Latisha King

I tell my parents all the time, and my brother who lives in Japan and I always talk about this, that they really instilled a really hard work ethic in us. But honestly, it doesn't seem like work to me because I'm enjoying the learning and the journey. I take every opportunity as a learning opportunity, and I really enjoy learning. My students once asked me, Ms. King, if you weren't a teacher, what would you have done? And I said, well, my dream job, believe it or not, which is probably not a job, would be to be a student the rest of my life, but they don't pay you to do that. So I enjoy all the opportunities when I'm helping students learn, because I'm learning too. I accept challenges when they have questions and I don't know the answer to them. I just finished doing some research for a presentation this past Saturday where I had a question posed to me, and I was like, oh, I don't know that answer. I literally just finished looking the information up and getting back to the person with that information. I'm passionate about what I do, so it doesn't feel like work to me, and I will forever be a student as I love to continually learn.

The best career advice I've received has really been an eye-opener about hearing what some people see in me that I may not see in myself. I've had a couple of coworkers that I don't interact with regularly who just walked up to me out of the blue and said, hey, have you ever considered being an administrator? I think you'd be a really good administrator. They said I seem pretty low and even-minded when it comes to things, that I'm very kind about the business and go by the book, and that I'm not biased in how things are being operated. They emphasized the importance of working as a team, saying that we weren't designed to work by ourselves. So people just seeing that leadership in me, even when I don't see it in myself, has been really powerful advice.

In 2026, really 2025, I decided I wasn't waiting for a New Year's resolution time to do this. I call it push the button. That means if there's something I really want to do, go for it. There's no age limit, there's no feeling of when you're ready. When you feel ready, there's no perfect time. Just go for it. Don't do things out of fear. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I didn't have as much financial stability as I have now, but I felt like I was more of a risk-taker when I was younger. Now everything is always being so calculated that sometimes you just don't do anything at all because you haven't figured out what you think the outcome's gonna be. But when you're younger, you're like, you know, this is something I want to do, it's not gonna kill me, let me try it. So push the button - if there's something you really want to do, go for it.

Right now, I have learned that getting the information I need to be effective has been a challenge. When you're a teacher and you work in a school, you're more a part of that school, you understand the culture of the school already, so it's easier to make decisions and be impactful with less challenges. But now, going into a school that I'm not actually there every day, I'm not a part of the school culture every day, so learning who the people are that are really making the decisions is important. I know people say, oh, well, this is the person in charge, but really, who's making a lot of decisions is not always the people with the title. So learning who those people are that are having the biggest impact on how the school's operating, and understanding those facets, has been challenging. The children don't seem to be the issue - once the kids get going, they're hooked. But I think the adults are probably the most challenging, because you're like, okay, who is this person? And why are they trying to tell me things? They sometimes can feel intimidated by someone coming in from outside into the school, so building those relationships, especially because you're not there every day, is the biggest challenge.

One of the things I always tell people is that my word is my bond, and if I don't have my word, what else do I have? I'm kind of an all-in or nothing type of personality. Work ethic is extremely important to me. Loyalty matters deeply. One of my biggest characteristics that I'm really adamant about is honesty. Sometimes honesty hurts, even for ourselves when we're being honest with ourselves. Of course, there's a way of phrasing those honest facts or situations, but being honest is crucial. Being intentional and true to yourself is also vital. I had a conversation with my brother one day, and he asked me, if Latisha saw you today - meaning my younger self - would she be happy with what she's seen? So staying true to who you are, to your purest young self, is important. A lot of times as adults, we do things out of fear or don't do things out of fear. When I was younger in my 20s and 30s, I didn't have as much financial stability as I have now, but I felt like I was more of a risk-taker. Now everything is always being so calculated that sometimes you just don't do anything at all because you haven't figured out what you think the outcome's gonna be.