In 2005, Darren Vinnett’s entire life changed.
Hurricane Katrina’s destruction crushed his thriving printing and marketing business. And then, his first wife, Lynn, died from breast cancer.
Vinnett, a longtime Destrehan resident, described Lynn as an angel – a good person, who would give anything to anyone and who loved to laugh. They had three children together. Lynn died when the children were preteens.
“It was a very tough, tough time,” Vinnett said. “That’s when I realized – wait a minute – life is so fragile, you better make sure you’re doing what you’re called to do. That’s when I really started focusing on my purpose.”
Vinnett’s resume is long. He is now a motivational speaker, business owner, mentor, publisher and pastor.
“To me what got me through is knowledge and understanding that I was made for a purpose,” he said. “You are not born with a spouse, a job or a house, you’re born with a purpose. If I lose my spouse, my house and my job, I still have a purpose.”
Vinnett said his faith and family grounded him, giving him the strength to carry on after tragedy. For five years after Lynn’s death, Vinnett focused on raising his three children and fulfilling his purpose.
Then, he met Kierra.
“I asked her one question, and her mindset just blew me away,” Vinette said.
He asked her: what is your dream? She said she wanted to be the CEO of her own publishing company. Vinnett was shocked at how much their values and outlook aligned.
“It was over from then,” Vinnett said.
Kierra, who had worked as an editor in New York, returned to Louisiana after Katrina. She started attending Solid Rock Church in Kenner, where Vinnett now preaches.
“She’s an editor, and I’m a publisher,” Vinnett said. “She’s a singer, and I’m a speaker. We are black and white. We are yin and yang. It’s just totally opposite, but it works together. We are perfectly flawed for each other.”
In his work as a mentor, Vinnett said he often counsels young women who are looking for marriage.
“A lot of people are looking for love in all the wrong places,” he said. “I always say, you marry a mindset. If I fall in love with who you are, that’s not going to change.”
He said he encourages people to “interview” instead of date.
“You marry the collection of thoughts and experiences that people have had,” he said. “If I interview you, I am going to know your past, your history, your likes, your dislikes.”
He said this process makes it easier to walk away when things don’t work out. If you get emotions involved too soon, it’s more difficult, he said.
“There’s a series of questions to ask – there are not qualifications, they are questions for people to show you who they are,” he said.
For him and Kierra, the process worked.
“She’s my best friend,” Vinnett said. “We connect on an intellectual level. We connect on a spiritual level, because she has a very strong relationship with God. We can talk about politics, religion, children, life, money, and we can find levels of agreement on that.”
Kierra agreed.
“We communicate in a way that leads to understanding,” she said. “We want to understand one another. That has a lot to do with our success.”
Vinnett said his advice to others looking for love is to study and know yourself first.
“Spend time getting to know your personality, your temperament, your strength and weakness and goals,” he said. “Success is magnetic, you are going to draw who you are.”
