Jennifer Lambert

Don't let anybody put you down. Don't let your circumstances put you down. Don't let your past dictate who you're going to be today. And don't think about tomorrow, because right now is what's important. You can do anything you set your mind to. I tell people all the time that I took Accounting 101 three times - I failed the class three times before I got it, and I do this for a living. So don't worry about it. Sometimes class isn't necessarily the indicator of your skill, it's the knowledge you get from it and how you apply it. You'll get it - it's just perseverance. Just keep plugging away at it, and you'll do it. I know it's not easy to be a single parent and not have support. I've never been on any kind of public aid, I didn't have child support, I didn't do any of that sort of stuff. I did it on my own. I know it's possible. I know it's not easy, and sometimes it feels like it's impossible, but you can do it. Your past is your past, and who you are is who you are. Don't let other people dictate what your capabilities are. You're good. If you're good, you're good. Do your best, and if you set your mind to it and your heart is in the right place, you can do anything. Don't ever let anybody tell you you can't. I've been in a lot of your positions, and I've made it. I understand, and you can do it. You all can do it. If you don't have privilege or come from affluent families, you might be a little bit afraid or intimidated - I was one of those people. I was intimidated, and I just want people to know that you're just as equal, too.

I'm proud enough and humble enough to say I'm not good at it all. I've got my weaknesses, and I will pull your strengths to make this team work the best that it can be. I love the new group mentality of pulling together the strengths of each person and combining it to make one huge mind out of everybody. I'm happy to be able to say I don't have to do it all now, I don't have to know it all - I can have a team where you're good at this, you're good at that, and now I have the perfect mind. My greatest achievement has nothing to do with my career itself - it has to do with sharing knowledge, sharing the patience of learning, and encouraging young people, especially women and single mothers, to become better. I do things because I want to, not because I'm going to receive something out of it, other than just feeling really good about it. The way I believe and the way I've been taught is that you do good deeds in private. You do it because God knows you're doing it, not because you're bragging about it. I just do it because they need to be done, not because I want to brag and go 'I did this, and I'm great, and look at me.' I just do it because that's what I'm supposed to do. We're supposed to be good people. Now I want to spend my time picking and choosing what I want to do and who I want to be around, and enjoy those times, and selectively choose those people that I want to spend my energy on. I recognize the value of spending time with my grandson that I didn't have the opportunity to do with my daughter.