Meet Kevin Epps | Leader In Software Engineering & STEEAM Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Epps and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
You cannot start a business thinking that everything will “take off” quickly. You start your own business to build a legacy. To plan for the future. If you start a business to simply “make ends meet”, like applying for a typical job, you’ll get your feelings hurt. Especially if you’re doing something innovative. It takes time and true focus for it to catch on. You also can’t do this by yourself either. You set yourself up to support what you’re visioning. Meaning, if you want to take the world by storm, then you must have the staff and structure to support what that success looks like.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I will start with my journey that led to my business. I currently also work at Cisco as a Leader in Software Engineering, and have over 20 years of experience in this field. I’ve mentored for over 13 years, which leads me to my business that I also run.

I’m most excited about what Digital Brilliance Hour(my business) will become. Our vision is to expose black and brown youth to software development and music production to prepare them for STEM careers. We officially became a business in 2021, and one thing that I’ve learned is patience. Just because you want to see growth doesn’t mean you’re ready for it. I had to go through some times that led to building a proper structure to be able to support growth. We had achieved growth very quickly, but we weren’t ready to support it. So we had to regroup to be better prepared. There has never been a question of if our service is effective or not, but because of the inside knowledge of the urgency that we face as an underrepresented community, I was focused on numbers. But life was directed in a different direction to where I had to use smaller, consistent numbers to become stronger as an organization. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but you experience all types of people and mentalities when you have your own business. You have to have a foundation to stand on, so that you direct these different mentalities and use them all for a greater purpose and vision. I’m most excited about where we’ll be going. I’m along for the ride and am content with taking the necessary steps to make it to where we’ll be going.

One thing I found is that I’m in a stronger position for growth. I have many of the key pieces that most newer companies wish they had at this stage. I’m just being smarter about how to use those pieces for the larger goal. There will always be mistakes. There’s never a mistake free journey, but you have to have that personal foundation to be able to adapt and learn at every step. See the experiences as strengthening yourself, and don’t be afraid to align with experts in portions of the business that you recognize a deficit in.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I honestly have the most fun and most content when I’m studying, learning, and growing. So the best time ever will include that. As I said before, I do not like wasting time. So every movement would be purpose driven and also include mental relaxation.

So if it was a week long trip, the best time would be renting out an island, or at least a sizeable amount of land that’s close to the size of an island. At least a large resort that isn’t too heavily populated when we’re there, where people are spaced out. The solitude of just friends and family is always needed. We would do some family events, create moments that would be cherished, like gathering food/cooking, large group dinner, and group games(bowling, video games, basketball, .etc). But we would also have to include moments of rest. If we are gone for 7 days, then I’d incorporate a day of rest, studying, mental recuperation, and relaxation. Balance is and will always be the best time ever.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many that would be included in this. So I’ll say my family and all the students I’ve mentored over these past 13 years. One honorable mention is Quarron Zaffa, a promising student who had the makings of going far in life. His life got cut short due to gun violence and emotional responses. I keep going because of him and those who have passed in my life as I owe it to all of them to make the most out of life and not waist time as it’s so valuable.

Website: https://www.digitalbrilliancehour.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/digitalbrilliancehour1

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-brilliance-hour/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrillianceHour

Facebook: https://facebook.com/digitalbrilliancehour

Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/digitalbrilliancehour

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@digitalbrilliancehour