Growing up as a little girl, I often wondered “How high can a balloon float in the air?” and “Will there be something in the universe to stop it or force it down?” My parents taught us to dream big and that there was nothing that we could not achieve in life.

They were inspirational. Not only to me and my six siblings, but to everyone who had an opportunity to meet them. They always took time to speak power into our lives. Their legacy lives in me. I will always be grateful for what they gave me — the ability to dream, live my life without fear, and to give back through acts of love.

As I grew older, I started to realized that not everyone saw the beauty of dreams.  Especially, if those dreamers did not look, act or conform to the way that they saw the world.

Right out of the gates as a young adult, I learned how others viewed me mattered more than my work ethic.  My first career opportunity was as an Asset Manager for a mid-sized real estate investment firm. At this firm I worked day and night to impress my bosses. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend my lunch breaks working overtime instead of socializing with my “Peers”. My goal was to rise to the top. With the work and effort I had put in to stand out among the rest of the crowd I would be rewarded at my mid-year review, right?

I was wrong. At my very first mid-year review my lack of “fitting in” was the main topic of conversation. I received glowing reviews on my performance in the company but, to my dismay, that was not enough. All this time I thought my job performance was most important. Yet to my bosses, fitting in with peers who were mostly white male was more of a concern.

I felt devastated. Afterwards, my mentor came to me and instructed me on how I could better “fit in” in a majority all white male environment.  My mentor explained that the upper manager felt that it would make the executives more comfortable working with me in a one-on-one setting if I wore darker suites and less dresses. I guess since I wasn’t walking around looking like a hot mess, they couldn’t focus on what they needed to do: their work. 

I learned I had to change my thought process. It went from “work hard, and success will follow” to “work hard and conform, success will follow, and make changes when you get to the top.”  I bit the bullet and forced myself to conform to my environment.  I worked my way up in the company after this claiming the title of Director of Operations in 2 short years. However, soon after, I became gravely ill. My family and I decided to move back to Dallas so that I could get the medical care I needed.

After approximately 3 years of rest, I felt determined to jump back into the business world. I hoped that “Corporate America” had changed a little within those 3 years. I was wrong.

So, instead, I jumped into politics for 8 years. I started a mortgage company, and then I got into commercial real estate. Both endeavors were quite successful. As a little girl, my parents told me that whatever I could dream, I could do. No one told me any different. Therefore, that was and still is my reality.

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Who said that other people get to write the rules of your life? I say, write your own rules.

Out of my life’s journey, I founded Imaginary Glass Ceiling.