We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dionne Griffin-McGee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dionne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

At DG McGee Enterprises, we are deeply committed to serving underserved communities, particularly minority-owned businesses and women entrepreneurs. These groups often face unique challenges, including limited access to capital, mentorship, and professional networks, which can impede their growth and success. My firm leads the Eastern NC Entrepreneurial Promise (ENCEP), encep.org. In partnership with our hosts, Partner Community Capital and the National Institute of Minority Economic Development. The program has grown and we’ve scaled over the past six cohorts we have now scaled to the North Carolina Entrepreneur Promise (NCEP) incubator for diverse companies in underserved counties in North Carolina.

ENCEP/NCEP serves businesses that:

Are run by minorities or women
Are located in economically distressed counties in NC
Have revenues of less than $250,000 and opportunities to scale.
There is no cost to participants. ENCEP is funded by a host of generous funders.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Dionne, the President & CEO of DG McGee Enterprises, is a dynamic leader recognized as the 2024 NC Rural Entrepreneur of the Year. A Speaker and Author with a ROAR, Dionne and her team at DG McGee Enterprises specialize in guiding organizations and individuals on their path to leadership and entrepreneurial success through customized programming such as cohorts, incubators, accelerators, and digital initiatives.

With a commitment to excellence and innovation, DG McGee Enterprises delivers flexible solutions to clients, drawing on Dionne’s extensive corporate experience spanning over 25 years, including a decade in the executive suite where she led sales teams to secure multi-million dollar wins. She is also the author of “Finding Your ROAR” and the visionary behind R.O.A.R University, a Coaching Program focused on being Relentless, Optimistic, Ambitious, and Results-Driven.

Dionne is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a commitment reflected in her involvement as a retired Advisory Board Member of the Women’s Business Center of NC and the Garner Chamber of Commerce. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) from North Carolina Wesleyan University and earned her Project Management Certification (PMP) in 2011.

DG McGee Enterprises is certified as a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) by the Small Business Administration, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) for North Carolina, a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB), a Small Professional Services Firm (SPSF), a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE), and an NC Small Business Enterprise (NC SBE). Additionally, Dionne is accredited as a Project Management Professional (PMP), ITIL, and Scrum Master.

Dionne’s impact extends beyond traditional boundaries as she has successfully scaled her courses and cohorts to women’s conferences and retreats, reaching and empowering a wider audience. Furthermore, she has expanded her ventures into real estate, an Airbnb property known as Paradise Haven Condo, showcased at phcondo.info. These endeavors reflect Dionne’s entrepreneurial spirit and her ability to diversify and excel in various domains.

Dionne’s impact extends beyond traditional boundaries as she has successfully scaled her courses and cohorts to women’s conferences and retreats, reaching and empowering a wider audience. Furthermore, she has expanded her ventures into real estate, managing an Airbnb property known as Paradise Haven Condo, showcased at phcondo.info. These endeavors reflect Dionne’s entrepreneurial spirit and her ability to diversify and excel in various domains.

Beyond her professional achievements, Dionne finds joy in family life with her husband, Corey McGee, a Raleigh Fireman, and their two amazing children. A fun fact about Dionne is that she’s a huge Prince fan!

Her accomplishments have been recognized in Formidable Woman magazine, Voyage LA magazine, and she was previously nominated as the Cathy Hughes Businesswoman of the Year (2019).

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After spending over 25 years of my career in corporate America, I found that in the last decade of my career I was working in a less than diverse, equitable, or inclusive space. There were 4,000 employees, less than 10% minorities and I was the only African-American female in the executive suite. I decided to write my truth and share my book “Finding Your ROAR” with the world to educate the masses. DG McGee Enterprises was formed as I decided there was more work for me to do outside of the four walls of corporate America. I needed to make a difference in my community and create my own table of diversity, equity, and inclusion and allow others to sit with me, at the table as there is much work for us all to do! I am thankful for such an amazing team! I took my project management certification and skills and created a project management firm where we create professional development and entrepreneurial courses, cohorts, and accelerators. We also share this knowledge via speaking engagement, conferences and retreats for women in leadership.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

DG McGee was formed by creating an exit strategy from corporate America. Outside of leading multi-million dollar projects and programs in corporate America, I traveled the country to speak at Women’s Leadership Conferences, empowering women to get a seat at the table. I then started my professional speaking business offering keynotes etc. Covid then changed the world. So I then had to transition to virtual keynotes and crafted content that would educate women in the workforce and on the entrepreneurial track. This is when we pivoted to add project/program management services, creating programs to educate our clients in addition to keynotes, conferences, and retreats.
This strategic pivot has earned me the honor of being named the 2024 NC Rural Entrepreneur of the Year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dgmcgee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgmcgeemotivates/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DGMcGeeMotivates
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionnegmcgee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DGMcGeeMotivate
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/nFApn2w_vek?si=YbBFYTze-wX56tca
• Yelp: NA
• Soundcloud: NA
• Other: https://youtu.be/rTMTMm_JYR8?si=qbjUv89xM9cwnyHw

Image Credits

In God’s Image Photography & JHG Productions