Keycha V Dorsey

I would say who, not what - I attribute my success to God. I'm a very prayerful woman. I love to pray and meditate and just kind of wait, because there's a calm in waiting. It's not a higher power, it's THE higher power. My peace, my success - I can do nothing without Him, but I can do all things through Him. I also attribute some of my success to my support system, my team, the ones who have been with me when I've been down in the Valley. I know what it's like to live out of my car, to be displaced, to go through a divorce. My support system has been a foundation to hold me up through the rough times. Not that they did it, but they helped me walk that path and journey to get to certain things, and to be able to look back and say, oh my god, I didn't think I'd ever get here. Thank you guys for staying with me, standing with me, and even redirecting me. A support system is a very good thing to have.

The best career advice that I've ever received is that college is not for everyone. You can still be successful, you can still have a good job and make the money that you need without having a college education. I don't tell people not to go, but you do find that there are some people who that's just not their cup of tea. I always encourage people to get an education, but if you find out that that is not for you, you can be fruitful someplace else. Just don't let that be your stop point and get stuck, because there are a lot of opportunities out there for people who college is just not for them. I have a niece who has her PhD, I have in-laws who have different acronyms and things behind their name, but that's not for everybody.

The advice that I would give to young women going through life is, again, to be yourself. Be okay being yourself, be okay being alone sometimes. I would tell them not to rush into relationships, not to rush into dating, not to rush into being married, but just to enjoy your singleness. Go to a movie alone, go out to eat alone - these are things that I have done. I've went out to eat by myself, on purpose. I've went to a movie by myself. Just enjoy your time, enjoy your life, enjoy your freedom. Don't rush anything. Men are not going anywhere, they're always going to be there, but there is a beauty in being cautious and being selective in your choice. There is a beauty in saying, no, thank you, I'll pass. It's a beauty in knowing that hey, he's attracted to me, hey, he wants to take me out, but because he doesn't fit into my purpose, then I can say, no, thank you, I'll pass. We, as women, have handed our authority and our power and our rights over to the opposite sex. For a lot of us, we're having to revamp some stuff, we're having to be healed from some stuff because we got into things too early. So I would tell any young woman: take your time, be yourself, enjoy your life, and know that what is for you is going to happen, but just enjoy the ride.

When it comes to opportunities, I've had to learn that some opportunities are worth passing by. Yes, it's an opportunity, but is that opportunity going to be good for you and catapult you to the next level? As for challenges, some of the challenges include learning how to say no, and not trying to match what somebody else is doing, because what's good for you may not be good for me. I've had to learn at an older age that what is for me is for me, what's for you, that's for you. But because I don't have what you have, it doesn't make me less than, or vice versa. So it's just accepting your life, what's for you. It is so important not to compare. If you have 10 apples and I have 8, well, it's still fruit. If we have fruit, we're good, but we shouldn't compare each other's fruit, because then that makes the process and the journey more difficult, because you're too busy in comparison to someone.

The values that mean the most to me are people being uniquely themselves. That's a high value to me, because I suffered from low self-esteem for a very long time. So I promote anyone to be yourself, walk in your own authenticity, do that, because that is what brings salt and flavor to the people around you, to the community, to the life that we live. I also tell people to be the same way all the time. Meaning, however you are with me now, be that same way if I walk up on you in the mall, or at the gas station, or in the bank. I'm a woman of faith, so I always tell people, be the person that God created you to be. You will be a much happier person. And then I always tell people to treat people the way that you would like to be treated. I always think about that, so I'm very careful with my words, I'm very careful with my actions, and I often think, how would I feel if someone approached me in a certain way? Those are some of the things that I like to always remember and keep them active in my life.