We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Kelly A. Diggs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Kelly A. below.
Dr. Kelly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Thank you for this question. Because I am a deeply reflective person, I check in often with myself about my overall well-being and state of mind, especially when it comes to running a business. Recently, I watched an Instagram live of the Hip-Hop Womanist scholar EbonyJanice Moore, where she posited the questions (and I paraphrase), “Are you living the life you envisioned? Are you living a good life?” For me, the answer to the first question is no, I am not living the life I’d envisioned because I didn’t have the capacity to envision this life as a possibility for me. And to the second question, yes, absolutely. My life is simply divine, in part due to the freedom and autonomy entrepreneurship affords me. I never charted out to become a business owner. As a kid who grew up very poor, risk-averse, and with a narrow focus, my primary and sole goal was to become a medical doctor in order to provide a better life for me and my family. I never deterred in my pursuit of this goal until I opened the aperture wide enough to ask myself if this was still the dream. This questioning didn’t happen until my third year in college and again in my third year of grad school, in my third year of my postdoctoral fellowship, and finally in my third year of my education policy internship (cycle of 3s). Now, I describe myself as a serendipitous entrepreneur because I launched into the deep waters of entrepreneurship with a murky vision of what this could be and very little experience in the business world. I followed the gentle nudge to trust and bet on myself and relied on my intelligence, curiosity, and diligence to learn (unlearn, relearn, test, and try again) along the way. Over the years, I have gotten really clear on my why. I’ve elevated my expertise, crafted my unique voice, and have gingerly, yet persistently grown into my role as the CEO. Confidently, I now know that this is my purpose work. Of course, during my entrepreneurship journey, there have been many critical moments that forced me to question whether it would be better to get a stable, “regular” job, including navigating a divorce, pandemic, and family health issues. Instead of quitting, these pressure points revealed to me how bold, resilient, and creative I am. Most importantly, it reaffirmed my worth and the value and impact I uniquely contribute to the world. So now, when I ask myself if I’m still happy as a business owner, it’s with the knowledge and wisdom that I can choose to do anything I desire. Yes, I am very happy as a business owner because I align myself with opportunities that bring me joy.
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?
Hello everyone. I’m Dr. Kelly A Diggs (Dr. K; she series), and I’m a heart-centered scientist, consultant, and container holder who strives to make the scientific enterprise more accepting, accessible, and attractive to those who look like me. I’ve had the privilege of working in many capacities as a scientific researcher (neuroscientist), as a published scholar committed to developing programs to support the scientific enterprise, as a conduit for growth and change, as a mentor, and as a mentee in the academy. As a Black woman who trained and worked in spaces predominantly occupied by and designed for White men, I have been motivated to broaden accessibility and representation in science careers since college. This was (and is) incredibly important to me because I recognized that silohing, isolation, and exclusion can occur that can negatively impact the growth and progress of early stage scientists and employees, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds.
Guided by this purpose, I organized, led, and participated in a number of initiatives to highlight and amplify the contributions of diverse scientists at my university and sought positions that would enable me to reach larger audiences. Subsequently, I was awarded a Mentoring and Education Fellowship with a 60K-member professional scientific society, where I built and managed all aspects of the society’s $1M grant-funded national mentorship program (conception to implementation) as the lead manager. In 2016, I became a serendipitous entrepreneur by leveraging this experience, as well as to meet the increasing requests to work one-on-one with more universities. I committed to full-time entrepreneurship in 2017 and focused on learning how to build and grow a sustainable, impactful business.
My company is a science-focused consulting firm, and our mission is to provide quality, evidence-based best practices and resources in order to advance collaboration, mentorship, access, and interdisciplinary research to historically underrepresented individuals in science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) fields. We provide a series of curated offerings to support organizations in identifying their core needs and taking aligned actions, including consultation, coaching, training, evaluation, and outreach services. Through intensive workshops, seminars, and courses, we help organizations enact best practices and promising principles around mentorship, inclusion, and communication. Our goal is to support the well-being of all scientists and a scientific-literate populace by catalyzing culture shifts in academic research and work environments and by helping navigate conversations about culture, inclusivity, accessibility, and education for all scientists, policy makers, and the general public.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Well, I believe in and follow the philosophy of “writing it down and making it plain.” So, instead of creating a vision board in Dec 2019, I wrote out a 2020 New Year vision statement for my burgeoning business. For the “Year of Vision”, I stated that I would seek and pursue greater clarity, focus, scope, and insight in all life domains. Specifically for my business, the charge was to aggressively strive to become a multi-million dollar company aimed to reshape the scientific landscape, increase accessibility, and make a significant impact on science culture and knowledge. To achieve this mission, I wrote out some clear and actionable goals, including:
-To build my reputation, knowledge, and credibility in order to be the face of my own movement
-To generate sustainable wealth to support myself and my family
-To create automatic streams of income to limit requisite in-person (i.e. travel) obligations
-To transition away from subcontracting to initiating subcontracting opportunities (i.e. Be the Boss!)
-To learn more about running and managing a business
A few months later, as my business was entering its growth phase, the COVID global health crises began. Although I worked primarily with research scientists and clinicians at universities and medical institutes, the pandemic drastically shifted institutional priorities, focus, and resources for all scientists, directing most (if not all) efforts to addressing the global health crisis. As a result, my business growth came to a screeching halt. All of my scheduled in-person engagements (about 6 months worth of work) were canceled, and all non-COVID related contracting opportunities were stalled for an indeterminate amount of time. Prior to 2020, my business operated solely as a high-touch, travel-based model, and I would receive payment only upon delivery. Fortunately, I was a true solopreneur (one-woman show) and liquid enough to withstand a short drought. However, the world and I didn’t plan nor prepare for the long-standing impacts of this global crisis, so my “lean” business became skeletal as I sought funding opportunities to stay afloat and ways to be of service. Recognizing the unique needs of scientists navigating the pandemic, there was an increased demand for safe, holistic virtual resources to support scientists and other essential workers as well as resources to improve citizen education and advocacy around the COVID pandemic. In particular, there was a significant need for quality, evidence-based virtual resources related to science communication and the general public. During the pandemic, I successfully pivoted my business from a high-touch, 100% travel-based model into a hybrid (virtual and in-person) model. In partnership with colleagues at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), we developed and tested virtual workshops and courses to train researchers and support the overall well-being of scientists. This pivot provided a safe space to elevate and amplify conversations around the needs of all scientists in a community of peers while increasing access to networks, resources, and best practices to under-resourced researchers. While unexpected and drastic, the pandemic enabled me to learn my niche, pivot, and gain invaluable experience in sustaining through a crisis. It also helped me to build my business acumen and achieve my 2020 vision goals, which are still anchors for my business’s current and future goals.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One thing I know for certain is that operating in excellence and not compromising on quality has been essential to my business. When I first started, I accepted every opportunity presented to me in order to refine my product and discover my niche. I also actively seek and incorporate customer feedback to improve my offerings. Since most of my clients have been through referrals or word of mouth, positive testimonials from a diverse group of institutions and organizations has also significantly contributed to my reputation and brand recognition.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.diggsandrewsconsulting.org
- Instagram: dr.k.diggs
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/drkellydiggs
- Other: info@diggsandrewsconsulting.org