Meet the CEO
MY Story and why I built NSO
Next Steps Outreach began because I could not find the help I was looking for. No one seemed able to direct me to someone who understood what I was mentally going through.
I remember sitting across the table, trying to explain what was happening inside me. The person responding sounded like she had memorized a book and was reciting it back to me. I needed someone to hear me—to understand what I was feeling.
It felt like I had a committee in my head, with everyone talking at once. I was overwhelmed by stress, depression, and thoughts of suicide. I was in a very lonely place. I could not eat. I could not sleep. I wondered why God would not just take me out of my misery.
Learning the tools of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) changed my life. I began to understand how my beliefs affected my feelings and how I responded to what happened to me. Those tools helped me see myself and my life differently.
Even after ten years, I still encounter people who judge me by my past. The difference today is that I carry no shame and no guilt. My past is my past. It is part of my story, but it does not define my worth or decide my future.
Next Steps Outreach was born from that experience. If I can help even one person feel less alone in that pain, my life has purpose. What I lived through can become something that helps someone else.
I know what it feels like to struggle to explain what is happening inside you and leave feeling unheard. That experience shapes how I show up: I listen, I meet people where they are, and I help them find tools they can use to take their next step.
Every life leaves a fingerprint. I want mine to help as many people as possible know that they are heard that they matter, and that they do not have to face their next steps alone.
— LeNita W. Gardner
Founder, Next Steps Outreach LLC
The Committee in My Head
When I say, “the committee in my head,” I mean the competing thoughts, fears, doubts, and judgments that made it hard to find peace. It felt like everyone was talking at once, and I could not sort through what I was feeling.
Through my YouTube and TikTok series, I share my personal experience and the REBT tools that helped me question those thoughts and respond differently. These conversations are about finding understanding, feeling less alone, and learning how to take your next step.
Follow me on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for “The Committee in My Head”—a series using visual examples to explore the random thoughts and arguments we have with ourselves. I share my experiences and practical tools that helped me sort through those thoughts, question them, and respond with greater clarity.