“Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was.”—Robert Louis Stevenson, author

“I would like your help,” I said to a female colleague in my office. “I’m a single mom and I need options. Can you help me?”

I was in my late twenties and raising two school-aged children alone. I was feeling a void in my job. I had been a social worker for many years, starting in the mailroom of the agency in my late teens and working my way up the ladder. I’d gone into the profession wanting to help people, but after ten years the paperwork was beginning to get to me. I wanted to spend more time helping people hands-on and less time on administrative work. So I prayed on it—as I always did when I needed guidance—and then started to imagine myself doing something else that would be a benefit to the people of my community. I didn’t know exactly what that would be, but it didn’t take long before my prayers were answered.

I learned that my co-worker and her husband had started a home healthcare business servicing the elderly, children, and the mentally challenged. They were running it as a side business while she was still working her job. I was familiar with home healthcare, although not with the business aspect of it. But a thought occurred to me that maybe I could start a company which helped people by providing those kinds of services as well.

“How did you get started?” I asked her as she sized me up. Then she handed me a telephone number. “Call it and they’ll send you a package,” she said. “But it’s really hard and the deadline’s coming up. You won’t be able to get it done in time.” I thanked her but wasn’t going to let her discouragement stop me. Just watch me, I thought.

I called for my application package and it arrived quickly. My co-worker was right—it actually was very difficult to complete. I had to put together a proposal describing why I wanted to start a home healthcare business and my qualifications. I had never done anything like this before. But if I wanted to qualify, I knew I had to start where I was, take it one step at a time, and at least try.

For three months, I turned my dining room table into an office and stayed up until all hours trying to figure out how to fill out the application. Papers were everywhere. Finally I sent it in. Two months later, I received an envelope in the mail. My application had been approved! I was licensed to run a business providing in-home health care. My co-worker at the office couldn’t believe it. “I didn’t think you’d be able to do it,” she confessed.

That experience taught me two valuable lessons:

1) No matter what goal you’re trying to achieve in life—whether you want to start a business, start a family, travel, or go to college—the only way to get there is to begin right where you are. It doesn’t matter that your life isn’t perfect and everything isn’t lined up just right. You have to begin somewhere. This is probably your most important decision—the decision to begin.

2) Develop vision. You have to reach into your imagination and actually see yourself doing something you want to achieve. Envision how it looks, who you’re with, and how you feel. You have to see yourself doing it and believe it’s possible. I imagined myself working in a position where I could help people all day. In the beginning, I didn’t have any specific position in mind, let alone the idea of running a company. Instead, I was open to allowing God to bring the right opportunity to me. Your vision is important, because if you can’t see yourself doing the thing you desire, you will never get there. That’s like saying you want to go on vacation but not having a destination in mind. So it is important you choose something you want to accomplish, see yourself doing it, and make a decision to start wherever you are.

In my case, my vision was to run a home healthcare company. But even after I got my license, running a healthcare business wasn’t familiar to me. I had a lot of learning to do, so it didn’t make sense to just quit my job and jump out there. I began to gather information and prepare myself financially while still working a permanent job.

Stepping Out

After about a year, I began contemplating whether or not to quit my job. I went back and forth in my mind over it, but I knew better than to make a move while feeling uncertain. To add to my uncertainty, it was at this time I got rid of my raggedy, 10-year-old Nissan Sentra and bought a brand-new 1997 Chrysler Sebring convertible, black with a tan top. I loved it! That took me from being a single mother of two with a mortgage and added a car note. Fortunately (I thought), I was in a serious relationship with a guy and we were planning to marry. “Go ahead and resign,” he told me. “I’ve got your back.”

During this time, my pastor preached a sermon on excelling in your faith. He talked about how the word “excel” means “to rise above.” I realized I wanted to excel—to rise above my own circumstances and to help others rise above theirs. I decided to name my company Excel-E-Care and later changed it to Excellent Care Management, or ECM. I continued to pray for guidance and direction on how my situation should unfold.

One day, I was sitting at my desk when the Holy Spirit came over me. “Step out in faith,” He told me. “Do it now!” I typed my letter of resignation and rushed it into my supervisor’s office so I wouldn’t change my mind. She couldn’t believe it.

“How do you think you’re going to get that car note paid?” she asked in a sarcastic tone of voice. I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I focused on tying up loose ends during those last two weeks. Whenever she would get nasty or try to make me worry about how I was going to pay my bills, I would say nicely, “Let me know what I can do so I don’t leave my co-workers in a bind.”

On the inside, I was nervous. I prayed to God to show me the way. Now just for the record, I would never advise anyone to just up and quit their job. It’s just something I believed the Lord was leading me to do. I wouldn’t encourage it for everyone. But if you are going to step out in faith, make sure you have received your direction from God and leave everything in order.

I believe in the Scripture that says “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17 KJV). It’s also important to know how God speaks to you. In my case, I hear a voice inside my head. It uses biblical words I would never use and tells me to do things I wouldn’t logically do. God does not operate by human logic. Some individuals may see visions or have dreams, while others may have gut instincts or certain feelings that come over them. The point is to make sure you’re walking in divine will, not your own will. You won’t know how everything is going to play out, but you’ll know that God has a purpose and plan for you.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23 KJV).

I was very nervous about working on my own, but I was also excited to see what God had in store for me. I would get up at six a.m., dress in a suit, drop my children off at school, and then head out to introduce myself to the community. I marketed Excel-E-Care day after day. Sometimes it’s embarrassing to think about it now, but I would hang out in public places where I would find senior citizens—at hospitals, multiservice centers, even the post office—anywhere I thought I could drum up business. I did what I had to as long as it was moral and legal. I worked at the level I was on with the resources available to me.

“My name is Deavra Daughtry with Excel-E-Care,” I’d say as I approached an elderly person who looked like they might benefit from assistance.

“What do you do?” they’d ask.

“We’re able to send caregivers into the home to help with daily living,” I’d continue. “Depending on your income, it may be funded by the government.”

“Is it going to mess with my social security check?” they’d almost always ask.

One day after I first left my job, I was sitting in an office lobby. I was feeling anxious about being self-employed, so I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman. I shared that I had quit my job to start my own business. “That’s wonderful,” he said. “You’re going to have a rags-to-riches story!”

“No,” I responded, “It’ll be a story about what happens when you find your purpose and reap your blessings.”

“Right!” he said. I went on my way praying we both were right. Thinking back on it today it sounds crazy, but the truth of the matter is that I was seeking approval from strangers for what I had done.Moral Support?

This is another lesson I learned: Do not share your dream with anyone who will not be as enthusiastic as you are. Until you are very strong in your faith and feel secure with what you are doing, protect your vision from the negative comments of people who may (or may not) mean well, but who might not be able to envision or understand what you’re doing.

I hadn’t told anyone close to me that I had resigned except my grandmother and fiancé. I couldn’t. I was a single mom with two children and had quit a job working for the government that had offered benefits and insurance. For someone with my background, working for the government was a good thing. My friends and family would have thought I was crazy. I didn’t want and couldn’t afford to hear the negativity. It would have drained my spirit and made me question myself at a time when I couldn’t afford to do so.

Eventually though, my father got wind that I had quit my job. “God gave you five senses and you’re not using any of them. You have two kids!” he shouted. From his view of the situation, he was probably right. But he couldn’t see my vision.

My grandmother was another story. Grannie had moved to Texas from Louisiana at age thirteen, right after she had gotten married. She had thirteen children before my grandfather died. My mother was one of them. While I was still young, she went away to college at Prairie View and Grannie raised me alongside some of my younger aunts. Grannie was very spiritual and brought us up in the church. She was the church treasurer for more than 40 years and everyone knew she could be trusted.

Grannie’s work ethic had a big influence on me. During the week, Grannie worked as a janitor for the Houston school district. To get to her job, she had to take several busses each way. Even though she didn’t have a lot of education and her options in life were limited, we were always clothed and fed. Somehow, she always had a stash of money.

She also encouraged us to work hard. No matter what I had in mind, she always believed in me. She spoke life into me. “You can do it,” she would always say. “You can be anything you want.” She always supported and encouraged me, even when she didn’t understand what I was doing. She loved so much that we didn’t know we were poor financially because we didn’t have poverty of spirit.

Grannie was very loving, giving, and nurturing. I’ll never understand how she kept her sanity and ability to pour out love no matter what challenges she faced. When I stepped out on my own, she always exhibited tremendous faith that God would make a way for me.

Affirmation of Faith

I declare that I will move from my present state and walk in the divine will of God. I will not allow excuses, fear, or the limitations of my knowledge and skill to stagnate me from pursuing my dreams or God's divine vision.