1. Where were you born and raised; current city; family; hobbies; past business highlights...
I was born in Atlanta, GA, and raised by my mom, with no siblings. Donn is from White Plains, NY and he’s the oldest of four. His parents have been married for over 50 years! That’s what we’re striving for and we are on year 27! We both have a passion for music, which has led me to a career in the music industry for almost 30 years. I started my own gospel record promotions company 17 years ago, Joyful Noise Promotions. Donn is a business analyst in the healthcare industry. We have served in marriage ministry for years and Donn’s love for music has led him to play drums for our worship team at church. We both love sports, going to concerts and movies. We have two awesome children - our son Collin is a recent graduate of The University of Georgia, and our daughter Faith is a rising high school senior.
2. How have you grown or personally developed since joining PlanNet?
I have always been a ‘behind the scenes’ person, and I’m perfectly comfortable in that space. I’m used to working with singers and performers whose careers call for them to be out front. I’ve had to grow as a leader and realize it’s okay for me to be out front. I’m still growing in this area! Donn has grown to not focus so much on negative things, such as rejection, and he now focuses more on how he will respond to those things. As entrepreneurs we will constantly have setbacks, which is part of the process. We have to use these challenges as learning experiences to help us get it right the next time.
3. What drives you; what motivates you?
I am motivated by the fact that God has called us to go great things here on earth. Our daughter has started a youth ministry, REACH, and as I see the lives of many of these young people change for the better, I know that I’m called to help support that ministry. I need to have the financial freedom, as well as time freedom, to do that. What motivates Donn is being able to provide for our family, so that our quality of life will not be in jeopardy. It’s also important to him to be the evidence to family and friends that you can change your life if you’re not satisfied with the path your life is taking.
4. Who would you consider a role model and why?
A wonderful role model for me over the past two and half years has been my mentor and coach, Eileen Ross. I knew Eileen in a previous company, and the Eileen Ross then is not the Eileen Ross we see today. She has a work ethic like no other. After enduring a pretty rough time in her life, going through a divorce and walking away from everything, she made a decision to work harder for herself and her son than she ever had before. I see what these results have yielded her. This same lady two and a half years ago did not know what a travel party was, and now she’s conducting meetings and trainings all over the world. I appreciate seeing first hand what it takes.
Donn’s role model is our former President, Barack Obama. Under pressure, he never got rattled. In highly stressful situations, he always kept the high road. Through it all, he always maintained a loving relationship with his wife and daughters, and that’s what Donn strives to do. Looking at these attributes, I could actually say the same about our founder, Mr. Donald Bradley.
5. The three words that describe you best are:
Three words that describe Tawanda…focused, consistent, reliable.
Three words that describe Donn…supportive, loyal, committed.
6. If you had some sound advice to give to anyone what would it be?
Some sound advice that we would give is to “think outside the box!” Don’t get stuck doing things traditionally because it’s always been done that way. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Anything in life worth having will take some level of sacrifice, but to reach true freedom, it’s worth it!
7. What does your life look like five years from now?
Five years from now we will be retired and debt free. We will be high six-figure income earners with PlanNet Marketing, working on seven figures. We will have produced multiple six-figure income earners. We will be supporting causes that we are passionate about, as well as working more in ministry. Of course we will be traveling the world and checking things off our bucket list!