Undiplomatic by Deesha Dyer

 

Publisher: Legacy Lit

On Sale Date: April 23 2024

Pages: 256

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Deesha Dyer was 31,  a former community college student, who became a hip hop journalist working in a real estate company in Philadelphia, when she applied spontaneously  to an internship position at the White House, during the Obama administration. To her own surprise, she suddenly got a call while she was cooking in her apartment, and soon she finds herself moving to Washington DC to be an intern in the White House. She is suffering from imposted syndrome, especially because all her fellow interns have impressive Ivy League diplomas and the diplomatic attitude for this job and the right connections and political background, while she feels undiplomatic and an imposter who doesn't deserve to be there with only a community college degree.  What she truly could not expect, that years later after her internship ended, she would get a call that landed her a job as the social secretary of the White House, or which she planned and organized everything from major diplomatic summits to functions with Beyonce and the Pope, and is flying with the team and the Obama's on Air Force One to important  presidential international visits to countries as Indonesia. 

Her work in the White House is demanding, challenging and suffering from insecurity and imposter syndrome, doesn't make it easy. But Deesha does her work absolutely outstanding, and as a reader you get a good behind the scenes glimpse of the life of a social secretary in one of the most challenging places in the world. And you also get to read how Deesha's life went after the Obama administration left the White House, when she became the founder and CEO of the social impact firm Hook & Fasten.

This is just an outstanding and fantastic book that you don't want to miss! I didn't know what to expect when I started reading, but it truly blew me away. I love honest and open memoirs like this, and I think this is the best memoir that will be out in a book this year! Deesha tells her story very honestly, shares her ups and downs in life, her hard  work before her internship at the White House started, where she juggled multiple job positions at once,  from the start of her internship at the White House, how she dealt with imposter syndrome and the challenges of it, also with the difficulties she had to deal with as a black woman, to the start of her career as a social secretary and everything that comes with it in daily life at the White House. You can only have deep respect for a woman as strong as Deesha. Knowing what difficulties in life are (I also come from community college and wasn't able to go to a real college) I recognized a lot in the challenges and struggles she was facing sometimes. But it also shows to not give up and to go after dreams and life goals, this book is truly inspirational and I highly recommend reading this jewel of a book!!