Joy Seminars Women Bring Light-Hearted Approach To Diversity Consulting Business

Sharon Smith-Waterhouse, Joy Seminars vice president “Who are we? Sisters in adversity, sisters in God, sisters in spite of the world, four sisters, hues of heaven.”

From “Four of Us” By Sharon Marie Smith-Waterhouse.

They have different accents, different skin tones and different parents.

But Elizabeth Mills-Garnett, Sharon Smith-Waterhouse, Denise McKinnon and Rhonda Hawkins act like sisters. They finish each other’s sentences and sit with similarly clasped hands, giggling over personal jokes and telling stories about grandchildren.

The women, some of whom have been friends for 27 years, work independently as consultants, poets, writers, mothers and government contractors. They met each other at church, neighborhood get-togethers or their kids’ schools.

In 1990 they decided to pool their talents and follow “a vision and a dream” of Elizabeth Mills-Garnett, founder and president of Joy Seminars Inc. The home-based company tailors seminars for professionals, minority and women’s groups, and everybody in between.

The quartet gives seminars on etiquette, leadership and single parenthood. They teach workshops on prevocational training, communication and skin care.

According to Joy Seminars’ vice president Sharon Smith-Waterhouse, their individual diversity is precisely what makes them valuable as a team.

“Because each of us has a separate field of expertise, we can tailor our seminars to suit the client’s needs,” said SmithWaterhouse, who specializes in leadership and education. She’s also a poet whose books are available at Auntie’s Bookstore and the library.

Joy Seminars has given presentations at the Women’s Drop-In Center and East Central Neighborhood Center. The group has taught at Spokane Falls Community College Women’s Leadership Conference and the 100 Black Women Coalition.

Clients have been primarily women’s groups. But they emphasized that their seminars have universal appeal, and they are trying to break into diversity consulting.

“We know we have something to offer men and corporations here,” said McKinnon, a government contractor and mother who specializes in child rearing and interpersonal relations.

“We’re not all about prejudices and discrimination. People think if you’re a woman of color, you don’t have the same emotional responses as the community at large. But we all relate to each other,” said McKinnon, Joy Seminars’ treasurer.

Respecting cultural differences is as important to a mixed audience as to an African American audience, McKinnon added. It’s especially important to recognize differences within the African American community in Spokane, a city with few racial minorities.

“It’s a dangerous stereotype to think of your culture and heritage as a monolith. An important part of our seminars deals with differences within the black culture, like regional differences,” said McKinnon, who grew up in Oklahoma City.

The women say their presence in Spokane brings a touch of diversity to the business community. But Joy Seminars does not function exclusively as sensitivity training.

“We try to make it fun,” said Mills-Garnett, who specializes in fashion, etiquette and entertainment. She teaches one workshop called “Celebrating Life’s Eating, from Kwanza to High Tea.”

“We’re not experts on anything. We’re just sharing experiences and creating a bridge to help the community at large,” she said.

The women try to distinguish Joy Seminars from heated diversity workshops by including poetry, prose, music and humor.

Titles such as “Surprise! This is Not the Man I Married” and “You’re Not Crazy, Your Kids Are,” lighten the mood. Secretary Rhonda Hawkins teaches stress reduction.

As business increases, the group hopes to create an ad budget. (Eventually, they hope to create satellite branches throughout the Northwest and California.) For now, word-ofmouth and referrals from friends has kept them busy.

They dream about expansion but they’re dedicated to serving Spokane. They want to penetrate social and professional communities here so racism doesn’t scar their hometown.

“People come to Spokane because they think it’s calmer, quieter, more peaceful,” Mills-Garnett said.

“But it’s boiling underneath. If we don’t bridge racial gaps, it’s going to explode. Right now, we have a chance to prevent these problems and make Spokane a model city.”