Her Story
About Okemia
Okemia Porch serves as a Career Advancement Specialist with at least five years of experience as a Career coach in Charlotte, North Carolina. She transitioned into this role from an education background where she taught middle school and elementary grades, as well as working several years in healthcare. Okemia earned a bachelor's degree in public health from North Carolina Central University and has pursued additional on-the-job trainings, leadership roles, and an emerging leaders training program. Her expertise includes building relationships, active listening, resume writing, updating, mock interviews, and confidence-building activities. She completed coaching training through Symbiosis Coaching and is working toward certification by the end of the year. Okemia is a certified Emotional Intelligence Coach and co-author of the book Daughters on the Journey, published in October 2024, which reached #1 in two categories on Amazon. She is involved with the International Coach Federation (ICF) toward membership and Sisters of the Dove Charity Fund, a nonprofit arm of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, where she supports prenatal care, parenting classes, local youth and scholarships. Okemia attributes her success to her faith in God and her support systems, and she values loyalty, transparency, consistency, and authenticity in both her professional and personal life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Okemia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to God and my faith, which is my foundation and daily motivation. I also credit my amazing support systems that I can count on no matter what, who help me through challenges and provides me with wisdom.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice came from a leader during my first annual review who gave high accolades and said she could see me doing great things even outside the organization, offering support for professional growth wherever it takes me. She also encouraged me to apply for a promotion despite family schedule conflicts and promised to work with my schedule for work-life balance. This built my confidence, led to my promotion within a year, and still resonates with her as motivation to shine and support others.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It is a great industry where you can make it your own. You can be successful with schedule flexibility to work remotely or hybrid. There is strong income potential, but mostly the opportunity to impact lives by being a support to people who may lack professional development skills or navigation help. Success looks different for everyone.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is seeing highly qualified people still unemployed despite countless applications, struggling financially in a tough market. It's frustrating when qualified candidates can't get doors opened even with desire and family support. The opportunity lies in building more professional relationships to help open doors and provide support for those navigating career challenges.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Loyalty is top of the list, along with transparency and consistency. Most important is that people be their authentic selves rather than masking or presenting a version they think you want to see. I prefer authenticity so I can choose who to engage with, as I've experienced disappointment when I discover everyone is not always who they present themselves to be.
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