Month: October 2024

My Career Journey…

The journey has been long…but I’ve learned so much along the way!

This past week I decided to share my career journey. There were so many ups and downs….a lot of disappointments too. I remember moments of fear and worry. I wanted to give up often.

I am sharing it here so you too can see and relate. Very few people’s story is a straight line. If it is, that person is indeed blessed. Read below….

Here are a few things that you may not know about me:
1. My original plan was to be a doctor.
2. Becoming a teacher was my alternative plan.
3. I was not willing to teach, so after college, I went back to retail, then banking.
4. My lifelong career in Quality started as a contractor for one of my favorite companies. I stayed for 18 years.
5. My experiences there have been the engine behind a lot of what I know and do today as an entrepreneur and as a Quality professional.
6. I’ve trained executives and staff, launched software at companies to manage Quality documents and participated in external agency inspections.
7. I had the privilege of training trainers while launching a document management software in 12 locations around the world- including Australia and India. All done virtually with screen shares – working at a Fortune 500 company.
8. I developed a simple template to track training in my company’s department and by the time I left that company, it became an adaptable template that the entire site used to track training. I was never acknowledged for it. I published my first 2 books while working in this location.
9. I fought through slander, being ignored by management and other things over the years to now being sought out for my expertise in the Quality Assurance field.
10. I published 5 books (actually 6, but one has a crazy story linked to it and it can’t be sold). One is an ebook to help authors.
11. I am preparing to write again.
12. Now, my passion is to see my clients soar! Their books are changing lives, and I want to be their biggest cheerleader.
13. The impact, the lessons, and the experiences are all part of who I am today. Quality, patience, generosity, encouragement and high expectations are all hallmarks of what I do every day for my clients.

I want you to review my list and sit back in a quiet space and create your own list journey. Everyone has one. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come, and how much it took to get you to where you are now.

And….your journey is not yet over! There’s so much more to accomplish.

Don’t you ever minimize your “list” anymore. It’s what grit and accolades are made of!

Look Again!

Look again at what you’ve accomplished over time. Pause, reflect and allow yourself to be amazed.

Lately I’ve been looking at my current situation; I am not where I want to be.

But….a few weeks ago, I was challenged by someone to look at what I had accomplished with new eyes. I want that for you too! I think we have become very good at self-criticism and not as strong in amazement at what we’ve been able to accomplish.

Some of us worked hard to achieve certain academic levels. Others of us have risen through the ranks within our career, and what we used to do is so far away in the distance; we’ve gotten used to our current level of achievement.

Others of us have raised (or are raising) future champions in industry, academia, government, armed forces, athletics, the sciences, and so on.

And we’ve all done some work on ourselves – to make us better, wiser, stronger and more mature. Because we’ve done the work, others around us are benefitting from what we’ve seen, experienced, learned, and applied.

Look again at everything that you’ve overcome to get to where you are today. Reflect, and be grateful. (This may get quite emotional…)

Now, here’s where your next step comes in: writing your story – the ups, downs, lessons, and words of encouragement. Be ready to write and share your story! So many others (i.e., people who haven’t met you yet) need the lessons you’ve learned and the hurdles you had to overcome to be who you are today. Don’t delay in sharing your thoughts in written form any longer.

By-the-way: I am preparing to host an intimate writing workshop here in Charlotte NC. I’ve identified a nice location and I want to spend 3 hours with you on a Saturday afternoon between December and February. Reply to this email and let me know if you are ready to work with me as a cohort for one afternoon. Based on the success of that afternoon, we may schedule other sessions.

I’d love to see you in person soon! Also indicate the best dates/month for you (one Saturday between Dec 2024 – Feb 2025).

Speak with you soon!

What Do I Need?

As an aspiring author, you may be confused about what is needed to get from the idea(s) in your head to the position of selling your book. I remember those days personally.

Many years ago I was overwhelmed – but I was not concerned about the publishing situation at that time. I was more concerned about my writing process….and wondered if anyone would be helped by what I had to say.

I’m here to assure you that your story is already life-changing. You may not feel that way today, but once your book is released, you will be amazed by those who return to you to share the impact of your story.

Because I’ve had the privilege of helping several authors complete their books, I have learned so much during the process – and I believe that what I’ve learned will help you too.

Here is a list of items that I believe you will need to know to get you started:

I created an audio series of short tips that can be implemented immediately as you write and produce your book. Visit HERE to get access to these tips.

Let me know how much these recordings help you!

Until next time….