Today we’d like to introduce you to DevinAnn White.
Hi DevinAnn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story is one of faith, family, business, and a whole lot of figuring things out along the way. However, before we begin, let me say this, and you possibly have gathered this from my personal photo! I love life, I love people, I love laughing, I love sanging, I love love! Romans 12:9-11 is a scripture that everyone should read daily!
I am DevinAnn White, Founder/CEO of The Service Standard Institute and Business Owner’s Mentor at The White House Skool Community. I am a Christian first! I know that God sent His only Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to this earth in human form to fulfill His will, and died for our sins and resurrected three days later! Then I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a businesswoman, and now a mentor to other business owners. Before any of those titles, I am a woman who loves Jesus Christ deeply. My faith is not something I add to my business because it sounds good. My relationship with Christ is what has carried me through some of the hardest seasons of my life and business. I know what it feels like to pray and still be worried. I know what it feels like to believe God gave you a vision, but then look at your bank account, your responsibilities, your family, your customers, and your workload and wonder, “Lord, how am I supposed to do all of this?”
I know what it feels like to be the person everybody depends on while quietly wondering who is going to help you. That is a big part of why I do what I do today.
I did not start with unlimited resources, a huge team, investors, or some perfect business plan. My beginnings were humble. I learned business by working, serving customers, selling, listening, making mistakes, correcting those mistakes, and learning how people really make decisions.
Over the years, I became very successful in sales, customer service, customer experience, marketing, business development, and business operations. I have been blessed to generate significant revenue, build businesses, train teams, strengthen customer relationships, and help other entrepreneurs grow. I also chose to continue my education through Southern New Hampshire University, building my academic foundation in business, marketing, and customer experience. Education gave me language and structure for many of the things I had already spent years learning in real life. Because there is the textbook version of business and then there is the version where payroll is due.
There is the version where you have customers who need answers, children who need you, a spouse who needs you, bills that still have to be paid, content that needs to be posted, leads that need to be followed up with, and somewhere in the middle of all of that, you are supposed to remember why you started.
I understand that business owner. I understand the mother building a dream between everybody else’s needs. I understand the faith-based entrepreneur who knows God called them to something but is frustrated because the business is not producing the way they thought it would. I understand the owner who is overwhelmed with marketing, AI, sales, social media, customer service, systems, finances, employees, and everything else people tell us we “should” be doing.
Sometimes the problem is not that you are lazy. Sometimes you are simply carrying too much without enough structure. That realization became a major part of my purpose.
Today, through The Service Standard Institute, TSSI, I work as a business builder. I help businesses identify what is missing between having a vision and actually operating a healthy, profitable, sustainable company. Sometimes that means fixing the sales process. Sometimes it is customer service. Sometimes it is follow-up. Sometimes it is employee training, marketing, business development, systems, retention, or simply helping an owner slow down long enough to recognize that they have been doing ten things halfway instead of doing the three things that will actually grow the business.
Then God placed something else on my heart: The White House Skool Community, where I serve as the “Business Owner’s Mentor.” The White House was created for the entrepreneur who needs more than another motivational speech. I wanted a place where real business owners could come and say, “I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know what to do next.” And instead of being judged, they could learn.
I wanted a place where we could talk about revenue and Jesus, sales and stewardship, customer experience and character, proper AI and implementation. Using AI for content creation, brainstorming, research, templates, data, administrative work, FAQs, organization, and internal systems. Be careful using AI for complaints, emotional situations, retention conversations, high-value sales, service recovery, conflict resolution, and relationship building. The closer the interaction is to trust, emotion, money, loyalty, or a problem, the more human it should become. I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-replacing real customer relationships with AI, and profit and purpose.
I don’t believe we have to separate our faith from our excellence in business. I believe Christian business owners should be some of the most responsible, prepared, honest, service-driven, and intentional people in the marketplace. If we say God gave us the business, then we should also be willing to learn how to steward the business. That is something I have had to learn myself. I have had seasons where I was doing too much. Seasons where I had to restructure. Seasons where something I thought would work didn’t work. Seasons where I needed God to give me wisdom because I did not have the answer. I think that is important to say because sometimes successful people tell their stories from the finish line. I don’t want to do that.
There have been tears behind some of my business decisions. There have been prayers behind some of my biggest moves. There have been days when I was tired, frustrated, disappointed, and still had to get up and handle business, there have also been incredible victories. I have watched God open doors I could not have opened myself. I have watched my knowledge and experience create opportunities for other people. I have watched businesses become stronger because of something I taught them. I have watched people regain confidence in themselves and their vision. I don’t take any of that lightly.
My husband has been an incredible part of my journey. Having someone who loves you, supports you, believes in your vision, and understands the sacrifices that come with entrepreneurship is a blessing I thank God for. Then there are my children and my grandchildren. They are a huge part of my “why.” When you become a mother and eventually a grandmother, success starts to look different. Yes, I want successful companies. Yes, I want financial success. Yes, I want to build something significant. But I also want my children and grandchildren to see what faith, work ethic, resilience, education, integrity, and obedience to God can produce. I want them to understand that where you start does not have to determine where you finish. I want them to know that Black women can build companies, lead organizations, educate themselves, raise families, love God unapologetically, overcome difficult seasons, and still have the courage to dream bigger.
Today, I am grateful to say that I am a successful businesswoman. But success means more to me now than it did when I first started. Success is not just revenue.
It is peace. It is having systems instead of constantly operating in chaos. It is being able to serve people without destroying yourself in the process. It is having the wisdom to say no. It is understanding what God assigned to you and what He did not. It is helping another business owner avoid some of the mistakes you made. It is leaving something behind for your family. It is being able to walk into a room knowing who you are without needing to become somebody else to be accepted.
Most importantly, success is being able to say that through every version of me the young woman with big dreams, the mother trying to make everything work, the entrepreneur figuring it out, the businesswoman becoming successful, the mentor pouring into others Jesus Christ has been faithful.
So when I speak to struggling or overwhelmed business owners today, I don’t speak from a pedestal. I speak as somebody who understands.
You can love God and still feel overwhelmed. You can be gifted and still need help. You can be successful and still have areas of your business that need to be rebuilt. You can have faith and still need a strategy. Needing support does not mean you don’t have what it takes. Sometimes you just need somebody who can help you see clearly again. That is who I hope to be for business owners through The White House and TSSI.
My story is still being written, and I believe there is so much more ahead.
If there is one thing I know for sure, it is this: I didn’t get here by myself. God’s grace carried me, my family loved me through it, experience taught me, education sharpened me, business stretched me, and every difficult season gave me something I can now use to help somebody elsend for that, and for that I am incredibly grateful.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has definitely not been a smooth road, one of my biggest struggles has been learning how not to carry everything by myself. As a wife, mother, grandmother, business owner, and woman of faith, I have often been the person everyone depends on.
In business, that sometimes meant trying to manage sales, customers, marketing, operations, family, and everything else at once. I had to learn the difference between being busy and actually building. There were seasons when I was working constantly but still felt overwhelmed. That taught me the importance of systems, priorities, delegation, boundaries, and focusing on the things that actually move the business forward. I have also experienced disappointment. Not every partnership works. Not every opportunity is the right one. Not every idea produces immediately. I had to learn that a “no” is not always rejection — sometimes it means not now, wrong fit, or even God’s protection.
My faith in Jesus Christ has been the biggest reason I have continued moving forward. There have been many times when I did not have the answer and my prayer was simply, “Lord, show me what to do next.” My faith does not mean the road is always easy. It means I know I do not have to walk the hard road alone.
I also had to become willing to grow, go back to school, continue learning, build better systems, ask for help, and change what was not working. I would not say I conquered every struggle overnight. I overcame them one decision at a time — through prayer, education, discipline, experience, and being willing to rebuild when necessary. That is also why I connect so deeply with overwhelmed business owners today. I understand what it feels like to be doing everything and still wondering if you are doing enough. I do not mentor business owners because I have never struggled. I mentor them because I have. The struggles gave me compassion, the mistakes gave me wisdom, and Jesus Christ gave me the strength to keep getting back up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Service Standard Institute ?
The Service Standard Institute, or TSSI, is a business development and training organization created to help business owners build stronger, more sustainable companies. At our core, we help business owners take what they already have their vision, their service, their experience, and their ideas and put the structure behind it so that it can actually grow.
We specialize in business development, sales, customer experience, customer service, training, workforce development, leadership, follow-up and retention strategies, business systems, and helping owners identify the gaps that may be preventing their businesses from producing the results they want. What we are probably most known for is being willing to get into the actual business with the owner. We are not simply going to tell you to “market more” or “sell more.” We want to know why your leads are not converting, why customers are not returning, where communication is breaking down, what your sales process looks like, what your team has been trained to do, and whether the systems behind the business can support the growth you are asking for. That is what sets TSSI apart.
I describe myself as a business builder because I do not believe every struggling business needs another motivational speech. Sometimes the owner needs someone to help them slow everything down, look at the business honestly, and say, “Here is where we are losing money. Here is what needs to be fixed. Here is what we need to build next.”
Our approach is also deeply rooted in service, I believe a business can have great marketing, but if the customer experience is poor, eventually the marketing will expose the problem instead of solving it. Sales, service, follow-up, retention, leadership, and operations all have to work together. Alongside TSSI, I have also built my personal brand as Mrs. DevinAnn White, the Business Owner’s Mentor, which includes The White House Skool Community. The White House allows me to work more directly with entrepreneurs who may be overwhelmed, still learning, or simply need education, accountability, strategy, and a community while they build.
Through both brands, my mission is very similar: helping business owners move from overwhelmed to intentional and from simply owning a business to actually building one. What I am most proud of is that we have not built a brand around pretending entrepreneurship is easy. We talk about the real things — sales, money, customers, systems, mistakes, faith, implementation, and what happens when the owner is tired but the business still needs to operate and my faith in Jesus Christ is a major part of how I lead.
I believe in excellence, integrity, stewardship, and serving people well. I believe that if God gives us something to build, we also have a responsibility to learn how to steward it. Ultimately, I want readers to know that TSSI is not just here to give business owners more information.-We are here to help them build better businesses.
How do you think about happiness?
Honestly, the simple things: quiet time, cooking, and sitting by big bodies of water!
Jesus. My husband. My children. My grandchildren. Good conversation. Laughing until my stomach hurts. Seeing the people I love doing well. Having peace in my home. Knowing that I am becoming the woman God called me to be. My faith is a huge part of my happiness. I love Jesus Christ, and there is nothing like knowing that no matter what is happening around me, I can pray, talk to God, and trust that He is still in control. That gives me a peace that money, business success, or recognition could never replace.
My family is everything to me. I love being a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. I love the moments when everybody is together, talking, laughing, eating, joking, and just enjoying each other. Those are the moments that remind me what really matters. One of the things my daddy taught me has stayed with me throughout my life. He told me that a real leader is someone who can put a person in position to win who never thought they could win — and then actually equip them to win. That stuck with me!
I think that is one of the reasons helping people makes me so happy. I love watching someone realize they are capable of more than they believed.
I love seeing a business owner come to me overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, or ready to give up, and then watching the light come back on when they finally say, “Wait, I can do this.” To me, leadership is not about being the smartest person in the room or having everybody depend on you. It is about helping other people discover what is already inside of them and giving them the tools, knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to succeed. nd believe it or not, business makes me happy too. The ups the downs, the vast changes, everything about it …lol…
I genuinely love building things. I love solving problems. I love taking an idea and figuring out how to make it work, but it means even more when I get to use what I know to help somebody else build something of their own.
At this point in my life at this young God blessed age of 48, happiness is not about everything being perfect. It is about peace. It is about being surrounded by people I love and who genuinely love me, doing work that has purpose, laughing often, loving deeply, helping other people win, and being grateful for what God has already done. I am learning to enjoy the life I prayed for while still believing God for more.
Thank you for taking time to read the article – Lord willing we will be able to build , share a cup of coffee, share a hug and a laugh together soon! Until then I leace you with one of my favorite scriptures!
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. -Jeremiah 29:11
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theservicestandardardinstitute.com
- Instagram: @theservicestandardinstiute and @businessmentordevinann
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theservicestandardinstitute and https://www.facebook.com/businessmentordevinann/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theservicestandardinstitute/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/theservicestandardinstitute/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/businessmentordevinann
