When TerDawn DeBoe was working in the music industry she couldn’t find the right graphics to work with her branding. Determined, she set out to learn graphic design on her own and subsequently found her passion for a whole new career in marketing. DeBoe used the techniques she learned in graphic design to build her business Creative Thought Solutions, which specializes in helping entrepreneurs build their brand to maximize their growth. Today the University Heights, Ohio-entrepreneur has helped thousands of businesses grow and reach their full potential.
DeBoe’s story, as told to The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project:
The reason I started my business is because during my music career, I would always want creative graphics and marketing campaigns to help myself stand out and be heard, but nobody was doing the things that I needed during that time the way that I wanted them done. I started studying how to do it on my own and went to school for graphic design. It was in graphic design school that I met my marketing teacher and fell in love with the concepts of marketing and started studying how to do digital marketing. Using the techniques that I’ve learned, I’ve now helped thousands of businesses with branding and marketing to help their businesses gain the positioning they need to stand out in the marketplace and how to implement the right campaigns to get results.
My definition of success is being able to continue to heal, grow, and develop myself so that I can, in turn, help other business owners do the same. In my opinion, success is being able to be fully aligned with your purpose doing the thing that makes you come alive while making a living from it and ultimately, making an impact.
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My biggest success to date was being able to help my client go from barely making $2000 per month, to making $7,000 in one week and helping her hit consistent $10,000 per month goals that she set. My goal is to continue creating brand awareness and scaling my business. I want to make a bigger impact and it requires continuing to build a bigger platform to reach more people.
Since I was pregnant at a young age, I felt the need to be an overachiever to compensate for being in that position. At the age of 16, I got two jobs in addition to going to school. Not only did I graduate early on the honor roll, but I also was able to get my daughter everything she needed. This work ethic has stuck with me ever since, but as my family grew and I got married, I realized that I had to have more of a balance with my time. My family is very important to me and they value the quality time I am able to intentionally spend with them. This is why I’ve implemented “non-negotiable days.” These are days I have set aside to spend time with my family that are non-negotiable so that I don’t allow work to interfere with making priceless memories.
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Having gone through a lot of trauma when I was younger, I realized that I had a lot of healing to do. Because I was hurting and not addressing the pain I was in, when I would get depressed; it would affect my business. Fortunately, I started therapy and building up the tools I’ve needed to work through difficult situations rather quickly so that it doesn’t affect my business today.
My most important role model is my Mom. I watched how she was as a strong female entrepreneur growing up and it let me know that it was ok to own my power and be a strong female entrepreneur as well.
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