We were lucky to catch up with Darius Caffey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Darius, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Is there a lesson you learned in school that’s stuck with you and has meaningfully impacted your journey?

One thing that I learned while in college was that people will help you if you speak up about the things that you need. I spent the early part of my college journey struggling to maintain the grades to keep my scholarship, with my studying habits, and finding a balance between my academic/work/social/personal responsibilities. It was a mess, to say the least, as most college students could attest to.

However, it took me being on academic and behavioral probation for me to realize that I needed to ask for some help. So I did. It wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t. But I had to learn what it was I couldn’t do myself or what I didn’t know, and tell someone so that they can point me in the direction of the appropriate resources.

It first started with my family, letting them know that I was struggling financially. Then with my professors, letting them know that I needed help with learning and studying because what I was doing wasn’t working. And lastly, I had to let my mentors know that I was simply just confused on what direction I was taking my life in. I was entering my senior year — struggling with my identity and taking way too many credit hours to make up for the courses I failed or dropped out of — and I had came to a confusing space. It was too much going on, too fast, and I didn’t have a handle on it.

What I sought out to do no longer made sense with my goals, so I needed to figure out again who I was and what I wanted to do. It took countless conversations with multiple mentors over time to 1) learn how to articulate what I needed help with and 2) learn how to create a strategic plan to help me achieve my goals (short and long term).

This lesson stuck with me because it’s something that we always encourage people to do — ask for help. Yet, in one of the spaces with the most resources, most don’t know how to do that. Which is why I’m a huge advocate for being empathic to those who don’t know how to ask for assistance. It may not be because they don’t want it, but more about them not realizing that they need it or how to articulate their needs.

I appreciate all of the mentors that have poured into me and guided me towards the things that I needed the most in times when I didn’t know it. And I appreciate my family for being so understanding as I continued to learn what this meant for me and how I can use my experience to teach other generations of family what it can look like for them.

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?

For those that don’t know what I do, I assist in cultivating inclusive spaces to champion equitable outcomes for under resourced communities.

I got into this business with the original goal of opening up my own mental health counseling practice. Working with people to better understand life and develop strategies to help get them out of ruts was something that I’ve been passionate about my entire life. My outcome just change.

While I was studying for my dual Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Sociology, I realized that my true passion was working with youth. Which then led to my first full-time role serving with Americorps as a College Adviser. It was there that I was able to pivot into the education and public service realm of my career, truly gaining the experience that I unknowingly yearned for. I then decided to take it a step further by getting my Master’s of Public Affairs and Non-Profit Management. That gave me the background and foundation I needed to further my work within and around the communities that I was part of.

Now, I serve as a IT Program Manager at a STEM nonprofit in Chicago supporting Black and Latinx people. In my day-to-day, I connect youth and adult learners to enrichment and career development opportunities. However, our overall goal is to serve as a cradle to career pipeline program helping expose participants to various Healthcare and Health IT career pathways.

This is something that I’ve never imagined myself doing, but has quickly became one of the best decision in my life. And that, I think is what I’m most proud of. Not that I’m doing impactful work, but that I actually found and manifested a career that was meant solely for me. I’m still learning the ropes, but each day feels like a new accomplishment for me. And for that, I’m grateful.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson that I had to unlearn was that people don’t want to help you. There’s so many people out here in the world that are open to lending a hand or providing insight on something or giving financially if they can. We just, sometimes, don’t think we’re deserving of help so we don’t ask for it.

Once I realized that there was more people rooting for me than plotting against me, I changed my mindset. I had to began learning what help looked like for me. And now knowing there’s support out there, Im constantly learning what I needed.

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

The thing that helped me the most in building a reputation in my current market is being confident in my skillsets. People feed off of our energy, and if they can tell that you don’t believe in yourself, they won’t believe in you either.

Going into spaces with the energy of confidence allows other people the opportunity to take you serious in your craft and believe that you’re an expert. Even if you aren’t, you’re in this role for a reason. Somebody trusted you enough to be here and have input on this project. They believe in you, and you need to too.

We’re all still learning and growing in what we do. However, believing in ourselves is truly the key to becoming more efficient in your career and building a reputation off of your journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dariuscaffey.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariuscaffey