Meet Dr. Jaime Johnson-Duplessis | Nonprofit Director, Ghostwriter, and Cooking Influencer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Jaime Johnson-Duplessis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Jaime, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I think the most important thing that I have done as a parent to impact my children is going for my dreams. I became a mother my sophomore year in college, having my first two sons ten months apart. I was practically a teen mother. For me, it was important to finish college. They were at my undergraduate graduation ceremony, one and two years old. It made the experience better. Then, once I knew that I could do that, I went for everything that came to my mind. I got my masters degree, promotions at my job, a PhD, and then I eventually opened a business. Now, my oldest son talks about opening a T-shirt business. My middle son is consistent in growing his TikTok for monetization. My daughter believes that she can do anything that she wants. I have been impactful in modeling for them that you can achieve anything you dream of.

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 am the owner of Jaime Duplessis Entrepreneurship, LLC. My business encompasses a variety of services, many centered around my passion and talent for writing. I started out in 2017 as a resume writer. I would do resumes and cover letters for $20 each. I expanded when I participated in a short story challenge on Facebook. I received such good feedback, people were begging for me to write more and this led to my publishing my own books under the pen Jaime Cole. Then from there, an influencer from New Orleans reached out to me and asked me to help her with her book. Since then after I finish one book, a client referral leads to another. Ghostwriting and Publishing has become my biggest service and I have been fortunate to work with many influencers. Being discrete and protecting client confidentiality has definitely helped keep it going. I hand over the books and the influencer is able to add “author” to their resume.

Because I am the sole writer in my business and a recovering perfectionist, there have been times where I found myself facing challenges with burnout and being able to balance everything. But, I am an overcomer, so I have since created systems and found creative ways to contract others to help me with those things that do not require me to be so hands on. I can focus on the writing and that is what is important.

My biggest lesson has been in creating and sticking to contracts. Word of mouth is definitely never enough in business. More specifically, now it is more important than ever to protect your intellectual property. All components of my business are centered around me creatively and strategically writing something for others, having contracts has helped ensure that things go smoothly.

I am most proud about building my brand from scratch as a Black woman. The fact that I took something that I am good at, and turned it into a revenue generating business, is a big accomplishment of mine. Growing up, I saw myself working at big businesses, now I see myself owning the big businesses one day. I have used this same process to start growing my cooking influencing business. Writing was something that I did everyday and turned into income. Cooking is something that I do everyday and it has now turned into income. That makes me proud, I am getting closer to generational wealth for my kids.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love Atlanta because it is such a big city of Black excellence. My husband and I host guests from New Orleans all of the time and we try to let them see what Black excellence and thriving looks like.

I love everything about Dekalb County. The Farmers Market and Mrs. Icey’s Kitchen would be two must visit places during the week. We would have to go to the Farmer’s Market for fresh food for me to cook at home for my guests and for a nice dinner experience, we would enjoy the DJ at Mrs. Icey’s (and the oxtails).

For some fresh air, we would definitely ride bikes on the Beltline, stopping for pizza at Krog Street Market.

Since I live on the South side, we could not have guests without introducing them to That Burger in Jonesboro for some wings and a That Old School burger. The flavor in their food is just amazing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give recognition to my aunt, Trenese Johnson, LCSW. I always joke about having a rich auntie vibe and I believe that I get it from her. She taught me to never settle, always hustle. More importantly, she taught me how to parent and how to take care of me through everything else that I do for others.

Website:www.melanindippeddoc.com

Instagram: drjai_17

Linkedin: Jaime Johnson-Duplessis

Image Credits
Images with Orange Dress Humbleness Beginnings, LLC Instagram: hbeginningsllc Jaron Randall, Owner