Meet Dee Bowden: Revenue Recovery Specialist

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

Hi Dee, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

The thought process behind starting Collect The Cash came from a personal experience I had working for a small IT Company. Here’s the short story.

I worked for a small IT firm outside of Boston where I am from. I was a part-time collections specialist tasked with recovering $8 million dollars in outstanding invoices for sales that were on the books but not in the bank! No one at the company followed up on collecting on any of the payments for these sales.
Reflecting on the seriousness of this problem and my concern for the company, I prayed this prayer: “God, I don’t know what happened to get this company this far deep into debt. I am asking for Your guidance to untangle these disconnects and recover this money”. After some quiet reflection I got the answer needed to begin recovering the money. What came to me was this:
Business to Business Collections is 3 things: Problem Solving, extending Customer Service and expressing Gratitude for payments received. This busts the myth of how collections in the B2B business space is seen. Another concept is bringing faith and gratitude to the workplace. It is a different approach but one that has worked successfully for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been a contract administrator for over 10 years. I started out doing data entry for an engineering consulting firm and discovered that I liked solving problems and how systems work. When I met my first administrator and learned that businesses have contracts that outline what was purchased, the terms and conditions and the payments due I was hooked. I have a Master’s Degree in Management that I obtained while working full time as a contract administrator. It definitely has not been an easy journey to get to my success. Education, getting mentored and never giving up during the challenges were 3 keys to my success. Lessons learned along the way 1) Ask for help when you don’t understand something 2) Celebrate you and your wins big or small 3) Keep investing in yourself as a life long learner.

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.
Fun facts for a friend visiting me in Maryland. We would head to the National Harbor for great seafood, shopping and my favorite thing to do is ride the Ferris Wheel . The panoramic view from the Ferris Wheel is spectacular. We would head into DC and check out the Kennedy Center and visit the some of the historical spots in DC. We also might take in a baseball game in DC weather permitting. There are also some great musuems in DC to check out. One of my favorite is the National Portrait Gallery.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have several people that have been instrumental in my success. My best older friend and grandmother were the strongest women in my life who taught me to work hard, Trust and Honor God in everything I did. They modeled consistency and gratitude in life matters.

Website: www.collectthecash.biz/book

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deecollects/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deebowden/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dee.bowden.5

Image Credits
Lindria Dockett Photography