Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ceandra Baker-Dilley . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ceandra , appreciate you joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?
In the military, rank outweighs a person’s background and education. It does not matter if a junior enlisted service member, has more education, experience, or better solutions; their ideas and their voices are disregarded. Officers who enlist, are automatically thought of as smarter, stronger and more experienced, therefore they have the final say; even if it leads the team straight to hell. I have seen this type of thinking and behavior happens across all branches of service firsthand, and it hurts our military and the nation we serve and protect.
Ceandra , 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 Ceandra D. aka “The Actionist.” I’m a military veteran, and serial entrepreneur. I specialize in health and wellness, real estate investing, life coaching, and I am an author and national speaker. Inspire for Purpose, which is my blessing and purpose, helps people bring their visions to fruition by imparting real solutions to move them forward, in achieving their goals. I am currently pursuing, a higher degree in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. This is exciting for me, as I will be the first generation to pursue and earn a Ph.D.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Oftentimes, we don’t know how our lives will unfold or how prayers will be answered when amid trials and tribulations. It is hard to see the forest when all the trees are overtaking you. I felt like that, after having my worst nightmare come true. After purchasing my second real estate property, I was embraced with squatters. I say “embraced” because the squatters in my home were friends. I knew and loved them.
These squatters jeopardize my livelihood, military secret clearance, career, and my personal well-being. Life became extremely difficult because I was paying two mortgages and rent at my current duty station. Talk about being broke! My broke was broke! LOL Nevertheless, there was a message in the mess, and a testimony in this great test, because it caused me to learn about the law and what was needed to rid myself of these people. I learned that the law is not really set up for landlord,s and that creditors don’t care about anything; except the money you owe.
You see, when I reached out to my creditors, they told me there was nothing they could do for me. They said, “Ma’am, we see that your accounts are paid 2 months in advance and we cannot assist until you become delinquent.” This blew my mind because this would affect my credit score negatively, and the possibility of my military command finding out, which would again jeopardize my career. I was stressed to say the least, but I did all I could to stay afloat; until I couldn’t anymore. My credit score took a deep dive, my saving and investments had all been cashed out to meet obligations that could never be completely satisfied and my health began to fail because of the financial pressure. You see, poverty is something I never wanted to experience, yet here it was knocking on my door. I was with barely enough food to eat, little to no money for gas and eviction was right around the corner. I was angry and couldn’t believe this was happening to me. YES, ME!! I am a good girl, I help people, I give my last to see others thrive—so, WHY is this happening to ME? After many months of fighting court battles, the law finally granted permission for the squatters to be evicted.
I have never received restitution for the tens of thousands of dollars I lost, but God is faithful. I realized that in the fire, I was being pressed and polished to shine as a pure diamond. I shined more brightly than I ever had because I faced my worse fear and it didn’t kill me. It made me better in areas of patience, faith, forgiveness and hope. I held fast to the promise, that what the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good! I am happy to say that today, I am doing GREAT! From then, to now, I have increased my portfolio with several additional properties and venturing out to do new things all because I conquered one of my biggest fears. I always say that fear will do one of two things, “It will propel you into action or keep you stuck in a rut.” I wanted out of my rut, and I hope you do too.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I believe the best advice, one can give to managing a team and sustaining high morale, is that leaders need to sincerely see and hear their employees. View them as the TEAM PLAYERS they are. See them as, the ones they hired, the ones who bought into the mission and vision of the company and the one who desires them to succeed. They need to actively listen and take their sound advice, because it benefits all. When people feel like they are truly a part of an organization, (you know feel like family; like they bring value and are of worth) they tend to perform better, work harder and increase employee engagement which promotes a healthy and positive work environment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.inspireforpurpose.com
- Facebook: inspire4purpose
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceandratheactionist/
- Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/video/NPay-mcL4Cc/edit
- Other: Visit here for all connections to my social media accounts. https://linktr.ee/THEACTIONIST
Image Credits
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