Her Story
About Marcia
My professional journey has been one of service and adaptation. I spent 18 years in hospitality as a lead trainer and bartender for a company called J. Alexander’s where I learned about service and connecting with people. I always knew I wanted to be a basketball coach and educator, so I left hospitality and got my Bachelor's in Educational Studies and Special Education through Western Governors University. I worked in special education from around 2012 to 2017, and it was a passion of mine because I was good at it - I was patient, able to adjust quickly, and could stay calm when tables were thrown. I was named Paraprofessional of the Year from Isaac Litton Middle Scool in Nashville, Tn. when I was starting out. I then developed the curriculum and ran a middle school after-school program with the University School of Nashville until 2021. I was selected to be part of a master's program out of 100 people, with only 10 chosen, partnered with Lipscomb University, and was two weeks from my basketball coaching career when COVID hit me five times. It affected my cognitive abilities so much that I had to stop everything. I went to Vanderbilt's long COVID program for six months. In February of that year, I couldn't talk, so I decided to write, and that's when I wrote my first children's book, The Shark in the Park, and then Wyatt the Pilot. Writing was really healing for me as I processed a lot of things through children's books. Recently, I got my certificate for Pharmaceutical Sales Representative and am trying to find work in that field. My motto has always been 'lead with kindness' - that's what I did at the end of after school, and that's what I do in my books, my career, and my life. Everything in my experience has led me to this point, and at 47, I'm having to change what I thought my future would be as a woman, which is hard, but I have gratitude for what I have and what the future holds for me.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Marcia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being consistent with writing, because it allows me to take everything that I have learned through special education, through hospitality, through all of the career choices that I've made and connect on a level that the universe is in control of. I allow myself to be willing to just be open to what flows through me and accept that things change and life changes. I'm willing to know that there's something bigger than me that I have to follow. My motto has always been 'lead with kindness' - that quote right there sums me up. I lead in kindness in my books, in my career, and in my life. I have gratitude for what I have, even though it doesn't look like a normal trajectory that you would see, but the fulfilling life that I have is what matters.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
We as women have to continue to stay connected to each other and be inspired by each other, not competitive with each other, because we have so much against us that we have to overcome. We need to do it together. That inspiration of seeing women achieve and seeing what village they had in their group of women that achieved - to me, that is the way we pull together. That's the way we change the society into a more loving and kind society, because we come with that nurturing, and it's important to do that because this world needs that nurturing. We have a strength, we have a calmness, we have ability to multitask that has been given to us, and we just have to continue to stay connected.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value to me is leading with kindness - that's my motto and it sums me up. I do that in my books, I do that in my career, I do that in my life. I believe in being willing to be open to what the universe has planned, accepting that things change and life changes, and knowing that there's something bigger than me that I have to follow. I value being connected to other women, being inspired by each other rather than competitive, because we need to pull together to change society into a more loving and kind place. I believe our world and society needs to adjust and be more educated and interactive with students with disabilities - it's our world that needs to be adjusted, not theirs. I value gratitude for what I have, trusting in God to show me the next step, and being willing to use my wisdom and my village of women to make great decisions for my future.
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