Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tonya Cowan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tonya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Ms. Positivi-T, LLC The Brand. One Brand. Multiple Businesses. My Purpose is to Empower, Inspire, and Uplift People by Spreading Positivity.
God births a purpose in all of us. Grateful is the word that comes to mind when I think about how I have been allowed to use my gifts to help others be successful. We all have gifts, and when you start to use your gifts, you begin to understand your purpose. If you are blessed enough to not only know your purpose but walk in your purpose – then you understand what I mean by “there’s no other feeling”. My businesses all have purpose in inspiring others, whether I manage your marketing needs, you purchase my empowering women’s apparel or you collaborate with me on my nonprofit program to empower young ladies and women within our community. I will not stop walking in my purpose until God says so – for He has allowed me to be here at this time in history to fulfill His purpose for this generation and prayerfully generations to come.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
“I had no choice than to create my own lane.”
Throughout my career I have worn numerous hats in the marketing industry. I never understood the value of all of the knowledge and skills I gained until I was forced to use them after I was laid off from a previous job. I learned that sometimes there are gifts that we have inside of us that are meant to do more than the usual. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started my businesses.
I am a mother of two daughters and bonus mom to one son. I am the Owner and Creative Director of As You Wish websites|engagement|marketing, a marketing business, Founder and Director of Designed With A Purpose cfs (aka DWAP), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers women and promote sisterhood, and Owner of AdorAble Designz, an empowering apparel company that offers t-shirt, accessory and home good designs to inspire women. All three businesses were birthed in Durham, NC.
I am a graduate of East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education. My leadership, organizational and multi-tasking skills have allowed me to pursue my dream and purpose of being an entrepreneur.
With over twenty years of experience in marketing, I have worked in corporate America providing marketing services to numerous clients. I am also a Certified Trade Show Marketer (CTSM), with more than fifteen years of event planning experience. I have done events of all sizes, ranging from small intimate parties to large corporate trade shows. As You Wish websites|engagement|marketing is a marketing company first brought to light in February 2018 as an event planning company. With much consideration, the decision was made to stop event planning services, and in August 2020 the focus has been on marketing for my clients. I am passionate about using my skills to assist small businesses with their marketing needs.
My vision is to also empower women. I want to help women preserve and pursue their dreams, to be faithful in their pursuits of happiness, while allowing God to open the doors to opportunity. Out of this vision in 2018, I founded Designed With A Purpose cfs – Courage to face any challenge life brings – Faith to stand even when it seems we will fall – Strength to stare the challenge in the face and say, “You will NOT Win because God designed me strong!” Designed With A Purpose cfs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 2018 also began the year of a movement, Designed With A Purpose cfs Annual Event. This event takes place each year on the third Saturday in October. If you plan to be in attendance, you can expect to be empowered in a positive way.
I also started AdorAble Designz, a business named after and logo inspired by my daughter, whose middle name is Adora. Women and young ladies from all walks of life can visit this eCommerce store and shop empowering, inspiring and uplifting designs.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn not prioritizing myself. It’s very easy to get caught up in the hustle of being an entrepreneur. The long days, long nights, racing thoughts, and your creative mind that won’t shut off sometimes…it can be exhausting. I had a health scare in 2021 that made me realize that my mental health is what’s most important. I learned to put myself first and create healthy boundaries not just to protect myself from others, but to protect me from myself. I would wake up early to get my day started, work until 5pm or 6pm, take a break for a couple of hours, start back working again until 12am or 2am, and then get up the next day to do it all over it again. That’s a lot on your mental and physical state. I learned to get my work done through the day, take breaks in between, stop working by a specific hour each day so the remainder of the day was my unwind time. Whatever didn’t get done would wait until the next day. I also do my best to not work on Friday evenings and leave my Saturdays and Sundays for my time. I set work hours, which means if I get a call, text or email before or after my work hours, I am not responding until the work day begins or the next business day. It’s like, if you call the bank at 5pm, no one is going to answer, right? It should be the same concept when you have your own business. Create that balance.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Sometimes all business is not good business. I have always had the mindset of “this is business not personal”. Everyone that’s in business wants to be compensated for their services, unless they are choosing to gift a service, which we as entrepreneurs may do from time to time. It was challenging to receive payments from clients on time for a particular service I was providing, which was a problem for my business, especially since I had provided the service. I learned that all of my services are not profitable nor productive, and when this epiphany occurred, I went back to my business model and made adjustments. Failure is a part of success, therefore when something doesn’t work out or go according as planned, I choose to learn from it, make adjustments and move on. I live and learn, as most of us do and continue to seek best practices for my businesses and clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/
MsPositiviT
Image Credits
Tori McKoy Imagery and Shawn Gillen