After over 20 years in the workforce with Procter and Gamble, HCA Healthcare Corporation, Right Management Consultants and Development Dimensions International (DDI) I left corporate America to become a corporate refugee and work for myself, on my own terms.

My career has been varied, but deep in sales, marketing and consulting in both management and individual contributor roles. I have discovered that my current work, teaching at the college level, is my true passion. I’m having a blast and wish I had done this earlier.

A former London Scholar from the State University of New York (SUNY)’s Fashion Institute of Technology, I earned a BS in Business Administration from California State University at Long Beach and my MBA from one of the country’s top 100 Private Universities, Jacksonville University. I love to learn and can’t believe that people actually say they are bored – with so many interesting things to know and learn about out there? Come on!! Get real!

Teaching in predominately adult programs with Jacksonville University, Brenau University and University of Phoenix has made made me aware of the talent and potential that has gone untapped in our workforce. Brown-Nosing 101 has been conceived to help both individuals and organizations tap this potential by using skills and approaches that can has been described as Uncommon Career Advice. Clearly there are many, many people out there who are very misinformed about how decisions are made about people and their careers.

I’ve spent plenty of days doing work that can only be described as mind numbing, leaving me feeling souless at the end of the day. This endeavor makes my spirit soar as I attempt to bring hope to all those workers who long for a way to make the most of the God given potential they were given.

This is risky business – out here on my own without a net. But I took the risk because I wondered —

When I meet my maker what if he asks me, “What did you do with the talent, hopes and dreams I gave you?”

I’d have to tell him, “Well, it was kind of tough down there, so I had to bury them while earning an honest, decent living which helped me take some bumps out of the ride.”

That just didn’t feel right to me. As I thought about this I could imagine him whapping me on the head telling me that I traded my talents for the illusion of safety and security while wasting the one shot I had to make a difference — in my life and the lives of so many others.

What else makes my soul sing? Well, I have a passion for animals, the earth, and old houses. When I’m not working, teaching a class, or writing, I can be found playing with my three dogs…a Rottweiler named Loosha, a Shepherd/Greyhound mix named Kayla and a little Chihuahua mix named Strider. On any given weekend I can be found working in my yard, stripping wallpaper, painting or conjuring up another project for my middle-aged home of 59 years. I keep my sanity and manage stress by regular walks with the dogs, meditation, yoga, and working in my yard trying to put into practice what I learned while in the local Master Gardener program – though I am a fair weather gardener. You won’t find me outside much in Florida’s summer heat and humidity.

As a cancer survivor I have added organic gourmet cooking to my list of regular activities. I was a pretty good cook before – but now that my immune system is in a fight for my life I’ve become much more creative. This has become one of the many technicolor parts of an otherwise gray time in my life. Here’s hoping the color remains after the gray fades away!