Dyer overcame struggles to attain coveted White House position

After she became White House social secretary in 2015, Deesha Dyer became pregnant. But she did not tell anyone because she was so intensely focused on succeeding in a high-profile job.

“I felt I had so much to prove,” Dyer told the audience at an April 25 National Press Club Headliners book event. “I pushed through it.”

Putting her job before her health resulted in high blood pressure, which lingers until today, she said. It was an example of something she had struggled with in life -- worrying too much about what others think of her. She said she’s doing less of that now.

Her journey to a coveted White House role in the Obama administration was a difficult one. She recounted it in a discussion with former Club President Jeffrey Ballou about her new memoir, “Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble.”

Dyer took the audience on a trip through her life. She attended the Hershey School for Kids, which was a school in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for low-income children through K-12. It is now called the Milton Hershey School. She said she did not like authority and was disciplined often.

“I thought my voice was not welcome,” Dyer said.

Although she “barely graduated” from Hershey, Dyer decided to try college. She was not accepted at Howard University and instead attended the University of Cincinnati. She fell into financial probation. In her time at Cincinnati, she did some writing and dancing. She also worked at a mall.

She did not graduate from Cincinnati and moved back to Philadelphia at age 24 to live with her parents. She found a community among fans of hip hop music. It was a time in which she was in “survival mode,” she said.

Five years later, when she was 29, she returned to school. She was accepted by a community college and started studying for a social work degree.

While she was working with a social program, the White House called to ask if she knew anyone who would make a good intern. She decided to apply for the internship herself.   

After sending in her application, she got a call from a White House staffer about setting up a phone interview. She was making spaghetti when she picked up the phone. She didn’t want to waste any time, so she asked if she could do the interview right then. The White House aide agreed.

Then a couple of months passed after the phone interview. "I thought I did not get the internship," Dyer said. But, to her relief, an offer finally came through.

After completing the internship, Dyer returned to Philadelphia. She was working and taking classes when the White House called again. They needed someone to work with families in advance of presidential visits. She took the job.

She then was promoted to deputy social secretary. She said she felt she could advance any further, so she went to the social secretary to tell him she was leaving.

Before she could say anything, he told her he was leaving and that she should apply for the position. She was not sure she could do the job, and proving that she could drove her to succeed, even if it meant putting her health at risk.

Dyer is now CEO of Hook & Fasten, a social-impact consulting company that she founded. She said she has learned not to be as concerned about proving herself to other people.