We recently connected with Dr. Alisa J. Henley and have shared our conversation below.
What provoked you to become an entrepreneur?
When I was 19, we had a guest speaker in one of my college classes. Not only was she a human resources consultant, but she was also a business owner. Her delivery sparked a question for me regarding the type of leader I wanted to grow into to. This presentation sphere headed my journey to pursuing a career in human resources and the passion I have for helping others grow their leadership capacity. Ten years into my career, I found myself pigeonholed into only doing employment and employee relations-type functions, while desiring to experience and learn other human resources disciplines. With no avail, I asked others if they would job share with me. I teach them my function, and they teach me theirs. Sitting in my office thinking about my career, I recalled the presentation of the guest speaker from my college class. From this thought, Destiny Consulting, LLC was birthed. I took the preliminary steps starting the LLC, getting an EIN and business cards. Within 90-days of starting the LLC I gave a 30-day notice; and my full-time entrepreneurial journey began December 4, 2004. 
Dr. Alisa J., thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally.
What do you think it takes to be successful?
In order to be successful in business, you must learn two things: 1) how to work more on your business vs. working in your business, and 2) you must learn how to sell transformation. After entering into a business development program in 2005, my mentor told me I must mature as a business owner, or I will find myself back in the job market. It took a few years before I realized he was telling me not to chase money but to take time to develop the foundation, mission and vision of the business. Maturing in business meant working more on your business and not in your business to create a business model that would stand the test of time. As a business owner, it’s easy live in a cycle of doing, doing, and doing; and when you only do you can’t scale and grow. You have to take time at least once a year to plan and create strategies for doing business.
Regarding my second lesson, I like the applicability rule…information + application = transformation. I realized early on in business that people have a lot of information but never apply it. I sell transformation because I help others change aspects of who they are, what they do, and the life they lead in business and personally. In business there are times or seasons for reinvention because things impacting your business is always changing. In my opinion, the transformation process never ends it just evolves. I always encourage others to not just receive the information but be intentional about making application of it so they can experience transformation on their journey. 
Dr. Alisa J., we’ve loved having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an author, international speaker and entrepreneur. My brand is trademarked as the Vision Ignitor®. I am a highly driven woman who was born to break barriers, and proves that when powered by purpose and vision, you are unstoppable. My storied life and career are still being built brick by brick, fighting fears, failures, and setbacks to have the success I have always known was mine to claim. If you ask others about me, they probably will say I personify what it means to ascend above adversity while inspiring countless others to do the same.
Having honed my expertise for over two decades, my work is a testament to what it means to leave an undeniable mark on the world. My overarching philosophy is I inform to enlighten, instruct to educate, invest to empower, inspire to encourage, and then I unleash.
My goal is to be extraordinary at walking others through radical transformation and be as relentless about their success as I am my own. I believe I do more than just coach, I champion and expand lives.
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Like any other consultant, three areas drive my passion: leadership development, strategic planning, and helping others ignite their vision. Let’s take leadership, for example…I remember working on my master’s and Ph.D. degrees, deciding to write every paper on some area of leadership. Writing my dissertation on the relationship between trustworthiness and authentic leadership taught me that I am the only one who can help leaders actualize being authentic because it started with me being an authentic leader. This is why I can sell transformation.
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I am most proud of a decision I made when I was 14 years old. I remember saying to myself, “I am not going to live life like the people around me.” My mother did a great job as a single parent raising five girls, with me being the youngest. She made sure all of her daughters had book sense, common sense, and street sense. However, in my neighborhood, I saw teen pregnancy, drug addiction, poverty, etc. I knew I wanted something different but did not know what that looked like. That decision at 14 led me to be a first-generation college graduate, a first-generation business owner, and a first-generation author. I am living a life I never planned for. I have been to other countries to speak, I have helped countless others ignite their vision, and I have written six books. I have been in business for 20 years, when most businesses fail in the first three years. My vision and mission as a business owner continue to evolve each day I wake up and get to live the life God designed for me.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
COVID threw us all through a curve ball. During COVID, every speaking engagement was canceled for 2020 and 2021. Every consulting project was put on hold or canceled. At the time, I did not have long-term retainer contracts or virtual services as a part of my business model. My primary focus was speaking engagements and short-term (1 to 3 months) consulting projects. After sitting on the couch for over a year, I had to rethink my business model. Now, I have several retainer clients and pursue less short-term and more long-term projects. In addition, I implemented virtual on-demand and live training classes, and we have a virtual coaching program. Now, no matter what season we are in, there are always several streams of revenue flowing.
One thing COVID shed light on for me was for every dollar I made, I had to be involved in doing the work. I had to transition from only providing services to having products. With products, you produce them one time, and they continue to bring in revenue for the life of the product. In short, offering products lead to an increase in revenue if done correctly, but products also help promote your business, grow your client base, and create loyal and repeat customers.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Referrals have been my best source of new clients. I remember volunteering to speak at leadership conferences for free and even paying my own expenses to get there. Even though I was volunteering, I still operated in a spirit of excellence – a level of living/doing without excuses that prepares me for success and gains me respect.” I always tell people, “It doesn’t matter if there are five people in the room or 500. I deliver the same.” As you can imagine, somebody in one of those rooms shared my name and content with someone else…and they contacted me to speak. I still volunteer, but for the most part my speaking engagements are paid, and expenses covered.
As it relates to consulting projects, the same principle applies. It doesn’t matter if the contract total is 5k or 100k. I give my all and my best. It is because of referrals that I have landed a couple of long-term retainer contracts, one of which is a six-figure contract alone and have been renewed annually for the past 4 years. Referrals are key because they lead to more referrals, referred customers remain faithful, and referrals increase your customer satisfaction. Referrals are important because they become the mouthpiece of your business.
You can contact Dr. Alisa J. at…
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dralisaj
- Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/dralisaj
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralisaj
- Website: https://www.dralisaj.com