Extraordinary Excellence

My journey to this juncture has not been an easy one, and yet it was the most difficulties and challenges that transformed me.  I’ve learned that character is crafted and carved from chaos and crisis.

My ability to overcome challenging obstacles with creativity and a positive attitude might make me one of the most exuberant people in America.  I grew up in Oakland, CA, where my taste for entrepreneurial success originated.  The daughter of a small business owner and granddaughter of a sharecropper who purchased his farm, I am no stranger to hard work.  At 13, I had three businesses: babysitting, sewing/ tailoring, and baking cookies and cakes that my mother would market and deliver on Fridays to dozens of regular customers.  I’ve actually always dreamed I’d one day have my own business!

Unfortunately, my childhood did not garner anyone who encouraged or empowered me to believe I was capable of success.  So instead I succumbed to the surrounding negative forces and influences.  And that led to poor choices and unfavorable consequences.  At 19, I achieved the status of the youngest management trainee at an electronics retailer branch. That’s when I made a major misstep. I was a young, insecure teen, easily influenced.  The guy I was dating convinced me that credit card fraud was a harmless crime.  It didn’t take long to get caught.  I was arrested and charged with Felony Fraud and Grand Theft Larceny.  Because I’d never had other brushes with the law and my church youth group leader wrote on my behalf, and the charges were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.   That followed with a reduced sentence. The experience of communal showers, bathrooms with no doors—I vowed I’d never go back. And I haven’t!

It was this experience that guided me to cultivate my BEST2Better Method.  Unable to find work because of the “criminal” strike on applications, I took whatever job I could get.  I also learned that by doing my best; coming in early, staying late, helping my boss and colleagues, having a great attitude, and willingness to do whatever what asked of me.  I soon discovered better always found me in the form of pay raises, promotions, and opportunities.  It didn’t take long for this method to become my habit, standard, and way of life.

Yearning for more, I eventually enrolled in community college and transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C. as a 25-year-old Freshman.  Upon graduation, my corporate journey took me from a financial analyst role to sales. I soon learned to love selling! From Yellow Pages Ads in NYC, pharmaceuticals, medical devices in the Operating Room, and landing Biotechnology consumables and benchtop instruments.  Still, I wasn’t satisfied, something was missing.  An MBA that would cure everything!  Then I would be able to get the “job” of my dreams!

It wasn’t until I was promoted and relocated to Austin, TX spending time with my favorite gal pal and sister, Daphne that I sensed a higher purpose.  I began to pray, seeking wisdom and discernment, and found a powerful and all-encompassing faith.  During my frequent visits to Dallas to see my mother, stepfather, and sister, Daphne, who has sickle cell anemia and is legally blind, I recognized my role in Daphne’s life was much more than I anticipated.

Daphne almost died in 2009, and the family was called in to say goodbye. “She told us all goodbye and went to sleep.”  And much to our surprise, Daphne started getting better. I realized my periodic trips from NYC to Texas weren’t enough. I felt a calling to be closer to my immediate family—my cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as my sister, who mostly resided in Texas and Louisiana.  I wasn’t married, and I thought it would be selfish to stay in New York.  While working in biotechnology sales for a national company, I decided a transfer to Texas was my goal.  And to achieve this, I’d first acquire the sales master trophy, an accolade fewer than 3 percent of salespeople had ever accomplished. I was told it was impossible.”   Well, nothing is impossible for those who believe!  My manager didn’t nickname “Liquid Sunshine” for nothing.  I won the sales master’s trophy and received a promotion that relocated her to Austin in May 2011.

After a brief stint as a financial manager, I returned to biotech sales, where I grew my territory by 300 percent in 6 months. While transitioning to a new location and new job, I still managed to keep her focus on her sister. In September 2013, Daphne relocated to Austin where I became her full-time live-in aide.  I soon found I was unable to successfully maintain a Biotech Sales Rep role traveling 80% of the time and facilitating Daphne’s care.   Daphne was thriving and happy; I was overwhelmed and overwrought. I knew it was either my job or my sister.  No brainer, I gave 30 days’ notice to the job.