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Meet Dethra Giles of ExecuPrep

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Dethra Giles.

Dethra, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Most of my life I dealt with people saying my name incorrectly. After seeing me upset at hearing my name said wrong, my grandmother sat me down and said, “It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to.” That statement changed my life and in that moment, I developed a formula that would help people say my name correctly “long E, silent H, like Detroit with an A.” I also realized that my grandmother’s words went far beyond being, incorrectly, called Death Ray, it was about knowing what people should call me, and being able to answer the question “who am I?”

As I matured, I found myself encountering people who had allowed others to define and name them. I found entrepreneurs answering to employee, Vice Presidents answering to manager, greatness answering to mediocrity, I found people answering to the wrong names. Just like I hated being called Death Ray, I also hated watching people answer to the wrong name. In true Dethra fashion, I created a formula. I developed a way for people to identify their name and act in a way that encouraged people to call them by and for that name.

In that moment, I became the Chief Bridge Architect and developed a company, ExecuPrep, that helps our clients build and cross their bridge from “I want to be” to “I am.”

Entrepreneurs and EmployeePrenuers (people managing their careers like a business) are often stuck in success. They have achieved mediocre success; they know there is so much more but don’t know how to get to it. I help them name it, develop a plan for it and hold them accountable for getting there. I help them stop dreaming of what they want and guide them through the plan of becoming.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth, about as smooth as the face of a 14-year-old boy in the throes of puberty. However, I have had just as much fun on my journey as a little boy growing up in a world that supports his growth.

While there were tons of obstacles thrown in front of me (some thrown, some I ran into, some I made up), the biggest obstacle was me. Yes, me, I was my biggest obstacle. Oddly, my success as an employee was one of my biggest obstacles. I had a very successful career. By the time I was 27 I was the director of a department in the second largest public university in the state of GA. I supervised more than 10 employees who were responsible for over 15,000 employees. I did career well. The problem was that I had great, superior employee habits that I took with me into entrepreneurship. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise, those habits did not transition into good entrepreneur habits. It took me some time to realize those things that made me successful in the past would no longer aid me and were actually becoming obstacles to my success. These experiences led me to write my second book, still writing, Breaking Good Habits™

Yes, there were other obstacles like money shortage, people who were not supportive, too much to do, no time and no money but the real one that I had to scale was me and my thinking.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the ExecuPrep story. Tell us more about the business.
ExecuPrep is an HR Consulting firm that specialized in Training, Executive Coaching and Organization Development. Though we have three divisions (Corporate, Government and Small Business), I am most proud of our work with small business. There is something fulfilling about seeing a small company grow and hire more people or to see one person’s idea grow into an organization with employees and payroll.

I, the founder, am a nerd. I love going to school. I have three degrees, not because I am the smartest person in the world but because I enjoy the learning process. But, along with learning, I love doing. I have just as much real work education as I have university education and I add people to my team who have the same outlook on education and work. We are a team of people that provide real life solution founded in theoretical research. We combine academia with actuality.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
No role at all. I don’t believe in luck. And while I am a Christian I am not going to throw in the cliché of “God did it.” I love God and truly believe that he has ordained my steps and even he, in his word, has told me that “Faith without works is dead.”

Someone once said that luck is simply opportunity meeting preparation. I know this to be true. In those times when someone would have deemed my circumstances to be unlucky I can always point to preparation I did not do in order to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Why the distinction. When we say lucky or unlucky we abdicate ourselves of the responsibility to be prepared and ready.

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