Laresa Turner

I attribute my success to my determination and just allowing my experience to outweigh my book smarts. I think I've learned a lot more in the job than in the classroom, and that's helped me get to where I'm at today. I've never let people think I can't do something, even if I don't have the degree for it, because practical experience has been my greatest teacher.

The best career advice I ever received was to never let the career outweigh the support. I don't live for work, I work so that I can live. I've just never let my career become more important than my family. That perspective has kept me grounded and helped me maintain what truly matters in life.

I would say never let people think you can't do it, even if you don't have the degree for it. Don't let the lack of formal education hold you back, because you can learn so much through hands-on experience. I've found that what I've learned on the job has been far more valuable than what I learned in the classroom, so trust in your ability to learn and grow through doing.

I think that AI is both a big challenge and an opportunity in my field right now. It has a lot of great things to offer, but it can also be hard to implement at the same time. So we're navigating this balance between leveraging the benefits of AI while managing the difficulties that come with integrating it into our work.

Number one would be God above everything. Our whole family is built on that, and I believe that he has opened the doors and shut the doors that have always led me to where I'm at today. Obviously, my family is the other main value. Those two are the main values that I live my life through, and they guide everything I do both personally and professionally.