Leetta Angel

I attribute much of my success to the strong foundation my family gave me. My mother was committed to helping me grow and move forward without limiting me by traditional expectations, while my father encouraged my independence, ensured I had access to meaningful opportunities, and trusted in my ability to succeed on my own. Their guidance, support, and belief in me provided the confidence, resilience, and sense of responsibility that have shaped both my personal and professional journey.

The best career advice I ever received was from my leader at Union Commonwealth University. She told me to be mindful of what other people might be getting from something I said. I was doing these countdowns to get everybody excited about a trip, and she said one of the kids brought up that it kind of felt like I was counting down to get rid of them. She said, 'I know it's not your intention, which is why I want to share this with you. Think about how you're messaging things to kids that may be looking for that kind of response.' That was probably one of the best things anybody had ever shared with me. Ever since that, I've really made an effort to be very clear and to check for understanding all the time, because it's very easy to misinterpret tone. It was the best piece of advice I ever got.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to collaborate, build strong networks, and never be afraid to ask questions. One of the greatest strengths you can develop is a willingness to learn from others and remain open to growth. Higher education and professional environments often provide opportunities to be vulnerable, curious, and engaged in the learning process, and those experiences can be incredibly valuable. If someone inspires you, don’t hesitate to reach out to them—more often than not, people are willing to share their experiences, strategies, and guidance. Seeking support and building meaningful relationships does not diminish competence; in fact, it reflects confidence, self-awareness, and a true growth mindset.

I think the biggest challenge in higher education is creating programs that drive careers. It's a different world than it was when I first came to higher ed. Competency education is a really big deal. I love that WGU is focused on competency-based education, but at the same time, it's kind of becoming very focused on what is going to move the needle as far as someone getting a job and that sort of thing, which is great and very important, but I think we may be losing a little bit of that critical thinking edge that comes with that liberal arts education and teaching students how to think and be good consumers of information. I think we've kind of gotten into a situation where primary and secondary school is teaching to test to secure their funding, and we're not getting those same kinds of opportunities to flex that critical thinking muscle. When I grew up, it was the 70s, it was all about critical thinking, and I wish we could get back to that.

I am a big believer in kindness. I think that there is definitely a differentiator between kindness and being nice. Sometimes you have to have those hard conversations, and I know no one really gets into confrontation, but if you do it with love and you understand that the only thing you really can control is your own reactions to things, and just extend grace because you never know what other people are going through, so kindness is my number one value. My second one is probably just trying to leave things better than I found them. I'm a big believer in 1% better. If we all focused on being 1% better every day, then we wouldn't have a lot of the upheaval and things that are happening now.