Tameka Rushing

I attribute my success to two main things. First, knowing that I don't have to live how others think I should live. I like the challenge of doing what people think I can't do or shouldn't do. It's kind of like a hold my beer, let me show you moment. I've always had people say, they're not gonna let you do that, you can't do that, that's the good old boy system. As an African-American woman, I've heard they're not gonna let a Black person do that, or they've never had that. So for me, that's a challenge. My success is based on me never giving up on me, and me pushing me, breaking cycles, and wanting better for myself and my children. But the second thing is probably more important than the first. I had my son early at [AGE]. I'm a statistic. I met a cute guy from the Virgin Islands in basic training, and after 5 months we were married, 6 months I was pregnant. But from the moment I was pregnant with my son, I knew I wanted to be his biggest mentor and example. I didn't want my kids looking at society, or an actor, or someone that isn't real and looking up to them. I wanted my kids to look at me and see what's possible, how to be a good person, serve your community. I wanted to be my kids' mentor and example. Even though they're adults now, my oldest is [AGE], I still want to be an example for them. When I get awards, I invite them. I want them there at the table with me. I want them to see that their mom's still out here trying to change the world in a good way. I came from nothing, literally everything that I have I worked for. I came from poverty with a single mom, we were on government assistance, I shared a room with my brother until I was [AGE]. I take pride in that. I have done a lot of things, and I still do a lot of things to be the example for my children.

The best career advice I've received is to follow your passion, and not the dollar. I think that's self-explanatory. When I first got out of the military, I did chase the dollar, but thank God it was within a space that was my passion as well. I see and witness a lot of people who follow the dollar and the money, and they're miserable. I feel like if you follow your passion, it may not be right away, and you do what you need to do to survive, I get that. But do the work, educate yourself, get all the knowledge and education you can to do what makes you happy, because we only get this one life that we know of. So make it the best you can.

One of my biggest challenges is that I'm in a saturated market. The question is, how do I stand out? How do I make myself different? People ask me, well, why are you different? The difference is in me. I have military experience, corporate experience, and experience as an entrepreneur, so that in itself kind of sets me apart. But then it's getting that out there in a very saturated market. The second thing is working specifically with first-time emerging leaders. A lot of training programs will have a new leader program if you're a large organization, but some don't. Eventually, that'll go into college seniors and high school seniors, looking at what that looks like as you're navigating even informal leadership. How do you stand apart from your colleagues, even if you're not in an official leadership role? That's my focus and where I sit. The biggest challenge really is how do you stand out in a market that is big, a pretty big market, while still being passionate about what you do and having your own voice, a good, solid voice? How do you get it out there? So just being innovative enough to be able to obtain clients.

The most important value to me is connection. All of my successes, personal and professional, have been based on my ability to connect with people on a genuine level. Not connecting like, oh, let's connect so I can get something from you. I'm one of those people where even if I'm gonna do business with you, I would love to get to know you for who you are, what are your passions, to even make sure that we align and you're someone I want to work with. It's connection through seeing people. I'm really big on people being seen and not just viewed. I have taken that approach with every single thing that I do, not just with myself, but with other people. I create spaces where people, no matter how I'm interacting with them, feel seen. I use that as a foundation with everything that I touch. How can I make the client, the friend, the person, the mentee, my little sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters, whomever I'm in contact with, feel seen? In this world, in the work center, wherever they may be in the community, people who are out there trying and doing their best, even the ones that are struggling, how do I make sure those people feel seen? That's really the core of how I feel I've reached success in all three areas of my professional life.