Daniella Emilien is in the business of creating businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit that she possesses is indescribable. Starting from scratch, she used her passion for styling to turn her life around in ways she never imagined.
"Within five months of me starting this hair journey, My mom was like, 'Listen, you got to get out of the house, my lights are going up.' Well, there are too many people in and out and I was embarrassed. It motivated me. I went and got myself a suite. I was paying $365 a month for that suite. I bumped that suite out for about two years, and I started getting a lot of notoriety. A lot of celebrities started to get attracted to my energy as well as my work ethic."
As they should have. Daniella's work ethic was and is unmatched. She's worked with Nikki Minaj, The City Girls, K. Michelle, and even Paris Hilton. After a few years, she pivoted from styling to providing hair extensions, substantially increasing her cash flow. Her growth motivated her to learn more about the business side of things. She consistently worked with the goal of financial freedom in mind. As her family grew, so did her dreams.
Coffe': You pivoted into finance. What inspired you to go that route versus something else?
Daniella: Well, financial literacy is the key to financial freedom. I was making a lot of money. And you know, I was becoming famous overnight, but I didn't understand money management. I didn't understand how to make my money grow. I didn't understand business credit. During the time that I was a hairstylist, I faced a lot of adversities. I wanted to drive fancy cars and live in luxury apartments. But I couldn't get approved because of my credit.
I paid over five people to fix my credit but didn't get any results. They didn't explain to me what credit was, how I use credit, or how I build credit. During the time of me being a hairstylist, I made it my job to educate myself so I didn't have to keep going through the same instrument of paying people and not getting results. I just wanted to be educated. I'm forever a student. I did some research and started to practice on my credit. Within three months, it went from 500 to 700.
My grandfather came from Haitian descent. They weren't from the United States of America. They had no idea what credit was. They never owned a home. I helped my grandfather fix his credit, helped my grandma, and helped my mom. So because I went through all of that, and all of that was a learning experience, I decided, that when I reached that level of success, I was going to leave that door open. I would make sure I coach other entrepreneurs, not only in the beauty industry, but how to exit the salon, how to increase their cash flow, and how to build generational wealth.
Her need to assist others birthed Ivy League Academy. Daniella explained to us that she noticed that people diminished their businesses to the act of creating a logo and an Instagram page. Small business owners and entrepreneurs had no idea of the details included with running a business. They were lacking financial literacy.
Daniella has since retired from the hair industry. Besides making $35,000 in 30 minutes, she has helped others gain $3 Million plus in funding from the black community. She believes knowledge is power, and she provides power daily to all that is invested. From how to purchase a fleet of cars on business credit to the proper way to file your taxes. The work ethic has not stopped.
Coffe': So, tell us a bit about The Black Wealth Exchange.
Daniella: I created The Black Wealth Exchange, which is going to be the number one community for black entrepreneurs to learn grow, and network. I truly believe your network is your net worth. I did this because a lot of us are lacking the connections. We're lacking the resources, and we're lacking the information, but if we get connected with each other and we share our wealth, we share our resources, and we share our connections. It can increase our cash flow and increase our network. People think that one or two sources of income can make them a millionaire. We live in a time right now where you need several sources of income. The average millionaire has seven different businesses.
We're going to do summits, we're going to do retreats, we're going to do masterminds, and we're going to travel the world. There are so many ways that you can be making money, you know, mentorship, selling courses, helping people increase their cash flow, and building generational wealth that they can pass down to their kids. I mean, I'm so excited. I've been able to take women who have lost custody of their kids, to ones who couldn't get an apartment; to you know, fixing their credit, helping them get funding, helping them get an apartment, helping them get a vehicle and now they have their kids back.
So that's the type of impact that I am doing in the community because a lot of people lose hope. Because they don't like to share their problems when it goes to social media. They don't know what direction to go into. So a person like me, that's very transparent, that's willing to help, they gravitate to me. I just want to bring more serial entrepreneurs that can help other people at the bottom become millionaires.
Coffe': You said you had issues before when you tried to repair your credit. So what's one thing people should be aware of?
Daniella: Well, I'll say, if you do business with anyone when it comes to financial literacy, or you're interested in any of their products, the first thing is to do your research. The second thing, understand that credit it's not a get-rich quick scheme.
Congrats go out to Daniella Emilien! She hosted her first Black Wealth Exchange Summit today in Atlanta, GA. Her special guests shared their stories and advice on how to better your journey. For more information on Daniella and her programs, visit https://www.ivyleagueacademy.net/ . Also, follow her on social media @ivywealthacademy.