We recently connected with Porschea Necoal and have shared our conversation below.
Porschea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
I had always known that there was a greater purpose for my life beyond the typical 9-5. Though it afforded me great opportunities and several transferable skills that I would later implement into my own personal businesses. The year was 2020. It was the beginning of a pandemic and I was living the American Dream, working in management in corporate America for a reputable healthcare company. I had been tasked with transitioning 120 associates and 8 supervisors from a traditional in-office setting to a work from home work module due to Covid-19. Being home and on lock down as a country meant several different things to us as a country. To me as an individual, it meant a vacation from the hustle of life and an opportunity to work on more personal projects since I would have a lot more time on my hand.
My very first business started off as PNI-Porschea Necoal Interior. I had a keen eye for luxury designs and interior decorating. It had been a passion of mind since I leased my first apartment. It wasn’t enough for me to have a home, I desired a model home that would garner all of the “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” when people walked into a prestigious looking home. After launching the business, which was extremely easy to do, I quickly found that designing and decorating was more of a hobby rather than something I wanted to do for life. I did not want to run a decorating business and it was quickly heading in the direction of needing to hire staff and sub-contractors. It was more than I bargained for and after making about $18,000 in about 3 months, I shut the operation down.
What I had always been good at innately were words. A friend of mine, who was also starting a new business from her bedroom while working from home due to covid, need a content writer for her business website and packaging for her products. She trusted my ability to give language and sound to her products that would eventually go on shelves in stores worldwide with my words attached to it. This reignited my burning desire to become an author, after all, I had a ton of time on my hand and in 2022, I became a published co-author of Brown Girl Guidebook- Start With Self Love and Brown Girl Guidebook Bedtime Companion Journal. It is an interactive therapeutic guidebook which awaked the therapist in me that I desired to be since the age of 6. Working on one book, changed the entire trajectory of my life.
After the release of the book, I decided to go to school for counseling and coaching. I co-authored another book during this time centered around 9 Influential business women sharing our journey from corporate to marketplace business owners. Porschea Necoal Consulting was a thriving content writing and business agency during this time but I wanted to not only write books, but publish my own and others. I used the experience of co-authoring 2 books to learn all that I could about the publishing process and once I was able to counsel, I would use both as a tool to bring about healing and transformation in others.
Today, Agape Vision Publishing and The Repair Room are both more than I imagined it would be 4 years ago. The ability to help others aspiring to be an author, amplify their voice, give language to their personalized message and pain and turn into a beautiful healing hub for others throughout varying corners of the earth, has been so rewarding to me. In both businesses, I am a change agent and a conduent for healing and transformation. My sole purpose is to push others to be the absolute best versions of themselves as they overcome the very things that life has thrown at them to derail the plan and purpose of their life.
I find myself teetering often back and forth on whether or not I wish I would have started my businesses sooner in life. When I look at how many years are behind me and compare it to how many years are left in front of me, I recognize that I didn’t always value time, therefore I didn’t make the best of it. I spent a lot of time chasing the wrong things, people, and dreams therefore, I feel behind and can’t help but wonder where I would be had I not procrastinated. A lot of people were waiting on me to get into my rightful place in life so that I could be the vessel that would unlock their purpose and help them to heal.
Then there are the days when I feel as though I am right on schedule. Prematurely walking into purpose and your gifting can be a curse rather than a blessing-more of a hindrance than a help. I needed that time in corporate America as a breeding ground for growth and to gather the skills to operate a business successfully. Without that training, I wouldn’t be who or where I am today. Additionally, maturity and my character also needed to be developed. Skill may have gotten me here,. but it would take so much more to sustain this place in life. I have concluded, that I am right where I need to be. I am at my best for my clients in publishing and for the clients whom I counsel.
It is my personal belief, that we all have the should have, could have moments in life however, I know that I am not the author and finisher of my faith. It is God who has written my story and forged my path. When I walk with him, I am never late but rather always on time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
There are two businesses that I run. Agape Vision Publishing, a full service book and production company. We bring your stories to life through the magical art of storytelling whether its through music or book writing. I believe that everyone has a story and the best ones to tell are your personal life stories. No one can tell that story better than you however, for the ones who feel intimidated by the pen or laptop, we offer ghostwriting services because we believe telling your story is that important! I spend a lot of time developing first time authors and helping them to craft a memorable and transformative story designed to piece through the hearts of their target audience. “Someone’s healing is wrapped up in the story that you refuse to tell”, is what I often tell my authors. Many people will not sit in the office of a therapist, but they will pick up a book. They will hear their whole life song over a beat with the anecdote to their healing in your voice. Many want to write but they lack the discipline, structure, or confidence to put such a thing together. That is where AVP comes in. We offer a tailored made experience geared towards a potential author’s specific needs. My unique approach with my authors rarely leaves them with a dry eye. We dive deep into the crevices of their heart so that their readers will get all of them and can relate to the words written. Writing their pain, trials, and triumphs helps to bring about healing and transformation as they begin to make what happen to them, work for their good in their life. The joy in their eyes upon delivering a finished product that they can be proud of in common stores such as Wal-Mart, Barnes and Nobles, Amazon and more, never gets old. Witnessing individuals come up to them expressing how their story saved their life while I am looking at what was once a broken individual find the remedy to their pain and their passion is why I am determined to make as many individuals as I can an author or artist.
The Repair Room is a healing hub and trauma unit for many to come in and do the necessary work that ultimately sets you back to default settings. Trauma is such a wide-ranging spectrum from world-view trauma, childhood trauma, acute trauma, and so much more. Many come into my office broken and many more leave whole. We offer a wide range of services from pre-marital, marriage, family, individual, youth,abuse, addiction, grief counseling and our latest service of EAP for small businesses. Our overall goal is provide a safe space for individuals to land after they have been tossed too and from by the turbulence of life. The truth is, bad things have happened to us all and it modifies us. What many of us don’t know is that it modifies genetically and on a cellular level. It changes our brain and how we think and process which ultimately affects how we show up in life and relationships. The Repair Room is here to bring restoration, compassion and visibility to those who have experienced traumatic experiences which have left traumatic imprints and hard wired many to survival responses.
In both of my businesses, I am most proud of the success and transformation rate. When clients meet me, whether its publishing or therapy, we immediately develop a plan designed to help you reach your desired outcome. There are no quitters and no shortcuts either way. We roll up our sleeves and we do the necessary work. In the midst of this, my clients regain confidence, integrity, establish boundaries, but they also respect their experiences. Part of my job is to reframe how they view what has happened to them. When we change the way we see things, we change the feeling attached to what we see. This small flip of the switch is one of the key factors in moving from broken to healed.
You owe it to yourself to come face to face with the you that has settled and decided to live beneath your privilege. You owe it to yourself to see what the you looks like that God had in mind when he created you to be. Not what trauma and triggers have turned you into. That’s what I am here for. Whether we right it or talk about it, is all up to you which route we take to reach our higher selves.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Instead of working my 9-5 job, I made my 9-5 job work for me. I worked it from every angle and drained every opportunity completely dry so that I had everything that I needed to make my business thrive. I used my paychecks to pay off debt to increase my credit score so that I could apply for high available credit cards. I learned from the marketing teams in the large corporations that I worked for about branding, marketing, business proposals, pitch decks, and target audiences.
I used my paychecks to also pay for classes and courses necessary to gain the credentials necessary to start up my business. I compiled a list of the necessary things needed to start the line of work that I wanted to enter into. I prioritized this list so that I could pay for things in the order of importance. Starting a business, especially when you are the sole financer, you must be a good steward over your finances. I had not a penny to waste. I verified every vendor, coach, and all investments I was looking to make in order to ensure they are reputable and can provide the value and true results necessary to push my businesses forward.
I researched the best banks and credit unions to provide the best accounts for my type of businesses, that offer the best credit cards and interest rates that would put me in the greatest position to fund my businesses so that I did not have to put up all of my funds. Having business proposals and applying for grants that my business qualified for was intricate in moving the needle in the value of service that I am able to offer my clients and to hire staff and provide opportunities for others.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Authenticity has been the most effective strategy in growing my clientele. In a world where you can be anything, being yourself is always available. There are many strategists and marketing gimmick guros especially on social media. I never wanted to be an individual or business that had to feed the machine, so I simply don’t. I don’t use odd number marketing gimmicks to convert a client. I don’t sale products. I change lives. I present my client’s with they essentially need to do in order to enhance their lives and change their condition.
It is important to me to maintain our individual identity in business because unique is eye catching in a world of counterfeits and imposters. “Do you want to better your life?” is my elevator pitch to everyone I encounter. I explain the value in what my businesses offer and how these offers will always be more beneficial to them then it will ever be to us. We don’t pretend to be like any of our competitors, we don’t try to out do them in anything that they offer. We simply study the needs of our target audience and we speak to those needs in a way that is true to who we are as a brand and business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.therepairroomheals.com and www.agapevisionpublishing.com
- Instagram: RepairRoomHeals
- Facebook: The Repair Room
