Finding Your Way Into Entrepreneurship : Introducing De Lisa Carol

Tynisha Parks
Oct 18, 2016
14 min read

You really never know what someone is going through until you ask or until they are ready to tell their story. Luckly I had the pleasure of interviewing another good, motivated friend of mine De Lisa Carol and she is ready to tell her story and motivate.

One of the most important things you can do is find yourself and discover your gift and purpose in life. Not only is her story relatable but it's captivating to see her defeat her pains and her struggles everyday for the greater good of women entreprenuers.

We either let our obstacles conquer us or we pick ourselves up and defeat them, and if you don't exactly know how to do it, dive into this interview and see what you can take from this creative mentor De Lisa Carol.

So can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Okay, well I am a graphic designer by trade but recently, well not recently, I have decided to branch out to do branding and marketing. I'm also a photographer. and in the future will only be a person that's a business launching planner. I also do business coaching for creative entrepreneurs.

Thats great! I've know you for awhile in your prime of doing photography. What made you want to start off in photography and from photography what made you get to the point you’re at now?

Okay, well I actually started photography, I would say at my lowest, not my lowest but the lowest I have experienced yet. I was laid off from my position, the guy that I loved so much he dumped me. and so like all these horrible things , painful things happened. I remember feeling very alone and also a sense of worthless because not that we are taught to be this way. but a lot of our self or what we are taught is related to the things that we have or the job titles that we hold. I'm really about building relationships and to have those things I made define me and to lose both of them at the same time, I just felt a sense of worthlessness. I was like what is my purpose? Why is everything being taken away from me. Like I worked so hard and I did everything right so to speak, so basically I didn't want anyone to feel as low as I did. One of the things that I started doing in photography, were a lot of makeovers, and the reason why is because you feel your best when you have your hair, your makeup, the clothes and everything like that and it was very therapeutic to see transformation in women and to see how beautiful they can be. And to see someone come in as a shy person then when everything is done from head to toe, they basically are Beyonce haha. So yea I got into photography and it has worked for me, it has grown and developed but where I am right now in photography along with the other stuff I've grown so much over the years and there comes a point where you have to, and you know this happens in every business, but you start thinking why are you doing this and what is the purpose. Because in photography I got into doing weddings, I got into taking pictures of children and babies and all these kinds of things and when I looked into what I was really passionate about and why I did photography it went back to that whole thing of worth. Value, adding value to people. So when I thought about that I was like well, how can I add value to peoples lives with using photography, with using a little bit of design, with using my degree in marketing, and also my job experience in branding. How can I add value to my community? So when I went through that process, I literally thought to myself okay, who is De Lisa? What am I passionate about? What would get me up early in the morning to do whatever I have to do for a client? And I thought about it and I was like, you know what, I love photographing women, particularly women entrepreneurs or anybody in the community that are go getters. I definitely like photographing moms, because I feel like at the end of the day women are the source of everything, you know without women their is no growth, literally and figuratively, there is no growth, and so I was like I want to do something with that. I am a woman entrepreneur, I am continually growing and learning, and how can I spread my knowledge and can give people something that can add value to their lives. So thats when I started dissecting things and was like I am going to invest in a business coach, I am going to invest in myself like health wise.

I am going to become a complete full person, because whatever you do in life and in your business its not just work, it is a full thing. So recently this year I was like how do I become a complete person. Like how do I balance these things, because another thing that kind of triggered me to think this way is that I was working none stop, matter fact work was everything people would know me as, until I got really sick. That was the same time I had a business coach and she told me literally two weeks before I got really really sick, she was like "your going to burn yourself out, you need balance", that's what I remember and I remember when I was sick, I went to the hospital for a week because I was putting all my energy in work and putting probably 5% in myself. Basically it is what I always say, people spend a lot of time mastering their talent, what God has given you. When not a lot of people have mastered their craft. Which is something that you have in the making. Like you have to master the craft of talking to people. You have to master the craft of being close to your family and loving them and how do you love them. So everybody spends time mastering their talent, which I was doing, I was killing it. I was like oh I'm getting money in photography, you know I had my job on the side, I was killing it. But I wasn't mastering craft, basically how do I become a better person, how do I get a stronger relationship with God, how do I learn discipline you know and patience. Because when I become a better person, when I invest in myself, even when I invest in my business, it all comes back to if I could add more value to my clients, and myself.

I've also been at my lowest but when I was, I was no where near focused on doing anything for myself, like starting my business. I started my first website because I thought it would help but my focus was completely on somebody else getting them to where they wanted to be. So I understand being at your lowest and then you have to rebuild from that. So from building your platform and getting back to where you wanted to be and knowing that your purpose was to basically get women to feel worthy of themselves, how did you pull your clients with everything going on?

Well a lot of steps, haha but I would say the one that worked the most is build from the network that you have. And if you don't have the network that you want, meaning that some people did not go to college. For Instance, I pull from a lot of people from Marymount which is the school I graduated from, well where you and I graduated from. I mean I still work with people who were just modeling in Portfolio in Motion, and then you build a friendship and a relationship. The thing is, one thing people can say about me is I am very passionate when I talk. When I’m excited about something I talk faster I get a little louder and I just tell people what I'm doing. Now a lot of people don't tell other people what they’re doing because they are like "oh I have to keep it quiet", yea…there are certain things you have to keep quite but I feel like if you say to a person, I’m going to be a designer, thats not telling all your business thats just saying I am going to get a job in design. They don't know what the hell that means, they don't know what the heck that is but its just saying I'm putting this in your ear and I am thinking about doing X.Y.Z right? You put that in their ear and some people are always willing to help you. Some people aren’t, you know some people will be like oh okay thats great, but the people who get it are like minded people. So I always reach out to my friends who are killing it. who have a business things in mind and I keep them accountable. I call people out the blue like hey you said you were going to do this whats going on and people appreciate that. It's not about having a name and an email, a direct number to call when you need something. Its building a relationship. you know, again, it always goes back to adding value. So when I go back to somebody from Marymount, for instance I went back recently to this guy named kyle and he graduated I think two years before me, and I said hey Kyle I'm not focused, I feel a little stuck like I just need a little inspiration would you mind if you just talked to me for an hour. In that hour he shared his story and I was like damn, I'm so motivated. Like he got me out of everything. and then I told him what I was doing and he started giving me more advice, and we built that relationship, now I feel like I can call him when I need something, you know or vice versa. So I reached out to Marymount, I reached out to people way in the past and when I say past, I mean the first years where I don't even want to share those pictures back in the past haha, but again I reached out and said hey how are you doing, whats going on. I don't want them to feel like I'm just calling to sell them photography. I'm really concerned about what they are doing, because people love talking about themselves. Whatever that conversation is it's about building that relationship because what you don't want to do is make it about you, because its not. You don't want to just call somebody to sell something to them, how can you help them, if someone says they need help with their health, why not hook them up with an introduction email to a trainer you may have a relationship with, help that person out because they will remember that.

What can you say to emerging creatives who are afraid to reach out to people they have met one time and let time pass by to build those relationships?

Oh get over it! Because I am a shy person, well I don't think I'm shy I just think I'm an introvert. You can't be shy to talk to people, I will say I have never reached out to someone in my past that said I do not want to talk to you, unless I did something terrible to them. Anyone you kind of break it off with because of life, ironically because we have so many ways of reaching people these days, they are never going to be like no I don't want to talk to you. If they are “busy” take it as that, because I know sometimes people try to reach out to me and I'm busy. It has nothing to do with you, it's not personal, it's more in the sense of it's not the right time, like you can reach me later on but not right now.

Exactly because Ive met a lot of younger creatives who and you would be surprised by the amount of them that are just shy to talk to people. So I think what is getting lost is how to network and what networking is more of than what it isn’t, and also being that first impression.

I feel like people don't know how to talk to people but they know how to talk to them online. And also networking is a skill, it goes back to what I was saying about mastering your craft you have to be able to step out of your comfort zone. If you asked me three years ago, if I was networking with anyone my answer would be hell to the no, because I would just think, I'm not going to talk to anyone, they're just going to judge me. For someone who is doing that, get over yourself because no one is even looking at you or thinking like that. For example I reached out to a celebrity, not an a-lister but I reached out to them. I saw their account and I figured out who their PR person was, so I sent an email. I didn't hear anything back, so I did more research and I found an even closer person. So I reached out to them and I didn't hear anything back right away, but a couple months later I hear back and they say we would love to work with you and so forth, just let us know the details. What I want to say about this is that they talked to me, they talked to me just to hear what I have to say. I speak to a lot of PR companies because they need photographers. So when I reach out I don't really speak about my business because I want to know more about them and they know eventually I'm coming to them for business, but just like it is their brand and their business, it's my brand and business and I need to know who they are. What I'm trying to say is that for the lack of being able to talk to people and network, it's a craft that you have to learn, you have to use it or lose it. so practice it.

In your own words, from your story what do you think young creatives will need to be physically and mentally prepared enough to start their own business. Because we know your also going through life as your trying to live your purpose out and use whatever gift God has given you, so with life hitting you at different angles what do you think are some great tips for them.

So I am going to break down all those categories:

Physically, work out. Literally go to the gym, eat right and the reason why I say that is because when you are physically fit and you are healthy and your moving and getting your blood flowing and you can breath, it so much benefits to it. For example I don't know about you but I am not the nicest person when I don't eat, and I get headaches. For me I don't mind sharing, I go through depression, so exercising isn't even a maybe it's a must for me because it helps balance out those chemicals for me to become a strong minded person.

Mentally I would say always grow and learn everything you can about your industry. Invest because for me in photography there is always some new gadget coming out and there is always a new way to do things more efficiently. Now that every business has to be social some kind of way, like instagram, youtube, facebook, snapchat, etc are hot right now, but in five years are all these same things going to be here. So with that being said always learn and read. Read books about other people and mentally have the right mindset. because you cannot be a entrepreneur with a defeated mindset or if you allow obstacles to defeat you so much.

Spiritually whether you believe in God or not it's always good to be connected with a higher being and yourself, it's really going to help you get through stuff. You are going to have to be true to yourself to be true to your business, because I guarantee you everybody that is an entrepreneur their business is closely related to what they believe in. Like everything that is close to me, like being a women, being an entrepreneur and moms, all these things are a reflection of me, except I'm not a mom yet but I have a mom and I'm really close to her. Plus spiritually when you go through rough stuff your going to need the motivation and the strength to get through that and to me that's spiritually.

And I am going to include one more which I am big on is Investing. So if you are out of shape and you need accountability, find a trainer to pull you out of bed and say get your butt up we are going to work out. I am not good at working out, I'm really good at mindset, some people are good spiritually, I'm still working on that. So I'm telling you what I'm good at and what I'm not good at, is because I believe in balance. So my least favorite thing to do which is working out I have to make it my favorite thing. Being spiritual is more about discipline, like really thats what it is. In order to be in tuned you have to be disciplined and true to yourself because when your not disciplined spiritually your kind of off balanced. Your not listening to the right words but your just going off of what you think and not how you feel.

Thank you! moving on to where you are now, you are revamping and doing more webinars and being more frontal with your business, so can you tell us a little bit more about that.

Well basically a closed mouth never gets fed. I look it at it like this, my story is unique to probably a few and there are some universal things going on that I want to share. I don't mind sharing when I failed, to tell somebody that you have felt worthless, somebody will know how you feel. Everybody has experienced loss or losing a job, so someone will understand. So it is important for me to tell my story and my struggles because I want people to understand that this is a constant up and down battle. Another thing I would say is that we are taught from the time we were born how to work a 9-5, like you cant mess up a 9-5. You show up, do the work, maybe kiss a little butt here and there, kind of fit in but also stand out. and to be honest with you depending on your race, your learn a little bit more, you learn something else to, but guess what we are not taught to be entrepreneurs. When you are an entrepreneur nothing is the same, there is no set routine. You will have to invest in yourself a lot more in your message and visually.

For your long term goal, what are some of things that are going to help you get there, that you have learned and that you haven't learned.

Yea, so in the future I want to master having a really thorough women group in terms of network. I want to master a way where women, no matter where you are in the world can have someone in the group close to you, that will reach out and keep you accountable and keep you strong. I would love to master that, because I have not found that anywhere. I want to master my balance, because once you master your balance, no matter what is thrown your way, your not going to let anyone or anything get you off balance. In terms of my depression, I am diligently monitoring that, because its' not like something bad happens, I can be in the highlight of my life and then i'll be depressed, and this is why I say spiritually you have to know yourself, you have to be aware.

Career wise my goal is to travel across the world. I don't want to keep this knowledge in the states. I want to go to London, Australia, Thai Land, where ever there are business minded women. You know help them build the opportunity for themselves and help them build the community to help them grow for themselves. I want people to know your name, as much as they know a Kardashian. I just want to inspire people. I want people to be like she did that, she was moving and pushing and learning all the skills you want in life, and she's helping other people.I want people to be apart of that.

And we couldn't thank you enough for setting your goals high to help women entrepreneurs not only in business but also in life. Your light is so bright, and for many people who may think there is no light at the end of the tunnel, I am pretty sure you gave them a push to get closer to it, especially with just having this interview with me. Thank you!

De Lisa is definitely looking for assistance in the upcoming months. So if you are interested in being apart of amazing things, please contact De Lisa.