Knowing and Learning From Your Journey: What chapter are you in?

Early in my career I was the stereotypical young professional, and person. I knew it all, I had a plan, and nothing could stop me. After working for a program for 30, 60, or 90 days I knew everything and thought I could be the "Boss". I would criticize the actions of my leaders, and those in leadership in other areas, on situations and decisions that I now realize I had no clue about. I had a big head and was the big fish in a body of water that I now realize was nothing by a puddle of water. Of course this ended up with me being laid off (please laugh, because I did typing this), my world being turned upside down, and one of my first true professional test beginning.

Losing a job that you love is hard and makes you question your passion, skills, and expertise. It may even make you question who you are professionally and who you want to be. As cliché as they sound though, the "its not how many times you fall, its how many times you get up" sayings are true. Being humbled by a lay off was one of the greatest life lessons I could have learned, and I am happy I learned it early. This point in time of my career taught me how to stop, assess my situation, and determine my next steps. This was a learning experience that I am grateful for, and it wasn't until almost a decade later that I realized what it was.

Unless you have studied literature you probably aren't aware of the three-act structure of writing fictional stories or novels. It is the three parts of a story: the setup or lead up, the confrontation or climax, and the resolution. I believe that professionals have chapters in their careers, that aren't fictional, but they include these three elements. Losing my job at the beginning of my career in 2013 was the end of the first chapter of what has become my passion, my life, and the propellant to me accepting and pursuing a career as a Workforce Development Professional. Reflecting now, that layoff showed me that I was treating that opportunity as a job, and my first three years as a full time employee in a job center was really career exploration for me, and it wasn't until my next opportunity that I started approaching my employment as a CAREER.

Years later, and in my first three years of Employ Prince George's, Inc. , I am now able to chronical the chapters of my professional journey. It is very hard to do this, as you have to pull yourself out of your daily operations, but the ability to do this will lead to great success. Honestly, I am learning as I go. Today I was finally able to step far enough away from what has happening to see that year three of Employ Prince George's was the end of a chapter. This chapter started with me burying my father in 2017, launching Employ Prince George's in 2018, followed by Employ Prince George's and me, as the CEO, establishing ourselves as leaders in the Workforce Development Industry. The climax was Covid-19 taking over the world in 2020, and Employ Prince George's stabilizing itself while navigating a global pandemic. The resolution of this chapter would be the journey of transitioning from 2020 into 2021, and my response in leading Employ Prince George's through a period of time that was a struggle for everyone.

Year three of Employ Prince George's, the RESOLUTON, was tough. The resolution included Employ Prince George's responding to Covid-19 and beginning to truly become a successful nonprofit, and while Employ Prince George's responded to a global pandemic I was going through a personal journey of realizing that this was the longest that I had been at one organization and me trying to determine what was next. The great lesson I learned in year three of Employ Prince George's, and the resolution of this chapter, was MATURITY. It showed me the possibilities, showed me my faults and weaknesses, and opened my eyes to opportunities that a lack vision hid from me. Walking blindly was preventing me to see what was important, seeing where to go, and leading me to walk on an unsettled path.

This past year I had to mature as a person and professional. I had to learn that the "unrelenting hustle" that I pride myself on, and built my career on, wasn't going to be enough to be an effective CEO. If Employ Prince George's was going to be the organization I wanted it to be, and what I believed it could be, how could I think that I could lead it in year three with the same mindset I had in year one. That revelation was mind blowing and changed how I treated our team, my colleagues, my approach, and my vision. It also made me realize what personal issues I had to resolve and mitigate to be successful. What came out of all of this was GROWTH. I had to accept where I was, identify where I wanted to go, understand what was needed from me, understand how my actions impacted others, and accept this TRANSITION in life.

As I close this chapter, and as Employ Prince George's goes into year four, I am realizing that in the progression of life we have to stop and acknowledge the changes in our life and have the maturity to allow ourselves to grow and adapt. This growth and adaptation allows you to move with the momentum of life and channel the momentum into a direction of your choosing. Your ability to experience new opportunities, channel the momentum that your hard work has created, will allow you to transition to a new stage and CHAPTER!

What does this new chapter have instore, I HAVE NO CLUE! What I do know is that this chapter begins with me being extremely humble and writing a quote from Socrates as the foreword, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." This is my first chapter that my successes and achievements mean nothing, as I know they won't compare to what is in store.

Thank you to my mother, my family, and my mentors. A huge thank you to my Employ Prince George's family for inspiring me, fueling my passion, teaching me, and gladly taking on the burden of helping those who are depending on us to give them a fighting chance. In a world that doesn't always believe in equity, people are depending on us!