We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diseree Clay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Diseree thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My mission is to help Mom entrepreneurs (Mompreneurs) & other entrepreneurs thrive and increase profit through simple, strategic, and high impact systems for home and business thereby transforming their life, love and career.
This is a personal mission of mine because I am a Mompreneur who had to figure it all out on my own. I was spinning my wheels trying to create a profitable business to support my family and impact others.
After spending THOUSANDS of dollars in mentorship and certifications and coaching, what I found out is that so many gurus and coaches leave so much out of the process.
So, I made it a personal mission to become a transformation resource hub for mompreneurs and other entrepreneurs where they can come and invest in themselves and their business (es) and get the FULL process. I leave nothing out!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Low self-esteem, abortions, molestation, prostitution, homelessness, divorce and single parenting have given Diseree Clay a front row seat in the classroom of hopelessness. With the help of God, she refused to give in to her circumstances. Determined not to quit and to understand that surviving hard times breeds resilience, she graduated from Grambling State University with a B.S. in Education and from Louisiana Tech University with an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling. Committed to being the change she wants to see, Diseree became a transformational educator teaching K-12 for ten years.
Knowing there was more to her assignment of making a difference, this Chicago native is also an inspirational Amazon Best-selling author, workshop facilitator, empowering speaker, and passionate advocate for girls/young women. She is also a Maxwell Certified (Formerly John Maxwell Certified) Speaker, Trainer and Coach.
She transitioned from being a transformational educator to a Transformational Coach & Consultant that provide women the tools necessary to change their mindset and behavior from “lack to abundance” to break unproductive cycles in their lives through online courses, masterminds, coaching and various other formats. Why? Because she believes, “There are too many broken girls living inside the bodies of women who are perpetuating brokenness in every area and it has to stop. There has to be a solution. So, it’s my belief that if God brings you and your problem to me, then I hold that solution. I create, nurture and transform.”
Her motto is “crisis breeds creativity, courage and critical thinking skills that can turn your life around.” She shares this message as the Curator of Dez Three Sixty Coaching and Consulting, LLC, her multimedia company that includes a podcast, blog, books and apparel (PPYQ-Push Past Your Quit®️) and the Transformation Business Academy,
THE PREMIERE DIGITAL HUB FOR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION Where Entrepreneurs Go to Transform Their Business & Grow Their Income.
Based in Houston, TX Diseree is happily married to the love of her life David “DJ” Clay raising three gifted children, Carrington, Chase, and Carter is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and serves as the Executive Vice President of MC Lyte’s Hip Hop Sisters Foundation and Executive Producer of an international radio show, “The Millionaire’s Roundtable,” President/Founder of Girl Y.E.S.: You’re Equipped to Succeed, Inc Nonprofit Organization, & the CEO/Owner of Dez Three Sixty, LLC. where entrepreneurs can get coaching and consulting services. Her greatest pain has become her greatest blessing, and the world is now her biggest classroom.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that everyone that’s WITH you is NOT FOR YOU!
There were numerous occasion since I started my own business where friends, family, business partners, and others had the opportunity to support my business- whether it was the nonprofit or the for-profit. And let me clarify before I go to deep into the woods here. When I say support, I am not only speaking of monetary support you know. Sometimes, people automatically equate support to money.
However, as an entrepreneur I know first hand how important things like referrals, giving you a shot to speak, to host, to be a vendor at an event, making connections, sharing posts, heck even commenting on post are for businesses, especially women-owned start-ups.
There were times when I was starting out…I mean really early on that I had support of people because I had my “lil business.” I laugh because people close (who were close I should say) would actually say things about my “lil business.”
As I grew, expanded, failed and re-entered those same people watched in awe of my dedication. I think that for some they never thought I’d keep going. They never saw me where I am and that’s ok!
I had to learn that all of the people with me were not for me and that’s ok. I’m just grateful that I found out sooner rather than later.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 we (my husband and I) 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭…
It was 2017, and we were expecting our firstborn son together as a married couple. We were living the American dream!
We were college sweethearts, now married, expecting a child, and in the process of purchasing our first home in the suburbs of Houston, Texas.
We both came to the union with one child each and so we were ecstatic to be able to buy a home together with our 3rd child collectively.
The best part was that we were building our home and were able to make all the key decisions concerning design, layout, etc.
Here’s what happened:
* We went through the process of securing a realtor, secured financing, etc., etc.
* We’d even moved so far into the process that what was an empty lot, now had walls and fixtures, tile, countertops that we selected!
* We were now about one month out from closing. We were meeting with the inspectors to ensure everything was as it should be and then…
* We received a call stating that our financing had fallen through. The underwriter had overlooked some key information and we could no longer (on paper) afford this house. At that time, we were new entrepreneurs and we didn’t fully understand the differences of receiving 1099 income and W-2 income.
We could financially afford the home, but on paper….it was a no-go. It was not happening especially within the timeframe that we needed it.
* 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭. T𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 was 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.
* Oh, I must’ve forgotten to mention that we’d already given up our current residence because of course WE ARE BUILDING A HOME!
We had to find an Airbnb to live in for a short period of time. We had to transition between a friend’s house and then two Airbnbs, still drive our daughter to school daily and pick her up (from the other side of town) and some of this time, my husband was out of town on business.
Imagine having to pull over in the median to regurgitate because of morning sickness. All while still building a business! It was a mess to say the least.
* There’s so much more to this story, but the short version is we had to Push Past Our Quit ®!
Here’s what I learned from this:
* At the end of the day, we had no choice but to move forward. This was not an easy undertaking, I was SICK! Literally, we had to PPYQ®!
Why is this important?
* There are going to be things that you face in life that no one will know about, things that come to take you out, things that come to press you to give up and give in…
The moral of this story is clear: DON’T GIVE UP!
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞:
𝟏. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝.
𝟐. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐈𝐍, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲.
At the end of the day, this journey is NOT easy, but for me, it’s so worth it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dezthreesixty.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/dezthreesixty
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dezthreesixty
- Linkedin: www.linkedin/dezthreesixty
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/dezthreesixty
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/dezthreesixty
- Other: Transformation Business Academy www.transformationbusinessacademy.com Apparel and Merch www.pushpastyourquit.com Girl Y.E.S.-You’re Equipped to Succeed, Inc. Nonprofit www.girlyesfoundation.org
Image Credits
All For One Photography