Becoming a Teen Mom
Obviously, becoming a teen mom was not my plan. How could someone smart enough to skip 8th grade, be so naive and careless? As a result of my choices, that's where I found myself as a 16 year-old ... young and pregnant! The father disappeared but the Father did not. With the support of my mom, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy, who was 3 months old when I walked across the stage to receive my high school diploma.
“Babies having babies!” so many people, including the “saints” mockingly said to my face. Little did they know those very words would motivate me, inspire me, and make me determined to quiet the naysayers who said as a teen mother, I would never go to college, I would end up on welfare for the rest of my life, and that me and my child would amount to nothing. Truth is, I had nothing to prove to others, but I had EVERYTHING to prove to myself!
My Educational Journey
Out of high school, I worked a series of clerical and banking jobs. During that time, I was making $850 per month and bringing home less than $600 per month! Of that, almost half was going to a quality daycare, a sacrifice I made to ensure my son was in a safe, learning environment. In my role as a bank teller, I saw the paychecks of many professionals (doctors, lawyers, CEOs, etc.). I soon determined that my ticket out of poverty and to secure me and my son's future was a college education. With the support of my mother and the man I met at age 18, who would become my husband (now of almost 35 years), I went to college. In spite of the naysayers, not only did I go to college, but I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in taxation, and became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)!
Obtaining my bachelor's degree in accounting was one of the best days of my life! My graduation photo shows me crying like a baby as I was awarded my diploma. This piece of paper was simply a testament of hard work, perseverance, and God's grace. I had defied the odds, silenced the naysayers, and secured my ticket out of poverty.
My Professional Journey
After graduating from college, I was one of few in my class to secure a coveted, competitive spot with a Big 4 (then Big 6) accounting firm, Coopers & Lybrand (now Price Waterhouse Coopers). I was recruited into the tax department where the company paid for my Master's in Taxation degree. What a blessing!
Later, I was fortunate to travel the world working for Nike as an auditor where one of my first assignments was an audit of the Nike Golf Division, right after it signed a then barely known, 20 year-old golf phenom, Tiger Woods. Little did I know that this would spark my interest in golf and I would soon become an avid golfer! One of my favorite assignments; however, was an audit of Nike South Africa which took me to Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town, my first trip to the Motherland!
My role at Nike provided me with hands-on, up-close, and personal insight to the inner-workings of a multi-billion dollar corporation. Here I learned leading-edge business principles that would prove to be useful and applicable in achieving entrepreneurial success for me and my clients. It also provided regular interactions with the CEO, CFO, and other top management within Nike, which gave me an opportunity to glean. There was even an interaction or two, albeit brief, with Phil Knight himself. Not bad for a teen mom raised in subsidized housing! Oh, and the shoe hook-up was legit ... I am a bonafide sneakerhead!
My Passion and Purpose
My journey subsequently led me to the nonprofit sector, most prominently in my role as Chief Operations Officer for my local church. It was in this capacity that God began to reveal his purpose for my life. As church leaders, we attended the Prosperity with a Purpose conference at City Church in the Seattle-area under the late, great Pastor Wendell Smith. It was here that I learned the meaning and biblical purpose of prosperity and the role entrepreneurs and business leaders play in the advancement of the Kingdom. I found my calling!
I also had the pleasure of coordinating and experiencing a missions trip to Kenya to support our sister church and participate in an evangelistic crusade. This trip gave me my first taste of supporting missions and spreading the good news of the gospel around the world. It was a phenomenal experience and let's just say, the people in Africa know how to worship!
I am absolutely passionate about entrepreneurship and helping aspiring entrepreneurs walk in their calling. My purpose is found in 1 Peter 4:10 where my calling and passion is to serve others by using my gifts (those things I learned in the classroom, in the boardroom, AND in the upper room) to teach aspiring biblicalpreneurs, how to take control of their destiny and start a business ... God's Way!
I now own a thriving CPA and consulting firm, for almost 15 years, and look forward to crisscrossing the globe to teach biblicalpreneurship, inspire a generation, and raise up biblicalpreneurs ... for the advancement of the Kingdom!
My Family
I am proud of my accomplishments, none of which would have been possible without the loving support of my husband, Lance. After almost 35 years of marriage, he still spoils me and lets me explore my full potential in all that I do, fully trusting that I do my best to stay under the will of God and will always do what’s best for our family.
I am often asked what became of that baby, the son, I gave birth to as a teen mom. “Did he ever amount to much?” as one person so boldly asked. That baby I gave birth to as a 16-year-old now has a family of his own. I am pleased to share that he graduated with a degree in Education and worked as a 4th grade teacher before switching to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration and as if that weren’t enough, he is an ordained minister, even before his mama. I’d say he amounted to much … I’d say we both did!
In fact, all my children are thriving. My youngest son recently graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in accounting and is following in his mama's footsteps by pursuing his CPA and starting his career with a Big 4 accounting firm. My beautiful baby girl works in education for a major nonprofit organization in our city and is excellent with and passionate about the teenagers she supports through the program. Don’t even get me started on our three grandchil'rens - a college student, high school student, and a preschooler! They are happy, healthy, and whole; athletic and smart; and they ALL love God!
From my humble beginnings as a teen mom, I am proud of my family. I am thankful, blessed, and highly-favored! God is good ... ALL. THE. TIME.
