Daily Inspiration: Meet Bria Davis Clemmons

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bria Davis Clemmons

Hi Bria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
For quick summary, please feel free to visit my Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/briaclemmons

The “long story” version is here:

I’m a twin mom, sports attorney turned serial entrepreneur, former lifestyle journalist, trained public speaker, and travel enthusiast by way of my husband who plays professional basketball overseas—we’ve just returned from Tokyo where we will also be spending next year’s season.

I graduated from the University of Iowa with a dual degree in Journalism + Mass Comm as well as Spanish Literature. I earned my Juris Doctorate from Iowa as well (College of Law, 2018).

I’m a first-generation “everything” which has shaped much of my worldview and informed my professional experience. It was (and remains) a unique and challenging path, but formative and fortifying–so for that, I am grateful.

Our family’s lifestyle has emphasized the importance of sustainable tourism and work mobility, two themes at the heart of my “why” and foundation of my personal brand.

As a Chicago girl lucky enough to travel the world, I’ve been intentional about seeking out tranquil, serene, sustainable luxury experiences that I can engage in and share with my core audience—multi-passionate millennials and wealthy women balancing worklife, wifehood, and wanderlust.

I’m a Southside Chicago girly, with homegrown hustle + heart for what I do. I’m a straight shooter with street smarts and common sense…building an empire and chasing my dreams.

About five years ago I quit my “dream job” as a Big Law litigation attorney at a global law firm in KC to chase a vision that God put on my heart centered on amplifying the stake that athletes (specifically black/brown and female) had in their respective sports.

Sports equity has been something I have been vocal and passionate about. I’ve worked at every level of sport from collegiate to professional, across various sports like NFL, basketball, NHL, Volleyball, Soccer, etc.

I’ve published various articles and academic scholarship on the way that race, gender, and ethnicity/nationality intersect with athlete identity and how that impacts commercialization of sport and various rights, etc.

I currently run my on sports consulting firm and non-profit digital agency providing legal representation and professional business services to athletes needing support negotiating and reviewing contracts.

I am also co-founder of a female led sports tech startup called Wevolv. My other co-founders are current professional women’s basketball players overseas, decorated in their own regard. We are building an AI-powered contract analysis tool that allows athletes to get their contracts reviewed in seconds so that they can make important decisions about their careers and financial futures.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Almost none of this road has been smooth, lol. But that’s okay.

I think the overarching narrative when it comes to “the struggle” is just not having any context for what is right, wrong, or what to do next.

The idea of pioneering, trail blazing, and even entrepreneurship as a genre are presented as sexy, laudable, esteem-worthy. In reality, I think it’s much grittier and flat out HARD than people tend to share.

You spend a lot of time doing a little bit of everything, which for a person who is used to having a roadmap kind of laid out for them–can be a scary or unsettling feeling.

It’s getting used to the unknown and not thinking that novice is bad. There is novelty in novice, avarice has its advantages, and being open to support and help is critical. It took me a long time to learn that. I took pride in independence, which is good in some areas of business and entrepreneurship–but it can also be an achilles heel if you rely on self for sustenance and overall success. You won’t make it. That simple.

Here’s copy from a personal blog post I wrote on the topic if interested:

society makes entrepreneurship seem sexy.

spoiler alert, it’s not.

turns out it’s really, really hard.

and not the good hard. not in the glorified, gutsy gritty way.

more in the gethsemane way.

which, perhaps, is fine if that’s work you’ve always wanted.

but not i.

if you’ve been following along, you know i quit my “dream job” about 5yrs ago to write a book..turns out I was the one being read. my story: the subject, verb, and predicate of His prose.

tbh, i never wanted to be an entrepreneur, and lowkey still don’t (more on that later lol).

Why, you ask? I didn’t wanna do the work. strong-soldiering was the ghetto and giving up felt good.

i’d spent the better half of my humanhood in survival mode. my hope? hanging on by the hair of its chinny chin chin.

i was tired & wanted God to leave me alone for a min.

i’d convinced myself that humility required hardship. that faithful service to God was objectively good and subjectively bad. that surrender meant suck it up and struggle because Jesus did you a solid.

i let myself settle for a likable life because it cost less than a lovable one.

“i want what God wants for me.” **

that’s what i’d tell myself anytime i felt the burden of building the vision I’d been given. whenever logic was louder than Logos, I leaned on the lie** that a loving God’s will was more worthy of my worship than Yahweh.

i loved being led by God more than I loved HIM.

I’d made an idol of His instruction & completely ignored the heart intention behind it—intimacy.

an invitation to leave labor, love God, and do the good works we’ve been gifted and called to from the beginning of the beginning and earlier, still.

a wholehearted belief that all the work, whatever it may be, will be worth it—not only “one day when” but even here and now.

frictionless faith that whatever He’s deemed worthy will also be worthwhile.

Ask Abraham. Ask Moses. Ask Ruth. Ask Mary. Ask Peter. Ask John. Ask Timothy. Ask Saul.

Ask Jesus. As many times as it takes. trust me, he won’t mind.

Seek him still. Until doubt dissipates. Until your head is satisfied, your hope full, and your heart…His.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a legal engineer which means that I’m creative, but also very analytical–two personality types or professional spaces that our current career and business frameworks don’t really hold space for. The legal industry is very traditional, very male-dominate, and very white. It also leaves very little margin for innovation, individuality, and artistic or novel thinking (particularly for younger attorneys…it typically takes well over 7+ years before the average Big Law associate gets enough gutzpah and credibility to really be vocal about owning their ideas, business development, etc.).

I wanted to create space for strategic legal problem solving and use creative, design-thinking techniques in providing value for the clients I worked with so I created Wyldehaus, a legal studio. “Surround” is the sports arm of that business where I work exclusively with professional athletes, sports wives, athletic brands, and other sportspreneurs idea building worldwide.

Currently collaborating with SaaS tech startups to develop athlete-centric digital products + services for multistakeholder use across the the x-billion dollar commercial sports ecosystem.

On a mission to make modern sports management more mobile, global, and lean for elite athletes, worldwide:
+ I use my law degree to find sustainable solutions to complex global, social, and economic issues.

+ I use my degree in journalism and mass communication to elevate BIPOC women in business, media, and sport through the art of advocacy & storytelling.

+ I use my lived experience as a world-traveling basketball wife, twin mom, and entrepreneur to inform perspective and understand the human side of sports.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
There are two.

1. Unlimited space to be curious, creative, and unashamedly imaginative.

2. Travel: My father raised me as a global citizen (though I didn’t call it that back then or really even understand that was the effect of his rearing). He piqued an interest in travel and just the world overall at a young age. He would do fun quizzes with me like asking: “Who is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom” with little regard to the fact that I was nine and had no idea what a PM was, let alone where on the map I might fight a united kingdom. His objective and lesson was this: “Just because it is happening somewhere else doesn’t mean that it does not affect you. Pay attention, educate yourself, and be a part of the world we live in….knowledge and experience are the only things that no [wo]man can take away from you. Those are yours forever.”

I have yet to object.

Pricing:

• Private Spanish Tutoring (For Legal/Business, Beginner, Intermediate, Conversational) = Single Lessons and Packages Offered (12 lessons = $500, single = $50 each)
• Sports Visas = ($800+ depending on complexity)
• Private Client + Business Coaching (Athletes, Sports Orgs, Consulting)
• Public Speaking + Panelist
• Sports Intelligence/IP + Market Research

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @briaclemm
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bria.davis.104/
• Other: https://wevolv.net