Her Story
About Darlene
Darlene Lewis is the founder and operator of the Hope Center, a community center located on 11th Street in Roanoke, Virginia. She opened the center 15 years ago after starting in 2015 and has grown it from a single room to a facility with 15 rooms, offering feeding programs, clothing distribution, counseling, and community events such as cookouts and Thanksgiving dinners that serve 400 to 500 people. An ordained minister, she is a graduate of Phillips Business College and Liberty University in Old Testament Studies, and she also completed studies at the School of Hard Knocks. Lewis received the Remarkable Woman award in 2020 and appeared on the Jennifer Hudson show. She attributes her success to turning her life over to the Lord, which gave her clear direction, and she emphasizes the importance of showing love to help others.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Darlene
01What do you attribute your success to?
I had to really get a grip on who I am, and turning my life over to the Lord was the thing that really turned and changed my life. Finding God gave me clear direction.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
If you want something, you have to work hard for it. You have to work for it. Understand that things aren't just given to you. You don't deserve anything, and that we need to work hard, and we need to put effort out to get what it is. You give, you get, and you give. I believe in the ethic of working hard.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
We need to work on getting ourselves free and entangled of a lot of different things, preconceived notions. In order to help others, we need to work on making sure that we're not entangled in a lot of different things ourselves, so that we don't... whatever we're trying to help somebody else do, we... we want to make sure that we're not entangled in those things ourselves. You have to take care of yourself first.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I believe in love. When we show love to people, we get love back, but most of all, most people just want to know or feel loved. When you give that, then you watch people really open up like a flower, they just began to just open themselves up, and life, even with just love, you can turn a person's life just by giving them and showing them love.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.