Jacquelyn VanBrunt
I've dedicated close to 30 years to education and launched my consulting business 2-3 years ago with a colleague from higher education. Our consulting work emerged from grant-funded research where we discovered that even in poverty, single female heads of households were earning inequitable salaries compared to males. This finding was so shocking to us that we knew we needed to make an impact in our communities earlier than when students arrive at community college. I work full-time in higher education in student affairs, helping students succeed, which is deeply personal to me as a first-generation college student. My high school guidance counselor once told me I shouldn't waste my time applying to college because I wasn't college material, but I proved her wrong by not only completing college but earning my doctorate in 2019. That experience of being told I couldn't succeed drives everything I do in higher education today, and it's why I'm so committed to helping students achieve their goals.
• Doctorate Degree
• Doctorate Degree (2019)
What do you attribute your success to?
I was a first-generation college student, and nobody else in my family had gone and successfully completed college. My senior year of high school, I went to my guidance counselor to ask for help filling out college applications because I didn't really have anybody in my family that could help me with that. My counselor actually told me that I shouldn't waste my time because I wasn't college material. I never forgot that, and it has always driven me to push myself, to really push myself to go the extra mile. When I graduated with my doctorate degree in 2019, that was the first person that I thought of, who said that to me so many years ago. Not only was I college material back then, I still was in 2019. That's why I work in higher ed, because I want to help students be successful. That's my role in student affairs. That experience is what drove me and continues to drive me in the work that I do in higher ed now.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think my advice would have to do with marketing. The passion is there for my consulting business and the reason that we started it, based on wanting to change some of the inequities that we see for women, especially single moms. All of that is there - the passion and the commitment. I'm guessing that the reason our consulting business hasn't grown probably has to do with us being able to market our business and market ourselves. It has to do with marketing and social media and dedicating the time to that that is so needed. I don't really know how to add more time to the day - I've been trying to do that since I became a mom myself, and that's just not possible. So it's about visibility and finding ways to make that happen.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Surrounding yourself with supportive people who want to see you succeed is really the best way to be able to juggle all the hats I wear. I have a lot of support from my husband and my family - they have to be your champions along with you in order to keep all these balls in the air. My partner in my consulting business is very similar to me - she works full-time in higher ed, has a family, and has a supportive partner as well. Without her, I couldn't get most of the stuff done for my consulting business. We are to the point where we can finish each other's sentences and put together a PowerPoint together faster. We both have strengths that we bring to this partnership. It's good for someone to say, 'Hey Jackie, you got the wrong hat on right now.' My consulting partner and I say all the time, which hat are you wearing as you approach this situation to make sure that we have the right hat on for the right job. I also make sure that I clear my mind and have my mental health in the right place, which usually happens when I'm exercising.