For many years, my identity was tied to a title. In Kosovo, I was known as a journalist; visible, established, and confident in who I was. That role shaped me, and for a long time I believed it defined me. But everything changed when I immigrated to the United States. Suddenly, I went from being "the journalist" to starting over in housekeeping because it was the only job I could get. It wasn't just a change in career. It felt like my entire identity had been erased. The label I had to let go of was the belief that my worth depended on a title. Releasing that identity was painful, but it was also the beginning of my transformation. As I rebuilt my life, I discovered that my true identity wasn't in what I used to do. It was in who I was becoming. I found strength in resilience, dignity in starting over, and purpose in lifting others who walk a similar path. I embraced a new identity rooted in values: Kindness, courage, leadership, and the determination to rise no matter how many times life asks me to start again. Today, as an Area Vice President and a mentor to immigrant women and emerging leaders, I lead with the heart of a woman who rebuilt herself from the inside out. Letting go of old labels didn't diminish me. It freed me to become the woman I was meant to be.