Verhonda Williams-Darrell, Esq

Growing up I only wanted be two things when the teacher asked, an attorney or Oprah Winfrey. However, as I grew, both of those choices appeared less and less likely to occur. As a child I spent a few years in the Florida foster care system until eventually I went to live with my maternal grandmother. In the ninth grade, at the age of fourteen I was pregnant with my first child, Taless. At the age of sixteen I was pregnant again with my second daughter, Armani. As a result of becoming a teenage mother while in high school I was reassigned from my home school to a school designated for teen parents in my County, Seagull School. I was determined to avoid becoming a high school dropout, so I chose to take extra classes at a rapid pace and graduated high school one year early with a high grade point average and test scores.

Upon graduating from high school I was awarded a full scholarship to attend any community college or university in the State of Florida. Unfortunately, during my first year at Broward Community College I faced many challenges including being homeless. When I became pregnant with my second daughter my grandmother told me that when I turned 18 I had to move out. She had been my only financial support and my primary babysitter so I really did not believe her. True to her word, on my 18th birthday my grandmother kicked me out and changed the locks.

My motto for life is to never let fear steal your opportunity for greatness... pursue happiness, overtake it, and enjoy it... Excuses kill dreams... Your dream is someone's reality which means it could be your reality too... If you don't know where you want to be in five years you are already there... and finally, life is like a camera, just focus on what's important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don't turn out just right, take another shot. Live. Learn. Grow. consulting in English (native) and Spanish and Portuguese. She serves on the Board of the Conscious Capitalism Dallas chapter (pro-capitalism, purpose and profit) and Namaste Direct (lifting Guatemalan businesswomen from poverty to middle class through micro loans and business education).