There's a common thread in success stories coming from the credit repair industry - most of them are about self-made people coming from nothing. And sometimes, you can't help but feel stunned when you hear about where they started from.
Today's guest is a renowned member of the industry, currently running a multi-million dollar credit repair business. Her starting point? Homeless, living in her car with her two kids.
Please help me welcome our Credit Hero for this week - Derricka Harwell!
Derricka is the founding CEO of Beautify Credit, a massive credit repair operation she built all by herself from ground zero. Her unstoppable success is all the more remarkable when you take into account everything she had to endure to get to where she is today.
Even though she's living a busy life at the very top of the credit repair industry, Derricka is very passionate about education and community work. She is also an award-winning author, and she received the Author Of The Year accolade for her book Beautiful Credit in the financial literacy category.
I'm thrilled she managed to come on our show in spite of her busy schedule and share her journey with us. Tune in for some incredible credit repair insights and find out how Derricka created her multi-million dollar business from nothing.
Anything can happen when life catches you off-guard and sends various adversities your way. But when you hear Derricka's story, "having it rough" feels like an understatement.
Homeless and living with her two young children in a 1995 Ford Explorer, desperately fighting off depression and feelings of hopelessness, Derricka was barely holding on. Still, amidst all of that, she somehow found the strength to keep going to work every day and apply for jobs that would somehow help her get back on solid ground.
Eventually, she was able to get a job at a bank, working as a financial service consultant, and from that moment on, things started to look up. At her first bank job, she was able to go to a 12-week University program where she learned about various financial topics, including credit. She couldn't wait to get to work and start helping people.
Derricka's second job was at a bank that had a predefined script that employees had to stick to. Driven by her desire to impact people's lives meaningfully, she would often go the extra mile for her clients. She'd offer practical advice that went beyond the constraints of the actual script. And the customers were delighted with the service they were getting. She became known as Banker Barbie among the clients. Pretty soon, the word got out, and everyone was in line to see her.
She set out to help people, helping them get a better deal. But, that also meant the bank wasn't making as much money as it could. And once her managers found out she was going beyond-script, Derricka got into trouble. However, the overwhelmingly positive feedback she got from her clients inspired her to try making it on her own.
She left her bank job, but her former clients kept coming to her for advice. Armed with only a notepad and an ink pen, Derricka leapt into the world of solopreneurship.
She started helping those who came her way, had great results, and the news about what she could do spread like wildfire. Pretty soon, everybody wanted Derricka's help with credit repair. And with each new happy customer, her confidence grew and wanted to help even more people. Before she knew it, Derricka was hooked on changing people's lives.
With her living room gradually turning into an office, the foundations were set for all the success she enjoys today. And all of it happened while she was still pregnant with her fourth child. Amazing!
After acquiring a significant amount of clients, juggling cases became really challenging. Derricka turned to online support, and after a failed experiment with a lousy piece of software that nearly cost her her business, she discovered Credit Repair Cloud.
"Having the Credit Repair Cloud... It took my business from a six-figure business to a million-dollar business to a multi-million dollar business!" - Derricka Harwell
I've looked into it, and Derricka has been our client since 2015. And I have to tell you - it brings me such joy to see all that she has accomplished!
At the time of our conversation, Derricka is performing an 18-city, 2-country tour where she visits numerous high-schools and prisons to educate people on credit. Her goal is to teach people who are most vulnerable to experience hardships of a low credit score. It's just such a wonderful initiative!
And in fact, her selfless attitude towards sharing her knowledge with others played a huge part in growing her business.
Her first ever video talk she ever held was on Periscope, and four people watched it. Her mom was one of them.
But she kept at it, slowly build her brand, and the audience for her live lectures peaked at a whopping 290,000. It just shows that consistency paired with sharing openly can go a very long way.
Over time, she built a rapport with her audience and established her brand across social media platforms. By being open in her communication and sharing bits from her personal story, Derricka was winning people over left and right.
"People don't do business with the company. They do business with that individual. They do business with you because they love what you're about." - Derricka Harwell
Derricka is in the business of changing people's lives, and we're so proud she is one of our Credit Heroes.
And if you'd like to become a Credit Hero yourself and start changing lives, then you should join our 14-day Credit Hero Challenge. In it, we guide you step-by-step and hold your hand while you launch your very own credit repair business.
Learn more about the Credit Hero Challenge here!
Sign up today! We'd love to have you!
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Until next week, my friends - keep changing lives!