We recently connected with Dedra Brembry and have shared our conversation below.
Dedra, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I never wanted a business, per se; however, my father, the forever entrepreneur at heart, drilled into me that I should have my own “thing,” whatever that might be. In 2009, my father approached me about adding my name to a list of new business owners so I would be contacted to receive help starting up. I had never thought about the name of a business, so I pondered the idea for a week or so. After feeling like all the names I came up with weren’t catchy, I prayed about it. The prayer turned into self-reflection of the things I had a passion for and enjoyed doing. I begin to think about the talents and gifts God has blessed me with. In so doing, I thought about his infinite power and love and how it is all-encompassing and lasts forever. I thought about how I wanted to share my gifts and talents with others to pursue purpose. I write, speak, motivate, encourage, consult, teach, and mentor. So, what would be the perfect name to describe me and my business of many gifts and talents? Infiniteeworks. Infiniteeworks perfectly describes me and what I have to offer, whether through written works, speaking engagements, consultations, or workshops.
Dedra, love 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?
As long as I can remember, I have been creating, standing up for my friends, and being the go-to person for advice. I wrote my first unpublished book in the 6th grade. The book was written as a competition between classmates, nothing major or serious. Still, it was nonetheless a competition between me and another young lady who wanted to challenge me, and I love a good challenge. The book was about a young lady who experienced dating violence and teenage pregnancy but was still able to move past those obstacles to achieve what she set her mind to. I won, of course, but my parents found out about this and hid the book I wrote from me for years! Fast-forward to 2010. I am in my early 30s; my friends, co-workers, and even strangers tell me everything and ask for advice, and I have taken over a single small group at church. I officially registered Infiniteeworks as a business and began writing again; I started having mentoring groups for girls in elementary school and grew in the word of God. By 2015, I completed my first speaking opportunity at a conference for school counselors, received a grant to implement a girls mentoring program with the YMCA after-school program, and began consulting with school counselors. I loved every minute of it, and Infiniteeworks started to grow with more speaking opportunities, consultations, and written works.
As an educator and school counselor with 24 years of experience, speaking, encouraging, and motivating others is what I do daily, so translating all of those things into Infiniteeworks was a seamless transition. As a speaker and consultant, I empower and motivate others to reach their goals, set boundaries, and advocate for themselves. I consult educators and school counselors about their programs and ways to connect with students to improve relationships. I love speaking to girls and women, encouraging them to love and respect who they are. When the pandemic took over our lives and schools closed, I had to think of other ways of reaching educators, parents, and women. As a result, I created the Truthful Thursday series, where I dropped gems about faith, purpose, relationships, and education.
As an author, my purpose in writing is to motivate you to grow, encourage you to reflect, and inspire you to live in purpose on purpose with purpose. In the beginning, I wanted to write about love and relationships because I am a romantic at heart, but I was challenged by my small group leader in 2012 to use my gifts and talents for the kingdom of God. I began a journal of quotes, which became my first book, Live. Learn. Grow. A Spiritual and Personal Growth Journey, written in 2017 and published in 2018. In 2022, I published Not Waiting on My Boaz: Winning in My Singleness for single to widowed women at all stages of relationships and recently published a journal to help you be accountable to the vision God has given you to affect the kingdom, Vizionmappin Journal: Where Writing the Vision Becomes Reality.
In the summer of 2023, I formed Sisters Uplift, a group for females to create authentic and amicable relationships to connect, communicate, and celebrate one another. My hope for this community is to foster environments where women feel safe to share, discuss, and learn from one another. Of all the things I have accomplished since 2015, I am most proud of the Respect You, Confidence You Girls Conference. I was able to provide workshops hosted by some pretty great women! The girls learned so much about self-confidence, health, social media, and respecting themselves. The takeaways they shared continue to drive my desire for Infiniteeworks to provide products and opportunities that allow people to learn more about themselves, reach deeper to understand their purpose, inspire them to try again, love who they are, and create opportunities to connect with others.
Have you ever had to pivot?
At one point in time, I provided interview prep and resume writing. An associate I know asked me to assist a family member with her resume. I accepted the client because I was trying to grow this branch of Infiniteeworks and needed all the experience I could get. The woman emailed her resume, which was very basic. She and I spoke numerous times to gather more information and get an idea of what she wanted, and I spruced up the wording and format to be more eye-catching to a potential employer. Thinking I had done my best work, I emailed her the final copy for review and payment. She sent the payment over, and I thought we were good. Three days later, I received a message stating she was not pleased with the resume and that she was going to go back to what she originally had, which was nothing. I contacted my associate and asked her what the problem was; she could not tell me. I remember being so frustrated because working on a resume and going back and forth with the client involved a lot of time, and if she was not happy, then why hadn’t she said something? That experience left a bad taste in my mouth, and after experiencing the negativity, I decided branching out in that arena would not be for me. The only resumes I write today are my own.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I started Infiniteeworks, I was always thinking about ways of getting my name out there. For the first two years, I put myself out there by submitting proposals for workshops, conferences, and any events that had a call for speakers. I spoke and presented at some events and felt like I was moving in the right direction, but I was not making any money. During 2017, opportunities picked up, and when my first book came out, things moved fast, but the lull happened again. I got defeated and thought of just putting Infiniteeworks in the background, and then the pandemic happened! During this time, I did some self-reflection, attended Dr. Kristen Guillory’s speaking camp, and devised a plan to adjust my business offerings and focus. Before attending Dr. Guillory’s speaking camp, I was in a place of giving up and just concentrating on my career. Her encouragement helped remind me of the deep yearning to use my passion and voice. I am still pursuing speaking engagements and creating speaking opportunities for myself and others.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.infiniteeworks.org
- Instagram: @infiniteeworks
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Infiniteeworks
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dedrabrembry
- Other: [email protected] Facebook- www.facebook.com/sistersuplift
Image Credits
T.Marie Photography