Monique Curry Mims

I come from a low-income community, and I am the same community and constituents that my work is supporting - I come from that. My work is all about making a difference because I feel as though everybody is put here for a reason, and my reason is to leave this place better off than how I was receiving it, or how I have received it when I came into it. I sometimes feel like I'm this crazy person standing on a soapbox trying to talk to people about how they can change and how they can be more impactful in their communities. Just yesterday, a foundation sent me a preview of a short documentary they created that had won an award, and she told me the main character is inspired by me - they did it in a LEGO version modeled after my hair and me. I literally just broke down crying because I told her I feel like I just stand on soapboxes and people think I'm crazy, but she said 'stay on the soapbox, we're listening.' That made me feel like I'm on the right path, because sometimes we feel like we're doing this work and wonder does it make a difference, am I doing the right thing, should I do something different. Any time I have that inkling of just wanting to be a housewife and go to the gym, something like this always sparks me to keep going. Because we have a diversity of services in my company, it allows for every day to be different, so I'm always on my toes, never bored. Sometimes it could be a little crazy, a little stressed, but I've got a great team that supports me.