Our Approach
The Real 8 is a product of three childhood friends coming back together after time in the "real world" and realizing that certain characteristics of their multi-decade friendship had been energizing and reaffirming during life's challenges. We formed the Real 8 to help others master the magic of human relationships to reach their fullest potential.
Meet the Team
We are three friends with a mission to truthfully and fearlessly explore the intersection of the personal and professional towards career and life goals. We use our experience with life long friendship, different career paths, and life challenges to accomplish this mission.
Melissa Henderson
Co Conspirator 1
Melissa is a matter-of-fact consultant and coach whose facial expressions are as candid as it gets. She kicks back by playing blocks with a toddler and chasing a Bichon Frise around the house when she's not flying across the Atlantic Ocean.
Janeen Bryant
Co Conspirator 2
An advocate and catalyst for building community capacity since 2000, Janeen Bryant is an inter-sectional educator, facilitator and non-profit leader. Unless you want a real answer, don't ask her any questions.
Jeri Wilcox
Accomplice Extraordinaire
Prior to working with the Real 8, she has worked in research science both in biomedical research and science education giving her over a decade of quantitative data analysis. She has since come out of the lab and into the light to realize she missed more human interaction.
Our Story.
Picture it: Greenville, SC, Summer 2016. Three friends meet at a local children's museum with their families. Nothing special. Friends since 1987, the event seems typical. This occurrence wasn't that easy as it just so happened that one was in town after driving with her family from somewhere west of the Mississippi River a few days earlier. Another had flown in from Egypt a week earlier, and the last had made a day trip in from the closest major city. Afterward, they enjoy lunch and chit-chat in a downtown restaurant. They realized how valuable the relationship they had has been through school, college, jobs, marriages, children, and many other milestones in life. This relationship had given each of them a secret edge, making difficult moments a little bit more manageable and making the good moments better. Later that summer they revisited the idea of how crucial various relationships had been to their successes and thought about a way to bring that edge to others. The Real 8 that mission brought to life.
Next Steps...
You know a little more about us but feel free to explore the site and find out what the Real 8 is all about. Feel free to tell us a little more about you and the relationships that have gotten you where you are today.
