About Me

Marlena Davis, MSA

Microbusiness & Transition Consultant 

Marlena is a Microbusiness and Transition Consultant who specializes in helping employees who have experienced workplace trauma transition into entrepreneurship. Marlena understands the challenges that these individuals face, and she is committed to helping them achieve their goals of starting their own business and living life on their own terms.

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EDUCATION

My Story

My life hasn’t been easy. Born in the Jeff Vander Lou neighborhood of St. Louis City, Missouri, I was born into hardship and raised to endure. I thought that life would be easier once I became an adult, but it didn’t. Besides the usual struggles of life, one of the biggest struggles that I’ve had to deal with as an adult was with my career.

Growing up I remember always being told that if I worked hard then I would be successful, and my dreams would come true. I found out the hard way that wasn’t true. When I entered the workforce at the age of fifteen, I was filled with so much hope. I was prepared to put in the work to make my dreams come true. What I wasn’t prepared for were the lies, manipulation, being spied on, targeted, rejected, and humiliated.

Needless to say, my corporate career sucked ass. During the early years of my career, I had to work to prove that I was valuable. In the later years I had to work my ass off just to keep a job. I lived with constant pressure to prove myself and outperform others in the workplace just for job security. All the while I had to watch those who were unqualified and incompetent climb the ladder.

Things got to the point where having a job became hell to me. I felt like I was trapped in an ongoing episode of the Twilight Zone…constantly being forced to deal with weird s*it. Despite my best efforts to leave the foolishness that I endured in the workplace at work, it was nearly impossible to do. The toxicity of the workplace consumed me. I didn’t want to be there, but I had to be because I had bills to pay.

For a while I was a shell of a person. All the years of trying to prove myself, being unappreciated, undervalued, never seeing the fruits of my labor, being punished for dumb ass situations that I didn’t cause, and being around bootlickers and narcissists all day long took a toll. I no longer had a life. I just existed. The fact that I was giving up my life for work was demoralizing. I was making sacrifices for employers who would replace me within a week if I were to die… and they wouldn’t even bother to attend my funeral.

In the spring of 2019...

I lost my corporate position. I was the only corporate employee who worked at the St. Louis location. My teammates and superiors worked at the corporate office out of state. I traveled back and forth to meet and work with them on occasion. At the time that I was laid off I was working from home, so I was informed over the phone.

A few weeks later I moved on to another position in a new industry. Then that position ended a few months later. And when it did, I was DONE. I immediately made the decision that I’d taken all that I’m going to take from the workplace. I realized that I didn’t have to settle for an existence doing what I didn’t want to do and making everyone else happy except for myself. And I was not going to continue to allow other people to have power and control over the quality of my life.

After losing my job, I made the decision to start my own virtual assistance business called Virtuous Business Services, LLC. I didn’t have a plan, but I was determined to earn a living doing the things that enjoyed doing. However, shortly after I started my business a worldwide pandemic shut me down. Rather than be upset about the situation I choose to use it to my advantage.

With the help of GoFundMe, I was able to pivot and rebrand my business…changing it to a consultancy and becoming a Micro Business Consultant and Transition Coach. My mission is to help those with little to no business knowledge start their own home-based business and transition out of the traditional workplace. My goal is to also help others by discussing and exposing the commonalities of toxic workplaces and the trauma that many employees suffer because of it.

My journey hasn’t been easy. But at least now I can say that it’s MY journey…one that I’m choosing to take. This is my life and I’m going to live it on MY terms and in my POWER.