Meet Raheem Turane | Founder & Visionary

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raheem Turane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raheem, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting your own business is the one guarantee that you will always have an opportunity to create a stream of income, you may have to pivot while creating, but you’ll never be fired. In the process of creating “the GROW Development Corporation, LLC” I saw a need that touched every sphere of influence and began the process of identifying pain points and created pain point escapes. In doing this “the GROW Church of Houston” was launched to meet the spiritual, socio-emotional, economical, and relational deficits within the region. With this we observed a greater need, and that need was affordable, accessible child care and educational opportunities, this caused us to launch the “GROW Kidz Academy”. In launching the “GROW Kidz Academy”, we were afforded the opportunity to obtain a license through the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and we are partnering with the Texas Rising Star program which is a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) which is powered through the Texas workforce Commission (TWC) for families and children who receive assistance.

We have several other offshoots that are coming to include “GROW Mentoring and Development” which will focus on inner city youth from the ages of 6-17 years old that have been deemed at risk for community involvement and out of home placement, the “GROW Abstinence and Teen Pregnancy Program” will focus on the cycle of pregnancy and prevention to include educational, and resources for those who have been deemed at risk for such challenges and issues to assist in breaking a cycle of generational poverty through educational assistance and resources., Finally our “GROW Cares” is our community initiative where we raise awareness and meet the needs of the community to include but not limited to outreach, food drives, school drives, giveaways, and bringing dental and health accessibility to those at the highest levels of risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I began my journey in the mental health space back in 2007, where I found myself working in a maximum security juvenile detention facility in Virginia as a mental health advocate and counselor. I fell in love with helping young people deal with their personal issues through the use of perspective based counseling. In this, I learned that much of what these young people had experienced was generational trauma and poverty that led to a vicious cycle of absenteeism, aggression, and hopelessness. It was at this moment that I understood that I had a responsibility to lead these young people to a place of healing, community and familial reconciliation and self forgiveness. Through this, I was afforded the opportunity to create mental health based programs to address the prison to pipeline pandemic, to include Medicaid funded school based counseling services that addressed the highest risk students for in-home, at school suspension and possible expulsion, all the way to In-home based counseling services which addressed the issues within the home that bleed into the community.

My journey was not difficult, there were bumps in the roads, and obstacles. Some obstacles were self inflected, some were environmental, some were financial, some were educational. However through it all I’ve always been one to persevere, and always had a level of favor that produces supernatural assistance.

I’ve learned many lessons throughout my career but the biggest lesson I’ve learned is accountability. Accountability is foreign to a lot of people because many people have never been held accountable, and if there was an attempt it’s often fought and brushed off as an attack. Whereas accountability is the highest form of love we can be governed by.

If I had it my way, I would want to be known as a man who grew up in a single parent home, who’s father was murdered, who went down the wrong path due to a lack of guidance who made a decision to utilize the challenges that were present as stepping stones into the freedom.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m definitely a foodie, so I love to eat. I frequent places like Pappadeaux chain of restaurants, Perry’s Steakhouse, Gracies located in downtown Houston, local food trucks and so many other places that I’m having a brain freeze just to name them. I love to shop so the Galleria is my go to, as well as the Nike Outlet only when they have Jordan 1’s in stock. On the days my sweet tooth is out of control I hit up “the dough cone” ice cream truck for that soft serve. For fun I like the Home Run Dugout, Andretti Indoor Karting.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am fortunate to have an amazing with who is a serial entrepreneur named Kimberly. When we first got married she asked me what was the vision for our family, and where are we going. I provided her what she asked for and she has pushed out parts of the vision that would’ve taken me years to complete by myself. In her own right she is a MEGA mogul within the industries of real estate where she’s been a successful real estate agent for over 22 years, she shot up in the ranks of Mary Kay and within six months not only did she earn $100k, she also obtained the title of Sales Director, and she has a thriving Tax company with three franchise offices within the Houston metropolitan area named “Tax Max Pro’s”. I’m also grateful for the countless mentors that I’ve had over the years who made sure when I walked into a room, I just didn’t look like I belonged, but I had the language needed for the room.

Website: www.raheemturane.com

Instagram: raheem_turane

Twitter: @APTURANE

Facebook: AP Raheem Turane