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Meet Dayka Robinson

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Dayka Robinson.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dayka. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my interior design business back in 2010 and happily (and successfully!) ran it for a few years while simultaneously racking up industry accolades & partnerships with national brands such as Home Depot, Essence,The Weather Channel, Family Dollar, HGTV, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Black Enterprise, AmericasMart and more. But behind the scenes, I was somewhat secretly battling a sudden occurrence of Vitiligo–an autoimmune disease that causes the loss of skin color in blotches–and the emotional stress of watching my skin change colors before my eyes were beginning to take its toll.

Vitiligo didn’t make me physically sick, but as the depigmented skin began to show up all over my body I was faced with a mini existential crisis: the body I’d known as a child & college student was no longer the body that I had as a 30-year-old adult. I was not only mortified but also felt isolated & ashamed.
What had I done to deserve this?
Why did this happen to ME?
Who was I now, without that body I loved?
Was I still beautiful?
Would anybody ever love me again?

As I grappled with those questions, I decided that I needed to face my greatest fear of rejection & publicly announce the changes my body was going through.

I’d always believed that freedom comes through truth… but now, it was time to be an example of those values.

So, I did exactly that.

I wrote a blog post & newsletter telling my story to the world & shared some incredibly intimate photos of my new body, shown in a way that the public had never seen before. And then, I braced myself for the backlash & ugly comments about my spotted body but… they never came.

Instead, I was flooded with emails, text messages, Facebook comments, private messages & Instagram DM’s from people who not only wanted to applaud my bravery… but also wanted to share their own intimate, private pain with me. And it turned out that, because I had the courage & transparency to bare my deepest secret, people felt I could be trusted with theirs too.

Through that one blog post, I met so many new people, connected to so many different communities and found that the ripple effect went much further than my design work ever had. My unique pain was about my personal story BEYOND the public design brand and, in one way or another, it was something so many people could relate to. The whole experience made me realize how much I enjoyed helping other people work through their personal challenges, and it started a shift inside of me.

As I began to talk & coach women through their own “dark night of the soul,” I found that selecting the perfect drapery fabric, designing the ideal room layout & sourcing the right ambient lighting started becoming less & less important to me. Because in the midst of running a well-known design business, I’d come face-to-face with LIFE, which leveled me. And when faced with the choice to run & hide or openly share my truth—I chose the latter. In boldly sharing my truth, I’d become a woman who others sought out in the midst of their pain, knowing I could walk beside them as they walked through it like few others could.

This entire experience opened me up to an even greater purpose—a gift for design that extended far beyond home decor and landed smack dab in the heart of people’s day-to-day lives. And while I’ll always be a gifted interior designer, my true purpose is helping people—particularly women–design lives they love by teaching them to “be who they say they are” through Values Centered Living. Because it’s not enough to just SAY you value “courage” or “authenticity”—you have to actually live it, too.

I always say this isn’t the life I planned for but… God gave me what I didn’t even know I needed. And I’m incredibly grateful for that.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
For me, entrepreneurship has been as much about my career journey as it is about my personal one–I’ve found that the two go hand in hand! I’m a single woman who didn’t have the support of a husband to fund my business, so figuring out how to build my career & live my dreams–on a start-up, self-employed, “I’m-not-quite-sure-what-I’m-doing-but-I-really-want-to-do-this” strategy has DEFINITELY been a learning curve!

From learning the (no-so-fun) ropes of TV production to seeing my biggest dreams come to fruition to ending unaligned business partnerships to growing to a place where my ultimate dreams & passions changed, I’ve weathered my fair share of ups & downs. Often, I’ve been afraid. I’ve wondered if my work, my ideas, & my contributions were “enough”. I’ve made some bad choices & worked some jobs (with some people!) that I’d never want to work again. But experiencing what I DIDN’T like was so incredibly helpful as I got clear about what I DID like. I look back now & I can absolutely see how every single piece was in Divine Order. And, to quote Maya Angelou, I “wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now”.

Please tell us about Dayka Robinson Designs – what should we know?
The umbrella of my design business is about designing a home AND a life. Yes, I still take on a select few design projects for the right clients, but the core of my work these days is running international retreats & helping women identify their Core Personal Values to create the lives they truly desire (Values coaching).

The retreats are called Lost & Found (Lost & Found Marrakech, Lost & Found Bali, Lost & Found Jaipur) and, as a woman who often travels the world solo, the premise is helping you let go of who you are in your everyday life, so you can open up to who you can become in a new environment. The goal is to help you shed all of the labels that keep you “trapped” in your everyday life and to explore in a way that encourages you to stretch beyond your comfort zone. To not only engage with the world differently but, most importantly, to engage differently with YOURSELF.

I’m proud that women all across the United States trust my extensive travel background & specific expertise to create amazing experiences for them. Knowing that I get to help other women discover parts of themselves that they didn’t know existed?? It’s deeply meaningful to witness that transformation take place. As I always say with the Lost & Found retreats: “This isn’t a vacation, it’s a transformation.” A unique opportunity to Be Who You Say You Are. So if you don’t intentionally want to be transformed? Please stay home. Luckily, the women who travel with me agree.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My best friend from high school, Raquel, is always my first cheerleader & sounding board. Since we were 15 years old, there hasn’t been a topic we couldn’t discuss and I’m always so grateful for her sound advice & counsel! My biggest desire–far greater than any business success–is to make sure that I’m intentionally designing a life that is in alignment with who I say I am. That I LOVE the life I’ve chosen & that my business decisions move me closer to the woman I want to be, not farther way. Living a Values Centered Life is all about being in alignment with who we say we are at our core, so as long as I continue to do that… I know I’ll be a success in anything I put my finger on.

Pricing:

Contact Info:

  • Website: www.daykarobinson.com
  • Phone: 6785586731
  • Email: dayka@daykarobinson.com
  • Instagram: @daykarobinson
  • Facebook: @daykarobinsondesigns
  • Twitter: @daykarobinson


Image Credit:
Kaylin James (headshots), Angela Murray (Vitiligo image)

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