deesha

We don’t believe in performative impact. Why should you? At Hook & Fasten, we connect visionaries with communities to build initiatives that actually change lives. From C-Suite advising to youth development to global campaigns with brands like LEGO and Fidelity, our work proves that strategy + intention = sustainable impact. In a time of domestic and global chaos, silence is not an option. Consumers are demanding more, and companies that sit back risk being called out... and left behind. Hook & Fasten helps ensure you’re on the right side of history, building trust and creating lasting change. Ready to build something that lasts? Let’s talk. Head to the 🔗 in our bio to take the next step towards a stronger future for all.

Hello 👋🏾 to all the new folks who tapped in to this community from Europe! And 👋🏾 those who have been rockin’ with me since forever. Allow me to properly introduce and (re) introduce myself! I’m Deesha, from Philly, love God and I have lived nine lives. For real! They can all be their own book. I have the curiosity, wanderlust, creativity and confidence of someone who spent the first half of life questioning worth, talent and value so I cherish helping others who are in that space while making sure I never go back there again. Being 47, I am less afraid of taking chances, hard pivots, looking weird, or living fully. I deserve (and so do you). I am a founder through impact business, Hook & Fasten, a speaker focused engaging & entertaining keynotes & conversations, and an author of Undiplomatic, the book that marries a personal journey with the Harvard fellowship study course I created called Imposter to Impact. Above all, I am an Aunt - the title I cherish the most. Say hi or reach out to connect: [email protected]. There’s always more but it’s so nice to meet you and very thankful you are here. ❤️ Video: @klarkstyle

🎓It’s GRADUATION season so I put together some unsolicited, undiplomatic advice for the newly-minted degree & certificate holders. ✨First, congratulations!✨ Some of this advice is taken from my book which was written from my experience. These are also words I wish someone would have told me before I learned the hard way. 🫠 But, I wouldn’t have listened. 😂 Take what you need and leave the rest. Tag a grad you’re proud of! ❤️ #impostertoimpact #graduation #undiplomaticthebook #bookstagram #advice

🔥Client, friend and impact worlds collided when H&M, Harlem’s Fashion Row and Humane World for Animals came together for the 5th Annual Sustainability Forum on Earth Day in NYC. This annual event brings together designers, executives, and cultural leaders committed to building a more responsible and forward-thinking fashion industry. The best thing about the day (besides @pjsmith1206 bringing animal-free bags and shoes, and me discovering a new thrift store @modifythrift by @kadjahtou ) was having my niece Jasmyne as my +1. She’s a sophomore in college who is majoring in fashion. I left her alone a few times to fend for herself in this room full of giants that were all so welcoming with words of encouragement and advice. It was a fantastic day. @brandicedaniel , you did it again. We thank you! x #fashion #sustainablefashion #animalfreefashion #harlemsfashionrow #impact

🧑🏽‍🎓We are honored to award $5,000 in scholarships to the graduating culinary arts students of the Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center. Whether they go towards a path to become the next top chef or they choose something else, we affirm each student in their greatness by investing in their future. Deesha partnered with WMCTC earlier this year on a student state dinner that exposed these brilliant minds to the role food & hospitality plays in diplomacy, politics and public service. Please join us in congratulating the Class of 2026! #scholarship #culinaryarts #students #impact #education

🔆 April 2026 🔆 🎵let me grow by @threetwenty_ncs “…instead I built my foundations on truth. love & hope will see me through. now I’m ready. you should let me grow.” April was a month of discipline and sacrifice as I asked big and hard things of God and myself. While in the wait, I filled the time with people and moments that remind me to live. x +++++++++++ 1. Ayyyeeee….try us if ya want but we stay joyful AND moisturized! 2. Can someone greenlight a show where @kitchentalkwithnjeri styles peoples’ braids? By people, I mean me. 3. 🪴 Unsure I can save this one 🥲 4. @ccapphl scholarship winners and future chefs! 5. Highly suggest storming into an ice cream shop singing HBD to surprise a 6-year old. 6. ❤️ notes 7. Happy Birthday Christa! 8. Is that the Chief External Affairs Officer of @plannedparenthood I see? Congratulations Melanie! 9. We got Kilara back…for a week. 😭 10. MO x PHL 11. Jesus, these rolls and my belly have risen. Easter! 12. ⚽️ & ☀️ for Z’s birthday. Why is he eyeing my cake?? Go Union! 13. Our other Z & his mama. 14. Philly showing out. 15. The face magician. 16. Favorite hotel x favorite city 17. Lunch +2 18. First stop on our couples friends wine day? Black family owned @boydcruwines . 🍷 PS. There’s a $5 thrift shop next door. 19. H&M x Harlem’s Fashion Row x Humane World for Animals. Worlds collide. And my fashion major niece was my +1. 20. Not easy at all but doing my best.

🌼 This vintage-inspired jumpsuit that I wore on Monday night received so much love. Thank you! 😂 Fashion trends and styles have never been a thing for me (which was a little - well VERY - challenging when I was the White House Social Secretary 😭), but I think my forever inspirations, Willona, Mr. Furley and Mrs. Roper would be proud. I’ve been thrifting for over 25 years all over the world and raided both my grandmother’s closets. Even when my confidence wasn’t fully present, I always had fun with clothes, so enjoy these throwbacks of some questionable but non-regrettable choices. I hope if anything, it gives you permission to just be you. x • Jumpsuit from Joanie clothing. They are now out of business! #GenX

🏠The concept of home is layered for me. I’ve often found that the people are equally important, if not MORE important, than the place itself. I’m lucky that these two things collide at @miltonhersheyschool . Last weekend I returned to campus to keynote the Shades of Honey Gala, a fundraiser and celebration for @beahivehousing , which provides affordable housing and a pathway to homeownership for those in the Harrisburg area. Beahive was created by my MHS sister, @samara.scott212 whom I’ve known for over 30 years. Check out the second to last slide from 1994! ✝️🤷🏾‍♀️ I went to boarding school when I was 9 years old and graduated at 17. I was full of fear and rebellious energy, surrounded by kids just like me, kids who came from less than ideal family situations. There is a bond that forms when you only have each other - and we still do, 40 years later. When people ask me why community matters so much - it’s because I was literally and legit raised in it. I don’t know anything else and I don’t know how to operate without it. Thank you, Samara, for all that you do. YOU are remarkable. Thank you to all my brown and gold fam who came out to support, everyone for selling out my books, showing genuine love and encouraging me to keep dancing (last slide - she wore me out!). The sweetest place on earth indeed. x MUA: @lexusvee7

I was in the parking lot of Whole Foods two years ago this week when the @nmaahc staff emailed and said my book launch event in the Oprah Winfrey Theater was MAXED OUT. I forgot what I was even grocery shopping for as Wes & I celebrated. I still get chills thinking about how honored I was to launch my book in this amazing, historic, beautiful cultural institution - one in which I curated a huge White House event for when it opened in 2016. Shout out to the @tsuaristocratofbands who marched on the South Lawn! That’s how we did things then! Everyone who I loved dearly came out to support - from every single phase of my life. My family, my in-laws, former interns, mentees, former clients, young people from @hortonskids and @richardwrightschools , colleagues…and my homegirl @shaniquam was an amazing moderator, as always. The signing line was so long that fabulous museum staff was like….we love you but we want to go home! I ended the night eating ramen with friends. I’ll never get over this magical night. And I’m thankful that I never have to. x Special, extra love to @missessimms who always stands 10 toes down for us and @sneakshotphotography for the photos. #bookstagram #impostertoimpact #impostersyndrome #undiplomatic #theundiplomats

ARE WE CLEAR? GOOD TO GO. Whew @newemergingking !! I definitely got emotional watching this. First of all, everything makes me tear up because age and secondly my God…seeing these young people being taught consent is years and years beyond what my generation and two after me were taught. There is no grey area and if you think there is, please stay away from me and mine. I teach young women this all the time, but even they get mixed signals on what consent is and how much power they have over their own bodies. MOST OF THE TIME those signals are from (hate me if you want...) parents who don’t understand the concept of consent because they were violators or violated. Everyone needs this lesson. There is no grey area.

🗣️ I DON’T WANT TO BELONG EVERYWHERE! When that feeling comes over you that you don’t belong in a room, adjust your perspective. It has nothing to do with your confidence. To be crystal clear, you are most likely OVERQUALIFIED. It’s really your gut telling you that the room isn’t your room and those people in it aren’t your people and THAT’S OKAY. We don’t need to belong everywhere. Do whatever you came there to do and dip. But don’t you ever think it’s your worth, pedigree, value or anything else. Like, ever. You’re more than good. 🫶🏽 As always, take what you need from this and leave what you don’t. Imposter to Impact course launching May 2026. Get 10% off at the link in my bio. Full details coming soon. x #impostersyndrome #undiplomaticthebook #theundiplomats #confidence #belonging

☀️I’m honored to join the Board of Artist Advisors for the Canady Foundation for the Arts. CFA is dedicated to expanding access to arts education for students of color in underserved communities across the DMV, providing young artists with mentorship, training, and exposure in creative disciplines. I’m grateful for the opportunity to support this mission and to contribute to the work of nurturing the next generation of artists and storytellers. Learn more about CFA and how you can support their work at @canadyfoundationarts or my stories. Fun Friday Fact: The last time I was in a performing arts competition, this was our song. 😭👯 Photo: @tamera.darden #CanadyFoundationForTheArts #ArtsEducation #ArtistAdvisors #SupportTheArts #NextGenerationArtist