Today we’d like to introduce you to Becky A Davis.
Becky, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was 25 years old, I saw what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a motivational speaker. I set out on a path to learn about the profession by enrolling in Dale Carnegie. I hired a coach who I could barely afford and created my business name, Motivation on the Move and started sending letters to companies to promote myself as a speaker. I got an invitation from the Dallas County commissioners office to speak at a gala and it was in that moment that my fear took over. I was so thought of all the things that could go wrong. I can come up with some scary stuff like they would want their money back. I decided then that speaking was not my gift if I was that scared of it. I threw myself into corporate America and focused on climbing the famous ladder to success.
I spent 20 years in retail management and did what I set out to do, excel. I was promoted on average every two and a half years. I learned that I had an unusual skill in developing others, motivating people and getting results. All of my managers saw my skills but why didn’t I see it. When I finally saw it and accepted it, it was time for me to set out to do what I wanted to do at age 25, start my own speaking business. I started working on my exit strategy to leave. I hired a business coach to help me understand the business. I hired a speaker coach to help me prepare for my exit. Three years later, I was still working. I was afraid to leave the security of my paycheck.
On Dec. 29, 2011, I had a normal abdominal surgery. Six days later on January 3, 2012, I was rushed to the hospital to later find out that I had been bleeding internally since the first surgery. The doctor did not completely close a major organ in my body. When the nurse said “we need to get her to surgery, STAT to stop the bleeding or we will lose her,” I knew I was in a life and death situation.
After coming through surgery I made a decision in the recovery room that I would pursue my dreams and no longer wait. When I returned to work, I worked for two months and gave my notice and started my coaching and consulting company MVPwork LLC, which means Meaning, Values and Purpose Work.
Great, 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?
It has not been easy or smooth. Hiring coaches before I started was smart and I know it helped me but a lot is learned on the job because there are several questions you don’t even know to ask a coach or mentor until you are faced with it. I struggled to identify my target market. I didn’t know how to effectively market my business and when you don’t know how to do that, you become the best-kept secret in business which will keep you broke. I had a website that was beautiful, but it took a while to learn how to make it work for my business and not just look good.
There were so many struggles and failures when I began. Some discouraged me and made me doubt my ability and some motivated me to push until I got it right. I know there will be more, but I expect it now because it’s apart of growth. I believe there is training when you are in the trenches.
Please tell us about MVPwork LLC.
My company works with business owners who are women of color to help them build and grow legacy businesses. We provide executive coaching for the c-suite, business strategy, and business development. Most small business owners have not received business acumen training, don’t understand a profit and loss statement and has never had a written strategic plan of action to reach their goals, we help our clients in these areas.
We have a division of our company called The Bosspreneur® Business Circle which is a national membership community to connect women business owners to other women business owners to partner and do business together. We started this division of the business because so many people would ask me how did I start or how did I grow so fast. I realized that so many women needed help. We provide our members with over 50 small business training courses based on the four stages of small business, startup, survival, success and soaring.
What sets my company apart is our focus on helping women of color with resources and educating our members on how to prepare to receive funding. Minority business women average annual revenue is $66.4K while non-minority business women average annual revenue is $212K. There is a big gap and we are committed an focused on closing the gap for women of color business owners through our programs and partnering with other organizations to support our community of women-owned businesses.
I’m proud to be the national spokesperson for The Coca-Cola Company’s 5 by 20 small business women’s initiative to enable and empower women entrepreneurs for the last three years. I am proud to partner with Bank of America who will provide webinars training on how to prepare your business for funding. My company was nominated for Trailblazer of the year award from the Greater Women Business Counsel region of WBENC. I’m proud to be invited to speak at Disney’s Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine. I’m proud of our #isupportHER movement to encourage women to show up for one another. We have #isupportHer ambassadors all over the country having living room conversations about the power of supporting other women.
In 2015, I received the Best Motivational Speaker award from Examiner Magazine which was a full circle moment for me.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory is playing outside with my father, Bobby. My father loved to have fun so he would always play games with us outside. One Christmas, daddy got everyone bikes. Six bikes for the kids. We did bike rides in the neighborhood.
I remember all of us outside playing kickball with my dad one day. We didn’t have a soccer ball so we used a basketball. My dad kept making jokes and trying to trick people through the whole game. Daddy had on sandals and when it was his time to kick, he kicked the ball and broke his toe. He was such a jokester, we all laughed and thought he was playing around trick us again so his team could score, to find out he actually broke his toe. We still talk about that at family gatherings.
Pricing:
- Our annual membership is $299 and our monthly membership is $39
- We provide group membership rates for companies with three or more. Contact us for pricing.
- We customize consulting and coaching programs. Contact us for pricing.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4813 Ridge Rd
Suite 111-98
Douglasville, Ga 30134 - Website: www.thebosspreneurbusinesscircle.com
- Phone: 678-265-8076
- Email: beckydavis@mvpwork.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bosspreneur
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bosspreneur
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/bosspreneur
- Other: www.beckyadavis.com
Image Credit:
Kimazing Photography
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