Marna Coleman

I contribute my success to my mother and my kids. I grew up in North St. Louis in a poverty community, and my mother was incarcerated for a very long time in my life. I was actually the first child in our family, like 3 generations removed, to get a degree. My name is Marna, and I just feel like I have to do it for my family. I have nieces and nephews and children that are coming behind me. Even my sister went and got a degree after that, so I'm glad to be the inspiration for them. My one niece has a degree in African American Studies with a minor in literature and has taught in China. My nephew is over at TSU studying biology on a pre-med track, and my other nephew is an apprentice who went to trade school and deals with building. They always say, TT, you know, you do so much, this is so amazing, you're always getting degrees, and if that's an inspiration for you to do it, I'm gonna keep doing it. I try to set that stone early with my own kids. My oldest son takes all AP classes and wants to be an engineer, and my youngest son is testing out on the district tests. I put them in classes that deal with STEM. I really contribute why I go so hard and do the things that I do to my family. We came from nothing, and being able to show my nephews and my kids that you need the education, you can do it, whatever you want to do, that's what you're gonna do.

The best career advice I have ever received was: You do not have imposter syndrome. There are imposters around you, and you need to change your circle. I used to think I had imposter syndrome. I can't do this. Oh my god, I'm so afraid to step out there. I'm so afraid that people will judge me, what people will think about me. I would always let imposter syndrome get the best of me. The CEO of Girl Scouts of America told me, you have imposters around you, that's why you feel like that. And I changed my circle, and I haven't looked back. I have people around me now who build me up. You got this, Marna, girl. I see you. Girl, keep climbing. You're gonna be amazing. I see it in you. You're so beautiful inside and out. I changed the people around me and what built me up. I did have imposters around me, and I changed the people around me. And now, every day, the people I talk to are so motivational, we motivate each other. It's beautiful.

Be authentically you. When you step in Rome, you are who you are. Be authentically you. Don't forget the little people. When you get to where you get to in life, do not forget the little people. Those are our future. Please reach back to those little people. They need to see you in those positions. They need to see what success looks like. They need to see that it's okay to be a little black girl from North St. Louis and sit in rooms that help make decisions. Be who you are, be authentically you, and make sure you help those who will come after you. Because when we're old, they'll be running the country. You can make it, be authentically you, and don't forget to mentor. Simple as that. I work with young girls through my sorority, and I always let them know that life is a roller coaster. There are plenty of ups and downs and turns, and sometimes you will bump your head, but that doesn't mean you let that get you down. You find a way to build yourself up and get done what you need to get done. Sad as it sounds, but there's nobody there to hear your sad story when you have the sad story. So you have to be the person that pulled you out of your sad story. Don't let mistakes or road bumps stop you or deter you from your goals. Always look forward to whatever you believe that your dreams are. It's always gonna be some bumps in the road, some times when you bump your head, but you don't let that get the best of you.

The biggest challenges right now are policy that represents the people. Medicare, Medicaid, grants that help to assist in funding, policies that represent all people fairly, as an overall, as a totality, as a whole. When you sit on a bill that helps to fund Medicare, Medicaid, and prescription D, that affects everybody. It doesn't matter what color you are. If you're getting those resources and assistance, and that bill is sitting because of political views, that affects us as a whole. There's a lot of policies that affect the community as a whole, the United States and government right now. Politics is a very crazy game, and once you get into it, you see how crazy it is. There's a lot of give and take. It's a lot of forgetting about the little people. And it's a lot of being tone-deaf. Those are the biggest challenges: being tone-deaf to the community, writing policies that do not encompass the community as a whole, or stalling out or trying to remove the filibuster. Things like that affect every community.

The values that are most important to me are honesty, commitment, and care. Honesty is the best policy. My papa taught me that, and I've just always lived by that. I'm not big on lying, I can't even lie, I don't even have a poker face to do it. Commitment is important because people start things and then they don't finish them, and I feel like that lets people down. And care, as you can see with everything that I do, I try to show that I care. I just have always been that. Since I was a child, I've been the caring kid.