We were lucky to catch up with Patricia Desert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I had a dream. This feels like the beginning of Martin Luther King’s speech, but every aspect of my entrepreneurship journey started as a nightly dream. I think this is because, as an overthinker, deep sleep is the only time I can listen to God and review my ideas with clarity.
Now about the dream:
I was in a period of fasting and prayer for inner peace and healing. Then one night, I dreamed that I was invited to a formal event on a white boat. I arrived on the boat barefoot and was surprised that it was a formal ceremony. But the usher did not ask me to change my outfits, she welcomed me onboard. The usher was dressed modestly and smiling at me the whole time I followed her. She took me to a chapel inside of the boat, and there was some type of funeral. I sat toward the back, and when I turned around, my maternal grandmother was sitting behind me. Then she touched my shoulder and said these words, “This is how you should sit” demonstrating with her hands the opposite way of entering the rows of chairs. As she whispered to me, I hear parts of Malachi 3:10 as a summary, as if the verse was modified to send me a message”do this, and you will see, I will open the gates of heaven for you.” Then I left the ceremony. Right then, I felt like I was witnessing the funeral of a version of me. God showed me a direction to pursue my life through my grandmother. As I exited the chapel, that same usher came to me and said a man wants to see me on the dock. My outfit changed to a grey skirt and a navy blue jacket as if I were at a graduation. Then I stood in front of the man, and he handed me a navy blue patch with the word “DISTINCTION”. The man never said a word, but I felt when he handed me that patch, there was this long and deep silence between us. Then I woke up. My grandmother has always been the voice of wisdom in my family, so after that dream, I know this was an invitation to change my life and start something new.

I woke up and started drafting for a preschool called “La Distinction.” I had the curriculum, the business plan, and everything, but then the pandemic hits, and everything closes. I turned to my writing to still launch another version of La Distinction. I started creating books, planners, and journals for women who want to live intentionally. I published devotionals to help women heal from trauma or start their entrepreneurship journeys. I renewed my love for papers and stationaries by designing beautiful products and gift boxes. After about one year of doing that, I then remembered the original plan to start a preschool and resources for children taking a whole-child perspective. I am still developing our curriculum, but I leased space three months ago to launch our first childcare center in Massachusetts.

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 started my journey as a social worker. I majored in social enterprise administration because I wanted to focus on macro social work. I love the process of shaping an organization and collaborating with a team to build something innovative and impactful. I have tried many different career paths to get to where I am today. I worked as a nurse assistant in college because I thought, like most of my Caribbean family, I should study something in the medical field, but I failed my nursing test twice simply because I had no drive to study for it both times. After being undecided for a long time about my studies, I fell in love with social work. I did direct care, casework, tried being a therapist for 5 months and so many other part-time employment I pursued to find my way as I was also a stay-at-home mom. One time, in a moment of silence and clarity, I felt God whispering to me, “my path to success is not going to be anything new.” I understood that whisper as in, everything I need to succeed, are things that I already have within me since I was younger. I then started to map my life and collect memories of times when I was very happy doing something. Three major things that stood out to me were: writing, teaching children, and starting social literary clubs everywhere I was. So now I am at peace with the life I am creating as I serve women and children through my writings, and now the preschool that is opening this year.

My proudest moments are collaborating with my daughter, Jayde-Chloë, 7 years old, to create products that other children her age would enjoy. I enjoy designing beautiful products, and I do it for the happiness of it. We were invited to host workshops for children at a Women’s retreat. As the families attend the adult programs, we were working with the children on holistic activities. It was so much fun. She is a very intelligent little human. I hope I can keep working with my daughter for decades to come. I already plan to hire her as an assistant reader at the preschool, an idea that came from dad not too long ago. She is excited about that.

My most meaningful moments are the testimonials of women in my community who use the devotionals I publish to tackle their healing or entrepreneurship journeys. My dream is to impact as many women as possible and support them to reach their wildest potential as they also heal. I don’t believe in the rat race. I don’t believe success needs to come at the cost of my wellness and family times. Yes, there are times when it’s challenging, but for me to be successful, is to be WELL within and let that inner wellness pours to the outside and around. My dream is to ignite the fire within women, moms, and families everywhere and invite them to keep God at the center, to care for their whole being, and raise children that will join them in positively changing the world around them.

I want anyone who ever gets in contact with our company to want to improve their lives for the better. Whether they enroll their children at our schools, purchase our products, collaborate on social media, engage with our content or meet at an event. I want to exhude a positive healing presence through La Distinction brand.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Content creation is the main way I stay connected to our clients and customers. I love creating content with intention to impact. On both the business page (@ladistinctionco) and my personal page (@patriciamdesert), I share regular content that I know may be helpful to the community.

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

My business partner is my husband, Jean-Carell Desert, whom I’ve known since he was 17 years old. How we met? I saw him passing by my house, living in the same neighborhood in Haiti, I asked him to borrow the book he was holding, and I never returned the book. Almost a decade later we eloped and got married. We’ve been married for 12 years now with two beautiful human beings, Jayde-Chloë Desert, 7, and Kingsley Cole, 20 months.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ladistinctionco.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/patriciamdesert
• Facebook: Patriciamdesert
• Linkedin: Patriciamdesert
• Twitter: patriciamdesert