Melvina Carpenter

I attribute my success to the Lord, number one. The Lord and the prayers of my parents, my husband and my children. I'm a go-getter and very ambitious. If I set my mind to do something, I'm going to do it, and nothing's going to stop me. It might slow me down, but it won't stop me.

The best career advice that I've ever received, and I actually share with my students, is to remember your why. Life will bring about challenges, there will be days where you won't feel like you're called to do what you do every day, but you have to remember why you got started in the first place. And if you can hold on to that, that will keep you going. Those days when you want to give up on your education, but you remember how you felt when you put the application in for school. The day that you want to quit the job, but you remember the days that you were looking for that job, or the feeling you got when they told you you were hired. If you remember your why, the foundation of why you do what you do, you'll keep going.

If I was giving advice to a young woman entering the ministry, it would be to know that she's called. To know that she's called, to be secure in who God called her to be, and to not be deterred by man's false interpretation of Scripture.

The biggest challenge is being there for everyone. Trying to meet the needs of everyone, keeping everyone happy, but at the end of the day, you can't. That's impossible. You have to focus on what pleases God.

The values most important to me are respect and honor for myself and others. Making sure that my family is taken care of, and being intentional about what I say and do.