Exploring Life & Business with Daphany B. Kelly

Hi Daphany, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Thank you for this opportunity! Greetings, I’m Daphany B. Kelly, Woman of God, Wife, Mother of 3 Beautiful Children (Alana, Lauryn, and Temauri), Daughter, Sister, Friend, Entrepreneur, and so much more! I would start by saying my story started by simply having Faith & trusting God even when I didn’t understand ‘His Plans’ for me & my life, stepping out of my comfort zone & walking by Faith & one of my favorite scriptures I live by is Jeremiah 29:11.

Can you take a journey with me? I was born & raised in a small & rural town in Mississippi (Lambert, MS) and after graduating High School at Madison S. Palmer High (where I met my High School Sweetheart & Amazing Husband Terrance). I moved to Memphis 23 years ago, at age 18 right after graduating I attended College at ITT Technical Institute & earned an Associate of Applied Science Degree Majoring in Computer Networking Systems Technology. This was so befitting for me as I’ve always loved everything about computers, from how they operate, to working on them even more now today, I use a computer or tablet to operate my Businesses as well as general use daily.

Although, I didn’t land a direct position in the exact field of Computer Science; what I didn’t know is that God had already written & planned my life exactly the way He wanted me to fulfill my purpose & make an impact in the World & my Community. My drive and determination to make my parents proud and be able to give back to my Community was very important to me. My love for my Community runs deep, my love for people & my Community began very early on in my life where I grew up & got my roots, love, and wisdom.

I started working at a very young age in High School at Saturn Factory, I then moved on to the Restaurant Industry to work at one of the Restaurants at one of the Casino in Tunica, MS where I greeted and assisted guests, and carried on when I moved to Memphis my first job in College was at Applebee’s Restaurant as a Hostess smiling & greeting guests was a delight for me. I moved on to an Industry that was new to me but came to be one of my favorites; in the Hospitality Industry at one of the top brands Comfort Inn Hotel, oh my how I loved my position as a Front Desk Clerk where I was one of the first points of contact as the guests entered the Hotel.

After Comfort Inn; I landed another Front Desk Clerk Position at Radisson Inn Hotel at Memphis International Airport, where my love for this Industry grew even more. I was promoted from Front Desk Clerk to Front Desk Supervisor, to Administrative Assistant, then to a new world as Human Resource Manager where I took care of Benefits packages and Payroll for over 100 Employees, that was one of the most rewarding positions where I learned so much about how assuring the accuracy of an individuals payroll to take care of their family, so I was grateful to be of Service to everyone I encountered.

My next stop in my career was at a Fortune 500 Company at Terminix Headquarters/Corporate Office, my first position I served as a Quality Assurance Representative speaking with Store Managers about their issues & providing resolutions. I was then promoted to Serve as a Customer Service Representative in the National Accounts Department managing accounts on many levels with issues that occurred within their stores and banks.

We started both our Insurance & Travel Agency Business planning & curating Priceless & Memorable Worldwide Vacation Experiences with getaways for Marriage, Honeymoon, Anniversary, Birthday, Girls/Guy’s Vacations, Family, and much more. I’ve had the ultimate reward of traveling the World to some of God’s most beautiful destinations to being recognized as one of the Top 500 Travel Advisors in the Travel Industry where we are honored & celebrated in Cancun, Mexico with stays at luxury Resorts, attending workshops to implement in our Business with elaborate receptions & parties, simply celebrating us!!

The boat didn’t stop there also in April 2011 I became Licensed as a Life Insurance Agent/Broker, to serve others by planning one of the most sensitive decisions to make by taking care of their family when they’re no longer physically here by structuring Life Insurance in place for them. The Insurance Industry has been such a heart-felt & rewarding Industry to be in, I get to Serve others in one of the most important factors of their lives and it is a task I honor & don’t take lightly!

As I stated earlier; when I tell you God will take you down HIS PATH & even when you don’t understand why but all you know is that you have to obey His instructions. I didn’t know & had no idea what God had planned for me, He directed me to start with obtaining my Life & Health Insurance License, to studying & obtaining my Certification as a Medicare Broker, down to studying & obtaining my Certification & Suitability in the Retirement Income Planning aspect of the Insurance Industry.

When I say always do your best in everything you do & I’ve always put my heart in my work & Served for the Lord & not man, having said that; you never know who’s watching & paying attention to you. I say that with complete gratitude; that’s how I was Blessed & asked to head the Medicare Division as the Medicare Agent Support Coordinator for one of the top Insurance Organizations in the Insurance Industry. I Serve in my role to Support Agents who were interested in getting started in the Medicare Industry & to those who were already in; which included but was not limited to different aspects in assisting them with getting Contracted in Medicare & selecting Carriers to add to their Portfolio.

The Insurance Industry has been such a blessing to me & my family in more ways than one; I recently attended our annual Insurance Conference in Texas & met Mentalist Oz Pearlman, The FIRST WOMAN Thunderbird Pilot Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.) & Daymond John founder of FUBU & a star on TV Show Shark Tank, I’ve followed him since the 90’s Hip-Hop Era and have long been a fan & to meet him did a dream come true!

This Entrepreneurial Journey has been such a Blessing in so many aspects of my life; one Blessing is that it allows my Husband & I give to back to our Community in many ways by Serving with our time & on behalf of our Travel & Insurance Businesses we provide $500 Scholarships to 2 High School Seniors at our Alma Mater (Madison S. Palmer High) where we both graduated from in MS & we have been Blessed to be a Blessing to give Scholarships for 9 years & counting. Joining the Insurance Industry has been one of the best decisions of my Life & I encourage anyone who would like to get into the Insurance Business to contact me to learn how! Stepping out on FAITH with God to become an Entrepreneur is a journey I appreciate and have great gratitude for & don’t have Any regrets, with God; the best is yet to come!!

I’ve worked in many different capacities in Customer Service & Relations Industry Serving others in the Vehicle Manufacturing, Restaurant, Hospitality, Pest Control, Travel, and Insurance, Retirement, and Finance Industries for 25 years (and counting) — wow 25 years, I can’t believe it’s been that long but as they say time flies when you’re doing what you truly love & I’ve loved every aspect of the service & resolution areas which required me to help & be of Service to people no matter what their issue was.

I wouldn’t trade a single year or position for anything in the world as I’ve learned so much & God has truly blessed me & placed some amazing people in my life along the way in my career that helped me blossom into who I am today & I’m forever grateful!!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing comes easy, there is a lot of hard work in Entrepreneurship. It takes determination, commitment, dedication, consistency, motivation (sometimes that’s not even enough), inspiration, drive, and tenacity, and at one point or more; I have struggled in all of those different areas, and trust me it is a daily battle! Being connected to God which allowed me to be able to pivot and stay in the race (as it is not given to the swift nor the strong), has made me stronger & this has taken me further in my career than I ever thought possible, coming from where I started born & raised in a small & rural town in MS this has all been a dream come true.

No matter how hard things got, no matter how many times I wanted to give up, and even when it felt like no one was supporting; me God I was always able to push through those hard times, he always gave me the strength to endure and keep my eyes focused on my true purpose, he always reminded me of my WHY! The true challenge was understanding, then accepting that it wasn’t about me, in fact, it was never about me, it was about me helping & serving God’s people in all the different capacities & roles God placed me in during my life’s journey & career.

My challenges were moving out of my own way, removing fear & stop limiting God from blessing me, and truly & fully walking in my purpose! Another challenge was thinking I didn’t deserve everything God was blessing me with even though I applied myself, studied, and worked extremely hard in everything I did & somehow I still felt undeserving.

My advice to overcome any challenge that may arise (and yes I take my own advice faithfully) is to put ALL of your Faith & Trust in God, knowing you can’t do Anything without God, so having a relationship with God is Extremely Vital! Make sure you surround yourself with other like-minded people who share the same values as you, believe in yourself, apply yourself fully to whatever it is God has assigned you to, don’t cheat or take shortcuts do ALL the work & give 100%, trust me it will show & surely will pay off!

Always Thank God for your Purpose in Life, everything else God has for you will fall in place, don’t sweat the small stuff! Know that even as you’re walking in your Purpose obstacles will still arise, and challenges will still come, please know that you’re not exempt from that, but continue to put your Faith & Trust in God & before you know it you’re Stronger than you were yesterday, last month, a year ago, you’re continually growing & making your mark in the World! If & When you fall & fail, get back up & keep going.

As you know, we’re big fans of One Community Insurance Group. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Culturally, talking about Life Insurance has long been a stigma & misconception in our Black Communities. One Community Insurance Group was created to simplify & remove this stigma that’s been hurting our Culture financially for such a long time. We host Free Community Events & Seminars to educate and break down the importance of Life Insurance & Retirement Income Planning and teach different strategies for creating Generational Wealth to help break the Generational Curses of leaving Debt to our loved ones when someone passes away.

We teach how it’s so important to get Life Insurance while you’re young, for our young adults in the Community, even for parents to get their children insured while they are young, right after birth, is best! I know we never want to imagine our children passing away but it is a Reality that is happening all around us DAILY, so the best thing we can do is PREPARE! No parent, spouse, or anyone wants to rush back to work after losing a child or loved one, but the reality is people simply can’t afford to go back to work right after the Funeral & burying their loved one

This leads to our Community dramatically suffering from Mental Health Issues because they don’t have time to properly mourn & grieve their loss, we are here to Bridge the Gap and provide our Services to our Community. We often hear of how much money people lose in their Retirement Plans & in the Stock Market, sometimes even their Life Savings; we teach our Community how they can save for Retirement but Never lose their Hard-Earned money & how they can create Income during their Retirement years for their entire Life!