MEET SHAUNIE
REINVENTION ISN’T A CHAPTER.
IT’S HER CALLING.
She built one of TV’s most enduring franchises with nothing but an idea and the nerve to say it out loud.
Shaunie Henderson is an executive producer, entrepreneur, author, and First Lady who built a legacy when the world expected her to stay in her lane.
Known as the creator of the groundbreaking Basketball Wives franchise, she turned one bold idea into a TV empire and cultural force. More than a decade later, the franchise has launched multiple spin-offs and helped amplify Black women’s voices in a space that too often sidelines their stories.
Shaunie’s career is proof that reinvention is a skill. What began as survival after a very public divorce became a body of work that continues to open doors for women to own their stories.
Today, she expands her influence as an author, speaker, and co-host of The Grown & Growing Podcast with her husband, Pastor Keion Henderson.
Together, they hold space for honest, often hilarious conversations that most couples have behind closed doors. With candor and wisdom, they share the lessons, missteps, and grace that come with love, leadership, and blended family life.
“I want to inspire women to pursue their creative dreams no matter how often others tell them they can't or that those dreams aren't important.”
Beyond her work in media, Shaunie is a mother of five, philanthropist, and community-builder who believes peace itself is a form of ambition.
From launching HerSay: Tea Time, a women’s ministry, to her role as First Lady, she is committed to creating spaces where women can gather, speak freely, and grow in faith, family, and purpose.
“There's more than one way to be a great parent and it's never too late to find life-changing love."
Never
BECOMING ENDS
THE EARLY YEARS
The table that built her voice.
She grew up in a sit-down-at-the-table kind of family, where religion, politics, and real talk were always on the menu. With a Muslim father and a Baptist mother, Shaunie learned early how to hold space for multiple truths. Those dinner debates sharpened her voice and her conviction.
THE PIVOT
No experience. No connections. Just a bold idea and faith.
She pitched her first TV show with nothing but bios and belief. The franchise that followed broke ground as one of the first to center the lives of women of color connected to the NBA and created space for stories that hadn’t been told before.
THE EXPANSION
A new level of faith called her forward.
Just when she thought her story had been written, Shaunie found herself rewriting it as a newlywed, a mother of a blended family and a First Lady. She thought she was stepping into a new chapter. Instead, she stepped into a higher calling.
THE NOW
Peace is the new ambition.
Today, Shaunie is building slower, but deeper. Whether you find her baking from scratch on a Saturday, hosting an event for HerSay: Tea Time, developing her next production or traveling with family, she’s living proof that reinvention is always possible. There’s joy in the quiet now and power in a new definition of success.
