Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Joy Dozier.
Nancy Joy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been in the “people business” my entire life. Growing up in a ministry family, I was taught to love, honor and value people. Being a PK ( Preacher’s Kid) gave me front row view of the best and the worse in people. I got to see them be destructive, I saw them be mad at the world, I saw them struggle with addictions, but I also saw them triumph. I saw people find forgiveness and embrace the power of faith. I witnessed lives being restored and purpose unlocked by the love of God.
As incredible as the resilience, the courage, and the beauty in people were, I found myself struggling to deal with the not so pretty aspects of their humanity. The same people who at times had been sources of inspiration, sometimes turned on my family. We endured a lot of pain, rejection, and accusation from people we had poured our lives into. So when it came time for college, I had the opportunity to go to a Christian University of my choice. But somehow in my mind, that translated to signing up to actually being in ministry. There was no way I was going to be the PK, who became a Theological School graduate and married to a, you guessed it, Pastor.
Having grown up loving the arts, and genuinely wanting a career in the music industry I ended up attending the foremost music college in the world, Berklee College Of Music. Conveniently located in my hometown of Boston, this would be the perfect backdrop for my anti ministry protest. I would focus on music, build my network, get a great internship, graduate and become a music business force to be reckoned with.
It was an amazing plan. And it would have worked had God not decided to interrupt me. Having successfully completed my first semester, I excitedly started the first day of my second semester on 9-11-2001. I had no idea that it would be the day my whole life would change. As we were escorted from classes by FBI, Bomb Squad, BPD officers and seemingly all branches of law enforcement, we were taken to the main building. Arriving just in time to watch the replay of the 2nd tower go down on the TV monitors.
Anyone who lived through that day will never forget the feeling of despair, helplessness, confusion, and terror that gripped us all. Through tears I began to see them, hurting, broken, lost, angry, disoriented; people. At that moment, every promise I had made to myself to stay to myself went out the window. I had planned to be “normal”, fit in, still love God but not be the “Jesus girl.” In the midst of all that pain and calamity, I began to do what came naturally to me. I ministered hope, prayer, and as much comfort as I could to my fellow students.
A small gathering in a friend’s dorm room, turned to several hundred students completely filling the entire hallway as we sang songs of worship to the God we were all clinging to for dear life. Many made a choice to surrender their lives to God’s Love that day. And I renounced my decision to be normal. I now understood that in my foolishness I had somehow thought that by going to Berklee I had outsmarted purpose. I had no idea, that I had been led to the birthplace of the divine assignment I continue to walk in nearly 20 years later.
Fast forward to moving to Atlanta in 2005, again I was determined to just acclimate to being a new wife and to my new home. But it wasn’t long before I was mentoring, counseling and leading young women through my local church. My weekly small group quickly became a lifeline, not just for my attendees, but also for me. Providing me with the type of satisfaction and fulfillment that only operating in purpose can, I looked forward to pouring life into my group every week.
I found a tremendous passion for coaching life skills and equipping young women to pilot their purpose. At the time, I didn’t have language for any of this because it was innate. It was just something that came naturally to me. I never thought it to be anything more than a ministry. It was my husband who encouraged me to become a certified Life Skills Specialist and ignited the thought of starting Joy Life Enterprises.
Joy Life was birthed to empower women specifically to live in joy, to destroy false limitations and to draw strength from establishing a solid foundation in faith. In the last several years this has evolved to also include an annual conference called I Am A Miracle, which gathers attendees from all over the nation, here in Atlanta. The conference empowers attendees through spiritual and practical training to elevate their lives and fully own their metron. As a speaker for conferences, women’s workshops, corporate events and church gatherings I have also stepped into the space of being a Personal Pastor to women who boss.
By far, this is one of my most favorite things I am blessed to do in this season. I get to Pastor, “minister” in an unconventional way, a personal way to highly influential women and their families. I’m able to share God’s heart and pour into women who give so much as leaders, and entrepreneurs. It’s been my experience that often times those who give, lead, and serve the most are the most in need of pastoral care. It’s not enough to just be a boss, you need to know how to Pray Like A Boss to release provision, favor, healing, joy, resources, strategy and whatever else might be needed.
Has it been a smooth road?
Getting to this point has been a fight! I’ve had to overcome my own thoughts of deficiency and inadequacy. I had to deal with the belief that God could find someone better to fulfill this assignment. The reality is that I believed He could find someone perfect. Someone who didn’t spend so much time trying to run from purpose. But I have embraced the truth that it is in my weakness that grace is made perfect. If I was perfect and had it all together I surely would not need God, as desperately as I Do. He also would not need to use me because I would not reflect his love, compassion, mercy, and patience.
Being a female in ministry hasn’t been easy as there are plenty of networks, organizations, conferences etc… that still make no room for women. However, I have had the blessing of having love, support, and protection in the form of my Father, who never let me go anywhere to speak or sing without being there. My husband took over when we got married and my Pastor, also covers and pushes me in ministry. Having men who see God in me and are willing to go to bat for me, and to create space for the gifts in me has been a most tremendous gift.
In terms of starting a business, especially a faith-based business there has been a full spectrum of struggles. The guilt I sometimes still experience as a female entrepreneur, who has a family is a constant battle. I’ve experienced guilt for not being able to devote as much time and energy to even little things like making meals. My family doesn’t require this of me, but it’s one of the ways I love and serve them. I’ve struggled to overcome the fear of taking seed money from our personal finances to start projects. Thank God for growth, and development but it’s hard to navigate through “start-up struggles”.
A major issue has been and continues to be those that just refuse to support. And I don’t mean support just in terms of buying your services or coming to your events. I’m referring to the Individuals who literally expect you to fail, discourage you from leaping into your purpose and want you to stay at the bottom of the barrel with them. This is actually One of the areas I really help my clients deal with, because I’ve experienced it. There are always people who don’t want to see you succeed and excel. Sometimes, for no other reason other than they lack imagination and capacity for your vision. Identifying these types of people is crucial in positioning yourself to live your best life.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Joy Life Enterprises facilitates several things. As a certified Life Skills Specialist, I am able to take on coaching students in groups or Individual settings. I specialize in vision mapping and inner healing. As a Coach, I am known for helping my students to create a language for their future by discovering God’s initial purpose and intent for their lives.
As I mentioned earlier, I host conferences, most notably I Am A Miracle as well as The Atlanta Women’s Life Summit: Pray Like A Boss. I’m blessed to be an itinerant speaker for a variety of platforms all over the nation.
Most recently, I have also ventured into my apparel line. So far, we have produced fashion T-shirts with inspirational sayings, but look to expand.
There are so many moments, and experiences that I’m grateful for and proud of. During my most recent event, Pray Like A Boss, I was honored to be in a room filled with woman from both private and public sectors, entrepreneurs, mompreneurs, women in Congress and young women in college. Every last one of them was a complete #Girlboss but seeing them embrace one another, celebrate each other and pray for each other with pure sincerity has left an indelible mark on my heart. I stood in that room to inspire them, to encourage them not to abort their vision, to let them know that they were worthy and chosen to fulfill their specific assignment. I wanted to give them a space to heal, a space to be real, a space to be acknowledged for all they are and all they do. But it was I who benefited from their tenacious faith, their perfectly imperfect humanity, their expression of raw emotion and the love they shared with me. I will never forget October 27, 2018.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is an incredible place for faith-based businesses. There are so many opportunities to network, grow and be developed. In the last few years, female-owned ventures are really coming to the forefront in a major way. If you are making a difference, people want to know about it. The biggest thing I would tell anyone starting out is to build a strong team, even if it’s just you, your spouse and children at first. The second thing is that relationships are currency. Atlanta is very relational so being a person of integrity is a must. There are rooms and tables you can only be invited to based on relationships.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Nancyjoydozier.com
- Email: contact@nancyjoydozier.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/nancyjoydozier
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancyjoydozier/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancyjoydozier/status/1060131184154476544?s=21
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