Meet Dominique J Portis from Bremerton in WA. The established social media marketer with a team of 13 is known as “Dominate Social Engagement With Dominique” on Youtube, has personally invested $65,000 on educational resources to increase her agency’s ability to quickly identify the roadblocks of online business owners, such as coaches, and efficiently solve them to create life-changing success stories.
For Dominique it’s been a battle with bullying, family, health problems, lost jobs, and more! All of which paved the road for the Dominique of today, a difficult road we share with you in today’s interview.
Hey Dominique, tell us more about your early life, and what led you to becoming a coach & agency owner?
Thanks for having me, and sure, I grew up in a military family, my dad was in the Navy, we were middle class living in Bremerton WA. I was a very shy girl, being bullied for everything from my appearance to demeanour. The year of 1999 I took a big emotional hit. My parents divorced, and soon after my father remarried, starting a new family, on top of the bullying which kept me within my shell this only added to my shyness. I became more closed off than previously.
Afterwards, I moved to a new city & school looking for a fresh start, new friends, not having to watch my father with a new family. The move didn’t quite work out how I had imagined it. The bullying began there also and I soon returned to my shell.
Despite this, I’ve always kept my talents loud, drawing, playing the guitar (not my first choice of instrument), as they provided me with an escape.
This led to me trying out for the wrestling team at 113lb. At tryouts I discovered that there were no other girls on the team, my soon to be competition were men. It’s fair to say some bulking up was required, knowing that I became a bit of a health & fitness nut gaining 15lb of lean mass to compete with those with much greater physical advantages. This helped with developing discipline at an early age which of course, links to where I am now.
You left something out there, If I may add, didn’t you become the first African American Female to compete at State?
Yes, good point. I went to state twice, as well as the Women’s Hall of Fame tournament where I placed 3rd.
That’s when 2007 hit!
After highschool I went from job to job searching for the path that suited me most, then in 2007 sickness fell upon me, and the turning point of my health began. Doctors said I caught a form of meningitis that slowly caused my health to decline day by day. Whilst battling the illness I had my fair share of the common setbacks in life as you and your readers can likely relate to, friendships going south, deadbeat jobs, etc.
What were the jobs?
Where do I begin haha, 1. I worked in customer service for 5 plus years as a guest services rep for a hotel, 2. did car sales for a month, sold 2 cars before they let me go. 3. Worked as a digital marketing Intern for an MMA company before being released due to lack of funds for hiring, but that’s where I began to learn the ropes of marketing, coming to the understanding that this may be my path in life.
What happened after being released?
After the internship I moved to Seattle, not really thinking about digital marketing much, I began working as a valet. Some of the cars that needed parking were worth $90,000+ which was an astonishing sum of money for me at the time, this enabled me to talk and ask questions to these luxury car owners who are oftentimes entrepreneurs. This opened a gateway to gain insight into the world of the successful. How they think, why they think the way they think, what they do, and how they do it.
I paired my valet job with a second job at Uber and a third at Lyft to pay off built up debt (that’s a story for another day), pairing all three together my income was just shy of $100,000 per year.
After seeing my earning capability from hustling 3 jobs, the discipline I had developed from wrestling, the wisdom absorbed from those that I parked cars for, and my pure drive to battle through my health adversities, family problems & bullying, I opened up a digital marketing agency in December of 2019.
Unfortunately, moving on a few months to February of 2020 the agency was cut short as I had developed liver failure, and was fighting for my life (again, that’s a story for another day).
Liver failure?
Yep, with that being said, we have reopened the agency, our clients are doing amazing, I’ve begun 1-1 consulting, and from being picked on at school, almost passing away after my liver failure, and more!
My agency is at 13 members strong, I’ve personally invested $65,000 within it to ensure we deliver the best results for our clients, 100s of online businesses and start ups are reaping the rewards of working with me and the team, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it!
What’s your agency helping with?
We’re a full service based agency for those looking to start up an online business / those currently in online business. We offer Instagram growth, Tiktok growth, Facebook ads & Lead Generation services. With 1-1 consulting available with me if criteria is met.
To finish up, how would you describe yourself in a few words?
Ambitious, Loving, Trustworthy, Passionate, and Caring.
Perfect, where can our readers find you?
Personal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dominique.Portis32/
Business Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJ8PMarketing
Personal Instagram: https://instagram.com/Dominatewithdominique
PersonalYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXXpWw0nIkay-QoJZVI2SA
Thank you Dominique for your time & honesty, we look forward to following your journey!