young girls and teenagers in various capacities. If stay in your lane was a person, it would be me. So, the idea of being on team of women to plan a conference for women in a different country felt like a massive stretch. I also can’t forget to mention the previous two years were filled with wounds from women in ministry, business, and those close wounds from friends. That was a huge part of my resistance and fear. It was at this conference where I got to experience everything that I’d been longing for back home in Colorado. The ability to connect with women from every generation, encourage them, be a supportive presence, and dance ALL in the same space. This conference inspired me and freed me from the wounds that were hindering me from being open to new relationships with women.

Shortly after being back home, I heard God say create what you just experienced. A space where women can both be their authentic selves and discover their authentic self. A multigenerational group of women leaning into God’s truth and building community along the journey. I felt an urgency to move forward and planned for a soft launch in March 2020 with some of the women I knew in Colorado who were interested.

Well as y’all know, that’s when the pandemic started. I was so confused at what was happening in the world and begin to question this vision. I wrestled through a lot of fear and perfectionism in this process. Ultimately I had to learn how to let go of how I thought it would be and reimagine what this could look like with meeting limitations. I am grateful for this pivot because it helped open up who could be part of this movement as the vision expanded to digital spaces too. February 2, 2022 is when I launched Authentically Arise. We are all about creating authentic spaces for women to arise into their God-given identity, purpose, and build community along the journey. I attribute where I am today to my faith, supportive community, and a whole lot of research via YouTube for behind-the-scenes components.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Far from smooth. The pandemic threw me off as it did so many. The whole idea was being able to meet in person to create these spaces and now that had been ruled unsafe to do so. One of the biggest challenges for me is learning how to release how I thought it would be. So, I grieved that for months. Also, this was putting myself out there and doing it afraid in a major way. Some thoughts I had to wrestle with were: Who do you think you are?

You don’t have the resources for this.

Women won’t like it…women won’t like you.

Lots of thoughts to make me sit on the vision and not move forward. I am a recovering perfectionist, so even the challenge of creating a logo that resonated took over a year. I actually ended up making it on Canva myself. I used to view perfectionism as a huge asset of mine, but now I see it for what it truly is. It’s a great hindrance to growth and purpose. I wanted everything to be “perfect” which is why is took me two years to eventually launch. I had to get to the place where I pursued excellence over perfection. I learned how to give myself grace to evolve and change things as I go. I started to tell myself, “Everything I have is everything I need.”

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We specialize in creating spaces where authenticity, vulnerability, and belonging are experienced. Spaces where women feel seen, heard, and encouraged with God’s truth for their lives. It has been amazing to see this apply to both our digital and in-person spaces.  I would also say that we are known as a safe space, which is important for vulnerability and hard conversations to happen. I am proud of all that we’ve experienced and the community we’ve built so far. I did not envision hosting two events within the first six months of launching, but here we are. I’m proud of the team that has rallied around the vision and ultimately enhances everything we do. What differentiates us is that one of our core values is movement and it is something you will experience at every in-person event. Laughter, encouragement, movement, connection, and vulnerability are essential elements to anything we do. We will keep you on your toes and surprised to say the least.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
My relationship with God is number one. The vision for Authentically Arise came to be by making margin to listen to His voice and all that I do flows from a posture of listening. There’s a different kind of confidence and trust you have when you are partnering with God. My faith reframes how I would even describe success. It’s not about numbers or popularity for me. It’s about women’s lives being transformed and strengthening their relationship with God. Being authentic, humble, agile, disciplined, and the desire to lead from a healthy soul are qualities that keep me anchored.  A helpful reminder for myself and our team is that our goal is to be authentic, not perfect. That phrase removes pressure to be someone we are not and do things we don’t have capacity for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authenticallyarise.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authenticallyarise/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authenticallyarise

Image Credits
Leah Rae Photography for personal headshot only
Reagan Kappel for barn shots