I was born and raised in the northwest corner of Detroit. My mother, worked full time as a nurse and took care of my Father with M.S., in addition to raising us four children.
My father showed me the importance of diligence in the face of a disability. He did his best to keep a home business going as long as he could, before he had to check into a nursing home and live there, the last few years of his life.
Both my parents demonstrated the value of a strong work ethic and stick-to-it-ness.
After graduating high school, I enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. I graduated with a degree in English Language with a Journalism Concentration. Later, in the 90's, I attended Wayne State University to earn my Master's in Library Science.
Between degrees, I worked as an editor of a beer journal and later set up my own business as a house painter. As first, an assistant editor then later the editor of Beer Wholesaler magazine, I learned that I could learn quickly the different aspects of a job. The editing job was in south Florida. When I moved from Florida back to Michigan, I set up a house painting business with the help of a friend. It took me longer to learn how to be a painter than a journalist and editor, but I learned that if I stick it out, I could succeed with a new set of skills. I stayed in the house painting business for over 15 years.
Later, in my career as a house painter, I also started working for McGraw-Hill as a freelance contributing editor. I developed educational tools for their political science, western civilization, and communications textbooks. As I was working at McGraw-Hill, I discovered a new strength of being able to distill from textbooks – clear easy-to-use educational tools.
Being able to distill the written word was one thing, but becoming a good listener in everyday conversation was another. I recently made great inroads overcoming this weakness while volunteering at the Fresh Start Clubhouse (a place devoted to giving people a chance to deal with their mental health issues through the concept of the work order day) in Ann Arbor. I learned that being a good leader many times means being quiet and listening to people. The Clubhouse also taught me the meaning of teamwork.
My father showed me the importance of diligence in the face of a disability. He did his best to keep a home business going as long as he could, before he had to check into a nursing home and live there, the last few years of his life.
Both my parents demonstrated the value of a strong work ethic and stick-to-it-ness.
After graduating high school, I enrolled at Eastern Michigan University. I graduated with a degree in English Language with a Journalism Concentration. Later, in the 90's, I attended Wayne State University to earn my Master's in Library Science.
Between degrees, I worked as an editor of a beer journal and later set up my own business as a house painter. As first, an assistant editor then later the editor of Beer Wholesaler magazine, I learned that I could learn quickly the different aspects of a job. The editing job was in south Florida. When I moved from Florida back to Michigan, I set up a house painting business with the help of a friend. It took me longer to learn how to be a painter than a journalist and editor, but I learned that if I stick it out, I could succeed with a new set of skills. I stayed in the house painting business for over 15 years.
Later, in my career as a house painter, I also started working for McGraw-Hill as a freelance contributing editor. I developed educational tools for their political science, western civilization, and communications textbooks. As I was working at McGraw-Hill, I discovered a new strength of being able to distill from textbooks – clear easy-to-use educational tools.
Being able to distill the written word was one thing, but becoming a good listener in everyday conversation was another. I recently made great inroads overcoming this weakness while volunteering at the Fresh Start Clubhouse (a place devoted to giving people a chance to deal with their mental health issues through the concept of the work order day) in Ann Arbor. I learned that being a good leader many times means being quiet and listening to people. The Clubhouse also taught me the meaning of teamwork.
