We were lucky to catch up with Devarria Tillis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Devarria , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

When starting a business never expect friends/family to support anything you do, and ideally why would you? As a business owner you have to develop a marketing strategy for your target market and most times friends/family will not be that market and that is totally fine. Besides your friends/family there are thousands of other consumers who are your target audience, speak directly to them.

Devarria , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Since the age of 9 I’ve always had a love for cooking, baking and creating new recipes and with that passion birthed Deva’s Berries years later in 2017, I started out giving my treats to family and friends for Free. Until one day someone saw a vision in me that I did not see and that is all it took! From then on I started up my business with no guides and no mentorship as I maneuvered through this new found entrepreneurship. I’ve experienced many hardships while building my brand and finding my target audience but I never gave up on my business or myself. I am most proud of how far I’ve come as a business owner and I would like all my potential clients to know that there is so much more in store for Deva’s Berries and I am excited about it!!!

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

I believe great customer service and quality products helped build my reputation in the market, I am a strong believer in “Word of mouth” and as a business owner if I can satisfy 5 customers and have them tell 10 other people about “Deva’s Berries” and the experience they’ve had then I’ve done my part. A consumer will always remember a great experience and a delicious treat.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During 2020 I was laid off from one of my main streams of income, this stream of income helped me fund Deva’s Berries and now it was gone, just like that. Not only am I out of work but I also have to fund my dream somehow some way, I kept my faith and continued to move through the odds that were stacked against me and here we are 2 years later, Deva’s Berries is still thriving!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/devaberries_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/105013230184018/posts/pfbid02oqgqEWW1A7fHJxC5tiGXST28eXCeLTiTSpFSowoTQq3M53mB2qfbuuv5CgoqYN8Jl/?d=n
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devarria-tillis-6ba1598a
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRYGgLfA/