Sophia Mensah-Brown

I attribute my success to my faith in God, my passion for education, and the lessons my father taught me during the most difficult time of my life. When my father was sick, and I had to leave school as a teenager to care for him, he showed me that learning and growth happen everywhere, not just in classrooms. He nurtured me and taught me that my mindset determines what I can achieve. After he passed, I carried forward his belief in me and continued my education with purpose. My faith has been my foundation through everything - God has been so gracious to me, and without Him, I wouldn't be where I am today. I also credit my success to my supportive husband, who encouraged me to go back to school and supported and helped me improve myself. But most importantly, it's my passion that drives me each day. I don't go to work for just a paycheck - I go because I genuinely love helping children and see them as my own. When you love what you do and put your whole soul into it, you don't get fatigued or burned out because this is your calling, not just a job. My success comes from staying true to my values of respect and never giving up, believing that I was created to make a difference in the lives of young people.

The best career advice I ever received came from my husband, who supported me and motivated me. That advice changed my trajectory because it reminded me that education isn't just for personal advancement - it's about equipping yourself to serve and uplift others. It reinforced what my father had taught me years earlier, that I could still learn and become who I wanted to be, even outside a traditional classroom. My father showed me through his own example that your circumstances don't define your potential, and that lesson has stayed with me throughout my career. These two important men in my life taught me that continuous learning and self-improvement are the keys to making a real impact, and that's exactly what I try to pass on to the children and young people I work with today.

First and foremost, don't go into education just for a paycheck. Believe in yourself and your ability to make a difference, which will help you stay resilient through challenges. I learned from my own experience that, even in the face of life's challenges, we need not give up on our passion. I see the children like my own son, and I go to school every morning to help them. Although I need money, I know the right time will come to make things better for myself. Therefore, my advice to young women is this: make up your mind. If teaching isn't your passion, don't go into it, because you're not going to be any good at it. You have to love what you do and put your whole soul into it. When you do that, you don't even feel exhausted. Remember, education is about more than academics; it's about nurturing the whole child, including their emotional and social growth, to help them become confident, compassionate individuals prepared for life. And finally, never underestimate yourself. Build your confidence, trust your abilities, and remember that nobody should tell you what you can or cannot do. You are the only person who can determine that. If you need help, ask for it, but never give up, because God didn't create us to fail.

The biggest challenge in education right now is that we're losing many good teachers because they're not receiving the love, support, wages, and respect they deserve. In addition, we need good, committed leaders in the system, as many people in leadership positions don't understand what true leadership means. In their minds, being a leader means you have to run people down, control them, monitor them constantly, weaponize them for every little thing, or suspend them, but that's not leadership at all. An effective leader needs to guide and inspire their team, demonstrate strong communication skills, seek ideas from their team, show respect, and offer encouragement and support. Teaching is a tough job, and teachers need administrators who understand that and lift them rather than tear them down. Another major challenge is that most children aren't getting the love and support they need, and they also find it difficult to follow directions and are disrespectful. They do whatever they want because there are no consequences. Moreover, phones have become babysitters for some children, rather than parents sitting down to talk and spend quality time with them to find out how things are going in their lives. The key opportunity I see is in developing better leaders through coaching and training, which can transform difficult situations and improve education overall. That's why I want to become a coach and trainer - to help people understand how to be good leaders who support their teams instead of running them into the ground. If we can fix the leadership problem, we can fix education because it helps to shape the school system, individuals, and great communities. "The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; kind, but not weak; bold, but not a bully; humble, but not timid; proud, but not arrogant." — Jim Rohn.

The values most important to me are faith, passion, respect, and being a great leader. My faith in God is my foundation for everything - it helps me stay humble and open to others, which I believe is vital for building trust. Building trust is essential because it makes others feel valued and safe to share. Passion is essential because if you don't love what you do, you can't pour your heart and soul into it. I believe that when you're passionate about your work, you don't get discouraged - you keep going because it fulfills you. Respect is another core value that takes you a long way in life. Respecting others, including children, helps you connect with them and learn from them. Finally, being an effective leader is at the heart of everything I do, such as being a team player. A true leader doesn't run the team down or seek power for personal gain - a leader builds trust within their team, listens, takes opinions from all sides, and supports and encourages their team. Leadership is about understanding people, communicating effectively, and helping them grow, not weaponizing them or punishing them. These values guide me in my work with children, in my relationships with my family - my supportive husband and my son - and in my goal to become a coach and trainer who can help others understand what real leadership looks like.