June has thought me, among numerous lessons, that many people in America are comfortable in staying in their place of discomfort with race. My aim in leaving corporate America was to shape a better future for my children and all children like them in color. I set the course today and with hard work, endurance, patience, and the support of many like-minded people, I would be a part of creating a better tomorrow for those to follow. The younger generation of today and those yet to be born, do not have to walk the same path as we did and face the same issues we do; they, doubtless, will have issues of racism to deal with in their time as well. An Additional objective of mine was to establish an interest free mortgage system for those either required by religion or by choice, however, the lockdowns due to COVID-19 have hindered my travel plans to participate in related conferences and overseas meetings.

Due to maturity or maybe my growth as a leader in my own right, I have been awakened to the realization that many of the setbacks, nuisances, and people’s objections do not trouble me as they used to. It is a realization that has taken me by a complete surprise, a welcome one nonetheless; however, the same joyful realization has also brought the need to truly utilize this ongoing transformation through growth mindset and create unlimited possibilities. I am learning about myself and those around me every day. I am also learning to actively encourage my staff to lessen my involvement in every aspect of the business and be clear about the role others play. I have been in difficult situations and I have managed to stand my ground and demonstrated that women such as me have a seat at the table. There have been so many truly unexpected changes in 2020 that If I were to sit down and reflect, I would be surprised at how I have managed to put out so many fires and we still have half the year left. In life, there will always be problems to solve, but the questions is not only how to solve those problems when they arise, but rather how to stand strong in the aftermath.

All of these challenges happen in the midst of rebuilding our community in the literal sense of building one brick at a time. Over 1500 small businesses have been impacted by the events of the last few months. Entire parts of Lake Street look like a deserted town. I can spend so much of my time rebuilding but I cannot volunteer every hour of my time as I have been without self care or taking care of my staff and family. Construction can be complex, with so many layers involved from design, permitting, to several trades, each with its own challenges. All of those require supervision and people to manage. As one of the only black owned construction business in our state that has the capacity to do the work we do, a number of our communities look to me to help them with rebuilding. I don't have the funds to help every business owned by a community member, I wish I could. I am learning to slowly manage to partner with organizations to rebuild and be resource to share with our community all the great efforts from public and private industry.