Stephanie Dayton’s journey in life, both professional and personal, has been filled with unexpected twists and turns that only God could have navigated. Being a woman of faith, she recognized during these times that things may not work out as planned, but sometimes you have to believe in yourself and go where God leads you.

Stephanie was born in Washington, PA., a small town just south of Pittsburgh. There, she grew up with a tight family and circle of close friends before graduating in 1989 from Washington High School where most of her family attended for generations. She stepped out on her own for the first time when she moved away to attend the University of Dayton in Ohio where she studied Psychology for three years.

During the summer vacation of her junior year, she visited her mother in Atlanta where she had recently relocated. It was in Atlanta that Stephanie received a lucrative offer to work for ADT Security Services as a result of a referral from a family friend. Recognizing the opportunity, she accepted the position with the intent on returning to finish her final year of college at a later time. After working at ADT for five years and being promoted to Premium Accounts Manager, the company closed its office and relocated to Kansas City. Stephanie decided to remain in Atlanta and seek other employment.

Then one day in 2000 she heard the words that would forever change her life, “Oh, by the way, you may be working for Left Eye.” Stephanie’s partner at the time was working with Ian Burke who happened to be helping Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes branch out on her own from the group TLC. Ian was discussing in a meeting his need to find Lisa a personal assistant and asked if anyone in the room was able to provide a referral. Stephanie’s partner referred her for the position and an interview was arranged. After a successful interview with Lisa, Stephanie went on to work closely with Lisa until her untimely passing in April 2002.

This was a devastating time as Stephanie had lost her friend, boss, and job and had to basically start over again. It was then that she received an offer for an Office Manager with Radiant Research, a clinical research company, from another referral from a family friend. Despite the fact that Stephanie had no experience in this area, she again recognized the opportunity to learn new skills and that’s exactly what she did for the next two years. It also provided a space to slow down and have a regular schedule which helped with the healing process.

Just as life was getting back to normal for Stephanie, she received a call from Lisa’s mother, Wanda Lopes Colemon. “Stephanie, I think you should work for Sister 2 Sister and be Jamie Foster Brown’s assistant. She needs one really bad and I told her how good you were for Lisa.” The next thing Stephanie knew, she was on a plane to Washington, D.C. for an interview and received the job offer the following day with a request to relocate within the week.

This was all overwhelming for Stephanie for several reasons. She had never worked in the magazine business before, she already had a job she loved, she did not want to move out of Atlanta and to Washington, D.C., and most importantly, she had just started dating Nick, the man, she felt she would one day marry.

Fortunately, Nick was also a man of faith and recognized opportunities also. He told Stephanie he already knew he was going to marry her, and this could be an amazing journey for her. One month later, Stephanie was Sister 2 Sister’s new Publisher’s Assistant and she and Nick were living in Bowie, MD which is right outside of Washington, D.C.

While at S2S, Stephanie learned the ins and outs of the magazine business and also trained to be a journalist. She began to do interviews and write stories on her own, having them published in print and online.

After getting married in 2006, Stephanie and Nick moved back to Atlanta. Stephanie began working as an Executive Assistant at US Work Alliance while continuing to be a journalist for Sister 2 Sister. She stopped writing for S2S when it eventually moved to a digital-only publication.

During the 15 years at US Work Alliance, Stephanie learned a great deal about helping to launch eCommerce businesses with providing marketing and advertising services. She took this knowledge and started her own business, SDBS, Inc. Stephanie now resides in central Florida with her husband Nick of 18 years and their 14-year-old daughter Mya.