Today we’d like to introduce you to MarShayla Thompson.
MarShayla, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My mother, along with others, would always tell me I would do great things. When I was younger, I didn’t understand why people kept telling me how great I would be. I honestly thought it was solely because I was going to school, working hard and staying out of trouble. It wasn’t until I was older and I started to realize how I was able to connect with different people and influence them. It was as if I had a superpower. My superpower leads me to event planning and advocating for domestic violence.
When I planned my first event, I was a senior in high school. In college, I started gaining more planning skills through my internship and planning fun events for friends and work. Planning events has always been exciting to me. In February 2019, I started my event management business, Coded Legacy LLC. Taking a leap of faith allowed me to turn my passion into a business. Coded Legacy specializes in private, public and corporate events within the DFW Metroplex.
In 2019, I begin my journey to become an advocate for domestic violence. After almost losing my life to domestic violence in 2017, I have taken and continue to take the needed steps to put myself in a position to be a resource for girls and women who are at risk for being involved in domestic violence. As a survivor of domestic violence, I know what the shame, guilt and scars of trauma look like and feel like. As a conqueror of domestic violence, I know what it feels like to have to rebuild yourself. My goal is to provide resources and influence girls and women to prevent cycles of domestic violence.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Without trials and tribulations to test and prepare me, I wouldn’t be who I am now. Although I wish the road could be smooth, I have learned to embrace the challenging moments to make myself stronger and wiser. Starting a business is not easy nor is sharing your story but the feeling of triumph is worth the struggle. My biggest struggles have been the learning curves associated with starting a small business and overcoming the invisible scars of trauma.
My advice to young women is to be kind to yourself and trust the process. As long as you are working hard towards your goals and making progress one day at a time, then you will see your hard work develop into something great. Additionally, I would like to advise to always research your ideas, develop a plan and make sure you are around like-minded individuals who support your goals.
What should we know about Coded Legacy? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Coded Legacy creates events within the DFW Metroplex. Coded Legacy specializes in the planning and designing of social, private and corporate events. We pride ourselves on creating a worry-free experience for each one of our clients while we focus on the purpose of their event. Although we plan and design events for our clients, we also create events for the community to allow us to stay connected to the people who support us.
As a domestic violence advocate, I am getting connected within the DFW community to ensure I can reach girls and women at risk for domestic violence. Additional to being a resource and providing resources, I am working with coded legacy and other entities on events to bring awareness to domestic violence. The worst thing we can do is become silent and not talk about it.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
The best way I know to network is to get yourself notice in the community around you. After figuring out your niche, it’s best to surround yourself with people who are in the same industry. You can join groups on social media, go to events or join an organization. When you are networking, you always want to be authentic and be approachable along with being prepared to step outside your comfort zone.
I believe any time I converse with someone in the community it is a form of networking. I have found making myself mentally and emotionally available to others during a conversation allows me to connect with them organically. I have been able to develop friendships with people by just randomly having a conversation and forming a connection. If I am going to an event with the purpose of business, I always set goals before entering the event. For example, I may set a goal stating I have to connect with at least three people before leaving the event. Setting goals allow me to stay on track with the task at hand.
Contact Info:
- Email: bookmarshaylathompson@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshayla_t/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarShaylaThompson00/
- Other: www.codedlegacy.com
Image Credit:
Yinka Alade
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
