New Author

My Story

I am the CEO and President of Q2 Marketing Group LLC, an award-winning, full-service marketing firm primarily focused on the business development and growth of small and mid-sized companies. We work to assist with messaging and in connecting to prime target markets in the most economical and efficient method. A serial entrepreneur, I am also co-founder and Managing Principal of the Alliance of Diversity Printers LLC (ADP-LLC), a printing, warehousing and fulfillment firm with a national footprint that is strategically aligned with printers around the country.

      I began my career in management positions at Southwestern Bell Telephone. I had a fast-track career which included stints in the data center, on the 12-person comptroller’s staff, product management, new products/services development and marketing and sales. I left SWBT as the highest ranking African-American manager out of 70,000 employees to pursue a partnership in an entrepreneurial telecommunications company.

      Throughout my career, I have always been an avid writer and reader. I believe my ability to readily understand complex concepts, convert them into everyday English and present them to a target audience as a significant reason for my success in corporate America and as an entrepreneur. 

      “I love to write. It is what completes me. Several years ago, I started a book to honor my mother. She was a strong influence on who I am. I started writing and interviewing my friends but had a hard time figuring out why anyone else might want to read something I wrote.

      The original title for this book was Mothers and the Lessons They Taught Us. But with so many books about mothers, I couldn’t quite get a grip on the direction to take. I just wasn’t sure what these women and their mothers were trying to tell me. Finally, I realized people are always looking for principles that have helped us live our lives. And these women had such amazing stories of strength, courage and hope to tell. Plus, my friend Margo J. Posey, commanded me to just go do it! It was the push I needed to move forward.

      I consider myself more than an entrepreneur and writer. I am committed to efforts to help women of color and young entrepreneurs grow their businesses and willingly lend my talents and time to organizations empowering minority and women entrepreneurs.

      “I would like our school systems and organizations associated with young people to encourage them to create jobs, not just get one. Innovation often comes from striking out on your own and not being afraid to fail. Perhaps the most exciting thing to me right now is that a niece and nephew who have been around me, are working on building their own businesses. I am delighted that the entrepreneurial spirit is rubbing off!

I serve as a member of the board of directors for the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). I  was the first female elected to chair the NMSDC Minority Business Enterprises Input Committee (MBEIC), representing over 17,000 minority owned businesses and 1,000,000 employees nationwide. I served in this volunteer position for six years and represented minority-owned businesses as the sole voice on the senior-level Executive Committee and Board of Directors of NMSDC. I am also part of the executive committee and board of directors of the Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Supplier Diversity Council and a board member of the Women’s Business Council – Southwest. I enjoy volunteering with WINGS (Dallas-based YWCA) to assist young women entrepreneurs in the area of marketing their businesses. In addition, I stay active in several initiatives dedicated to encouraging more women and minorities to enter fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

      I have been honored to be recognized with numerous awards for my work and commitment to diversity and inclusion. I was inducted into the Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame in 2016 based upon my business achievements and dedication to furthering the growth and development of women entrepreneurs.

      I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Kansas State University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. I have also had the pleasure of graduating from the executive business management programs at Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. I currently chair the alumni group of the NMSDC Kellogg Advance Management Executive Program.

      I am an avid sports fan (especially football), mystery and historical fiction reader, red wine lover and traveler (especially beach fronts).

      I was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas but now make my home in Dallas, Texas. I am blessed to be surrounded by a mosaic of friends, business associates, a niece and grand nieces and nephews in Dallas and brothers and their families in Kansas, Kentucky, Texas and Florida.

October 30, 2019

4:30 pm – 7:00 pm
THE ASHTON DEPOT
1501 Jones St
Fort Worth , TX 76102

Coming in November 2018