Meet Desi Williams

We recently connected with Desi Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Desi, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Growing up as a minority in all spaces (school, extracurricular activities, etc.), I was taught the adage that ‘we have to work twice as hard to gain half as much success.’ I took that saying very literally. As a young child, I witnessed how hard both of my parents worked. There were days my father came home well after dinner, putting in extra hours to outwork his colleagues. On the other hand, my mother commuted an hour or more to work in office, travelled as part of her job, and even went back to school on nights and weekends to get her MBA (this was before the days of remote learning), all while being a supportive and loving mother. It seemed that they were both always on ‘go,’ and they demonstrated the concept of working twice as hard without having to say it. This work ethic rubbed off on me and so I’ve always had a sense of urgency and a yearning to perform above and beyond what is expected of me. While some may call me a workaholic, my goal in competitive spaces is to make my deservedness of success undeniable. In my head, if my resumé and work ethic are equal to my non-minority counterpart, I will lose 9/10 times. So instead, I strive to be objectively and undeniably better.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Like many Angelenos, I am a multi-hyphenate: reality TV personality, former pageant queen, TV host, and entrepreneur. Many people know me from my appearances on reality TV: I started on Survivor Season 35: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers, competed on The Challenge USA: Season 1 and then won The Challenge USA: Season 2.
Others know me from my time competing in pageants: I was Miss Virginia 2013 (competing at Miss America) and Miss Virginia USA 2015 (competing at Miss USA).
Others may have seen me on television as a host. I’m most proud of a show I host on Amazon Freevee called The College Tour, where I’m the host of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) episodes; I also do some commercial acting.
And then finally, I am an entrepreneur and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). I own and operate a Home Health Agency and Mobile Therapy Company called A Plus Care (www.apluscarela.com); my company provides in-home skilled care (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and nursing) to our clients. Whether they are homebound or would just prefer to receive care in the safety and comfort of their homes, A Plus Care strives to provide high-quality healthcare services in Los Angeles. I am very proud to be a 100% woman-owned business who strives to provide loving care to our community members—but particularly our seniors—who need care the most.

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?

1. Perseverance! Every day of running a business offers a new learning opportunity and maintaining the success of a business in today’s economy means constantly innovating. Similarly, success in the entertainment business means constantly working toward or creating the next opportunity. In any business, you can’t sit around waiting for things to happen for you; you definitely have to seek opportunities and persevere to make it happen
2. Organization. The reality is that I am constantly juggling several responsibilities and without an organized system, it’s easy to let things fall through the cracks. For anyone looking to level up or become more productive, the first recommendation I would make is to come up with an organized system of doing things. I recently read a book that advised that if you are performing the same task 3 or more times during a 30-day period, you should have a system for it. I totally agree. A system can be as simple as a checklist, but repetitive tasks shouldn’t take any extra thought or bandwidth; come up with a checklist and execute. In this season of my life, I am working to outsource and delegate many of the systems I have created.
3. Work ethic. I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record. But, I truly believe that most people who are successful have simply outworked their peers, and then continue to outwork their peers. In a society where so many are performing the ‘bare minimum,’ a little bit of extra effort can go a long way.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am always looking to connect with new people who are doing great things in our community. From a business perspective, I would love to connect with other healthcare providers who are striving to provide high quality healthcare. At my company A Plus Care, we are always looking for new partners that might help us provide our patients with more well-rounded healthcare options. From physicians, to therapists, to acupuncturists, to chiropractors, and more, we love to approach patient care collaboratively and promote a system that allows patients to actually get better.
In my role in entertainment, I am a wizard on the teleprompter and would love to explore new and ongoing hosting opportunities. And when it comes to reality television, my phone line is wide open in case a casting director from The Traitors calls (shameless plug 🙂

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Jaxon Photo Group; Frank Armstrong Photography

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