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

Hi Desiree, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

One day when I was thinking about all the names I could possibly come up with for my business I began to think about how we are always chasing after the next thing. Or at least I am. I have been a high-achiever my whole life and always looking to do something new, risky, fun, and out of the box to prove to myself that I could do it. It gives me a high for a little while and then I am off to the next thing. In my business, I wanted to help people feel that “high” all the time. I desired to help people discover their purpose and passions so that they could find joy in not just what they “do”, but in who they are, how they grow, and how to enjoy life in the everyday. So I named my company, Destination Life. Living a fulfilling life our whole life each and every day is the real destination.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I have always been a person that made strangers feel comfortable enough with me to share their most precious hopes and dreams. I have an energy that is infectious, in a good way. and people love being around me. I know it is because I exude joy, confidence, and empowerment. I am always finding ways to help others improve how they live and how they see their set of circumstances. I believe in possibilities. And people work with me when they know something is possible and they can’t quite figure out what is the next step. My very first job in life was when I was 17 years old. My high school teacher gave me a job application for a description he thought I would be a great fit for. His inspired action set the course for where I am today. The job was not the typical teenage retail job. I was applying to be a teen mentor to middle and elementary school students at a nonprofit. My focus was to teach them a curriculum about self-esteem, self-image, healthy relationships, good decision-making, setting goals, and celebrating what made them special. What a set-up! I knew then that I was made for helping people discover the greatness that they possess. So I set out to do just that. I wanted to be someone that helped people discover their talents, create a life they love, and have the confidence to do what they envisioned.

So what did I do? Right out of college at the wee age of 24, two friends and I started a nonprofit dance company while also working in our community at other full-time jobs. Although I had two degrees ( BA and MBA) in Business, I didn’t want to take my gifts to the corporate world. I wanted to use them in the nonprofit community and entrepreneurship. I loved the world of nonprofits and entrepreneurship. Besides, I discovered who I was and what I desired to do with my life while working in a nonprofit so I went back to my roots!

About 14 years into my nonprofit walk and another degree later (in dance this time), here I was the Executive Director of my nonprofit with my side hustles of speaking and coaching. I was loving the work but felt the tug to move fully into coaching and consulting in Corporate America. So I begin working at a corporation as a full-time coach and consultant while also maintaining my private company, Destination Life, and volunteering at my nonprofit.

I love what I do each day. My day job is amazing and helps me to continue to learn and grow in the leadership and personal development space, and in Destination Life, I can be creative and help coach people the way I enjoy doing it!

I know that my background in dance, nonprofit, and business gives me such a creative edge, as well as my strengths in strategy, positivity, ideation, and activation.

My clients love that I can be a thought partner and a coach. I can help them get clear on what they really want and desire vs. what they initially come to me with. There is always a layer down a level or two that reveals what problem actually needs to be addressed. That is what I enjoy helping my clients do. Address the layer or two down. I do that by engaging in assessments, coaching, and providing insight. As a thought partner, I help my clients have someone else to cast vision with. Many people that are side-hustling and managing a large number of responsibilities as a leader in their organization or household have a hard time looking at the big picture because they are in the weeds. I help clients get out of the weeds, get clear about what truly matters most in this season, and take the next step. Rinse and repeat. I love helping them create habits and systems that keep them moving as well. Time freedom, more joy every day, and financial freedom are typically the things that my client is looking for.

I am so proud that I have been able to help others that are like me, a high-achieving leader that is mission-driven doing work that they love, whether it is full-time leadership or a side hustle. I have helped them get out of the overwhelm and change the narratives that were holding them back from experiencing the life they desired by giving them strategies to maintain that life. Many of my clients are struggling on how to manage everything with their life and business. I love swooping in to hold space and provide focus so they can create systems that help them manage their life and keep their business from taking over their life.

There are three typical ways that people and organizations work with me: group coaching, strategy sessions, and one-on-one coaching. My company provides bespoke services in these categories to serve the needs of the client. Regardless of the choice, I work with clients on creating a vision and mission that will inform future decisions, cultivating an identity that aligns with their highest self, eliminating false-priorities and draining environments, and practicing behaviors that will sustain the type of life they desire to experience everyday.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business, Destination Life, is a solopreneur business. However, my nonprofit dance company has co-founders and we have known each other since high school. There are three of us. One of them I actually went to the same high school with and we became friends for life at the age of 14. She had another friend from her church and introduced us. That is how the three of us became connected. After finishing college, we talked on the phone about starting a dance company. It was random, but not that random. We all enjoyed dance, but none of us went to college for it at the time or even had super formalized intense training. Most of our formalized training happened after we formed the company. We always look back on our humble beginnings in awe. It’s funny how an idea can turn into a multiple 6 figure business. We like to joke and call what we created “a legitimate business!”

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I love this one! So for my nonprofit, we bootstrapped! We had and still have zero credit card or loan debt. All of our initial funding came from not taking pay in the beginning. We kept our day jobs and ran the company as a part-time gig. We decided when we started that we would keep our day jobs and build the business at a pace that worked for us. We were EXTREMELY lean. We didn’t pay for a monthly space. We partnered with organizations like schools and churches that allowed us to use the space at a significant discount or for free. Our income increased as we moved from adult to student programming. We have a focus on women and girls and having families pay a monthly tuition was the beginning of our regular income. We were able to contract ourselves and others to teach and be paid for it. It was about two years in before we could pay ourselves or anyone and the pay was only contract. That is what we decided would work for us because at the time we did not see ourselves quitting our jobs to run the company. Now we have 1.5 employees on salary and a handful of seasonal/part-time/volunteer staff. It is our desire to eventually create funding to have more full-time salaried staff because we know that it will have a tremendous impact on our results.

In my current business, I used my own money and business credit. I found some great lessons here that all because you purchase something doesn’t mean you will get an ROI. You have to purchase the right things and focus on the things that really matter. I found that I spent thousands of dollars on things that matter when you scale not when you are starting. I was hypnotized by finding someone I could pay to make things easier for me and just make my business run. Mostly because that is what I saw in the online space and what was marketed to me. I have learned that doing the most with the least typically serves me well. So now that I am on other side of starting, I am almost finished paying off “capital” that yielded no return in the time that I thought it may. I think this is extremely important for people that work full-time and are managing a business. Buying something will not always have a ROI that you expect or in the timing that you desire. It is all a risk. You will indeed learn a lot and possibly have great experiences. In case you are looking to get rich quick, a word of advice: You can not pay for what only time, effort, and clarity will give. Do all that you can without the capital if you are in an industry that has a low barrier to entry like the online service space or any other space for that matter. Resist being sucked into using money that you don’t have in full to pay for something that you are not fully sure will provide the return in the timeframe you desire. Business is predictable in some ways and very unpredictable in the beginning. If you are just starting out, I believe the best way to do it is grassroots. There are so many free versions of things, yo can get by with very little frills. If you have something awesome to solve a big problem for even a small group of people, that is all that you need to start. Then just start talking to people with the problem! And obviously, share the investment they will need to work with you. Use what you make to invest in the things that you know will help you grow. In the beginning, your only job is to make money. You need some money, but especially in the online space, you don’t need a whole lot to start. I found that me spending money to help me grow faster was really a distraction. I knew what to do and I was afraid to do it so it was easier to enroll in a program to get some validation. Know yourself and what may cause you to make decisions out of fear vs. a true need.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.desireecocroft.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desireecocroft/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getyourlifetoday
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desireecocroftmba/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIkCXZpKSsueVKIirpwAOIg
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Life-Today-Desiree-Cocroft/dp/1952327121