Today, we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie V. Harvey.
Hi Stephanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Stephanie V. Harvey and professionally I am known as Stephanie V. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland, University College. I have been a professional studio vocalist who studied under the late Dr. Carl Weston who was a respected music director on Broadway. I am a former 28-year International Flight Attendant.
I owned and operated “The Satin Collection,” a successful Cosmetic Company for women of color in the 80s, sold in the Northeastern States and the Island of Bermuda for five years. For twenty-five years, I was a Celebrity Interior Designer and one of the first Black Interior Designers to go to High Point, North Carolina, and break the barriers so that we would have a voice and open vendor lines with companies that did not want to associate their brand with people of color because they felt if we purchased their products the product would instantly be devalued.
In 2006, I became one of the pioneer women of color licensed 2006 as a State licensed General Contractor with the Georgia Secretary of State. I have accomplished a lot according to society, and some would say I have earned a place in the world called social status. Some people think it quite impressive, but part of my journey is for people to realize, “Never judge a book by its cover because it is not our right to fabricate a person’s story based on what you think vs what you know”.
I am a woman who went from living in a 13,00+ mansion with a private tennis court on six acres and celebrity neighbors to sleeping on the floor in the middle of the winter in a house without heat for months because of the devastating life experience called divorce! I slept zipped in a sleeping bag at night and sat in my car during the day just to have heat. So, see, someone tried to destroy me financially, emotionally, and mentally, but I had the covering of God, and the greatest blessing I ever received came from sleeping on the floor.
I thank God today for the floor because if it was not for the floor, I would not have spoken before you today. Now I must bring you back to my credentials, I am a general contractor licensed with Georgia’s secretary of state, which qualified me to build residential and light commercial architectural structures. For a residential home or commercial building to stand and not sink into the grade that you know as the soil.
We must dig into the grade or surface until we reach what is called solid or undisturbed soil, and solid or undisturbed soil is dirt that has never been tampered with, touched, or tilled. So, anyone who has experienced displacement has the floor. The beauty of the floor is when you reach the undisturbed soil of your soul, you must choose to pour the footers that will support the foundation walls of your new physical, emotional, financial, and psychological self.
The footers are what assist in the foundation walls holding the weight of the structure because they distribute the weight known as the live and the dead loads which keep the roof from collapsing. When I was on the floor, I would tearfully go to sleep every night and disappear and never questioned God. And one night I went to sleep in my zippered sleeping bag with a notebook and pen on the floor next to me.
And something happened that night that changed my life forever. Around 5:30 am, I woke up and saw a beautiful white haze in the room, no sound, and no image, but it was peaceful. Because I was born an asthmatic, I thought it was just the coldness of my breath mixed with the air. I prayed every night that I would make it through the night and not have an asthmatic episode because there was no one to get me help.
When I woke up the next morning around 9:00 am, I wondered if what happened was just a dream, but when I looked at the note pad, the words “new beginning” were written on the pad, and I had no recollection of ever touching the pen. I knew this was a message from God, but I did not know my assignment. Yet God came to me for 49 nights and gave me seven sets of seven that started with the letters c_p_r_m_a_o_b.
As a former flight attendant, I realized the first three letters were CPR, which stands for rescue, and I knew God had come to rescue me. After the 49 words on the last night, god added the words “by design.” It was seven days from that date that a dear friend said I will not watch you go down, come to St. Thomas I have clients that come to my store and would love a good interior designer and that was the beginning of my rising from the floor.
God kept blessing me and giving me favors, and I was professionally moving up with my business; 2008 I was in a devastating car wreck in a two-seat car that was the beginning of an 8-month regiment of physical therapy and pain, and after 8 months, it was determined that I see a neurologist who led to the conclusive diagnosis that spinal surgery would be the only solution for me to able to live pain-free.
I chose to have spinal surgery and realized I had no option if I wanted to live a pain-free life. The recovery was a long and successful process, but after two years of not working, the day came that I did not have fifty cents in my bank account and no accounts receivables to be deposited in the near or far future.
All I could envision for a short period was losing everything I had worked so hard for, but the zippered sleeping bag on the floor came back to me, and I knew that was not going to be an option. I went into survival mode and re-entered the University of Maryland to complete nine credit hours toward my Marketing Degree, but instead made one of the hardest but best decisions as a fifty-eight-year-old woman.
I chose to not think of my age, select a major that would require a two-year commitment as a full-time student, and graduate with a major that was relevant for the present as well as my future. I did what I had to do to get to where I needed to go, took out a loan, and received food stamps to survive for two years. Imagine a loan and I had not worked in over two years, but I had faith, determination, and a conviction that returning to the floor was not an option.
I studied seven days a week, fifteen hours a day for two years, and graduated with a 3.98 average. Ninety days before I graduated, a friend called and said,” I know you are one of the best interior designers, and I heard you are a legit state-licensed general contractor. If you are the person I have always respected, I have an opportunity for you, and that was the beginning of “Allusions Design And Construction,” established in September 2012.
My first contract agreement was with Blackstone, one of the largest investment management firms in the United States, to renovate homes for their residential hedge fund Invitation Homes. As you see, the vision of the floor and all it took to stand up during that horrific time gave me the resilience to make a change in my situation. Remember, thinking it is better not to face the devastating life experience that contributed to our downward spiral in the past will only lead you back to the floor, but next time, you might not have the emotional, psychological, or mental resilience to rise.
After growing my business at the beginning of the pandemic. I met an amazing man, Donald E. Harvey, he was the prince charming every little girl dreams of but most never find. Within eight months, we were married, and he was the breath that gave me life. Within months of our marriage, one colonoscopy and we received the devastating news that he had terminal cancer. My husband Donald and I were together for two years and married a year when he passed three months after our first wedding anniversary.
On his deathbed, he stated, “Do not let others discount what we had; it may have been short according to earthly time, but it was magical.” Time does not determine the depth of a person’s pain. A relationship is developed not by time but by transparency, understanding, love, and appreciation of each other. The love and relationship Donald and I shared in two years was more than I ever knew in my nineteen-year marriage.
Donald and I shared everything, even our deepest secrets. Every morning Donald brought my coffee to me in bed, kissed my forehead, and the first hour of every day belonged to us. We prayed and thanked God for joining us, and Donald told me why he loved me more that morning than the morning before. Most people who have lost a child, partner, or spouse have a love story to cherish.
That story must become part of your platform to move forward. Because life seems everlasting, we make beautiful plans for our children or with our soul mate, and one day, our plans are extinguished like a candle’s flame when the seemingly ever-burning flame is snuffed out. Even a candle has a burn life of five to nine hours per ounce of wax, but who counts?
My life experiences have resulted in my career as a Transformational Speaker and the soon-to-be-released book, ” Rising From The Floor” a transformational blueprint implementing the processes and principles I use in the construction of residential Homes to assist people to redesign, reconstruct, and rebuild their internal living space.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Some of the struggles along the way were Believing in myself and emotionally not being able to grieve the loss of everything I owned due to a divorce. No finances.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Transformational Speaker Stephanie V. Harvey, professionally known as Stephanie V, has creatively combined my celebrity Interior Design, General Contracting, Entrepreneur, and Lifestyle Design experience into a transitional fusion merging the principles of construction and remodeling used to build her client’s exterior home as an architectural life blueprint within the scope of a person’s internal space so you can find Balance, Peace, and Success.
I will be hosting Transformation Travel Retreats to Cape Town and Sun City, South Africa, for intense workshops that will change and transform the lives of people who want to evolve and have a new beginning. I am also the CEO of Harvey Residential Home Builders a concierge construction firm Stephanie v. recognizes personal and professional needs differ from client to client and offers a personalized luxury construction experience to discerning clients who desire to have their “Lifestyles” transformed into “Living Spaces.”
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.newbeginninglifestyleinstitute.com/
- Instagram: @stephanievharvey
- Facebook: @New Beginning By Design Series
- Phone Number: (678) 995-2887
Image Credits
PM Photography (Phyllis R. Martin)
