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As a person of color, this month has significant value to me. Not only is it a month set aside to celebrate the accomplishments of so many who share my race and have come before me, but it is also a time to reflect on my life. Growing up in a small town, with the high standards of being the son of a pastor and being the first of my parents’ children to attend college, I’ve had the opportunity to see great examples of real life heroes, who know the real meaning of love, hard work, and success. My parents …

Hello to all that will view my thoughts on what black history means to me and my life experiences. The mere fact that I am an African American man writing a blog sharing what it means to me states that there has been obvious progress. Early Life Experiences As a young boy, I grew up in a small town in Arkansas, 15 miles from the Mississippi state line and 10 miles from the Louisiana state line. There were some instances, but very few, of blatantly racist interactions. So, how does one grow up in a state considered to be so …

Opportunities come to those who work hard and create those open windows. As a minority, the chances of facing adversity in your life is highly likely, but your response and having the strength and ability to overcome the adversity pushes you to your full potential. In my own experiences, adversity started in childhood. I was raised by a strong single mother who worked hard to support my older brother, my younger brother, and myself. With no father figure influence in my life, I gravitated toward sports where a lot of my skills were self-taught, but I developed a strong competitive …

As we celebrate Black History, I often find myself being inspired by those who preceded me. Especially the activists involved within our Black History culture. Their sacrifices and great deeds paved the way for people like me and so many others. Black History, for me, represents a culture of people of all color and races uniting as one working towards greatness and equality together. It is a culture of overcoming and coming together, which fuels me to be a better person on a daily basis. When I find myself in conflict with family, work, or life in general, I reflect …

Submitted by: Kevin Godwin, District Director of Operations As a seasoned operator and proven leader with our company for going on 15 years there is one evident truth in the dynamics of our business as well as the role of leadership…IRON SHARPENS IRON! I was reminded of this during my current mentorship, when paired with one of the most energized and passionate mentees I have had in some time, GM Shaunna Harris! Our partnership convicted me on a personal level, and reminded me why the TeamUp Program is vital to not only developing our future leaders but is a place …

Submitted by: Jerald Horner, Chief Information Officer  This year is my first experience with the TEAM Up Mentor Program. At first I was reluctant to sign up as a mentor because it felt a bit egotistical that I could have something to offer. If anything, I should be a mentee! As it turns out, as a mentor you become a mentee as well. The interactions are to help the mentee, but the mentor learns a lot about themselves and others through those conversations. The program also doesn’t have to be an exclusive one-on-one experience. I shaped it into a broader …

Submitted by: Victoria Newman, General Counsel Through the mentoring program, you get the opportunity to share your experiences. I’ve found that people assume others always “have it together” when that is often far from the truth. We all battle our own internal demons and self-doubt, and it’s nice to break down those presumptions of perfection.  You also you have the opportunity to expand your knowledge of other departments’ struggles, workload, processes, pressures, structure, and other nuances. This knowledge allows you to work more effectively with those departments and makes you a better business partner. I have personally benefited from my mentor’s …

Submitted by: Shannon Beasley, Director of Corporate Recruiting To me, the word “mentor” means growth; both personally and professionally!  I have had the opportunity to participate in our Company mentor program as a mentor and now as a mentee.  As a mentor, I enjoyed being a part of someone’s career development and helping them to grow through gaining more knowledge in a particular area of the Company.  And now, my mentor is doing the same for me.  As part of our Talent Acquisition team, my focus has been solely on identifying top talent to join our Company and through the mentorship program, …

Submitted by: Gilbert Garcia, ACV Supervisor Level III Being a participant in the TEAM Up program has helped me grow my career in more ways than one. It has given me so many opportunities to gain exposure in different departments within our Company. As a mentee, I was able to partner with top talent to help me in areas that I may have been struggling with in my position, and I was given best practices, training, and development to help me be more efficient in my day-to-day operations. As a mentor, I really try to inspire, coach, and pass on all the …

Submitted by: Victor Johnson, Director of Contact Center I have had the honor of being a mentor in the TEAM UP Program for three different mentees in the past nine months. TEAM Up is special to me because I have been mentored by a few very important people at critical stages of my life and career, so I can appreciate the value in such a program. My first mentee has grown quite a bit since we were connected back in November 2017. She was not very outspoken and was not sure how to get motivated about advancing her career. Now, she is …