Mission:
My mission is to share my journey in hope of facilitating the journey of others, to live for something greater.
Stay Connected:
To stay connected and receive notice of future posts, I invite you to enter your first name, email address and hit subscribe located in the right side-bar. You will receive an email to confirm. Once you have confirmed your email, you will start to get notices of my posts which are normally once a week.
About Me:
I grew up in Fairview Park, Ohio. My family was spiritual but did not attend church on a regular basis. My siblings and I were aware of the fact that our parents were Christians; but it was not something that was accomplished by attending church, it was how they lived their lives.
I always found myself most content when helping others. I enjoyed hearing and learning from other people’s life experiences at a young age. I have always had an excellent memory regarding the stories people have passed on to me or the lessons they were trying to teach me. In other words, I always listened to others. I did not always use the advise, I had a keen sense of how to use the lesson. Some lessons I used as positive examples. Some were used as examples of what not to do with my life. I always listened to what people said and put it in the back of my mind. I always used my own common sense to filter through the information and make what I thought was the right decision for me.
During middle school, I found myself able to tap into God’s strength. I started to become aware of how powerful God is when I prayed for help and guidance. I enjoyed synchronized swimming and had some natural ability in the sport. I found that when I asked God to guide me through the sequence of the routine, the competition or the show my success was significant. It became my place where I could tap into God’s assistance and found myself not even thinking of what I was doing. I was guided without any thought of my own. The music would play and I would give myself to something greater. I always asked for help, guidance and thanked God for my success.
I was not a great student in school but did what I had to do to get through. All my friends were in the National Honor Society, I felt lucky to get through the next test and class. But what I was good at was leadership. God guided me through a sequence of events and mentors that gave me the ability to lead organizations. I listened for clues as to what direction to go and what to do next. I did not wait for answers, but I tested the trail. I would go down a bit and see what happened. I would see if I had positive confirmation or a dead end. Again, I have not waited for God to tell me what to do. I have asked God for guidance and tried to do my best to be aware of the right path. I listen for confirmations. I look for things that confirm that I am going down my intended path. Often times, it is not the direction I want to go. Often times it is not the direction that I think is best. Often times I close my eyes and say, “really???”. But I always follow my gut and the path has always led me to something greater than I ever could have imagined.
After high school, I attended Bowling Green State University, University of Illinois, and the University of Missouri.
After earning my PhD., I worked for an apparel manufacturer and was located at QVC cable in PA. Six months later I was transferred to New York City to run a design studio.
Philadelphia was my next stop as a brand manager for Eagle’s Eye apparel.
I then landed a position with an apparel manufacturer outside of Boston, MA. It was in Boston that I met my husband, a tailor and pattern maker born and raised in Italy.
After running operations for several apparel manufacturers, I moved to the non-profit world and ran Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) Foundation in Boston for 6 years.
During my years with BBBS Foundation, we were blessed with twin girls. When the girls were 15 months old my husband died suddenly.
I continued to live and work in Boston, but after a year decided it was time to move back to my home state and back to my family.
I worked remotely with BBBS Foundation for over a year. I loved working from my home and decided that I would like to have my own business. In addition to my own business; for several years I taught at Kent State University College of Business Administration. I now have flexibility and quality time with my family.
Teacher, leader, business owner enjoying life one day at a time! My faith, family, and career are my priorities. Living for something greater is my purpose. Life is good!