Jennifer Lemmerman, MBA

My children, number one. Being a single mom and feeling at the time - I wasn't fully educated, I hadn't even known I was sick at the time - the motivation to teach them and set an example that you put your mind to something, you can do it. Don't be the victim in self-pity. They've seen through me that yes, I was a single mom, I was just starting off in my career with an associate degree, and somehow, by the grace of God, was able to send them both to private school. My oldest son wasn't getting on the school bus, so I had no choice but to send him somewhere that I knew he'd be there every day. Financially, it was scary. We didn't live well off, it was a struggle, but what they've seen and what I've been able to accomplish is that mom did that. They're seeing friends of theirs that have a mother and a father at home that are not doing as well as we are. Mom did that by herself. If it wasn't for them, I don't know if I'd be as motivated. I didn't want them to feel like the victim - my mom was a single mom, she had to work two jobs, never had any money, we never got to do anything. I was very intentional about not letting that become their narrative. So it was my kids, for sure.

One thing my father really drilled into my mind - I was the firstborn, his little girl - was: Jen, you can do whatever you set your heart to, and you don't need a man to do it. He said, you can do it, and it stuck with me. That advice shaped everything about how I approached my career and my life. It gave me the foundation to believe in my own strength and capability, even when circumstances were difficult. Knowing that I didn't have to rely on anyone else to succeed, that I could do it on my own, became a core part of who I am. I'm living proof that we can do it.

Follow her heart. Have faith that she can do it - that she can do it. One thing my father really drilled into my mind, as his firstborn and his little girl, was: Jen, you can do whatever you set your heart to, and you don't need a man to do it. He told me I could do it, and it stuck with me. We have strength as women to see things through. We really do. I personally believe we can handle a lot more than we often give ourselves credit for. Even though we may show our emotions more openly, we can handle our emotions better, and that helps us rise. We are strong. It's great to have companionship, and we should have it - to share our lives with someone we choose - but we don't have to rely on someone else. We don't have to depend on a man or a significant other to succeed. We can do it on our own. We are strong enough, and we should never lose that faith. It's in us. I'm living proof. We can do it - we can do it.

Time management and work-home-life balance - I think it's in a lot of fields. Even though I am in a place where I can put in the extra hours, what a challenge for people who can't. You have your cell phone, you have your computer - your job can reach you any time of the day, any weekend, any holiday, and you're basically faulted if you don't comply. And it's not right. As a leader, I would suggest to other leaders that you can't do that to people. Work is still work. In my field, and probably many fields out there, it's an epidemic. People cannot get away from their work, and they get penalized if they try to. I think it's the biggest challenge, and for young people today, they're going to be faced with it even worse as time goes on. We have to take a stand and really stress how important it is to take time away from the job.

Honesty, integrity, and selflessness. It's easy to get carried away in wanting personal success, especially at work - to achieve, make a lot of money, get the title, the benefits, whatever that means to you as success. But that stuff will come naturally if you work with integrity, if you help others. You will be helped, too. The path is just like a self-prophesizing path - it's a guaranteed way to have success with goodness in your heart, rather than throwing someone under the bus so you could rise up the corporate ladder, or cheating your way, or whatever. It's not where you're at, it's how you got there. That's what makes it successful.