DTM Harris shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi DTM, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
Absolutely. I’ve learned to never give a knee jerk response to an emotional situation whether it’s a good one or bad one. The hardest thing is to take back a response afterwards no matter how much you try. A response is like a first impression….you only get one chance. After that “clean-up” gets muddy.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
After doing commercial sales, and brokered in five states, for over 45 years, raising a wonderful daughter as a single mom, I can finally say, NOW IS CHAPTER TWO! I always enjoyed writing fiction as a means to escape the stress of working with the so many different personalities. I learned that working with people from the coastal part of the United States, such as New York, California, etc, can be very different than those from the interior. Eventually my form of escape, or winding down, was to indulge myself in writing fiction. I could spend hours imagining a sequence of events. When I was younger I also painted, and loved what I have done, but writing was always my favorite mode of indulgence. Since my first book MOSSCROFT Shadows Not Forgotten was published, I had many inquires regarding a continuation with a second installment. Happily I have been working on it and MOSSCROFT: Silence of Deception, should be finished for publication in 2026.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I was the quiet child and the youngest of three children. I kept to myself and had very few friends. As time passed and I went beyond the classroom, opportunities began to present themselves. I had a solid education and learned early on, to trust my instincts and to always work for a solution. It became clear that a problems quickly turns into solutions, so I never viewed a problem as a final stop. I looked at “problems”, as a direction towards the solution. Needless to say, problems never handicapped me. A great example was having a friend who owned Wittek Golf. They wanted to buy a golf course in Kalamazoo Michigan that had been confiscated by the Federal Government. Quickly I learned I needed a license to sell Real Estate, so I attained my license. Then I leaned the golf course would have to be auctioned due to Federal law. Bobby Wittek didn’t want to wait for an auction, so I decided to “knock on doors”, of golf courses. Crazy right! Lol. As luck would have it, I actually met with different owners who wanted to sell. They in turn, wanted to buy malls and apartment buildings, so my career was launched. Was it luck? Maybe. But I prefer to say it was determination. The problem was, I needed a golf course, and the solution was… go find one.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
You did it. You overcame.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Probably not. People treat me differently because of my age. I’m seventy-three, and a grandmother. They see me as just a sweet old lady. Little do they know that I was one of the first women to get her own divorce during the 70’s. At that time, women were still considered chattel. Attorneys wouldn’t look at you unless they received a payment from your husband. Another Crazy! But I forged forward and filed for divorce in the very liberal city of Ann Arbor. My logic was, that since it only cost me $5 to get married, it should only cost $5 to get divorced, and I’ll do it myself. It wasn’t easy, but my determination won out and it only cost me $40!
I survived my flower child days, although a couple of those years are a little fuzzy! I protested the Viet Nam war, and wish I had gone to Woodstock. Finally, after raising a wonderful daughter as a single mother, it was “ME” time, and MOSSCROFT was born. No one really asks me about my journey in life nor, have I ever felt the need to put it out there.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
My legacy is something I’ve never thought of. The only people I care to leave my impression on is my daughter and my grandson. It’s my greatest hope they remember me with fun memories, our trips, our glasses of wine, our challenges we faced together, getting published, and all the time we spent together. When they think of me, I want them to always smile. That’s it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Dtmharris.com
- Instagram: dtmharris
- Linkedin: Donna Harris
- Twitter: Donna Harris
- Facebook: Donna Harris
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