Our Founder’s Story

The only constant in life is change. That’s the beauty of it.

Now, you can either fear that change – or you can choose to embrace it, learn from it, and grow.

DW Consulting Solutions starts with a 57-year-old woman, with two daughters in college, who had just been fired for the first time in her career. Yes, that woman was me. (And thank goodness the girls’ tuition had been prepaid.)

But really, the story of this company begins much earlier, with a man who successfully navigated change, and turned the worst thing that could happen into the best thing of his life.

That man was my father.

In the early 1970’s, his insurance company ended with bankruptcy. It meant the sale of our 17-room home on Maine’s stunning coast, and a lifestyle change that cut right to the core of our resilience. The kind of experience where life shakes you about and asks you, “What are you really made of?”

My father embraced that storm. Ultimately, it gave way to a personal mission and second career that he pursued until his dying day.

Was the change easy when it happened? No. Did my 17-year-old self see it as a rewarding journey? No way.

But fast-forward four decades to the day I stood there jobless at 57, and you bet I saw the silver lining parallels then.

Through a job seeker organization, I was grouped with other professionals over 50 who for one reason or another had lost their living. Back then, LinkedIn was the job seeker platform. But LinkedIn training was not included in the organization’s program.

Coming from a background of fundraising for non-profits, the power of networking had been essential throughout my entire career. I knew how important it was to get in front of the right people. To make a good impression. Start conversations. Create a safety net of people for when that next career change would inevitably come. Make connections.

LinkedIn was the most obvious and effective way of ticking all those boxes. So, I learned everything I could about it, and I shared my findings with my group.

One day, a fellow job seeker member came over to tell me he had secured an interview via LinkedIn by following the steps we’d gone through in our after-group training sessions. That was also the day the penny dropped for me.

It doesn’t take long to start losing hope if you get stuck in change you didn’t ask for. DW Consulting Solutions became my way of helping people get interviews. Get work. Feel valued. Embrace hesitations and worries and fear, whether it was about online networking in general or LinkedIn in particular – and learn from them.

It didn’t take long for the scope of the business to grow – everyone needed LinkedIn training one way or another. First, my gainfully employed friends who were looking to use the platform more effectively. Then, entire corporate teams that wanted to position this magic networking resource to their advantage.

Today we work with individuals and teams; we share our insights and guidance at conferences and speaking engagements around the world. And one thing’s for sure: There’s a fundamental, globally spanning need to shorten the learning curve of using LinkedIn for improved branding and marketing. So that’s what we do.

More than a decade has passed since that penny-drop moment, and I can still feel my dad on my shoulder about once a week. His unshakeable resilience. His total conviction that the unexpected might actually be something really great.

Because no matter why, change happens. It can come from within us, and it can come from outside of us. It can be a self-made choice and it can be the last thing you want.

It can be the next big step, a cost cut, graduation, redundancy, personal circumstance.

Whatever the reason, I promise that you can navigate that change in your own awesome way with the right network of people around you.

Especially when you’re able to look forward, further than the obvious, and see the incredible possibilities that lie ahead.

So, tell me, what’s next for you?

Why DW Consulting Solutions?

Debbie Wemyss (weemz) currently lives in South Florida having enjoyed a 35-year career in PR, marketing and fundraising for corporations and nonprofits. She founded DW Consulting Solutions LLC in 2011 to fill a void in social media, offering expert coaching on using LinkedIn as a powerful branding and marketing tool.

Having coached over 800 individual professionals in 21 countries and hundreds more through workshops and speaking engagements, Ms. Wemyss is passionate about the marketing power of the world’s largest professional networking site. Her firm focuses on offering customized LinkedIn Coaching for Corporations, Individual Professionals, and Professionals in Transition, in addition to Live Webinars, and Speaking Engagements.

Customized LinkedIn Coaching for:

• Professionals who want to learn best practices to use the site effectively
• Executive teams who desire the most professional presence possible
• Executives in transition – LinkedIn is used by a significant majority of hiring managers
• Entrepreneurs and Startups – LinkedIn is an exceptional branding and marketing tool
• Professional Groups with members interested in learning more about LinkedIn

Active in several networking organizations, Ms. Wemyss is an avid fan of salt water, sports and golf courses.

*Not affiliated with or endorsed by the LinkedIn® Corporation

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Offering customized coaching to individuals, groups, and professional organizations. Available for worldwide speaking engagements. Contact us at info@dwconsultingsolutions.com

Meet Our Team

Debbie Wemyss (weemz), Founder

Book Your Complimentary 15-Minute Profile Review with Debbie today!
debbie@dwconsultingsolutions.com
linkedin.com/in/debbiewemyss/

Dayve Gabbard, VP Operations

Sanaa Dharamsey, Executive Administrative Assistant