We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Candice Harper. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Candice below.

Candice, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

For most of my career, I worked in the fashion and entertainment industry. Even though I was a freelancer, I got gigs pretty steadily so I lived the life of a corporate employee. In the downtime and on weeknights and evenings my entrepreneurial side would surface. Initially, I started several side businesses using my various skills. Wedding dresses, gourmet party cakes, pillows, and curtains, etc. Nothing stuck because there was always another day job and an easier paycheck and I wasn’t incredibly passionate about those things. At least not enough to make entrepreneurial sacrifices.

Eventually, the freelance jobs ran out. When my contract as the Art Director of The Wendy Williams Show was not renewed in 2011 I took a big leap and made the decision to become a full-time entrepreneur. First, I had to figure out what I was passionate enough about that I would be willing to sacrifice the stability of a regular paycheck. What would I feel so emotionally connected to that I could withstand the financial ups and downs and the emotional gauntlet that I only understood an inkling of at that time?

I knew that whatever I did, it would have to help people and it would have to mean something to me. So I did some soul-searching and figured it out. After a couple of years of try and terror (trial and error), I came up with an equation. Purpose = Passions + Talents x Challenges. I took my passion for love and relationships and my talent for solving other people’s problems and applied it to solving my own problems with love and relationships and decided to become a relationship coach.

Now I help professional and influential women of color get their greatest love of all time without sacrificing their passions, purpose, or personality. It took a decade to get that crystal clear about what I offer and the journey has been feast or famine. However, I chose wisely because even through emotional challenges, near-eviction, and an abusive relationship I stayed true to my purpose and created my business.

Would I have done anything differently? Looking back, no. I realize that every challenge has served me. If I could go back and tell myself what was ahead, I probably would have been a little more open to “bridge” jobs and a lot more organized with my time and money.

The key steps I had to take were the emotional ones. Learning how to get out of my own way and understand that the reason I chose what I chose was because it was a problem I needed to solve for myself. The logistical steps for starting an entrepreneurial journey are available all over the internet. It’s the mindset stuff that we can only truly learn by experience.

Candice, 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?

My name is Candice. I help high-earning, professional BIPOC women become irresistible to a mate for their soul. I do this with strategic coaching, hypnotherapy, and my proven method for helping people connect with their deepest romantic desires. I’m different than most dating/relationship coaches because I center women whose ethnic background and culture play a role in what they want for their future.

I started out mainly focusing on my TV career, I was an Art Director. I worked for several shows including “Tyra” and the first two seasons of “The Wendy Williams Show”. I was living a great life as a single professional. Except, when I went home after long days all I had was a six-pound pomeranian with a cough in an empty high-rise apartment.

When the show did not renew my contract for the third season, I was jump-scared into finding out what would give my life purpose. At the time, I had no sense of what my life’s purpose might be. However, I did some research and found that a lot of people connect purpose with a spiritual calling, our talents and strengths, or the challenges we’ve overcome.

So when I intersected my talents with what I love to do and applied them to my challenges, it was a perfect equation. Talents + Passions x Challenges = Purpose. I was always great at solving other people’s relationship issues and even more so I had a deep passion for passion and loved all things romance. My biggest challenge was attracting and sustaining a healthy, romantic relationship.

As I began to live into my purpose, I created more and more solutions for myself. The more I overcame my challenges, the more I sought to bring others along with me and so my coaching niche was born.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve never stopped believing in my message.

So when I set out to become an entrepreneur I knew from several other experiences that whatever I chose to offer would have to be something I was incredibly passionate about.

Since my daytime career came with hiatus’, I often found myself with time to pursue “side” hustles or test out different products in the marketplace. I started a wedding dress business, a pillows/curtains business, and a custom cakes business. All pre the e-commerce boom when the internet was dial-up and no one knew what an “Etsy” was.

With each business, I started like gangbusters with crazy initial success. With each business, I got to the point where the demand became greater than the revenue required to fulfill it. With each business, my passion waned when financial solutions were required. Call it money blocks or irresponsibility. What it really came down to is… Although I was expert at creating the products, I did not love the work it took to produce them or have enough emotional skin in the game to be unstoppable.

I understood the problem I was solving for people with each business, but helping brides or homes look beautiful, or giving people an ultimate dessert experience just wasn’t my ministry.

In hindsight, I think I knew that what I wanted to solve needed to have lifelong positive effects. I have always wanted to create a memorable difference for people. Especially one that is tied to their emotions and would bring them lifelong joy.

So I’ve devoted my entire life to bringing people to their greatest love of all time (G.L.O.A.T.). And since I have such incredible passion for what I do, I have been able to weather 10 years of entrepreneurial storms. Mostly financial. Because I know that my offer is my calling and I want people who want it to have it unconditionally.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back, being a relationship coach would have been the first thing that I would have chosen. In fact, I probably would have gotten a psychology degree in undergraduate school and also a doctorate. However, I do not regret the journey that it took me to get here. Every career, previous business, or experience I have had leading up to now is an integral part of my growth and development. This is why I believe it’s important to always honor and be grateful for wherever you are, knowing that nothing is forever and each step we take is preparation for the next.

Contact Info:

• Website: candiceharperlovecoach.com
• Instagram: candylovecoach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candiceharperlovecoach/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candiceharperlovecoach/
• Twitter: candylovecoach
• Youtube: @lovingrelationshipsforWOC
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/candice-harper-love-coach-new-york?osq=candice+harper+love+coach

Image Credits
The first three images were taken professionally by Samantha Bunting. The others were taken with my iPhone.