Complete this sentence, "If not for MLT..."
If not for MLT, I would not have been able to reach my potential through being exposed to community leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who look just like me.

Please describe the impact MLT had immediately upon completing your program.
Immediately upon completing the MLT program I felt equipped with a network who had endured similar experiences as myself; lived, breathed, and walked in my own shoes. Outside of my personal cohort, the entire MLT family was a resource that I could lean on when embarking on the transition from being a student to becoming a working professional. It was my MLT family that I leaned on when navigating the pressure and stress that comes with being underrepresented in the workplace. For that, I am forever grateful.

How has MLT changed the financial/economic trajectory for you and your family?
MLT has tremendously changed the financial and economic trajectory of my family for the better. As a first generation student, graduate, working professional, and now sustainable entrepreneur, I've been equipped with the tools to break generational curses and create generational wealth. I recall entering into my very first internship the summer following my freshman year, and realizing that the rate I was getting paid at just 18 years old was more than most of my family members had ever seen in their lifetime. Through the exposure to well-paying careers, MLT allowed me to take the knowledge I'd learn on our webinars and during conferences back to share with my own family members, who never received that same chance due to economic barriers.

Has MLT elevated your personal and professional aspirations?
If so, please provide an example. MLT has elevated my personal and professional aspirations by helping me to realize the very important concept of duality. I can be both a strong, black woman and still need support and a sense of community. I can do what I love, fulfill my passion and make great money while doing so. Through realizing that I don't have to compromise any aspects of myself in order to reach my goals, MLT changed the magnitude of my aspirations. I have a great career, but it doesn't stop there. I am an entrepreneur, I could have a startup, and I can thrive in the technology industry.

How has MLT's community helped advance your personal and/or professional happiness?
MLT's community has wholeheartedly helped me to advance my personal and professional happiness. Prior to MLT, I did not have people in my circle who understood both my black identity, and my yearning or relentless effort to attain MORE. It's a lot harder to succeed when you feel as if you're on this path alone, it honestly becomes very saddening. Though through joining organizations such as MLT, you find individuals who can not only relate to your societal identity but your intellectual identity as well. Feeling as if you have a community you can lean on for anything breeds true happiness.

Speak to a challenge MLT helped you overcome and how did that help your trajectory (i.e. confidence that you belong, growth mindset, vulnerability).
Very plainly, MLT helped to combat the time management skills I faced, similar to many other college students. Through not only balancing class, with work, with leadership positions on campus -- we also had to balance completing monthly assignments with an added layer of complexity. Yet through overcoming that particular challenge, I've adopted a growth mindset and understanding that I must deliver on my commitments, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. This particular understanding has helped me as I continue to work full-time while scaling my business. So though following the workday I may be exhausted, I cannot let that exhaustion consume my life's mission.

Have you helped advance vulnerable people on their path to economic mobility? If so, how?
I believe that it is primarily through our everyday conversations and sharing our journey that we truly help advance others on their path to economic mobility. Simply show them that it is possible, because exposure plays a vital role in one's advancement toward success. Though outside of those everyday conversations, I've now launched The Strategy Behind Branding Yourself Podcast, where I teach others how to cultivate their brand strategy and begin monetizing their passion in order to create economic mobility.

Share 2-3 ways you've been able to accelerate your organization's journey toward greater diversity and inclusion.
1. Through lifting as I climb. Upon earning a position at Accenture, I made it my duty to reach back and answer every text, phone call, and LinkedIn message from students about the best way to enter into consulting. After only being with the firm a little over six months, I've directly brought in five of my mentees who are set to begin this summer and fall.

2. Educating the majority on how to cater to diverse candidates. Recently, I was asked by our North American I&D recruiting lead to present on our national call to campus recruiters, managing directors, and senior managers over the topic of Connecting with Diverse Candidates. It isn't enough to experience a micro-aggression in the workplace and then only vent about it to mentors who look exactly like us. We must change the narrative and voice, particularly what rubs us the wrong way.

3. Assisting with the planning and execution of Accenture's second annual Day of Inclusion at Indiana University. Just last year, I had the opportunity to present a workshop during this day over the topic of Managing Bias in Artificial Intelligence. I am now on the planning committee to continuously reach and serve our diverse candidates at Indiana University.

Share your favorite song, movie, or book, and why it appeals to you.
My favorite book to date is The Education of Millionaires: Everything You Won't Learn in College About How to Be Successful by Michael Ellsberg. When I realized I had the full capability and capacity to become an entrepreneur, and that being wealthy isn't just reserved for rappers, athletes, and the white population, this is the book that equipped me with the knowledge to run relentlessly after my destiny. It provides an inside peek into entrepreneurs who've been to college, and some that didn't, while driving home the importance of life being your best teacher.

What is your superpower?
I pride myself on being not only a good speaker, but a great listener. Through my personal experience, I've found that the art of listening has been lost amongst the oversaturated idea that you must create a voice for yourself. While very true, before beginning to create a voice for yourself, you must LISTEN to the voices of those who've come before you. My superpower is listening with the full intent to understand your perception, whether I agree with it or not.

What gives you hope?
What gives me hope is, as the oldest of five children and now a first-generation college graduate who holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, my little sister has witnessed the barriers I've broken through, and now she has the confidence to break through them as well. She'll be graduating high school this year and attending Indiana University in the fall. Not only that, she'll be entering into the field of business as a direct admit to the Kelley School of Business, whereas I entered through the standard admission process. So it isn't even the fact that she is being like me, she's being BETTER than me. It shows that all of the time, tears, and long nights that I've sacrificed have not gone in vain.