Hopscotch had always been her favorite game

Photo from Pinterest (c)

From the time Cynthia was a kid, she loved the game of hopscotch. She could balance on one leg with ease. Sometimes she would just hold her position on one leg in mid-air, just to prove to herself that she could. She was a risk-taker. Knowing she could fall at any moment. But she never did.

She loved it so much that she trained other girls how to hopscotch. She even created a hopscotch team, and when it was time to take their hopscotch game to the next level, she created a candy business so they could hustle the money to buy matching outfits. Secretly, Cynthia was a fashionista of sorts.

Throughout her teenage years, she continued to play the game of hopscotch just for fun. By the time she reached her early twenties, she was playing the real-life game of hopscotch. In the real-life game of hopscotch, there was no room for mistakes. So when Cynthia made her first mistake, she was warned! But she had always been a risk taker, so she continued to play hopscotch. Till one day she missed her mark and ended up in prison. Hopscotch was no longer a game.

After making several real-life mistakes, Cynthia played her last game. When the cuffs came off, she felt hopeless. Over twenty-three years had passed since she made her first mistake and ended up in the wrong box! She was now 48 years old, and life was passing her by. Her friend Anna, who had also played hopscotch and, several years ago had been released from the box, sent her an invite to Black On The Job. And that's when she got her game back on track. The only job description she had was taking clothes from high-end stores and selling them to boutiques. As the Career Coach from Black On The Job started asking her about her past, she realized she had acquired more skills than she knew. Although she had always been an entrepreneur of sorts, she also knew she needed capital to go that route. So she decided to go for upper management positions. After all, her career coach told her that managing a team of clothing experts was still an experience she could list in a very unique way. But she would also need to polish up her interview skills. So she went for it. I mean, Cynthia had always been and always will be a risk taker of sorts.

 The first course she took was Negotiating while Black. After that she had her LinkedIn Profile set up. Last but not least, she did an interview prep. Timing was everything, and fortunately, she caught a Juneteenth sale and got a package that included all of that, along with a fresh resume and career coaching.

Where is Ms. Cynthia today? After taking a risk on herself, she ended up running a large corporation. She was so successful at it that other companies started requesting her to get their companies in order. She has expanded some very  famous people's companies. She is the Black woman sitting on panels inside large corporations when you come to interview.  And what about the entrepreneur in her? Well, today she has retired from running companies and owns a clothing store chain in Phoenix. Yall know she had always secretly been a fashionista of sorts.  We asked Ms. Cynthia if she still plays hopscotch. Her answer was Nah girl, I just watch. I can’t afford to miss a step!

If you have ever had an interview prep session with Ms. Cynthia, let us know in the comments. After all, who better to prepare you for an interview than a risk-taking entrepreneur who changed her entire life, income, and tax bracket at the age of 48.

 #BEEPREPARED