Growing up as the oldest of 16 grandchildren on my dad’s side of the family, I was a natural leader.  When playing with my cousins, I was always the principal, the teacher, and the business owner and known as the boss! It was then that I began developing many of my leadership skills. Those leadership skills were further developed throughout middle school and high school.  4-H, FBLA, and Band were organizations that had a part in shaping me for my career. As a college student, not only did my organizational, leadership, and communication skills expand, my love and passion for higher education was birthed.  During my college career, I had the privilege to serve two summers as an orientation leader at Southeastern Louisiana University. It was then that I realized the importance of providing a great experience at the freshman orientation.  This was to ensure they enrolled in the university.  It also set the foundation for their college career resulting in graduation.  It also became evident, even as a college student myself, that the higher education journey would be the ticket to a bright and successful future. 

It was during the time as a Business instructor at Northshore Technical Community College that I gained a deeper understanding of the impact of higher education on individuals and their families.  I learned that a four year college degree was not the only pathway to a successful career. So many great careers require a two year degree or less.  While an instructor, I had the privilege of witnessing hundreds of students graduate with an Associates Degree, Technical Diploma, or Certificate, many the first in their families. This allowed them to begin very successful careers, provide for their families, and make an impact in the local and regional economies.  

After five years in the classroom, I yearned to make a greater impact.  I had realized that many of the students choosing a technical community college faced more challenges than a four year university student.  These students had no choice but to work while going to college.  Many had families to support. Others were changing careers and had financial obligations that required them to sometimes hold two jobs. Each student had a different story and I became passionate about helping them achieve.  I had the opportunity to become the Student Affairs Officer at the Hammond Campus of the college.  There were countless opportunities to guide, advise, and support the students. I also had many opportunities to serve the college as a leader at the campus. It was also during this time that I truly began to understand the impact our college had on business and industry.  Meeting many business and industry leaders in the area and hearing their pleas for a skilled workforce, made me eager to find ways to help them. 

With seven years of higher education experience, I moved into the position as Dean of Campus Administration.  Each and every skill that I developed as a child were utilized in this role.  It is without question that I also learned new skills and perfected existing ones.  Seeing the mission of the college from this angle play out each and every day in the lives of students and in the community was exhilarating. Fully and completely understanding the impact of the work at the college was easily realized. This caused my passion to grow, which increased my desire to do more.  During my time as Dean, enrollment increased and we established more partnerships with businesses and industry, as well as, in the community.  The college became known for its responsiveness to the needs of industry for a skilled workforce. 

In 2019, the position of Director of Workforce Training and Development at the college opened. I inquired about the responsibilities and realized immediately that it was the next step in my career. In this role, I oversee all of the short-term, non-credit training programs.  The programs offered through this department are a direct response to the needs of the local and regional industries. The greatest part of this department is that we can think out of the box and be very creative. Creating customized training programs for business and industry to meet their specific needs has been an important aspect of my role.  

Within the year of accepting this position, I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in the Certified Workforce Developer program created by LED FastStart and Louisiana’s Community and Technical College System. I am one of less than seventy individuals in the state who have earned this distinction. Identifying economic drivers, creating strategic plans, understanding value propositions, and learning effective listening skills were key take-aways from this program for me. The trajectory of my career in Workforce and Economic Development was changed as a result of this program. It provided me with the knowledge and skills to grow the college’s Workforce and Training Department.  Under my leadership, the department has grown to seven full-time employees and 20 training programs.  The number of business and industry partnerships that now exist exceeds 150.  This is due to intentional work and continual responsiveness to the needs of business and industry. 

At the beginning of my higher education career, I thought I would teach until I retired.  It was clear after only a couple of years that I wanted to make a larger impact and it needed to be outside the classroom.  I am grateful for the opportunities with NTCC.  Being a part of a college with an aggressive strategic plan, opportunities abound within workforce and economic development. Although the college operates as a higher education institution, it contributes tremendously to workforce and economic development. This stirred my passion and paved a way for me to operate in that passion as a leader in workforce and economic development.