Dr. Tenaria Drummond-Smith

I attribute my success to just treating people with kindness and staying humble. I share my information because my gifts are not just for me, but also to cultivate and motivate people and let them know that you can do it too if you apply yourself. I believe that consistency always brings results, and I stay consistent in my work. In my personal life, it's prayer and showing the fruits of the Spirit, which is kindness, showing people love, and always being kind to people and staying humble.

The best career advice I've ever received is just knowing that I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Just continue to pursue what it is that you have a vision for. Don't look to the left nor to the right. I don't get asphyxiated with people, you know, like jealousy or anything like that, because you don't know what it took a person to get to where they had gotten to. So if they can do it, so can you, and so can I.

I would say you have to write your vision and then make it plain. You have to research whatever it is that you are inspired to do. You have to connect yourself with like-minded people and find out how did they get to where they are. Don't just accept things that might have occurred in your life - you tell it and let people know you overcame it. You don't always have to have an education. You can be someone doing something as simple as feeding people in the pantry during the holidays instead of just being with your own family, stepping outside of that to feed somebody else who's less fortunate.

The biggest challenge I see right now is that everybody is not being original - everybody is gleaming from everybody. What I try to do is come up with different concepts. Even when I have events, I try not to do them all at the same time that everybody else is doing. I like to find out what women like to do and what they like other women to see, just finding out something new and what's out there to help them improve where they need to go. I like to do things for women that I know they normally would not do. I use my platform to have them on New York City billboards and different things like that. I give them proclamations and presidential awards, just letting them know that I see the work that they're putting in. I try to do something that's different. You don't always have to have an education - you can be someone that's just feeding people in the pantry during the holidays.

The values most important to me in my work are moving in excellence and making sure that I stay consistent, because consistency always brings results. In my personal life, it's prayer and showing the fruits of the Spirit, which is kindness, showing people love, and always being kind to people and staying humble. My lifestyle speaks for itself - I don't have to tell people that I'm a churchgoer. Once you really understand who God says that you are, not just from what I'm saying but from reading the Word of God, you can see what He does not want to go on in the church and that's not who God called you to be.