Today we’d like to introduce you to Doretha White.
Hi Doretha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It is a pleasure speaking with you today. My journey has been a very winding road, but I can see how everything that I’ve done and everything that I’ve gone through professionally has prepared me for this moment. I grew up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I had a beautiful childhood. My mom was a teacher and my dad was a government worker. After high school, I was unsure about what I wanted to study, but I knew I wanted a career that would allow me to have an impact on people’s lives. I chose education, like my mom. I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Elementary Education and started my teaching career in 1991. I loved teaching and the feeling it gave me to love and be loved by my students. Since I was single and had a lot of free time, I decided to get my Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the College of William & Mary. Soon after, a promotion came a-calling. After teaching for six years, I was promoted to assistant principal. I was just 28 years old. I was 20+ years younger than most of my staff, but it was a great training ground. I met a guy during that time, Michael White, who became my husband. We talked a lot about where we might like to live.
We both loved Atlanta, so we moved to ATL in 2020 after getting married in 1999. Atlanta opened up a whole new life for me and for us. Michael is also an educator. He taught and coached basketball in Clayton County and I served as an AP at Jonesboro High for one year before being promoted to principal. I was 32, pregnant, and leading a staff of about 100 people and close to 1000 K-5 children. My son was born in April of 2002, so my parenting journey started there. In an effort to be a more present parent, I left public education and transitioned over to a private Christian school for a few years, then back to public education, but this time, as a quasi-administrator, not fully responsible for a whole building. That position was called Teacher Development Specialist. It was easy work. The pay was decent and everything was cool until Clayton County lost their accreditation due to some school board shenanigans. My position was grant-funded, so unbeknownst to me and others, external grants were snatched as a result of the accreditation debacle. I was offered a position back in the classroom, which I turned down, and decided to hit the pause button for a moment to figure out what was next. I remember asking myself, ‘What are the things that I always wanted to be when I grew up?’ The list was lengthy but I felt like I was getting my bearings by rediscovering my anchor within.
I remember that I always wanted to be a college professor, so I set up to do that. My timing was great. A small, local junior college was in search of an educator instructor. I taught there for five years and I have to say that those were five very professionally fulfilling years. It was about this time that my husband was getting a little itchy in his career. He had grown disenchanted with public education, but more importantly, he had a burning desire to own his own business. After a few conversations about his now ten years worth of students and their needs, he settled on starting a college tour business. Dream Big Youth Travel, Inc. was born in 2003. Like every new business, you don’t know what you don’t know. We learned as we went along. We both were able to go full-time with our business starting in the fall of 2015. That was truly exciting. In 17 years, we estimate that we have hosted over 30,000 youth and educators, youth pastors, and community leaders on local and national college tours and educational field trips.
Then in 2020, everyone knows what happened. COVID-19 hit planet Earth. We had a full calendar of spring and summer group tours on the calendar. Then, when federal and state officials began shutting down both the schools and travel, we were fried. 100% of our groups canceled within one week. We were obviously concerned, like everyone else, but in the back of my mind, I kept thinking this is an opportunity! I mean, when else in life have people been able to just sit still. Think. Ponder. Contemplate. NEVER! We are always on the go! I started getting up early and sitting outside in the cool morning air with my computer and writing a curriculum for entrepreneurs. I launched it in May 2020. I created a 30-day online course for women entrepreneurs called “Quarantine Queens.” My 30 participants and I met for one hour each night for the entire month of May. We discussed every component of business ownership. It was a class, but it felt more like a sorority meeting every night! Lots of laughs, encouragement, idea sharing, and on and on. Each woman wrote an essay to describe how the Quarantine Queens benefited her business.
We published the essays in a book of the same title and had an online book launch party which was fabulous and viewed by over 1000 viewers on Facebook Live. Not bad for 30 hardworking black women entrepreneurs who just wanted to connected, learn, and grow during the pandemic. Quarantine Queens served as a good distraction but it also showed me the creativity and determination that I possess inside. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of. After publishing the book, everyone got the bright idea that I could help THEM publish other book ideas that they had. A young woman who I have known for years is an accountant. But, she’s also a poet. She asked me to help her publish a collection of poetry that she had been sitting on for a while. Her book is called Defining Moments. Shortly thereafter, another close friend asked for my help in publishing her Christian self-help book called Rotting On The Vine. The accountant came to me to have me publish a second book for her. This book is called Learning to Leap and it is a collection of stories about entrepreneurs. A woman in the engineering space asked for my help in publishing her book about healing after the death of her beloved sister. Her book is called Flowering & Decaying.
My best friend is finishing a children’s book about COVID-19. I will be working with her to get it finished this fall. I already have two clients in early 2022. Somewhere in the midst of all of this, my 18-year-old son wrote a book about natural hair and its political implications. So, all in all, I will have published five books within one year and two more are in the pipeline! Its insane, BUT… I have to say that being a writer and publisher has been on my vision board for ten years. I just know when and how it would come about. I made it official by starting an umbrella company called Doretha White Entities, Inc. which houses all the stuff I love. Writing, publishing, business coaching, consulting, and motivational speaking. While I was working on developing myself as a publisher, my husband was pretty busy, too. He launched a new business called Dream Big Custom Cargo Trailers, Inc., which allows him to harken back to his love of architecture and custom home design. This business official was birthed on July 5, 2020.
In one year, he has designed and sold 12 custom cargo trailers for entrepreneurs and 24 more are currently in production. He has build several concession trailers for mobile chefs, a mobile nail salon, a mobile rage room, a mobile meal delivery trailer for a local school system, a mobile taco trailer, and more. The possibilities are just endless. Michael feels that the pandemic opened people’s eyes to all of the possibilities that are out there to make money. Workers are not interested in making $7.50 an hour when they can use their creativity and make double, triple, and quadruple that amount. Making your business mobile is a really smart solution and we are having a lot of fun helping entrepreneurs transition to a mobile version of their businesses. My career has been a long and winding one, but I wouldn’t change it. All of my skills I acquired as an educator come in very handy in serving our clients, whether it is through my publishing work or whether we are building someone a custom trailer. The beauty of entrepreneurship is that we get to design our work-family-life balance by building our two new trailers and revive our youth travel company once schools are back in session and travel restrictions are fully lifted. Success to me means freedom. Freedom set goals and grind toward those goals. Freedom to sleep late, work late, or take a day off. Freedom to create spinoffs, offshoots, and expansions that come to mind. The good thing is that all three of our businesses are growing and we are growing right along with them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road. We have faced the same struggles that many entrepreneurs face. Business ownership, by nature, is very up and down. Some years have been good, very good. And other years have been concerning, frustrating, and at times, scary! We have had “problem children” clients that have tried to take advantage of us. Issues with employees. Financial problems. Some problems were external and some were self-imposed. But, the amazing thing about business is that sometimes you win, just because you are the last man or woman standing. There is something to be said for longevity. Our main competitor in the youth travel space relocated to New Orleans a couple of years ago, leaving us to enjoy the market with any real local competition. Those are just some of the problems we have dealt with along the way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My publishing company has allowed me to explore the more creative sides of myself that have been dormant due to the nature of the work we have been doing for almost 20 years. Now, I get to really explore my creative/artistic side through my writing, course creation, publishing, and speaking. I am really looking forward to continuing to allow that part of my personality bloom. I have plans to launch a podcast in 2022 just for women entrepreneurs. Having a podcast and a live show is yet another one of those vision board items that I plan to accomplish in the very need future. I love talking and connecting with people. I sometimes joke and say that talking is my one and only real skill set! I can talk to anybody about just about anything. It is my favorite thing about myself. My parents had friends of all stripes, so I’m good and being myself, yet allowing other people to be themselves. Now everyone can do that. I think its a God-given thing.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Having a good mentor is imperative. Often, people are afraid to ask for help. That is a mistake. Nobody comes to the world knowing everything. Look for someone who has done what you’re trying to do even if it is not exactly the same thing. Choose someone who has walked the road you are trying to walk. Ask questions. Become a good listening. Don’t be a know it all. Be humble. Realize that you can get to your destination a lot faster if you just stop and ask for help sometimes.
Contact Info:
- Email: dwhite@dreambig-inc.com
- Website: www.dorethawhite.com. www.dreambigcustomtrailers.com. www.dreambigyouthtravel.com
- Instagram: @doretha_inc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DorethaWhiteBusinessCoach
- Twitter: @Doretha_Inc
Image Credits:
Photo Cred: Yeshaiyah White
