Editor’s note: “My Story” is where business executives share their personal and professional backgrounds and journeys that have made them who they are, in their own candid words, from the challenges of confronting stereotypes to the glory in overcoming them. Amid calls for racial justice, we can only make real change with greater awareness and understanding — and the ability to learn from each other’s experiences.
“Trow it away.” It’s the phrase that forced me to confront my insecurities and appreciate who I really am.
My mother was born in Georgetown, Guyana, South America. She is a mash of cultures, from her maternal Portuguese grandmother to her paternal Indian grandfather. She left Guyana as a young teen, studied nursing in England, met my African American father while he was serving in the Air Force and moved to America. Soon after came my older brother, me and then unfortunately their divorce.
I was raised solely by my mother — my strict, high-expectation mother…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
