Michelle Francis

I attribute my success primarily to faith, perseverance, and prayer. I keep myself grounded through prayer and make sure I have my quiet moment, usually early in the morning or sometimes in the middle of the night, where I have my time of meditation and prayer. That helps me stay grounded. The Lord has helped me through challenging situations, including times when I've talked to people on the edge of suicide and He gave me what to say to keep them on the phone talking. I believe deeply that when you go through things and make it to the other side whole, not bitter or angry, you should use those lessons to help someone else. My faith community and church family have supported me through major life transitions and reminded me to keep moving forward. Their encouragement helped shape my leadership philosophy and commitment to helping others grow.

I would say the greatest advice I wish someone told me is how to manage money better at a younger age. I notice a lot of the women and men that I mentor now, I try to explain to them the value of money and credit cards. You don't have to keep up with the Joneses. Yes, somebody bought a brand new car or bought this, but put your money aside and invest in homes, rent them out, and get rental income. Be more wise. I have a young woman that I mentor who just blessed my socks off because she's bought her fourth house and she rents them out, so she has that steady rental income. I wish I had someone to advise me like I've advised her, because I probably would have been so much further and wiser in managing my money. I also believe in pivoting and positioning yourself. I'm looking at AI, audit engineering, and Python to position myself in a niche that even if I retire, I don't have to retire. I can do consulting to help companies manage through changes. I always like empowering people and helping, and there's a difference when you're doing 9 to 5 on somebody's clock versus when you're doing what you enjoy to do.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is AI and how to control it. AI is here and we can't avoid it. The biggest thing with AI, especially in my industry where we deal with compliance, regulation, and controls, is how do you control this? How do you make sure you don't allow it into your system and it goes rogue? It's like the abyss - you put in your prompt and it spits out something. I need to get ahead of the game because no one really knows. I'm asking myself, how can I put parameters around that? In order for me to understand that, I have to understand the nuances behind it, the language, the Python language behind it. I'm looking at some of the AI audit engineering and Python to position myself in a niche. A lot of companies don't have a clue about how to manage AI, so even if I retire, I can do consulting to help them manage through it. I believe in pivoting and positioning yourself.

I believe deeply in faith, compassion, and empowerment. I keep myself grounded through prayer and make sure I have my quiet moment, usually early in the morning or sometimes in the middle of the night, where I have my time of meditation and prayer. That helps me stay grounded. One of my guiding principles is that when you go through things and make it to the other side whole, not bitter or angry, you should try to do something to help someone else that may be going through a similar process. When people make it through difficult experiences, they should use those lessons to help others find their way forward. I'm passionate about helping people handle change, trauma, and transitions. A lot of people don't know how to pivot when there's loss, whether it's loss of a loved one or loss of a job. Many people's identity is literally in their job, so if they lose their job, they're just lost. I focus on helping people pivot and transition to get to the other side where they get back to being productive. I also prioritize self-care through spa wellness and travel, particularly cruises, as a way to recharge and maintain balance. I love full spas and try to get a full spa massage at least once a quarter or twice a year minimum.