The Founders
Just like you, we’ve had our own experiences being dissed. We are Bob and Tiffany Bone, and we started this project out of a passion for empowering people who, at some point in their life, have been dissed. You’re not alone, and this community of the Dissed Society not only proves it, but brings to light success stories of overcoming a variety of obstacles.
We speak from experience as you’ll see and hear from our own personal stories, and welcome you to share yours as well.
Tiffany's Story
Tiffany Bone’s life took unexpected turns, leading her to become a teenage mother and put her college dreams on hold. However, instead of giving up, she turned these setbacks into opportunities for personal growth. Tiffany’s journey proves that with determination, one can overcome societal judgments and achieve success.
Tiffany Bone’s life did not start like she or her mother planned. As a straight A student and contributor on the Black History Team at school, it would seem she was destined for a college degree and to become a successful college graduate. Instead, she became a teenage mother, married at sixteen and divorced at 30. The college degree was out of reach as she devoted herself to her children and working full-time to support her family.
Tiffany is an accidental opportunist. She has taken unplanned events in her life that most would consider setbacks – or even excuses – to give up and turned them into opportunities to grow. As a teenager, Nancy Drew was her hero. Drew was the daughter of an attorney, always impeccably dressed while solving mysteries and looking good while doing it. Tiffany felt excited reading about Nancy Drew’s unplanned and random adventures during her world travels, often finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Finding herself in an unplanned and challenging situation as a young adult, Tiffany looked beyond the typical jobs of a teenager and took a position selling eyeglasses at an optical company without knowing the opportunities that would lie ahead because of that decision. Soon after taking that position, the company was bought out by the largest optical company in the world. She devoted herself to her job, while raising three children, obtained a professional optician license, and advanced to become a successful manager of multiple stores. Obtaining that license allowed her to have job security and respectable income without having obtained a college degree.
She is not a strawberry blonde, amateur detective like Nancy Drew, but she did marry an attorney, Robert Bone, in 2005. They have inspired each other and are raising two children together enjoying experiences she would not have imagined as a teenage mom. With their children by their side, she has traveled five continents – always with that Nancy Drew fashion flair. She has given to her community by competing in (and winning) two Dancing With The Stars-inspired, educational fundraising events. She volunteered to run for Mardi Gras Queen Divine in a community fundraising campaign. She has appeared on the cover of Lake Magazine twice, once with her husband featuring their commitment to fitness. With her husband, she has pursued a boutique fitness gym, real estate investment and community and political endeavors.
As a teenage mother, she felt that people looked down on her and did not respect her, as many are quick to judge teenage mothers. She set out to prove them wrong and has. Together with her husband, they founded Dissed Society as an outlet to encourage people to overcome negative opinions and setbacks through inspirational stories of others.
Bob's Story
As one of the co-founders of Dissed Society, Robert Bone was cruising through life – successful lawyer, elected official, entrepreneur, investor, husband and father. But a build-up to one night turned his world upside down. Watch his powerful and inspiring story and how he got his life back on track.
You’ve heard of Baby Boomers and Generation X. Did you know that there is a Generation Jones – who are late baby boomers from 1955-1964? Jonesers bridge the social, economic and cultural gaps of early Baby Boomers and Generation X. Barack Obama, Princess Diana, Bill Gates and Madonna are Jonesers. Robert Bone is a Joneser.
Like the middle child of three generations of society, Robert is a mediator who seeks fairness in his professional, business, civic, social and family life.
Robert has an idealistic view of changes in society that is more practical and rational than it is radical. As the decades pass, Robert has remained open to new experiences and is willing to evolve while seeking his place from time to time in the human family as a white, conservative southern man born in 1963.
Robert’s progenitors include confederate soldiers, a South Carolina rice plantation foreman and politicians. While having traditional southern roots, his family and social relationships were influenced significantly by the charitable hearts of his parents and grandparents, as well as, his integrated high school relationships in rural Georgia, where he graduated in 1981. These influences would lead him to his wife of 18 years, Tiffany, who is African American. Robert and Tiffany have two children together and three each from previous marriages. They also have 10 grandchildren.
Robert lived in Belgium and France from 1982-1983 as a missionary. He graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs in 1987 and received his law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1989. He has practiced law in Florida since 1990. He has served in many civic and elected positions including Rotary president, chamber president, city commissioner, mayor and Mardi Gras King.
At age 49, Robert turned to health and fitness and encourages others that, “we can age intentionally.” Robert and Tiffany founded Dissed Society after a challenging time in their marriage as a place to share encouraging stories of success despite disadvantages and setbacks.
So, what's with the rooster?
When I was 10, my dad bought 25 female chicks so that I could sell their eggs in the neighborhood and save money for a church mission I would later serve in Belgium, when I turned 19. Along with the 25 hens, there were 25 baby roosters, one of which did not survive the crate ride home. Twenty-two of the other roosters were taken together to slaughter when they were big enough to fill the freezer, leaving 25 hens and 2 roosters.
I learned the expected lessons of responsibility – cleaning the coop, collecting the eggs, feeding the chickens and going door-to-door to sell the eggs. I even learned a bit of resourcefulness when the neighbor allowed me to collect the wood shavings from his carpentry shop. Weekly, I would roll his 50-gallon drum across the street to our home and line the coop with fresh shavings.
One event made such a deep impression on me that it has remained with me for 50 years as an unexpected, core life lesson. After we had cleared the freezer of the first 22 roosters, my dad decided it was time to butcher another for dinner. Feeling some amount of confidence having grown up seeing his Nana butcher and clean chickens for her family and her general store in South Carolina, this time he would do the deed himself. The question was, which of the two remaining roosters would he choose to eat?
The two roosters had grown over time, but they were not the same. One rooster looked sickly. Was something wrong with him? He did not look like the other rooster who was strong and healthy. The latter had a beautiful crow, a full, bright-red comb and wattles – while the skinny, sickly rooster’s comb and wattles appeared deformed and unpleasant. Plus, his crow sounded like the voice of a teenage boy going through puberty.
The strong, visually appealing rooster was chosen for the ax. After all, the ugly rooster could put the family’s health at risk. As quickly as the ax made contact, I watched the rooster flip and flop several feet in the air. He was then plucked, cleaned and prepared for dinner. The site of the slaughter severely affected the flavor. I do not remember if that rooster “tasted like chicken”. My handsome rooster was gone.
To the family’s surprise, within days, the surviving rooster was more handsome than the rooster who had previously ruled the roost. His comb and wattles were larger and a deep red. His stature grew and his crow became strong and clear. We judged him by standards of appearance compared to the rooster who had dominated him to maintain his position atop the pecking order of the flock.
This story has become a reminder to me to:
- Be careful of standing out because you may be the one chosen when it comes time for someone to get the ax.
- Do not judge someone’s value by the differences in his or her appearance.
- Be the person who helps to bring out the beauty in others and not the person whose lack of respect hurts another.
- If you have been, or are being disrespected, keep on clucking, your day will come.
– Bob Bone, Founder of Dissed Society
Speaking Engagements
We would be honored to share our stories and motivate your guests and audience as a guest speaker at your upcoming event, conference, or meeting. Please use the contact form to share as much information as you can including:
- Organization
- Contact name, number and email
- Event date and location
- Description of your event and audience/attendees
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Our appearances do typically include an honorarium and travel expenses (if required), and evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis.
