As a survivor subject matter expert (SME), it can sometimes feel like our lived experience should be enough to create change in our communities. And in many ways, lived experience is powerful. It brings insight, credibility, empathy, and perspectives that cannot be taught in a classroom.

At the same time, I have learned that lived experience becomes even more impactful when it is supported by learning, reflection, and structure.

I remember when advocacy efforts were underway to support funding for comprehensive services for individuals who had experienced labor trafficking in Minnesota. I went to the Capitol and shared my story, but my story alone was not what moved the work forward. There were other SMEs with lived experience contributing insight and recommendations. Nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and community partners each brought different expertise and perspectives that strengthened the effort.

That experience taught me something important. My lived experience was foundational, but collaboration, learning, and structure helped transform experience into lasting change.

Long before then, I had already learned through many different avenues including classrooms, books, online resources, conversations, observation, and simply remaining open to growth. I also came to appreciate the value of structure.

When I say structure, I do not mean rigid systems that erase authenticity. I mean creating intentional ways to organize our ideas, protect our energy, strengthen our work, and build something sustainable.

Recently, while gathering information for the A Living Label Empowerment Fund, I came across a picture in my archive. The picture had been taken years ago by an ABC Newspaper reporter in Anoka who came to interview me at my small 120 square foot hair braiding shop, Bukola Braiding. In the photo, I was working with my son tied to my back.

As I looked closely, I noticed something that made me pause. Hanging on the wall was my business registration certificate from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office issued in 2007. Wow! That was nineteen years ago! I smiled and thought about how time flies.

Then I came across another picture that brought back a memory. The photo showed a Barbicide container with combs soaking in sanitizing solution. I smiled because it reminded me of an important lesson. Years earlier, I had completed a 30-hour hair braiding sanitation training by Mary Reid of Reid’s Hair Salon. Before that training, I already cared deeply about cleanliness and sanitized my equipment with hot water and rubbing alcohol. But the training expanded my understanding. It helped me better understand how germs spread and what it truly meant to create a safer and healthier environment for clients.

The training did not replace what I already knew or practiced. It deepened my knowledge and strengthened my approach. I think about subject matter expertise in a similar way. Learning has been one of the factors that continues to help me provide relevance and value to SMEs with lived experience and allies alike in anti-trafficking work. Learning helps me understand structure, and structure helps support sustainability.

Over time, I have seen situations where SMEs with lived experience wonder why opportunities went to someone newer in the field. While every situation is different, I have learned that our work continues to evolve. Sometimes opportunities are connected not only to experience, but also to how we continue to grow, adapt, document our work, and expand our skills.

I think of lived experience as the foundation of a house. The foundation is essential. Without it, there is nothing to build on. But a foundation alone is not the full house. Walls provide shape. The roof offers protection. Doors create access. Windows allow vision. Furnishings make the space usable and welcoming. Our lived experience is the foundation. Learning, mentorship, professional development, documentation, relationships, and structure help us continue building. And the beautiful thing is that no two houses have to look the same.

For some, learning may happen through formal education. For others, it may happen through observation, mentorship, books, workshops, conferences, community, lived practice, or online resources. For me, one part of that journey included returning to school to better understand how to apply my lived experience within professional settings. I later documented that journey in my book, A Living Label. At the time, there was no degree program focused specifically on human trafficking and resources were limited. So I drew from related fields, including domestic violence, and developed a paper with the guidance of an academic adviser on Human Trafficking as a Typology of Violence.

That journey eventually led to the development of three curricula, implementation of those curricula, and even returning to Nigeria through a project called Bringing the Story Back Home to create awareness in five higher education institutions with the support of Metropolitan State University, The Enitan Story board, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, and many allies and supporters.

None of that replaced my lived experience. It expanded what became possible because of it. So my encouragement to fellow lived experience experts is this. Remain open to learning in whatever form feels accessible and meaningful to you. Growth does not diminish your story. Structure does not take away your authenticity.

Learning does not make your lived experience less valuable. It creates additional pathways for your wisdom to travel. It is not only organizations engaging with SMEs that benefit from learning. When both parties continue to learn, engagement becomes more meaningful, collaborative, and less likely to become extractive.

And as you build, document your journey. You never know when the history you are creating today may become one of the pillars that supports your future or opens doors for someone coming behind you.

I invite you to join me to invest in the potential, leadership, and future of survivors through education, skill-building, apprenticeships, and business development opportunities through the A Living Label Empowerment Fund.