We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Reid. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

While I love every project that a client presents to myself or my firm to be a part of and help execute their vision, the most meaningful projects are the ones where we are able to give back to the community. With our firm working for many nonprofit organizations, as well as social justice campaigns, we are always honored to be chosen to help further the mission of our clients. The work that we do aligns with my firm’s mission of Community Impact and giving back to the communities that we live in, serve, and directly helping the next generation of leaders. One of our most meaningful projects of 2022 was planning a day of events for high school students for Dolph Day of Service in memory of Adolph “Young Dolph” Thornton, Jr., for his life partner Mia Jaye’s organization Black Men Deserve to Grow Old. This was an event to show students that they were seen and appreciated and provided art therapy, group conflict resolution, yoga, meditation, and inspirational speakers.

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?

I am the Founder and Lead Consultant for DR and Associates. With over 15 years of experience in the marketing and communications industry, I founded the firm on October 1, 2019 after providing consulting services to entrepreneurs and business owners on a part-time basis since 2016. My firm was founded based on the success of the work we provide for our clients and not our internal profits, unlike many other firms and marketing consultants. Our firm provides services to all size businesses and firms, including nonprofit organizations for solutions including website design, branding, community outreach, and marketing and communication consulting. Our work and clients have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, Essence, New York Times, Washington Post, and more. In addition, our firm takes pride in placing Community Impact as a priority and volunteer on a monthly basis with multiple organizations, including providing no-cost business trainings to entrepreneurs through community organizations.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being present within the community and being serious about my business. Honestly, a lot of people that are in my line of work are not in it for the success of their clients: they only care about themselves. Unfortunately, many people know that many people want to be “seen” and make easy money, therefore they are able to easily scam people by telling them that they can get their business to 6 figures in a month, and other microwave marketing techniques that have no long-term success or longevity in the real business world. I built my business from the ground up and have invested much of my money back into my business, therefore, I will not allow people to play with my business or my livelihood. I have had many people that were looking to scam try to get free work and still utilized my business ideas and thought they could use the name of God to get over; that didn’t end well for them in court, but it made me move differently. Even though I have a good heart and will always do right by people, I won’t allow people to abuse me and discount the value that I bring. If a client isn’t willing to do the work for their own success or isn’t open to coaching to help them reach the next level, I let them know they are not the right client for me. Even for some past clients that didn’t want to listen, I look back and see that they are still in the same (or worst) position that I left them in without any growth and being stagnant kills your business and your profits.

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

I had to pivot with my business when I realized that I was paying each of my team members more than I was paying myself. I was experiencing burnout because I was so tired from working and wasn’t being properly compensated in the least. Imagine being a leader of a company, but literally being a volunteer for your work while others perform less than half as much with triple the pay minimum. This is when I made changes across the board to ensure that I could pay myself, as well as my team and expenses. Burnout made me realize that I needed to apply the same advice that I give to my clients to my own business. I started to enforce boundaries within my business and personal life, including that if someone wanted to work with me or my firm, they would have no issue abiding by company policies and paying for services. If celebrities can do it and have no issues or expecting special treatment, I realized that others could do the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.drandassociates.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamdaniellereid
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamdaniellereid
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dreidmktgpro