One of the most exciting moments in my adult career was when I had a meeting with a CEO of a company. I was consulting at that time and was looking to secure a his company as my client. I went through my preliminary discovery conversation and we continued to discuss business goals, direction and life. At one point, he stopped and looked me in the eye and said, “you know, it’s academics like you that really make me feel insecure. You think that because you went to school that you have all of the answers. I started this business with street smarts. I wasn’t as lucky as you to have a college education”. It was then I realized that I had arrived.

You see, I was a homeless teenager. I was not able to finish high school much to my disappointment. I had dreams of being a lawyer, maybe a politician. Life took me in another direction, but I had something that many in my situation didn’t. Resilience, determination, perseverance, hope and mindfulness. I chose not going to be a statistic. I chose my road.  I followed it, twists, turns, bumps and all. (More of that in my memoir to come.)

I began my career in Japan as an entrepreneur. The first thing I did was learn the language. Within 3 months of arriving, I was fluent in the language, (making it my third). Everyone wanted to speak to me in English so, I opened an English school. I too, had a lot of learning to do along the way, and did it as I went.

I buried my head in books and learned about business plans, accounting, negotiating, and leadership. By the time I left, I had several corporate clients, individual clients, television appearances, and several teachers working with me. When I returned to the US, I owned several other successful businesses along with my partner. Although I thought I took this path only to survive and support my daughter, the businesses were a success. With only a GED, grew my business utilizing my self studies and street smarts. It worked, but I knew I needed more.

I decided to enter the corporate world, applying to companies that I knew would give me an option to grow. I started my corporate career at Pan American Airways making minimum wage, (around $6.05 an hour). The joke amongst my friends was that I was driving my Porsche to work only to pay more for parking in one day than I earned! It was there that my confidence was boosted when my leadership team recognized my talent and quickly promoted me to management levels. I remained in the travel industry working for the most amazing companies, with the most amazing opportunities and the most amazing lessons and education. Delta Airlines, American Express, Journey Corp Travel Management to name a few.  With (and within) each company, I rose to higher levels of responsibility. I was responsible for people’s success  and it was then, I found my passion.

I became a mentor on many levels and as a result, my teams realized personal and professional success.  My teams always knew that I would not be successful without them. My leadership peers were always amazed at how willing my team was to get the job done without me hovering over them. I very rarely had to ask for anything twice. I encouraged input and set expectations on how I needed the outcome to be. Although I didn’t realize it until later in my career, I was setting the stage for my team to become leaders. My hope was that they would replace me.

For the past 12 years, I have been coaching, speaking, writing, consulting and of course, learning. I realized how much Social and Emotional Intelligence played a role in leadership and began to study. I became a Certified Social and Emotional Intelligence Coach. My studies continue in the field as it is a never ending learning process. I have the privilege of being part of a mastermind group of the most amazing coaches. I am also a member of the ICF Georgia.

With my history, philanthropic participation is very important to me. I worked with several organizations to help under privileged children navigate through life. My goal is to help them emerge from despair to self awareness and pride in themselves. To help them understand that they have a purpose in this life and to follow their hearts and dreams, regardless of the obstacles. I need the children, (even if they are adults), to know that there is not only one path for them, that the stigma associated with people from our backgrounds is not relevant. I need them to understand that there is hope as long as they stayed on their course and be resilient.