Duquesa D Dean shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Duquesa D, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Yes, the recent birth of my second grandchild filled me with so much pride and joy. It’s a blessing to live to see another season of my life unfold, and just as importantly, to watch my children grow into successful adults who are building happy, fulfilling lives of their own. This is what success looks like for me. I’m proud to have reshifted my priorities to always being able to put my family first and making time to enjoy moments that create beautiful memories and a legacy of love.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Duquesa D. Dean, a coach, trainer, and community builder whose life is anchored in faith, purpose, and people. I believe in showing up with heart and helping others see what’s possible for their own lives. Everything I do is rooted in service, empowerment, and legacy.
I wear a few hats, but they all connect to the same mission of helping people thrive. I am the President of the Gennie Dean Caring & Sharing Cancer Support Group, an organization named in honor of my late mother. We help cancer patients and survivors across The Bahamas journey with courage and dignity through initiatives like The Sunflower Pantry, The Thrift Room, Step Into Wellness, and our annual Hope Walk. Our mission is to remind women that cancer is not a death sentence and that hope is still alive, even in the hardest seasons.
Through my company, DDOGC Consultant Solutions, I deliver leadership, communication, and customer service training for organizations that want to build stronger teams and create better workplace cultures. I love walking into a room and watching people reconnect with their purpose, rediscover their confidence, and see their work as part of something bigger.
I am also the founder of The Evolving Woman, a faith-based platform designed to help women rest, realign, and rebuild. Through retreats like RestoreHER and Thrive, and programs like Becoming HER, I create safe, soulful spaces where women can release the weight they’ve been carrying and step into who God designed them to be.
My journey hasn’t been perfect. I’ve taken the time to transform my mind, divorce culture’s expectations and release the pressure to live according to it’s standard, I’ve had many moments in life from my teenage years to adulthood that were painful and could have destroyed me but instead I healed and allow that pain to catapult me into the life I am living today one that is healed and whole. My life been full of lessons, faith, and growth. I am known for my story of thriving against the odds. After a near-death experience and devastating hardships, from abusive relationships to years spent listening to everyone but myself, I discovered the powerful process of inner evolution and the beauty of living authentically.
Life is pretty good now, but it wasn’t always picture-perfect or easy. I’ve risen from the ashes of troubled teen years, domestic violence, purposeless jobs, and even a near-suicide attempt. Using the experiences of my past, I now help women evolve into who they were created to be. I know firsthand how it feels to live bound by the expectations of family, society, and friends while feeling deeply unfulfilled. That pain became my passion to help women free themselves from the shackles of the past and from the constant fear of “what will other people think.”
From navigating loss and rebuilding after financial hardship to finding balance in marriage, ministry, and business, I’ve learned that true success isn’t about titles or applause. It’s about freedom. The freedom to live purposefully, love deeply, and create moments that build a legacy of love.. For me, success means putting family first, living with integrity, and creating moments that build a legacy of love.
Right now, I’m focused on projects that bring hope and transformation to more people — including our 2025 Thrive Retreat in Orlando and launching my new book RestoreHER.
I am proud of the woman I’ve become not because everything has gone right, but because I’ve kept showing up. I believe every experience, even the painful ones, can be used for purpose and my prayer is that everything I create whether through coaching, retreats, or community service helps someone else rise, heal, and believe again.
You can connect with me and my work at:
🌐 https://gdcancersupportgroup.com
📱 Facebook: Duquesa Dean | Gennie Dean Caring & Sharing Cancer Support Group
📸 Instagram: @duquesadean | @gdcancersupportgroup
💼 LinkedIn: Duquesa Dean
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
The person who saw me clearly before I saw myself was my first mentor who is a business executive who recognized potential in me long before I believed it existed. When he spoke about the strengths and gifts he saw, I honestly didn’t believe him at first because I couldn’t see them in myself. Sometimes our own self-doubt blinds us to our natural talents. But with his guidance, I began to embrace that potential, to understand who I truly was, decide who I wanted to become, and take intentional action to grow into her. That experience changed the trajectory of my life and reminded me how powerful it is when someone believes in you before you believe in yourself.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Some of my deepest wounds have also been my greatest teachers. Losing my great-grandmother at 13 was my first experience with grief. She was my primary nurturer. She was the one who made me feel safe, loved, and seen. When she passed, it left a void that I didn’t know how to fill. I learned early that love can be both beautiful and fragile, and that healing begins when we allow ourselves to grieve and still choose to love again.
Later in life, I experienced domestic abuse during my first marriage, which led to a season so dark that I nearly took my own life. That period broke me open, but it also became the foundation of my rebirth. Through therapy, faith, and self-work, I learned that healing isn’t about erasing the pain. It’s about transforming it. That experience taught me my worth, reintroduced me to my voice, and birthed the woman who now helps others find theirs.
One of the most powerful parts of that story is that my ex-husband, the person who caused much of that pain, has since transformed his own life. He is now a preacher and a community builder. That transformation reminds me that healing doesn’t just happen for one person; it creates ripples that can change lives around us.
And then came one of the hardest moments of all was losing my mother unexpectedly. That loss brought me to my knees but it also gave birth to purpose. In her memory, I now lead the Gennie Dean Caring & Sharing Cancer Support Group, serving women on their cancer journeys with compassion, dignity, and hope. Her passing taught me that love never dies. It simply takes new form through service, legacy, and the way we show up for others.
Each of these experiences shaped me into the woman I am today. A woman who is resilient, compassionate, and grounded in faith. My wounds became evidence that God’s strength is working through me.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I think smart people today are getting a few really important things wrong. We’ve become so focused on culture’s expectations that we’ve started to measure our worth by achievement instead of alignment. Too many believe that climbing the corporate ladder matters more than nurturing family, or that success means constant motion even if it costs your peace.
We’ve also bought into the lie that our self-esteem is tied to what we do, not who we are. That taking a mental health break makes you weak. That sickness or struggle disqualifies you from strength. And perhaps most dangerously, that community is optional.
The truth is, achievement without connection is hollow. Family, rest, and community are the foundation of it. Real strength is knowing when to pause, when to ask for help, and when to choose purpose over performance.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
When my time on this earth is done, I want to be remembered as a woman who lived fully, loved deeply, and served faithfully. I want people to say that my heart for others was bigger than any title I ever held and that I believed in purpose, not perfection, and that I used my story to give others permission to heal.
I want them to remember how I turned heartbreak into hope, how I rose from pain, loss, and near death to become a light for those still fighting their way out of the dark. I hope they’ll say I gave courage to women who had forgotten their strength, and reminded them that rest, faith, and self-worth are holy acts.
I want my community to say that I built bridges between patients and hope, between women and their voices, between faith and action. That through the Gennie Dean Caring & Sharing Cancer Support Group, I became a voice for the voiceless and a comfort to the weary. I hope my retreats, books, and coaching programs continue to live on as spaces where women rediscover who they are in God’s eyes not by what they’ve achieved, but by how deeply they’ve grown.
Beyond my public legacy, what means the most is what my family will say. I pray that my husband, my children, and my grandchildren will call me a Proverbs 31 woman because I was faithful. I want them to remember that I rose early to serve, spoke wisdom with kindness, worked diligently with my hands, and created a home filled with love, laughter, and grace.
I want my husband to say I was his steady and safe place, strong, wise, and full of joy. I want my children to rise up and call me blessed because they saw what integrity, humility, and devotion truly look like.
More than anything, I want to be remembered as love in motion. Soft yet strong, bold yet gentle, determined yet surrendered and if someone, long after I’m gone, whispers, “Because of her, I didn’t give up. Because of her, I found hope again,” then I’ll know I lived well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://duquesadean.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duquesadean/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duquesadean/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/duquesaddean
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@duquesadean8011
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