Beverlyann King, PhD(c), M.S.

My success is attributed to being an Amerindian, born in the USA but with my grandfather and lineage coming from Amerindians who are the native persons of Guyana in South America. I was a reverse transplant - born here, stayed until I was young, and then went over to Guyana because my grandfather said he wanted me to know my people and what I come from. Him raising me, he told me, 'You're a woman, you're gonna have life just being a woman. And in business, you're gonna have that also. You're Amerindian, which sometimes Native and Indigenous persons are treated as though they are the lower-class citizens.' He always told me, 'Don't ever tell me that you can't do something.' My dad, Vivian, was also instrumental - some people can be fathers, but other people can be dads. My dad passed away two years ago, but he was always my listening, grounded source. After my grandfather passed away, he took the reins and was always there for me, even in my adult years and childbearing years. He would give me sound advice, but he wouldn't give it just off the collar - he would listen first and then say, 'Okay, how are we going to work through this?' The same tools that my grandfather had built, my dad had too. My grandfather told me this toothbrush story where he said, 'No matter what job you have, as long as it's an honest job, even if you're scrubbing toilet bowls with your toothbrush, as long as it's honest, then you be honest.' He always told me, 'Don't take a job because of money. Take it because that's your passion, that's what you believe in, and that you can make it better.' Those little tools and insights that they had, they gave those gifts to me, and that's what I use in my job, at school, at everything that I do, when I mentor kids, and so forth.

The best career advice was from Roger Aston, who works for the Department of the Army in San Antonio, Texas, for Armory South. His best advice is when he said to me, 'You need to get your degree.' If he did not see that in me, he would have never said that - he's a very honest guy, very good, caring leader. He said, 'You know what? Get your degree, and we'll make it happen.' Just being there with all the persons I've met along in the Army and really having the effect of 'we care about you, we want to see you succeed' meant so much. At the end of my career with the Army, there were some unsettling actions that I saw. However, if I did not go through it, I would not have then ventured out into my own business. So whether the experience is good, bad, or indifferent, I thank God for them, and I say, 'Hey, okay, how can we make this experience, especially going into being an entrepreneur, work not for me, but for the people that I will possibly touch?'

I would give to a young female, and or any female, advice that is one and the same. Number one, believe in yourself. Allow your life experiences to really gather where your passion is and what you believe in. Number two, there are going to be more days of zero than profits, so be prepared for that. You know, being an entrepreneur, it sucks the money right out of you, and it may take 2 to 3 years to regain that, but know that every step that you are building, you're climbing your own ladder. You're in competition with yourself, not really the competition that's out there. And then three, have a lot of faith. Have faith in yourself. If you believe in a higher being, have faith in that, and know that you are here for a purpose. You'll find that purpose as you go through this life. This goes out to women who experience domestic violence, to women who feel that they're not being recognized, to all women who are influential - we all have our mark in life, and your past does not dictate your future.

The biggest challenge in the field is, one, when presenting this to the public. You know, people hear about life coaches and mental health professionals, and sometimes they're very uneasy, especially when it comes to different demographics like the African American community and other communities - they're very standoffish. So the biggest challenge is getting over the fears and having a trusted brand. And then, again, taking the automation not necessarily totally out of your business, but knowing when to use it. We have little to no patience now as we grow further in technology for sloppy customer service, or people pretending that they're listening when they're not, or people taking the dollar bill more seriously than their clients. What I found is that it's critically missing in leadership because sometimes we put people in roles of leadership that don't have the experience to be leaders, and we don't train them to be leaders. Then we have upset employees and people who are management and supervisors who are upset because they don't have the scalability and knowledge to lead. For my particular company, that's what we are trying to break through in the market - how to create leaders from the person like me first breaking into the business world, to the CEOs and executives, to the generals and senators. We want people to have a trusted brand to say, when I go to King Conflict Solutions, I'm getting privacy, I'm getting confidentiality, and I'm getting someone who really genuinely is sparked by filling in what we don't have, which is human-to-human contact.

The values that transcend in both my work and personal life are honesty, transparency, and giving 150% even when you don't feel like it. It's also about being true to yourself and knowing when to stop, and then having that reflective look at yourself. Right now, I'm a Roman Catholic, and we're in the season of Lent. In being in Lent, we have to reflect during these 40 days and 40 nights and see how can we be better as human beings in our faith, in how we live our life, and in business, of course. For me, those values and foundations of my faith have made sure that I stayed honest and transparent, and the most important word is authentic. Because once you're being authentic to yourself and to others, once you're being transparent, whether you're working for someone or you're working for yourself, those are the qualities that another person who seeks your counsel or seeks your business needs. They need to understand that they can trust that. Let your faith be bigger than your fear - that's my mantra.