We were lucky to catch up with Deonte Tatum recently and have shared our conversation below.
Deonte, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I believe my resiliency comes from my upbringing. As a kid we didn’t have a whole lot. I was around family and friends who didn’t know how to quit. Both of my parents when I was young worked really hard to to take care of my siblings and I. I never heard them complain or talk about it being to hard or to much. I was expected to keep working until I got things right and if I didn’t know it was still my responsibility to figure it out. .
Situations like these taught me that just because you want something or don’t have something doesn’t mean you get to quit or stop.. if you keep going good things will eventually happen if you faint not.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m in the business of inspiring people to reach their fullest potential life and basketball I get to be around the game of basketball and people who are passionate and working diligently to get better everyday. The game of basketball has given me so many opportunities and blessed me amazing people in my life. This is what I want to share with the world and all those who join the ABP Fam.
I’m most excited about the execution of build and grow project that we are in the third phase of. Steps one and two was to build a strong foundation around our core values and organizational beliefs. From there will needed to build systems that can support the work we are doing and make our customers experience with us impactful. Step two was get the right people on the bus to help and create a culture growth and working for what you want. Third phase is to grow now that we systems and people to go to another level. We are planning to double in capacity and expanding into different communities.
I’d say that my growth as an individual and leader is definitely wakes me up every morning. This journey forces me to grow and get better at serving others and business. There are so many parts to myself that might have remained dormant if the journey didn’t present challenges or issues that forces you solve them. This I also enjoy just as much as the on court stuff we get to do with players everyday.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Going for it. It was scary to leave the teaching profession at 36 years old with a family. But I believed in myself to get it done.
I think my number one skill that developed the most was prayer and steadfastness. Without these to skills I would not have been able to see myself through a lot of difficult times.
Next I’d say learning to work on the business and not inside of it all the time. If you constantly doing the work and you don’t make the time for planning the future or evaluating your present it’s hard to see how far you come and what direction to go next.
The entrepreneur journey is meant to change and develop you. Failing is apart of the journey so embrace it the same way you do your wins.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I really love this question. I have been blessed to have several mentors who given great advice, council and probably most importantly encouragement. They have also extended their network to me when I have gotten stuck or when noticed it was time for me to take the step. Having people that you can be vulnerable with and what to see you succeed is a great part of the journey.
Contact Info:
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Image Credits
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