When She Chose the Long Way Around

I chose to build Golden Key Entrepreneur Training Academy the long way, through decades of experience, sacrifice, service, and trust earned one entrepreneur at a time. I'm glad I did because we did not simply build a program; we built lasting access, opportunity, and a legacy for people who have too often been overlooked.

Sometimes my entire life feels like it's been the long way and while some things were incredibly difficult, I would not change what the journey taught me. The long way taught me empathy, grace, and that I'm always a work in progress (especially when it comes to patience)!

I chose the long way by changing careers at 45, transitioning from my previous role to becoming a Legal Assistant. I'm so glad I did, because it proved to me that it's never too late to follow your passions and pursue what makes your heart happy.

My first fall semester as a PhD student, I accepted the student loan that was available to me. That was also the last student loan I would accept as a PhD student. I decided to pay out of pocket instead. I lived beneath my means, lived with friends to mitigate expenses, and worked two jobs at times. I worked the third shift at a hospital as a medical interpreter because I knew the hospital provided partial tuition reimbursement. There were scary moments when I thought I wouldn't be able to afford the semester, but by God's grace, I did it.

Trauma has taught me to survive, but mindset has propelled me to thrive. After escaping the fall of the second World Trade Center tower, I have spent years embracing a new future one moment at a time. Twenty-five years later, I have learned patience and when I changed my mindset, I also changed my trajectory, discovering the courage to ask more of myself fearlessly than I could ever imagined.

I chose to build my journey in entertainment and leadership the long way through decades of learning, serving, creating, and refusing to give up. I'm glad I did because every challenge gave me wisdom, every setback strengthened my faith, and every step prepared me to create opportunities not only for myself, but for others.

I am currently taking the long way around for my doctorate. I only take one class per semester by choice, and have found that the pace not only better fits my life as a busy mom of three and with my career, but I also am gaining much more valuable knowledge by being able to complete the work in tandem with performing my responsibilities at work. Each role brings a level of comprehension to one another that I do not feel I would have if I were rushing through the program!

I've learned that not every milestone needs to be reached quickly. Taking the time to build meaningful relationships, learn from every role, and grow through each experience has shaped me into the leader I am today.

As a mental health therapist, I realized that insight and conversation alone were not always enough to help people feel better in their bodies. Patients could understand their anxiety, trauma, or stress intellectually and still feel tense, disconnected, overwhelmed, or stuck. I began studying Pilates, neuroscience, sensory processing, and cranial nerve function because I wanted more ways to address the connection between the brain, body, and emotional experience. Learning movement gave me a different doorway into mental health care. Pilates taught me how breath, posture, stability, proprioception, and intentional movement can help people reconnect with their bodies, while cranial nerve science deepened my understanding of the sensory and motor systems involved in everyday regulation. Mindful Movements grew from that intersection: where neuroscience meets movement, and where mental health care includes not only what we think and feel, but how we experience ourselves in our bodies.

I chose to spend years studying polymathy, long before it was obvious that breadth, adaptability, and lifelong and lifewide learning would become so important in an AI-driven world. I'm glad I took the long way because the doctorate wasn't simply a credential; it gave me the intellectual foundation to build the work I'm doing today.