We were lucky to catch up with Atenya Dillon recently and have shared our conversation below.
Atenya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
My journey began in 2008. I was a newly divorced single mother of three. Life as I knew it had drastically changed for me. Little did I know, I was also changing. A new version of me was evolving. There were some growing pains however, I persevered and learned a lot of lessons which cultivated my growth and development.
I knew there was more to life and I was deliberate in efforts to finding it. I went back to school to pursue my degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Human Services. I was a full time mother and employee during the day and a full time student at night. I must say, balancing motherhood, work, and school was indeed. a challenge. There were nights I would cry myself to sleep all while fighting the thoughts in my mind to give up and call it quits.
Every time I felt like quitting, it was as if something kept pushing me forward and giving me the strength to go on. I can’t really explained it in words. It was powerful. I discovered when I pushed beyond myself, I gained the strength to go further.. The day came when I accomplished my goal and received my degree in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Human Services. Would you believe I graduated summa cum lade? Well, I did and I was extremely proud of myself. I was determined to show my children they can do anything with belief, resilience, a good work ethic, and God.
After graduating, I got a glimpse of my purpose as I began my career as a Foster Care Case Manager. I loved the work I was doing. I have a passion for women and youth , so this career fed my passion. The population I served were mostly young teens transitioning into becoming young adults. My purpose unfolded even more and I pursued my Life Coach Certification. My skill sets sharpened and I developed leadership skills..
As time passed, I was no longer fulfilled in my position as a foster care case manager. I was exhausted from participating in a system which was failing our youth. I wanted to find a solution and the solution came into the launching of my own coaching and counseling business. In 2017, I took one of the greatest risks of my life, I resigned from my foster care position and launched Joy and Life Behavioral Services. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had enough belief in the midst of fear and critics. It was a risk I was willing to take. You see, our purpose is bigger than us and really doesn’t have anything to do with us , but all to do with the people we are assigned to serve. I saw the big picture. My organization was thriving and was a well sought after organization then boom, the pandemic hit. I was still serving my clients virtually, but unfortunately I had to dissolve my business do to some major losses. But that’s not how my story ends…,,,,
I was growing and evolving into the woman I knew I could be. I wanted more therefore., I began investing into my personal development. I read books, went to seminars, trainings, and got a mentor. My life shifted.. I engrossed myself into becoming a higher and better version of myself mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally. I did what I call the deep work, the identity work. I fully participated in my own rescue. So much so, until I was effortless coaching others without even knowing it. What was in me was coming out of me. I come alive when I’m coaching, speaking, and training others to become the best versions of themselves. I became Atenya “ SpeakLife” Dillon. I. created a personal development platform called Speak Life: Total Life Transformation, a platform designed to transform, engage, and inspire others to live a life of promise , purpose, and pursuit.
Today, I am an published author of my first book, Speak Life: OWN YOUR PROCESS; which currently has a 5 star rating on Amazon. I am a recording artist, transformation speaker, and of course a life coach. Everyday , I get to serve others through life coaching and crisis counseling. I found my one thing, and I’ve dedicated my life to it.
Leaving me job to start my own business was on of the greatest risks I’ve ever taken and it was worth it. What I learned through taking risks is this, you will suffer some losses , but you will also learn some valuable lessons. Failure is our teacher, not our undertaker. Westin Churchill says it like this, ” Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” So I say to all of you reading this, don’t lose your enthusiasm, you’re closer than you think.
I ask permission to Speak Life into you…
The time has come for you to Say Yes to you. You possess the power to own your life, to own your process and I’m here to help you discover that power. #SpeakLife #OWNYOURPROCESS
Atenya “ SpeakLife” Dillon
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 background and context?
Speak Life: Transformation Coaching focuses on total life transformation. I specialize in financial services, health and wellness, and life coaching. I intentionally seek out to provide services which provide the answers people need. I AM a SOLUTIONIST. I am grateful and proud of the personal investments that have gone into developing the coaching program. It has always been important to me to be authentic, effective, and impactful in my coaching practice. I want my clients to see real change and believe in themselves and their dreams again. To see someone who battled with their weight, tap into their power and lose fifty, sixty, seventy pounds, to meet families who desire financial freedom and home ownership get into homes and improve their credit scores, and to witness the trajectory of lives changing from the coaching program has been both humbling and rewarding. I am humbled and blessed to serve in this capacity and impact the lives of others. I love to empower people. As a coach, I take full responsibility for investing in myself to become more knowledgeable and skillful at what I do. I understand you have to participate in your own rescue first. I understand how important it is to study your field. In the process of becoming a transformational coach, I would have to say I’m most proud of the fact that I did the work first and now I’m paying it forward to others. I took the necessary steps to improve my life in all the areas I specialize in, No great accomplishment is ever achieved without a process.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The single most important decision I made in deciding to work for myself which contributes to my success was to first believe in myself , make an intentional decision to change my mind set, and consistently work on my personal development. I conditioned myself mentally, physically, and emotionally. After working for corporate America for years, I was institutionalized in my thinking as I was always the employee. I knew and understood along with my work ethic, my belief system had to be strong and evident. My position changed. Now, I am the boss and I have to demonstrate the same commitment and dedication in building my own dream as I did building someone else’s dream. Ideas and opportunities don’t just materialize out of thin air.. It takes work and sacrifice. You have to be strong and resilient through your failures, disappointments, obstacles, and challenges. This is why it’s important to have a healthy mindset. You can’t just get up one day and decide to quit. Quitting is too expensive. You must understand success will cost you and you must be willing to pay the full price. There are no shortcuts to success. You’re either all in or not in at all.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
This journey has been nothing short of amazing, yet it has come with its set of challenges, successes, and failures. I had moments where I questioned if I was pursuing the right thing and if I was good enough. My struggles and obstacles came from my perceptions of myself. I had to speak life to myself constantly. The more I spoke life, the more confident I became. I just changed the narrative, the story I was telling myself. I also faced a lot of opinions. One thing I discovered is some will only accept you and see you at the level of their perception.The level which makes them comfortable. You never respond or take this personally. It is not a reflection of you. You embrace the ones who embrace you, the individuals you are called to. When I came into this understanding, I overcame the challenge of trying to fit in and fully embraced who I am and who I’m becoming. I discovered there are two questions everyone should know, who you are and what you want.
Challenges play an important role in our development and growth. One challenge in particular, was embracing there would be times I would have to walk alone. I had to believe in my dreams when no one else believed. This resulted in a season of isolation, which was critical to my becoming, my evolution. My mindset shifted and I believed I could do anything I could conceive in my mind. For over ten years, I had a dream of becoming an author. I started, stopped, started, and stopped again. I even forgot about it and talked myself out of pursuing it. I almost didn’t follow through with it.
The truth is, if I had done it sooner, it would have been premature because I hadn’t gone through the process. I’ve defeated some giants, endured some challenges, and experienced some growing pains. I understand it all better now. It wasn’t punishment. It was the process. I transitioned from trusting my process to owning my process. That’s when the release came. I had to own my process first before I could coach others on how to own theirs. I’m so grateful I didn’t give up on pursuing music. Today, I am a published author and just recently , I was featured as an artist on the cd Sing Praise by my amazing husband , Adrian Dillon. The cd is available for downloads on all digital music outlets. I’m featured on I Am Free and I can tell you here first, there’s definitely more to come from me as an music artist. The dreams I had as a little girl are coming into fruition. My faith and resilience are major contributors to where I am in my life and what I’ve overcome. I will forever Speak Life and Sing Praise.
If I could share any advice to you reading this article , I would tell you these things:
1. Do life with people who know who you are
2. Always appreciate and utilize what life gives you
3. Always remain in the posture of a student
4. Stay humble and grateful
5. Decide what’s worthy of your attention
6. Learn the power of sincere and selfless contribution
Speak Life!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @SpeakLife04
- Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/atenyadaniels - Other: TikTok: @Speaklife4
Image Credits
Make up : Onzetta Roberts of Makeup by O Cre8tive Glam & Pro Stylings Photographer: Onzetta Roberts of Makeup by O Cre8tive Glam & Pro Stylings Stylist: Onzetta Roberts of Makeup by O Cre8tive Glam & Pro Stylings Hair: Onzetta Roberts of Makeup by O Cre8tive Glam & Pro Stylings