Today we’d like to introduce you to D’yonce Williamson
Hi D’yonce, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Today, I am a 23 year old Master’s graduate, but it started at 18 months. My parents placed me in a daycare where my provider, Ms. Marie, spent everyday preparing all the children for elementary school. From then I’ve been instilled to put school first.
I attended two Marianist schools, St. Martin de Porres and Kellenberg Memorial High School both in Uniondale, NY. It was at these two places where I began to ground my identity in academia after establishing a solid foundation in elementary. The rigor and quality of not only the educational aspect, but the athletic, technical, and spiritual aspects poured into me and allowed me to walk right into what I now hold as one of my greatest educational accomplishments, being accepted into North Carolina A&T State University.
Attending my HBCU was truly one of those moments where I realized the only way to truly succeed is to trust God. It was not until I attended that beautiful navy and old gold campus where I learned that education was not my only skill. Entering into an atmosphere where your choices are to make it or break it, I realized going to class was simply not enough. The birth of my fashion brand, D’Vion entered in the midst of a pandemic.
If not for NCAT, I would not have been accepted into Georgetown University. As a graduate, I realized everything happens for a reason even when you don’t know the reason.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The path I took was not laid out for me. After 4th grade, my mother and I spent ample time doing research and talking to people about where to go for middle and high school. I took on a more independent role with finding a school to go to due to my father’s health. It was at this time he was battling cancer. My mother was taking care of both him and her sister suffering from heart problems.
Understanding the circumstances, I realized the only way out was through. I buckled down on school and made it to Kellenberg. Academically, I had little to no problems. Unfortunately, in my senior year of high school my grandfather passed suddenly. Even though I had been through the death of my father, I was now older and more aware.
I spent a month in Trinidad with my grandmother and when I returned home I had only one week to prepare to leave for college eight hours away. That year was hard. I didn’t understand until afterwards that I was grieving alone in my first semester of school and that my grief showcased itself in overworking in class and underworking in my friendships and familial relationships.
Grief has been a large part of my life. Just a year later the pandemic started, people all around me were dying. My Aunt Mimi was battling cancer, and I was worried about the health of my 90 year old grandmother.
This was a time where all aspects of my life including my academics were being affected. I was falling behind in my accounting class, building my brand, and most of all I like everyone else in the world I was unsure of the future or even a chance of one.
After my aunt passed away, I failed my accounting course and truly wanted to drop out of school. I called my advisor Dr. Winchester and told her everything going on and how I wanted to quit, my best “mistake.” Dr. Winchester gave me a harsh but gentle reminder that I needed every bit of. God made me call her because He needed me to wake up.
Yes, I needed to grieve. Yet I also needed to persevere.
If not for this conversation with Dr. Winchester, I would not have made it through the accounting class or even to graduation.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Faith. Finance. Fashion.
Most recently I am proud of the program I created called The Tithers’ Coalition. It is a comprehensive financial stewardship plan that aims to empower tithers within the church community to be wise and responsible stewards of their financial resources. The plan incorporates biblical principles, personal finance, financial literacy, basic finance software, investing basics, and practical applications for church-related financial practices.
I am now a proud graduate of Georgetown University. I recently completed my Master’s of Science in Finance degree. At Georgetown, we completed our Capstone Project in Namibia where we consulted with Paratus Namibia Holdings. This is also one of my proudest moments.
I would say self-discipline is what sets me apart from others. I learned very young sometimes we have to forego certain things we want now for the possibility of what we can have in the future along with it.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I loved going to Zorn’s after church on Sundays with my family. I would get the same meal every time and enjoy it like I was having it for the first time. We would talk about the sermon and old times.
