My Journey

I saw a TikTok where someone asked ChatGPT to paint a picture of what their pain looked like. I decided to ask a different question: What would a painting of my success look like?

The picture it created caused me to pause and reflect on where I began. It took me back to the moment my son walked into the house and said, “Mom, you should be a motivational speaker.”

That statement was the beginning of something I didn’t fully understand at the time. I began hearing the words Divine By Design. At first, it was subtle. Then came the vision. I didn’t completely understand what it meant or where it would lead, but I knew there was a purpose behind it.

I went through countless logo ideas. What I thought Divine By Design was supposed to be changed over and over until the vision began to take shape. Eventually, “Remember Who You Are” became the mission.

Years passed.

Then I was guided to Ifa.

That journey began unexpectedly at a bookstore in Leimert Park. A book seemed to be calling to my soul. I had never heard of it before, and I didn’t understand why I felt such a strong urge to purchase it: The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts by Baba Ifa Karade.

I bought the book and placed it on my bookshelf, where it sat for more than a year.

Then one day, while strolling through TikTok, I joined a live hosted by Tina C. Hines. Through that live, I connected with my late Iyanifa Shondra Cheris. She became my introduction to Ifa.

She began doing lives, and one night she recommended the very book that had called to my spirit more than a year earlier.

That moment changed everything.

Ifa felt like home.

It gave me a sense of comfort and peace that I had been craving for much of my life. What I thought was simply a spiritual path became something much deeper—a journey of remembering.

When I initiated into Ifa, I received my life Odu, the blueprint that would help me understand my path more deeply. The more I studied my Odu, the more I began to see the connection between my spiritual journey and the vision I had been given years before through Divine By Design.

Everything began coming full circle.

I could see it clearly now.

At the heart of Ifa is the understanding that we must remember who we are and learn to walk in alignment with our destiny, with guidance from Olodumare, our Ori, our ancestors, Irunmole, and Orisas.

A vision I had received years earlier had become a journey of finding myself—without me realizing that this was the path I had been walking all along.

Even the evolution of the Divine By Design logo reflected that journey.

The first logo was a lion—representing Ori, strength, identity, and the power within.

The second logo was me holding my crown—representing the acknowledgment and acceptance of who I was becoming.

The third logo became the Tree of Life, with three elders sitting beneath it—representing lineage, destiny, wisdom, and my willingness to embrace the path that had been placed before me.

Every graphic tee I created was another reminder.

Again and again, I was putting messages into the world that I also needed to receive myself.

Remember who you are.

Know your worth.

Know your power.

Know that you are Divine By Design.

I was creating the reminders before I fully understood that I was becoming the person those reminders were calling me to be.

After my late Iyanifa transitioned, I was asked to keep the Ile going for the community.

I said yes.

At the time, I didn't fully understand what that yes would require of me. I only knew that something in me felt called to accept the assignment.

After the yes came the preparation.

It wasn't easy. There were moments of uncertainty, stretching, learning, and growth. But even knowing what I know now, I would do it all over again.

The following year, I took the next step in my journey as an Iyanifa.

So when I look at this painting of my success, I don't simply see success.

I see the journey.

I see the little girl, the mother, the entrepreneur, the woman searching for purpose, the woman learning herself, the woman finding her spiritual home, the Iyanifa, the community leader, and every version of me that had to grow into the next.

I see two visions that began separately but were always connected.

Divine By Design.

Ile Chief Anisulaja.

One began as a vision to remind people who they are.

The other became a spiritual community rooted in Ifa, lineage, learning, growth, and alignment.

Together, they create something greater than either vision could have been alone: a community of individuals learning to remember who they are, understand their Ori, embrace their destiny, honor their lineage, and grow into the fullness of who they were designed to become.

Maybe that is what success looks like for me.

Not simply money.

Not simply recognition.

Not simply having a successful business.

Success looks like legacy.

It looks like creating a space where people can learn, heal, grow, remember, and reconnect with themselves.

It looks like taking what was given to me and carrying it forward.

It looks like building something that continues beyond me.

And perhaps the greatest realization is this:

The vision was never just about creating a brand,

It was about creating a life that embodied the message.

Remember Who You Are.

Because the entire time, I was learning to do the same.