Conversations with Dr. Robert O’Keefe Hassell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Robert O’Keefe Hassell.

Hi Dr. Hassell, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My name is Dr. Robert O’Keefe Hassell. Michael Fassbender stated, “Big things have small beginnings.”

This is the story of my life. I am originally a native of Lebanon, Tennessee. Raised between the inner-city housing projects, country, and suburbs I had a cosmopolitan upbringing. It was God, family, and community. I believe this laid the foundation for my future successes.

I attended Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee where I graduated in 2007, Summa Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English.

I went on to pursue Graduate Studies at Tennessee State University where I obtained a Master’s in Education (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Education Technology. Subsequently, I earned a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Curriculum Planning from the Department of Teaching and Learning at Tennessee State University. True to my Education Technology Background, I am a Certified Apple Teacher.

I have maintained a highly successful career in Higher Education since 2009. Currently, I work as The Director of Faculty Training for The SMART Technology Center at Tennessee State University. Additionally, I am a Professor of Humanities (English-Literature), General Studies, and the Title III Writing Center Coordinator for Student Success at American Baptist College.

I am a Certified Holistic Life Coach and obtained my certification from the Radiant Health Institute, LLC. (Bellevue, TN). Additionally, I am one of the featured African-American male coaches in the Greater Nashville -Metropolitan area.

I am the author of 4 books to date: Radiant Kids (2016) – Radiant Publishing, Evolve (2017) -B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC., Clergy Conversations: Dealing Practically with the Person Behind the Pulpit (2018) – B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC., and The Courage to Transition: It’s Now or Never! (2021) – B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC.

On October 27, 2013, I formally announced my calling to the Gospel Ministry at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Cookeville, Tennessee. I was licensed to preach the gospel on November 24, 2013, at the Trinity Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of Reverend Earl Dirkson.

On December 9, 2017, I was ordained as an Elder in the Churches of God In Christ, Inc. (COGIC) – Tennessee Eastern 2nd Jurisdiction by Bishop James M. Scott. At present, I am under the leadership of Archbishop Q.S. Caldwell and the Celebration of Praise Ministries, Inc. is headquartered in Albany, Georgia.

I was appointed as the 1st Administrative Assistant of The North Georgia Jurisdiction – Celebration of Praise Ministries, Inc. under the leadership of Bishop D.E. Williams and Supervisor Mary Elder. Subsequently, he serves as a National Officer – President of the Celebration of Praise Ministry School of Ministry and Seminary – Albany, GA.

I am one of the Co-Establishmentarians of The Summit Church Nashville and the Lead Pastor of The Summit Church Lebanon. We’re a new church plant here in the Northeast Nashville area. We’ve been here in the city for 2 years.

Shameless Plug: Summit Nashville Services are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Sundays at 3:45 P.M. – 4590 Clarksville Pike Nashville, Tennessee 37218.

Summit Lebanon Services are 4th Sunday Nights at 6:30 P.M. – Currently at 902 Carthage Highway Lebanon, Tennessee 37087 – Also in-person bible studies at are Lebanon location are every Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. – 149 Public Square Lebanon, Tennessee 37087

Our handles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter): @thescnashville and @thesclebanon.

In addition to this Pastoral charge, I am the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sinai Evangelistic Ministries (S.E.M.) which serves as his official preaching platform and evangelism outreach initiative.

The priority is to build a God-centered foundation of motivation through increased morale and to invigorate the performance of people through a series of multifaceted strategies for obtaining a balanced, abundant life according to the Word of God.

These tools include connecting the people’s sense of self-identity and purpose as found in Christ. I am an advocate for the growth of the faith community, social justice, collective accountability, and being a role model inside and outside of the pulpit.

I am also an entrepreneur. I am the owner of iCreate Curriculum Design Center an education and curriculum consultant firm.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My life can be summed up by the 2nd stanza of Langston Hughes’ poem ‘ Mother to Son’ that says,

“But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you find it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

I can say that my life has been filled with its fair share of difficulty, obstacles, and layered adversities. When people see me in the present in any dynamic, I tell them that “Grace makes the hard things look easy.” I can honestly say that I have been defying odds all of my life.

Resilience is in my DNA. When I look back over what I have lived through and developed beyond, I am amazed but more so grateful because the reality is that I should be a statistic. Even more sobering is the fact that I exceeded expectations when the circumstances did not warrant my survival or success.

In my formative years, I was raised in a single-parent home along with my 2 sisters. My mother was an educator and my father was a Navy man and industrial worker/cook. Our family faced issues such as drug addiction, separation, and the like. Because of this, my father was incarcerated on and off and faced a rigorous fight against addiction.

This made for quite the strain and struggle in our daily lives. However, my mother and grandmother were fixtures of support. No matter how “shaky” and “crazy” life got at times, they persevered and made it a priority to establish an environment of consistency and care. They emphasized the power of God in any situation, and the value of education, discipline, and goal setting.

We were always surrounded with love, support, and the intentional care of the community. God, faith, and family were always at the center of everything we did. My mom and grandmother had a way of making us believe that we could literally do anything. This attitude of optimism has created the fuel and drive I have, I daily impart the same to others and it has continued to make me effective in all that I am called to in the present.

Emerging into adulthood I found myself navigating spaces, making choices, and sacrificing for long-term goals.
I did not choose the conventional path. I decided early on I would make goals for myself that required significant time investments. Many of my choices were made to position myself to aid my mother, grandmother, and sisters in the future.

During my family’s transitional periods, I was a “father figure” to my sisters. I was the example, so I wore that weight and responsibility. I wanted to show them that they could be and accomplish anything with consistency, determination, and hard work.

I went straight through school from undergrad through the completion of my Doctoral Degree. My first job was as a Prize Validation Analyst for the Tennessee Education Lottery. I worked that job fresh out of undergrad for a salary of$21,000 per year while working on my Master’s. I did not have a car, so I either walked or took the bus from 2007 to 2009.

Cold days, rainy mornings, and snow but I had a goal in mind. Those years helped me become accountable, resourceful, responsible, and refined. After I was accepted into my Doctoral Program, I worked full time as a Pre-K teacher up until my last semester and I was promoted to Inaugural Site Coordinator for the Afterschool Program at Explore Community School.

I also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant during my program. The schedule I had was slammed. My diet was 4 cups of coffee, Mt. Dew Live Wires, Mt. Dew Voltages, and Candy. I was one of those students who had to choose books or food. I chose books. I was your typical graduate student with the maximum hours and a hectic schedule.
Looking back, it was absolutely insane to think about. I made it!

I accomplished major life goals while establishing relationships with amazing people along the way. However, I persevered and prayed. I can say it was my faith that kept me rooted throughout life on both ends.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the Director of Faculty Technology Training for The SMART Technology Center at Tennessee State University. Additionally, he is a Professor of Humanities (English-Literature) | General Studies and the Title III Writing Center Coordinator for Student Success at American Baptist College.

I am a Certified Holistic Life Coach |Radiant Health Institute, LLC. (Bellevue, TN). Additionally, he is one of the featured African-American male coaches in the Greater Nashville -Metropolitan area.

I am the author of 4 books to date: Radiant Kids (2016) – Radiant Publishing, Evolve (2017) -B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC., Clergy Conversations: Dealing Practically with the Person Behind the Pulpit (2018) – B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC., and The Courage to Transition: It’s Now or Never! (2021) – B.K. Royston Publishing, LLC.

Lastly, but surely not least, I am a proud Pastor of 2 amazing churches – The Summit Church Nashville and The Summit Church Lebanon.

I am most proud of how I have evolved, expanded, and emerged as a man and professional. Honestly, I had that “ugly duckling” phase, but I became beautiful in my own time. This, I believe, is the most rewarding part of seeing my life play out moment by moment. I am most known for my high energy, charisma, optimism, and leadership abilities. I am an Education Technologist and Integration Specialist, avid reader, and social media conversationalist.

What sets me apart from others is that I am highly adaptable. People playfully refer to me as Rumpelstiltskin because I am “spinning straw into gold” and finding paths to solutions and making things work whether that be people, structures, or teams.

People that I work closely with often say that my intelligent nature is ‘icing on the cake’ but my flexibility, quick skillset to adapt to any situation, and ability to thrive in different settings are something to marvel at most times. As Donna F Hammett writes, intelligent people adapt by “showing what can be done regardless of the complications or restrictions placed upon them.”

I am also marked by my insatiable curiosity. Albert Einstein reportedly said, “I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.” This is coupled with an open mind where most people will say that I am willing to accept and consider other views with value and broad-mindedness,” and that I am always “open to alternative solutions.”

But I have superpowers! I am sensitive to other people’s experiences. The dynamic of empathy I exhibit helps me in any situation. I am attuned to the needs and feelings of others and acting in a way that is sensitive to those needs, is a core component of emotional intelligence. As an emotionally-intelligent individual, I am typically very interested in talking to new people and learning more about them.

My other super-power is that I can connect seemingly unrelated concepts. I have this uncanny ability to see patterns where others can’t. That’s because I can draw parallels between seemingly disparate ideas.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risks are choices with uncertain potential outcomes that can be desirable or undesirable, like winning or losing money in a gamble.

Risk behaviors fall along a spectrum: On one end of the spectrum are negative risks, which are generally antisocial or dangerous. On the other end are positive risks, which are socially acceptable risks with the potential to benefit adolescents’ well-being and with less severe potential consequences.

I am an advocate for Positive risk-taking. Positive risk-taking is about learning new things and exploring unfamiliar territory. The risk is positive because, while it still evokes a feeling of uncertainty or fear, you develop a new skill or there’s a possibility of a positive outcome.

I have always been one to push boundaries and take risks. I believe that risk-taking is an important part of your journey to finding your identity and becoming an independent adult. The idea of risk is generally thought of in terms of completely negative outcomes. I believe the positive risk is often a misunderstood and controversial concept.

I have taken a major risk. I think the 2 biggest risks I have ever taken is the following:

Chose my education overworking my way up to a salaried position in a Corporation. I always knew going into the corporate world that you could work your way up with years and experience. However, as things begin to shift in my life I soon recognized that the advanced degree would become the ultimate filter for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in certain fields. My field was education.

I made a decision to invest 3 years of my life working as a Graduate Assistant and Pre-K Teacher to pay tuition, take Qualifying Exams, pass Comprehensive Exams, and Propose and Defend a 176-page dissertation with 26 tables and 26 descriptives. It seemed crazy at the time. I was criticized and made fun of for going to school.

My choices contradicted a lot of the decisions my friends were making such as working, having social lives, getting married, starting families, and the like. I also discovered while engaging in my Graduate education, that a doctorate help establishes credibility outside of academic environments.

I did not recognize the full scope of this until I finished my Doctorate degree. It became a Master Key and served me well in unlocking doors to my future that would have otherwise been inaccessible to me no matter how great my skills were. Looking back, I am glad I made the sacrifice.

Answering the Call to Pastor and Plant a Church. I never imagined that I would Pastor a church or plant one for that matter. I had served as a Senior Pulpit Assistant and Assistant Pastor, but being the Lead Pastor and establishmentarian is a whole different situation.

I had plans. I was a fresh post-doc student with a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction – Curriculum Planning. I had plans for my career and life, but they were devoid of purpose. However, reflecting, they were packaged well but they were limited and ultimately would have become mundane over time. I would have been longing for something more.

God had configured my life and brought me to this place. It was an unexpected life interruption and registered, in my mind, as a risk to me because it was something that I had not planned or prepared myself to do in my lifetime. I had to remain open-minded no matter how much I thought it contradicted the picture I had for my life and how it literally altered all of my life norms.

It was something that took me abruptly out of all my comfort zones simultaneously with no warning. I can truly say that God used this place of positive risk to increase my faith, point me to purpose, make my life path make sense, and use every skill I had acquired to help lead me to a place of fulfillment.

I love leading people to a place of hope, helping them find faith, and providing a sustainable community that pushes them to purpose.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
• Website: www.thesummitchurchnashville.org
• Instagram: @drokeefetoday
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drokeefetoday
• Twitter: @drokeefetoday

Image Credits
Jonathan Snorten and JP Photography