Trinette MackBailey

I attribute my success to wanting to help others. Every job that I have done, that's what it was - wanting to see the best in someone, wanting them to make something of themselves. When we work with children, I want them to become self-sufficient. I have a passion for that, for helping others. It doesn't matter what capacity it's in, that's just always been my drive. I've always been led that way. Even when I was in the criminal justice field, social work called me back. It was like, you're missing something, you're not helping somebody. And then you start seeing all these news stories about children going missing, and this is happening to a child, and I realized that if I can help in this field, I have actually made a difference. So that's where I get my drive from - being able to help someone and make their situation better.

The best career advice I ever received came from my college professor at Mansfield who mentored me throughout my whole four years in college. He told me that I have to let the hood go. When I wrote my papers, he said the way that I wrote them was how I speak, if I was out in the street with someone. He said he needs to change my thinking and my thought process, because I'm in a different scenario, and I need to start writing like I'm actually in college, like I'm actually doing a paper that I'm getting graded on. I love that for him, because when I actually sit down to write something, or send an email, or a memo, I think of it. It's like, okay, don't write it the way you would when you're talking with your friends, you have to change it. That advice really stuck with me and changed how I approach professional communication.

I would tell them to go for it, because we have so many children out here that need someone to help them, to guide them, to be mentors to them. I feel like they can make a difference if they see someone else that is striving, or who even might have been in that same situation, and they rose above it. They may be able to teach them something, or be able to help them out of their situation. So I would tell them to go for it and try it, and they may actually like it. A lot of people hear about social work and say it's too much paperwork, it's too much this, it's too much that. And honestly, when you get in there, yes, it is a lot of paperwork, but I get my glory from helping children. So I would definitely tell them to go for it, try it, and they may wind up liking it.

I would say the biggest challenge is the morale with some of the agencies that I work with - it's easy to lose. It has you second-guessing yourself at times, like, am I really making a difference, or am I just making somebody's pockets fatter? That was a challenge for me because it became not about the children, it became about numbers. And when things start to become about numbers, then that right there is a no-no for me. So that was a challenge, being able to adapt to things like that, where you have a passion for something that you work towards, and then you're seeing how people are not valuing your work, or valuing others' work, and it's like you're just working just to make somebody richer. That's my biggest challenge - being able to adapt in those type of environments, because everything is starting to become about money and numbers.

Being able to make a difference is most important to me. I value actually having a vision and setting goals and actually meeting those goals. I value being supportive to people and being open and willing to try different things. I don't like to be closed-minded - I like to explore, I like to experience. So I really value new experiences and challenges. And like I said, being able to support and help others is what matters most to me in both my work and personal life.