RVA's Most Successful Entrepreneur
I, Jessica Saunders, was granted the opportunity to interview one of RVA’s most successful, passionate, hard-working, entrepreneur’s that truly knows the meaning of “paying forward.” I am talking about my interview with Ms. Angela Patton, CEO of Girls For A Change which is a nonprofit that is dedicated to preparing black girls for world of work while at the same preparing the world of work for black girls. The reason why Ms. Patton started Girls For A Change is simply because Ms. Patton had seen a lot of unmet needs in her community and surrounding areas of central Virginia. Ms. Patton define success as it depending on the day. Meaning that today might be more successful than the next day. In other words, you have to take a step back a re-evaluate what worked and what didn’t work in order to continue to be successful. Ms. Patton’s hobbies outside of Girls For A Change are event planning and using her network. Ms. Patton says that she does her best to have an even balance between her professional life and her home life simply because both are important and they both can take over your peace of mind at any time. Ms. Patton stated that the mentor that encouraged her was actually no one person in particular it was many people simply because you cannot get everything from one person. For on going encouragement Ms. Patton goes to her mentors for advice because they are her sounding board. Ms. Patton also enjoys listening to all types of music and she loves going to festivals for relaxation. The greatest thing Ms. Patton loves about her career is that’s helping our black girls is her “calling”. Finally, the things that keeps Ms. Patton going during this Covid-19 pandemic and all the civil unrest that’s happening now is by being a creative thinker, which means constantly thinking outside the box and by making sur she takes care of herself because self-care is very important especially during these crazy times. I would like to end this article by saying that the challenge’s Ms. Patton expects to see in the coming years is how are students will be able to be successful learners ad obtain gainful employment after such prolong distress and discard to the educational system due to the lingering side effects of Covid-19.
