Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Williams.
Hi Alyssa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The reason I am where I am today, and who I am today, is all because of my relationship with Jesus. I decided to accept His gift of salvation very early in life and made it my goal to follow Him wherever He might lead me. Having only a limited idea of what it meant to serve Him, I thought this might lead me to Africa as a missionary. And in fact, I did make it there eventually, for a couple of weeks. But what He really showed me was that the list of options for serving Him, and being a part of His plan for the world, is far longer than I would have ever imagined. God is incredibly creative, and He has genuinely made each of us unique creations, with unique talents to steward for His purposes. And He has shown me that a talent that I have is helping people figure out what their unique talents are and what their contributions could be. I basically figured out that one of God’s great purposes for me is to help others figure out what His purposes are for them. And I love it.
I felt led by God to study psychology in college, with the aim of becoming a Christian counselor. I finished my undergrad degree at the University of Texas San Antonio in the traditional 4 years. But, the Master’s Degree in Biblical Counseling at Dallas Theological Seminary took me 6 years. For many years I was only taking classes in my spare time while I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ, a ministry to college students. While I was with ‘Cru’ I knew I wanted to be a counselor, but I hadn’t yet figured out my specialty in helping people find their purposes. Even though I was discipling students and always asking them what they were studying and why. It wasn’t until I took my career counseling course, one of my last classes, that I realized how God had shaped my heart to serve best as a counselor. It was that same year, 2013, that I graduated, got my license as a counselor, and began my journey of developing a career theory and method specifically for Christians.
Something I noticed in my career counseling course was that there wasn’t a comprehensive career theory for those of us who believe we were designed by God for very specific purposes. So I set out to develop my own. Now over 10 years later I have written my book on this career theory and method, and am very proud to report that I am consistently told that the concepts I have developed are very clear and helpful. One thing that I set out to do was take the big existential question “What is God’s plan for my life” and turn it into a question you actually expect to find an answer to. God tells us so much of His intentions for us in our very design, and when you interpret it from the context of what else He tells us of His plans and intentions in the Bible, the answers become much clearer. My method helps people study God, themselves, and the opportunities God provides around them and helps them make confident decisions for their careers.
In my book “Masterpiece: Develop the Christ-Centered Life and Career You Were Made For,” I help people understand that a career is more than just a job you stick around in for a long time. A career is better understood as all the roles in your life working together to help you fulfill your many purposes. This validates all the important things you do with your life outside of the things you get paid for, or have official titles for. It even validates the things you do just for yourself, tapping into the way God specifically designed you to be refreshed as His very loved and valued servant.
At this point in my own career, I have a private counseling practice called E210 Counseling. This is where I work with anyone in the state of Texas online to develop their Christ-centered career concepts. I have written two books, one for adults as I mentioned before, and one for children called “The Artist’s New Paintbrish”. I have several volunteer roles like serving at my church and working as a Girl Scout Troop Leader. I am a mother to a daughter who I love to invest in and a dog who I love to spoil. I am a wife who is committed to her husband. A friend to many wonderful people. And so on and so on. My career is comprised of all of these roles, and it is always developing and changing as God changes me and my circumstances. And despite how hard life can be sometimes, I have never regretted putting Jesus as the center of my life and priorities. He’s just the best.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the roles I was eager to add to my career after getting married was that of “mother.” My husband and I were both excited to add many kids to our family. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be as easy as we had hoped. We tried for over 4 years with many fertility treatments. And while God did eventually bless us with our daughter through IVF, I didn’t make it out of that season unscathed. The complete lack of control over my fertility led to me anxiously seeking control elsewhere. I had generalized anxiety for a while before comfortably settling on germs as my main focus. As a professional counselor I “knew” what I had to do to get better, but while a hair stylist can give themselves a haircut, there are often some major blindspots they need help with. I needed help, but unfortunately, I didn’t start to get any until after I experienced even more hard times. I was able to get pregnant naturally only to lose the baby. And my marriage had an extreme time of struggle.
At this point, I had been working on my career theory and method for years and was actively working on my book. But I had to set it all aside just to focus on survival mode. I wasn’t really sure what the future had for me at all. But, in my relationship with God, I knew that I had love and I had purpose. Even if my future was a big question mark, I knew I had those things and I would be ok. It was so fortifying to be able to hold on to that. And thankfully, it was God’s plan that my marriage would find healing, and so would my grief. Eventually, I was experiencing enough stability that I was able to regain my full bandwidth and was able to start writing again. A few years later I started my private practice and published my first book. And I could see how God used that time of extreme struggle to not only strengthen me and my marriage but also the content of what I wrote in my book. He worked it all out for good.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about E210 Counseling LLC?
I have a private practice called E210 Counseling. It was named after the verse Ephesians 2:10 that says we are all God’s masterpieces, created anew in Christ Jesus to do the good things that God planned for us long ago. In this private practice, which can be found at E210Counseling.com I offer many services and resources to help anyone determine God’s plan for their lives.
For people who live in the state of Texas, I can offer personalized counseling online to help them develop their current career concept and develop the skills they need to keep updating their career concept as their life progresses. On my website, I offer many free and inexpensive resources to help anyone (Texas residents or not) develop their career concept on their own. My book, in particular, can be picked up by anyone, at any stage of their adult life and provide the guidance they need to develop a healthy and sustainable Christ-centered career.
In addition to the book I have written for adults called “Masterpiece: Develop the Christ-Centered Life and Career You Were Made For,” I have a book written and illustrated for children called “The Artist’s New Paintbrush.” This is about a paintbrush that was made and brought to life by “The Artist.” Once alive the paintbrush has all sorts of questions about what it was made for. As kids read this book they learn how to answer the same question about their own lives. Both of these books are available on Amazon, but also available at a discounted price on my website.
Another resource that I have that is available to anyone is my seminars. These can be scheduled to be online or in person depending on where you are geographically. They can be very helpful for a group to develop a good foundation for either building new career concepts or making good changes towards a healthier lifestyle. I love teaching these seminars and seeing how quickly people are able to make changes in their lives for the better.
How do you think about luck?
I genuinely don’t believe in luck good or bad. I believe God has a way of maintaining control over our lives, even with us having free will. However, I understand how things can feel lucky or unlucky, and I think an example of one such moment was when I was searching for an editor for my book. I really needed someone who didn’t just know the English language, but also the Word of God. I wanted to make sure that my theological concepts were being communicated just as clearly as anything else. I also needed that person to work for free or very inexpensively. I felt like I should ask a friend who just knew a lot of great people, and as it just so happened, she knew someone who was a strong believer, was an excellent editor, and was actually considering transitioning into a career of editing books from a faith-based perspective. She was perfect!
And while I was willing to scrape together whatever I could to pay her properly, she was so early in her transition to editing books she couldn’t wrap her head around a fee structure. She was more just excited to see how she enjoyed the process. So instead we traded specialties. She would edit my book, and I would help her think through the next steps of her career. This most unexpected blessing was the turning point in my ability to actually publish the book I had been working on for a decade.
Pricing:
- Individual Online Career Counseling – $120 an hour
- *Online career counseling sessions have sliding scale fees available
- Adult Career Development Book – $20 on E210Counseling.com
- Children’s Career Development Book – $15 on E210Counseling.com
- Career Development Seminars – $300 an hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://E210Counseling.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/E210Counseling/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/e210counseling
- Twitter: https://x.com/E210Counseling
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@E210Counseling
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/e210-counseling-cedar-park
