How to Transform Dreams for Children into Reality | DeLisa Guerrier

Storyville Gardens Theme Park

Ep. 224 - If you’re having second thoughts on whether to go against the grain and choose the path to your purpose, this is your episode. DeLisa Guerrier shares how she made a career turnaround from a biology premed to a successful real estate developer. Listen to this powerhouse who is creating the Storyville Gardens Theme Park in Nashville as the youngest addition to the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame. DeLisa Guerrier is the managing partner of Guerrier Development and one of the few Black women in the state of Nashville licensed as a general contractor for commercial, residential, and industrial development. In this episode, she talks about her career path in real estate development and how she’s actualizing her passion project, Storyville Gardens theme park. Listen in to learn how DeLisa’s vision of bringing a reading cultural element into a theme park where kids read for fun is actualizing. You will also learn how to establish a better system of people, packaging, and purpose in your business to take it from an idea to a plan.

Key Takeaways:

The importance of diversifying in business to cover your bases in different areas
Why it isn’t always a bad thing to go against the grain to find your success path
The power of establishing the people, packaging, and purpose to build a successful business

“If it’s in your head it’s an idea; but when you put it on paper, it becomes a plan.”- DeLisa Guerrier

In this episode you’ll discover:

How DeLisa’s mother who was a welder inspired her career path [1:53]

How she transitioned from med school to automotive to real estate development [2:33]

She describes the timeframe she started to grow her real estate development business [4:46]

How DeLisa works in a sharing ideas partnership with her husband in their businesses [5:37]

DeLisa’s gender discrimination experiences as a leader in a male-dominated industry [7:36]

Start doing one thing every day to further the goal that you have [9:32]

DeLisa’s passion project, Storyville Gardens – a theme park where children can read for fun [11:14]

How the Storyville Gardens theme park is set up to encourage reading culture in kids [13:03]

The exciting fun elements that kids will get to experience at Storyville Gardens theme park [14:28]

The systems and processes they put in place to take Storyville Gardens from idea to execution [17:08]

DeLisa on how she handles the struggles that come with balancing work and life [18:27]

Her thoughts on being inducted into The Enterprising Women Hall of Fame [19:57]

The three key lessons that she hopes you take from the episode plus some final thoughts [20:42]

CAREER

A graduate of historic Tennessee State University and a native of Northern California, she entered the real estate market in Nashville shortly after the 2008 crash and immediately turned her attention to the entrepreneurial side of the field.

Mrs. Guerrier is one of the few Black women in the state licensed as a general contractor for commercial, residential, and industrial development. She prides herself on being on job sites and overseeing every aspect of each development the company undertakes.

Mrs. Guerrier guides Guerrier Development’s vision for communities as well as driving its social mission to invest in emerging neighborhoods. She is an active member of Nashville’s philanthropic community, focusing on the needs of children.

She is also the driving force behind the company’s entry into the hospitality vertical and has forged global partnerships at the executive level across the world.