Darien Grant, founder and owner of HerCorporatePremiere.com, is a resume writer who specializes in working with recent female college graduates. She has created a professional and personalized resume writing service that addresses the challenges facing female college graduates as they begin their journey into Corporate America. Her past successes in writing effective resumes, along with her passion to help people succeed, inspired her to create HerCorporatePremiere.com.
HerCorporatePremiere.com offers customized career consulting for women’s transition from college to corporate. Here a few questions to better understand her purpose and goal of HerCorporatePremiere.com
Adrienne: What inspired you to create this type of business?
Darien: Honestly, I was tired of walking into meetings and conventions and not seeing anyone else who looked like me! As a recent graduate working in Corporate America, I’ve gone through all of the interview processes, and I’ve faced the HR questions about my ability to perform having come from and HBCU. I really want to help other young women with similar backgrounds prepare for, and get their dream jobs!
Adrienne: Why do you think it’s important for women to be recognized in Corporate America?
Darien: I’ve done resumes for several demographics, but I chose young women specifically because I’ve noticed a lack of confidence when applying to these positions with larger companies. I read in a study recently that, men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them. It’s usually invoked as evidence that women need more confidence in their ability. It’s just so surprising that men are confident at their skill set at 60%, but women don’t feel comfortable stepping up to the plate until they’ve checked each item on the list. I want to work with young women to show them how to properly put together their resumes to showcase their best skills, and give them the proper training so that they can speak on their past experiences and skills with confidence.
Adrienne: What advice do you give to women applying for these types of jobs?
Darien: I tell young women all the time that you cannot get anywhere without set career goals and the work ethic necessary to get to where you want to be. Take the time to invest in yourself and your career. Figure out exactly what it is that you want to do, create a plan, set goals, figure out what training and tools you’ll need, and then execute!
Adrienne: Has being an entrepreneur always been a goal of yours? Why or why not?
Darien: I haven’t always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I have just always had a passion for helping others prepare for interviews, and getting their professional portfolios together. So I love that I am now still able to utilize my degree working in Revenue Management during the day, but am also able to own my own business on the side where I get the opportunity to work with college students and recent graduates across the country.
Adrienne: Where do you see your business in 5-10 years from now? Do you plan to expand it?
Darien: I am interested in growing my business by visiting colleges and hosting workshops on resumes, interview prep, and business etiquette. I also hope to expand the brand by hiring and training a team of resume writers. And who knows, there may be a HisCorporatePremiere in the future!
Adrienne: What habits helped make you successful?
Darien: I think that always staying busy, productive, and proactive have helped me to become successful. I actually used to be the type of person to sit back, tell people what I was going to do, and over-think all of my decisions. I realized that never got me anywhere. My business really got off of the ground when I started to focus and really put my all into it.
Adrienne: What is the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
Darien: I think my decision to make the company a “female-based business” was extremely important in developing my business plan. I received several questions about why I only wanted to cater to females, but I knew in my heart that this demographic that I was led to help. Maybe in the future, I will expand my brand to males, but right now, helping young women is my passion.
Adrienne: What is your favorite part of being a black female entrepreneur?
Darien: I’m still new to being a business owner but my favorite part so far has been learning how to market and brand my business. I have been using Google Analytics a lot lately to track who visits the site, and it’s so interesting just to see the different demographics. I love utilizing that information to cater my marketing to better reach my target audience.
Adrienne: Describe/outline your typical day as an entrepreneur (related to your business).
Darien: I typically wake up around 5am each morning to work on blog posts for the site, and/or complete resume packages. I go to my job from 8-5, and after work, I am back to the resumes! I usually use my evenings to talk to my team about new concepts and ideas that would be great for the business.
Adrienne: How do you find people to bring into your organization that truly care about the organization the way you do?
Darien: The people on my team that I look to for guidance and advice are the ones who help me out with ideas, marketing, social media promotions, and new business concepts without me even having to ask. They see the vision of the company and are working just as hard as I am to help see it grow!
