Iman Consulting sprang from an interest and a need.
LaDrina Wilson, 38, Davenport, the company’s founder, always had an academic interest in leadership and the qualities of a good leader. As a student and during her career in higher education, she was also attracted to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. As a volunteer in the Quad-Cities, she saw organizations trying to figure out how to embrace DEI in their work.
That turned Wilson into an entrepreneur.
Iman Consulting helps those groups find their answers, offering DEI training and coaching for aspiring and established leaders.
“It’s about creating a safe space for people to have important conversations,” she said.
In one case, with a leadership client, that conversation was about strengths.
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Wilson said the client, in a creative field, struggled to put her strengths into words, instead focusing on her listening and customer service skills, not her creativity.
The client is creative, but does not feel comfortable articulating that, Wilson said. It is something the client should be able to discuss.
Identifying strengths and helping a client use them as assets is a big part of the leadership coaching, she said.
Clients might need help becoming fluent in the current language of diversity and identity because they don’t want to appear disconnected or be offensive in their dealings, Wilson said.
For businesses, this can be about the bottom line, she said. America’s demographics are becoming more diverse and companies need to know their customers.
Consumers, especially younger ones, also want to know more about the businesses on which they spend their money — what part is that business playing in society?
Wilson is originally from Moline. She graduated from Northern Arizona University and earned a master's degree from Western Illinois University and a doctorate from Iowa State University.
Her doctoral research explored white faculty’s perception of diversity, she said.
Wilson worked as an administrator for Eastern Iowa Community College and now works for Black Hawk College as its vice president for student services-- a job she loves, she said.
“I’m not ready to walk away from it, but I’m excited for a new challenge, a new adventure,” she said.
During her time in higher education she has observed leaders and the qualities of good leadership.
The best, she said, are dynamic-- always looking for ways to improve.
Wilson considered the concept behind Iman for two years before actively pursuing it.
DEI is a labor of love, but it is still labor, and she debated whether she had the emotional bandwith the company would require, Wilson said.
The decision to start came in the summer and she launched at the end of last year, with a lot of support from other entrepreneurs and her family.
Her primary advertising was a Facebook post, Wilson said. She has not done much other outreach, but people have paid attention.
“I’ve been busy since,” she said.
Setting up Iman taught her nothing will get in the way of accomplishing what you want to do when the timing is right, Wilson said.
She is still establishing the boundaries of what she will do with Iman and what her growth strategy will be.
She is already considering bringing in people with other expertise to help her with specific topics.
“We’ll see how long it’s just me,” she said.
