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

Jaimie , appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

Some of the most unexpected problems and issues I faced as a business owner are unforeseen life issues, and problems that occur or that could occur. Death, for example. When you decide to become an entrepreneur, you don’t factor in unexpected death; for me, for instance, the loss of my first best friend, who is my mother, followed by two sisters, two brothers, and a niece, all within the last six years of starting Credit Merit Consultants. The feeling is unexplainable.

Although, at the time and currently, I have the most supportive and understanding clients, staff, best friends, and life partner; still no one, unless you have experienced this type of loss, fully understands the magnitude of the daily grief. At the end of the day, once you’re paid for a service, no one cares, and you, the entrepreneur, have to internalize the pain of the loss; you have to motivate yourself and just find the strength to keep going everyday.

My only resolution and what defines me today is and will always be, to keep God first and continue to pray daily for guidance, discernment, and clarity.

The outcome of all my client success stories and results, watching my hard work pay off, is what drives me to move past all unexpected life issues that I have faced or will ever face!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the baby of 13 children, I haven’t been blessed with any children of my own yet, but I’m blessed to have 2 god children, my sister & brother’s children; who are like my own. I’m the cool aunt that give rich auntie vibes! I will forever be the God fearing, church girl from the little town of LaPlace, Louisiana.

Although, I come from a huge family, I enjoy keeping my love life and different aspects of my life very private. I have long lasting friendships with a small circle of close friends who turned family, from Louisiana, Texas & New York.

What sets me apart from others is that I’m just a genuine vibe! That is the best way to describe me in a nutshell. I am hilarious, outgoing, I have a huge heart and I want to see everyone win, and will assist the best way I can in helping people to do so. I’m adventurous, outgoing, a perfectionist to the point I’ve become an overachiever! I love traveling, shopping & just enjoying life with the people that I love. OH, and I love love my birthday (July 31st) and everyone else’s!

I’m very communicative. Communication is a big part of who I am and my success; an important factor in both personal and business relationships is to be able to have open minded discussions. More importantly, know when it’s time to agree to disagree for the best of your company and relationships.

When you experience me I promise you will never forget me!

I got into the consulting/credit repair industry from needing assistance with my own credit, once I trusted the process with that company, I was intrigued in wanting to help my family & friends, that turned into more & more referrals, and now having a successful business 7 years later.

We offer different service packages from expedited services to month to month packages. We perform an audit on all 3 credit bureaus, and provide a price based on what fits your situation in order to have great credit. This is what sets us apart from others, we work hard to make sure our clients have options to choose from. I want all our potential clients to know, that no two journeys are the same. Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone’s chapter 5.

That’s what I’m most proud of, I literally took a chance and stepped out on faith, once it didn’t feel like work, I knew that I finally found my passion and purpose!

To date, Credit Merit has expanded by adding several businesses to its portfolio; Credit Merit Consultants is the flagship company under the Credit Merit umbrella, followed by several new notable additions; including Credit Merit Home Scents, Resume the Right Way, Agency Corner Staffing LLC., with locations in LaPlace, LA and Houston, TX.

How’d you meet your business partner?

A business partner was never a part of my initial business plan, next thing I know, I have one and we rolling! Four years later, we have several successful businesses! My business partner was the missing piece in my life that I didn’t know I needed. He provided additional tools with add-ons, that restructured Credit Merit and took it in a different direction. He encouraged me to take risk and have shown me, that as an entrepreneur, anything that we put our mind to is limitless! Nothing beats a failure but a try is one of his favorite sayings, and we live by it daily.

It still amazes me, what we can accomplish together when we collaborate on an idea, and it turns into a reality. When you have excellent communication, and you are blessed to find a business partner who is dedicated to building with you and making it a daily priority for us to be successful, whether its a joint venture or not, it creates an undeniable, powerful connection, bond, and unbreakable foundation, I’m blessed beyond measure to have him in my life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes, absolutely! I found myself in the banking and oil and gas field for years since moving to Houston in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. They both were great careers, but when I found myself working for managers that were giving false promises about promotions and advancement within the company, no matter how hard I worked to prove myself, it was becoming unnoticed.

The oil & gas company I was working for at the time, was terminating employees every pay period. At this time, I was already finding my passion by working on my mom, brother & boyfriend at the time credit, and was getting back great results. I realized that within a few months of going public about starting my entrepreneurial journey, my referrals started coming in at a rapid pace. I realized I was going to my 9-5, but doing more work for my newly found business, then for the company I was working for. I was scheduling consultations during my lunch shift, using the company fax machine, computer and phone! Then going home and working on client files until midnight or later! The turnover came at the perfect time!

I prayed for God to guide my footsteps and show me what my next steps should be, I already had started moving my personal items home already, if a layoff was in my future, I was ok with that, so I could just focus on my clients, than boom, my number was called! I was laid off with a great compensation package, paid medical for a year and unemployment benefits! I invested that money, purchased equipment, materials and poured everything I had into my business.

My key milestones are teaching and mentoring others to start their own credit repair/consulting business and also receiving text, calls, emails and social media post of my clients getting their dream home/car and/or financial assistance! Long story short I made 90,000 my first year in business, and haven’t looked back since! I turned my passion and pain into profit! Everyday won’t be easy, but pray & KEEP GOING anyway, YOU GOT THIS!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/creditmerit
• Instagram: creditmerit1
• Facebook: Credit Merit Consultants
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimie-williams-77b42455
• Twitter: creditmerit
• Yelp: Credit Merit Consultants

Image Credits
Graphicjones Chrysse Massay