Meet Vanetta Stromile | Entrepreneur, Real Estate Investor and Owner of VVS Desires LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vanetta Stromile and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanetta, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For the last 4 years, the idea of starting my own business and retiring from my 8-4 career had been a major focus for me.  I am a mother of a three year old and  spending time with him and the rest of my family, beyond what my career schedule would allow, was becoming more and more important. Over the years, the timing just never seemed to be “the right time” to go out and start my own business and honestly I wasn’t even sure exactly what I wanted to do. Due to the pandemic, I started working from home for my job and that allowed me to evenly balance my work/home life in a capacity that I couldn’t do when I was going into the office 5 days a week. During this time, I began to realize the overwhelming amount of time and effort that I was contributing to a corporation that wasn’t doing anything to build a better future for me and my family and I felt stuck. My salary was like a drug that kept me complacent in the rat race of working for a paycheck and all the while slowly diminishing my dreams and goals to become a successful business owner/entrepreneur. Independence, financial freedom, and creating generational wealth for my family were high on my list for the future and I just couldn’t visualize that coming to fruition working for someone else.  So one morning I woke up and decided today is the day that I would take the leap of faith – I retired from my career in Healthcare Administration (13 years in the making) and it was one of the best decision I ever made!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a self proclaimed serial entrepreneur, I enjoy taking high risks, embarking on new opportunities, and networking with like-minded individuals.  These attributes are the catalyst that help grow my business, real estate, and investments portfolio.  All of these streams of income are a part of my long-term wealth building strategy.  I also enjoy being creative and making products that people will enjoy. So I started a creative design business making custom drinkware and resin art that I sell online and at vendor events throughout the year. This part of my brand does not generate passive income as does the investments and real estate properties but it is profitable (another stream of income) and the relationships I am building with other like-minded creative professionals helps build my professional network and gives me insight to other business opportunities.

What sets me apart from others is probably my state of mind because  I don’t consider anything “impossible”. There is an answer to just about everything and more than one way to accomplish a desired outcome and the excitement for me is finding out how. I never say ” I can’t…”, if it is important to me I say “how can I…”. I often remind myself of the power of the tongue. When you let negativity and optimism occupy your thoughts and flow from your mouth, you rule out any chance of success. One cannot be negative and positive at the same time, so if success and happiness are of extreme importance, only positivity can prevail.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Houston is ever-changing and that is one of the things I love about living here. I would recommend checking out some live theater in the Theatre District as there is always a great show to experience.  Phil and Dereks is a great spot for good creole food and music. Perhaps do some  shopping or sightseeing in the Galleria and then go for sushi and drinks at Ra Sushi. Discovery Green downtown is a great option and afterwards hit up The Underground for some late night eats and drinks. Also since my love of Tex-Mex always trumps,  definitely visit Cyclone Anaya’s in midtown or in City Center, Pappasito’s Cantina or Gloria’s downtown for some great Salvadoran food. If live music is your thing, try Cafe 4212, it never disappoints.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, mother and children have always supported my decisions and dreams -They keep me grounded and driven to always be better than the day before. God has blessed me to be a wife, a mother and a CEO and I love it. I also find inspiration and encouragement in reading and a few books that I’ve read lately have definitely inspired me to live my best life NOW.  The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Successful Women Speak Differently by Valorie Burton, and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill are game changers and I encourage anyone reading this to give one or all of them a try.  To sum it up-all of the variables in my life are nothing short of a blessing but having a solid plan, extreme faith in my abilities, consistency and resiliency is what I contribute to my ongoing success.

Website: vvsdesires.com

Instagram: VVS_Desires

Facebook: VVS Desires