Crystal Buckner

I attribute my success to my family, my kids. I want them to see life and understand what happens to certain people, and this is what they're given as they're grown. I teach them what not to do and how to be better once they mature and become adults in this world, because it's not easy by far. It's about being good to my family and having more and being able to give in return. And of course, God, first and foremost. If it wasn't for God, I wouldn't be in this position to be able to help in certain ways. I've been through things in my life's journey and I'm still standing on my own two feet with God, the grace and mercy. That's a blessing for me.

The best career advice I've ever been given is that sky's the limit, pretty much. You can achieve anything in this world that you put your mind to when it comes to your career. Know that you're the best at what you're doing each and every day, and love what you're doing. You have to love what you're doing in your career in order for it to be fun and enjoyable. If you're waking up every day and you don't want to go to work, that's not the job for you. You have to love your career, love your place of employment, or love your establishment, whatever anybody does. You have to love what you're doing each and every day to continue to bring the best out of it for your co-workers, or your team, or your own business.

I would say, be you. Be who you are, and be who God called you to be, and serve in your own way, because we all have our own stories and our own testimonies. So, just always remember to be you and keep that close relationship with God, because it can be challenging, it can be changing, many different things can happen, but I always remember to know who you are within yourself. And everything else is gonna flow naturally how it's supposed to flow.

I would say the biggest challenge is having that balance of not taking it home. Some of the guys' stories are so touching, you just want to do more. But I'm already doing what I was called to do. I'm always that person to go above and beyond for the next person, so it's about having that balance of knowing that once I leave, I've done my best, and I've done everything I could for the day, and now I get to go home and take a mental mind break, because mentally and emotionally, it can be a little bit challenging in that way. But it still pays off in the long run. One of my goals is to re-implement a psych ward for people that are mentally ill and that are living on the streets in Indianapolis, because they completely shut all of those down. The only place for them really to go now is to be incarcerated or to jail, and those places are not really fit to be able to care for those individuals.

The values I cherish most are authenticity, empathy, and compassion. Those are my top three, especially in my home and work life, because being you goes back to being your authentic self and who you were called to be. That'll make your light shine. Some people can pick up on if you're trying to fake it till you make it, if you're not being truly who you are, but it's best to be authentic. I also value that spiritual fulfillment, that spirituality and that connection with God. That's something I value most, and I keep Him at the forefront of everything that I do, because that's what keeps me going and keeps me moving forward each and every day, to know where and why God places you where you are. I value being creative, that helps me bring new ideas to the table. I also value gratitude, humility, and being optimistic. I definitely stay optimistic as well.