Denzyl Prentice went from varsity starlet to almost destitute within a matter of years. His incredible rise to the top of the D2D industry can be attributed to his courage in spite of adversity, dedication to growing himself and others, as well as a little help from his friends
Denzyl Prentice’s morning had hardly begun and yet he had already chalked off team calls, sales training, leadership development class, and interviews with major publications. “I spent my morning getting people motivated,” he beams. “I got to teach people good stuff, so that was awesome.”
His philosophy that – in order to create better leadership, first, one must become that great leader, is tantamount to his unbridled success. This is because, he says; you can establish that leadership, and through yourself and others you can create the greatest asset and value to your organization – the people. When probed as to how he has made himself more valuable, Prentice answers with cool aplomb. “What you appreciate, appreciates,” he says. “So I appreciate myself enough to spend money on PR firms. I take pride in investing $1000’s of dollars in my education, which is ironic seeing as I didn’t graduate from college. But that doesn’t mean I don’t invest money in my education because I do every single day.”
As the 6th best wrestler in the state of Indiana, the Penn High School, Prentice had been following in the footsteps of his older brother DeSean, who was being featured on ESPN as an elite athlete. Making the Varsity team in the sixth grade – a feat unheard of at the time, Prentice continued to be Varsity for three consecutive years. He only lost two matches during the seventh and eighth grades.
Going on to wrestle collegiately for Indiana Tech and Fort Wayne, Indiana, he credits his coach; Brad Harper, for instilling him with the drive and strength he’d go on to transfer into his sales career. “I almost get teary-eyed every time I think about that man,” he remembers. “He was amazing. He taught me a lot about life outside of wrestling, as well as in it. His goal was to make sure that he built leaders in the world outside of wrestling, but his passion was to do it through wrestling and that’s one of the reasons why I am the way I am with door-to-door.”
“Wrestling taught me a lot about character development,” he continues. “A lot of the same things that door-to-door teaches you, because – at the end of the day, it’s just you and one other person. And nobody’s stopping you from training harder than anyone else.”
The owner of Door Champs, a door-to-door sales training company based out of Davenport, Iowa is Prentice’s current venture, and a culmination of a life-learning experience that included having his home ransacked as well as battling personal hardship. “I wasn’t in the best place mentally,” he recalls. “I had a very brief stint engineering and producing music. I was working in a factory and had saved up $5,000 to build my own recording studio. Then I found out my mom was selling the house. I couldn’t take the studio with me, so that was a massive blow.”
What happened next was to change the landscape of Prentice’s life and career. “I was working at the factory, then hustling with side jobs (cash apps, renting the {new} studio out, and working at Jimmy John’s) when my house was broken into,” he says. “I lived on South Street – notorious for its crime, and someone threw a brick through my window. They took everything.”
Prentice’s joy serving others can be attributed to his belief that God told him he needed to make a journey from South Bend, Indiana, to Bloomington, Illinois via a short road trip to Detroit, Michigan. “During the road trip, I found out {because of the aforementioned break-in} that I didn’t have anything to return to,” he points out. “So when I did come back, I knew I had nothing to lose.” Prentice was also working for a company called Smart Circle, a worldwide leader in face-to-face marketing and customer acquisition. “One day, me and some workmates stumbled upon the National Director of our company who was talking about an opportunity at an organization in Bloomington, Illinois,” he says. “None of us wanted to shake the cage {at Smart Circle} too much as it’s an umbrella organization, so we made up this story that one of us was leaving for a two-week marriage counseling retreat. Within the first two days, he’d made $800 selling fiber-optic products, which was more money than most of us were making in a week.”
The company in question, Real Time Acquisitions, is a personal and professional development company that specializes in customer acquisitions through direct marketing. Prentice serves as the Training Director, a title he established after making a life-altering move from the organization he was representing which was a whopping five states away.
Prentice goes on to explain that he took the short sabbatical to Detroit, Michigan in search of a plan B, should this new opportunity not come to fruition. Upon his return, he found himself with a make-or-break moment that turned his fortunes around.
“And so, I’m in Costco with a couple at the table, and I’m in the middle of my sales pitch, explaining the benefits of Direct TV when I received a call from one of those who were seeking the potential opportunity in Illinois. He immediately told me to jump in a car and drive to Bloomington.” When the couple hesitated after Prentice gave the couple an ultimatum regarding Direct TV, he cordially shook hands and set-off on a four-hour journey where he’d meet his future partners in the door-to-door industry. “They were inspiring and super passionate and told me the story about why they chose direct marketing and door-to-door sales. I haven’t stopped knocking doors since.”
So what do Real Time Acquisitions do? “We partner with specific clients that are anywhere from Fortune 500 to Fortune 100 specializing in Fiber-Optic Internet,” Prentice explains. “We’ve been able to triple our growth in terms of the amount of homes that we can reach. We’re going to be at about 500 heads by the end of next year and 1000 until we grow enough to scale the company and sell it again.”
His value and vision at RTA enabled him to win the 2019 Rising Star Award, an accolade that stands the test of time not just because he was in his rookie year when he received it, but because it was the realization that the company knew he was on a path to help change and revolutionize it. “I’m the only person that still works with the company that has won the Rising Star Award,” he points out. “It just proves that if you believe in yourself you just have to burn the boats and burn the bridges, and go all into it.”
Prentice isn’t shy of confidence nor belief, but he admits to having the fortune of his family to lean on. “I have my family to thank for everything,” he says. “I’m the youngest of four. My brother DeSean played a big role in my life because he was my closest sibling in proximity from the age of 10. My sister Deseree – who is now a Family Physician, kept me in check. Even now, if I need a loan, or to make an investment she always has my back. And then there is my oldest brother Deswyn – I owe a lot of my success to him, because he was the one who I wanted to emulate.”
Prentice reserves special praise for his mom – a tireless, single mother of four. “None of what I, or my siblings have accomplished would be possible without her dedication to raising future leaders.”
Denzyl Prentice is the Founder and Owner of Door Champs, an elite leadership development organization that helps breed successful teams and leaders in the door-to-door industry. For more information regarding Prentice’s rise to the top, please visit https://door-champs.mailchimpsites.com/ as well as his Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/imsupherb/?hl=en.
Media Contact:
Sarshar Hosseinnia, Writer
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