Bianca Alejandro

I always rolled the dice on myself. I never gave up on myself when the odds were against me. I just kept going. The thing that I learned is to never give up. I get up each morning, and there's days I don't want to get up, but I get up. My chin up, my chest out, and my head held high, and I just keep going. The thing that keeps me going is my children. You can't change the world unless you change the world around you.

Never give up. Chase your dreams. The only thing you get when you sleep is a dream. So get up and make it happen.

A smile goes a long way. Talk to and treat people how you want to be treated. You can get far with that. Because I'm in customer service, I'm working with social skills, I'm dealing with people from all kinds of different backgrounds, all kinds of people with different attitudes, all kinds of different energies. So what I would tell a young girl entering the customer service field is, approach them with a smile, even though they approach you with negativity. You can change the day on that person. You can make a difference in that person's life, with just a smile, believe it or not.

The biggest challenge is continuing to write. Because, like I said, my dream is to be a writer. That's where my heart is. I'm trying to make it happen, trying to open doors, trying to get my story out there and get my story heard. Because my story might be another woman's survival code. It might be their survival guide. They might be in something that I've been in, and I haven't been given opportunities because my story is never heard. Like, I've never... this is, like, my first time talking to somebody in your profession that actually took the time to hear it. You know, I have talent, but I just want to get it out there, you know, because I do so many things, and I'm not a victim of anything. I'm a survivor of everything.

Customer happiness is most important to me. Being in the line of business that I was, reselling, I was my own boss, so I dealt with all kinds of different customers. You can walk in with a bad day, and you either can get an attitude with them, or you could change their outlook for that day. I've had people walk in yelling and screaming about something else, and gave me an attitude, and then tried to lowball me on some prices. And in the end, I've had that customer walk out with a smile. I do not feed into that negativity. I talked to them kindly. I actually took time to be like, what's going on? Most people are like, well, I don't care, what do you want to buy today? But I put everything else on hold to talk to a customer that I didn't even know. Hey, what's going on? Hey, can I help you? How can I help you? What can I do to make your day better? A handshake, a smile, and a hug goes a long way.