Today we’d like to introduce you to Diamonique (DeDe) Davis.
Hi DeDe, 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?
I first got started on my business in 2017. I was about 5 to 6 months postpartum with my 2nd child when I found my love for fitness. I struggled with postpartum depression during that 2nd pregnancy and felt confident in myself and how I looked. It made me feel so unfit for the life I was living. Unfit as a wife, mom and even someone who believed in themselves. So I began working out as a way to deal with the struggle, while also trying really hard to lose the weight. It didn’t click at first to me, it took a lot of sweat (and tears) to be able to achieve my fitness goals. Once I started to gain that confidence, I started my first business venture with Beachbody (an MLM business) I again found myself struggling to follow the structure of marketing and sales with that. Soon I found myself doing things my own way and that was motivating and inspiring women to believe in themselves and gain confidence through their own journeys. I found out quickly that, I was made to be a motivator/coach that way. Encouraging women felt like the only thing that helped me out of my own struggle. But not on anyone else’s account but my own. I wanted to turn what felt like a die or need a desperate moment, into something that women of all backgrounds could find refuge in. Then birthed Misfit 2FIT in 2018, where I started my own online fitness business solely run and created by me and the amazing ladies who believed in the vision as well; to be my first clients. But man was it a struggle to get to this point at first.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I faced so many struggles when first starting my business. 1) lack of money and proper resources to start, 2) I had no knowledge or confidence in even starting my entrepreneurial journey. 3) I had friends and family who didn’t fully support me, so it made it hard to truly believe in myself. 4) My lack of knowledge in marketing or even knowing how to handle the back end of owning a business. And lastly, 5) not feeling qualified because I didn’t have the proper credentials or certifications to even do what I was doing.
All of these played a huge factor in my journey. It took a while (a year to be exact) for me to fully be okay to continue the business. But even then I still struggled because I felt as if the people around me didn’t fully want the best for me, so it took a toll on me mentally. There were so many nights and days I’d cry because I had this dream that I wanted so badly to come to life, but it took a while. I thought of quitting (still do when things get difficult) many times, but the dream was bigger than me so I pushed through because there are women who need this.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an Online Fitness coach as well as a Content Creator. With online coaching, I am able to coach and motivate women to build their self-confidence by following and sustaining a fitness and health journey. Not only do I coach women, but I help them come up with a fitness program specific to them and their desired fitness goals. While also motivating them through my storytelling and relating to some of the life struggles they may face. I kind of fell into content creating during my 3rd pregnancy this past year. I started creating relatable fun videos pertaining to my pregnancy and the daily struggles with being pregnant. I had a maternity brand reach out to me to offer me a gifted product; from there I was like this is fun-what else can I make? From there, I then started learning how to find brands, pitch them and even create more engaging posts from others who were doing the same thing. I joined an amazing Mentee Mentorship program that has been helping me further grow and learn, and it’s been sticking ever since!
How do you define success?
This is a hard one because I am still trying to figure out what success is. Of course, social media deems it as having the picture-perfect life, aesthetically pleasing to look at, nice house, car and just things that are monitory. But honestly, I think I would say success is like achieving a goal and being proud of what went into it. It’s not just once you get successful then that’s it, the work is done. It’s working hard to achieve something, whatever that is to you; and continuously striving to strengthen it. I’m still trying to figure this out though so come back to me!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misfit.2fit/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4GnxXlRGtALPfAgp_2PJ_w
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@misfit.2fit
Image Credits:
KNZ Photography (family picture)
