Today we’d like to introduce you to Dedrick Torry.
Hi Dedrick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I was born and raised in South Memphis with my mom and 3 older siblings, as a small child, I was raised in a project community called Fowler Holmes until my early teenage years. We then moved to Castalia and the Hillview Village Apartments. Although our living conditions had gotten better, our surroundings were still somewhat rough. I can remember many times my mom would try and find ways to pay bills and get food for us to eat.
I have seen many things as a child from families being evicted to even killings. Even though I lived in these environments, I never let the environment get in me, in my mind I also felt like there was more. I mean sure I did things that I shouldn’t have done, been in situations that I know I could have been killed in as a result, but I was kelp here for a reason. One reason was my new family, I have an amazing wife and 4 adult children, 2 grandchildren that I have the privilege of loving and leading. The other reason is to lead a community of future entrepreneurs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No this has not been a smooth road, after graduating high school in 1997, I went to trade school for HVAC but didn’t like it so I switched to Electronics Technician training. While in school, I started working in the technology field I worked for a few temporary services repairing IBM computers and transitioned on to Pro Audio/Video installations. I launched out into entrepreneurship in 2001, the reason behind my launch was I needed to advance because I now had a family and unfortunately there was little advancement for me, it wasn’t because I didn’t know how or wasn’t a good worker, I was told that by my managers all the time.
But I could never get the promotion or pay to show it. Unfortunately after launching out, I had some family challenges that lead to me pausing the business and going back to work for a corporation full-time. During this time the pay was not great but it help sustain me and my kids. I worked and advanced in this technology corporation for 13 years. I had always done my business part-time here and there, so I never lost the desire for entrepreneurship. I remarried in 2012 and my current wife was very supportive of me and my dreams, with her support I launched out again. In 2015, I went full-time in the business and only had less than 5 customers that we served part-time.
I had prayers and a hope that this time it would be different, started at home and we came to the conclusion we can’t bring customers into our home so we found a small 1100 square foot office that we really couldn’t afford, but we did it anyway. We struggled for about a year pushing through the challenges, I brought in one of my brothers to help me part-time as well as use a temporary service when needed. We started getting larger projects and more clientele, gaining more employees over the years but managing the customers, finance, employees, and inventory had started to become overwhelming.
In 2019, my wife who has a financial background and is good at creating systems came on full time which was a huge help. We still have challenges from time to time as any growing company in these areas. From this, my personal and professional experiences are what led me to start an Entrepreneur Coaching program for current and future entrepreneurs.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Coachnaire. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I offer business coaching services to current and future entrepreneurs. I can assist any future entrepreneur that fills that they have the desire to launch into a business but don’t know what approach or steps they should take. One of the things I specialize in is helping them find their niche, a niche I would say is that thing you are good at, an area that you can excel in because it’s a passion of yours. I help individuals turn their passion into income.
The thing that sets me apart is I don’t necessarily do it for the money, but I do it more so to see people succeed and excel in life, many times we look past the desires we have because we feel like someone is telling us to put it on hold or you are not ready for it yet, to me we have to start somewhere, if not now, then when? I have proud moments when I see my trainees start their businesses or advance in their careers and I know that I was able to be a part of that. Seeing them being able to provide for their families is a very important part of what I do.
One thing I would like to share with others is as an Entrepreneur and Life Coach, I desire to see you advance in your gifts and talents, please don’t let the world go another day without it experiencing you. The reason I advanced is to help others advance, yes I am reaping some financial benefits from it, just as you will also, but don’t let that be the thing that drives you. One of my mentors said you can lose money and regain more of that, but we are limited in time and how much we can regain when we lose it, Put into action now that which is in you.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The characteristics I feel are important to succeed is first a willingness, there has to be an “ I will” I find many of us start out saying “I don’t know how or I can’t”.
Next, we need a “why”, knowing your “why”.
The “why” will push and sustain you even when you don’t know how.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecoachnaire.net
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coach-dedrick-torry-050b43241
