Blog 18 - You Can't Stop Me

Going for my first real office job, I walked into a temp agency and said with full confidence, I can do anything.

They did not hand me a corner office.

They handed me a room with ten thousand files and stacks of paper.

It was not glamorous. It was a mail room. Dusty folders. Paper cuts. Silence.

But it was an office.

And for a girl who had just walked away from bar life and cash only living, that mail room was a doorway to something bigger. The temp agency paid weekly. They offered free Microsoft tools on site. I took advantage of everything. I was not too proud to file papers if it meant I was moving forward.

From the file room, I moved upstairs to answer phones at the front desk. I felt important. I felt polished. I felt like I was getting closer.

But I was not at the executive level yet. And I knew I wanted more.

So I went to another temp agency and landed an executive administrative position.

Yessss. I thought. I have arrived.

I sat at my new desk, met my new boss, and within minutes he handed me personal information for him and his children. My first assignment was updating passports.

I had never traveled. I did not even have a passport. I did not know what one looked like or where to find the number.

But I figured it out.

That became a pattern in my life. I did not know. So I learned.

I started copying the tone of other administrators’ emails. I studied how they spoke. How they wrote. How they carried themselves. Going from street girl to polished professional was not a small shift. I had to stay quiet often so I would not say the wrong thing. I was learning a whole new language.

Then came the elevator moment.

I stepped into an elevator one day and in walked top floor executives. This was my moment. They said hello and asked about my personal life.

Somehow the word fetish came up.

I had no idea what that word meant. I thought it was a fancy way of saying you really love something. So I proudly said I had a fetish with cats because I absolutely adore them.

The look on their faces told me I had just said something very wrong.

They exited quickly. I later learned what the word meant and was mortified. I avoided the elevator and took the stairs for a while.

But here is what is important.

I did not quit.

I did not let embarrassment define me.

I kept climbing.

My next role was office manager. I supported multiple managers and I was thriving. From there I learned HR. That turned into a full HR role for the next ten years.

I worked my way into C suite rooms while earning my degree in IT. Then I transitioned into IT. I earned a clearance. I worked my way up to supporting board of directors. My final position before launching BetterALife was as the No Lady.

That was my nickname.

I enforced security compliance. I was the liaison between the government and contractors. I protected clearances. I protected contracts. I protected revenue. I had the executive package. The title. The seat at the table.

I had arrived.

So I left.

Because success without purpose is just a paycheck. I had some health issues I needed to work out so perfect timing. I took my time to build my nonprofit while I became strong again to do it.

I opened BetterALife knowing business back and forth. I knew administration. HR laws. Executive operations, budeting, contracts and legal.

But nonprofit work was a whole new world.

I knew what poverty felt like. I knew what children needed because I was that child. But building it was different.

I asked my new board for help getting connected. They scheduled a meeting with who many called the biggest nonprofit leader in our area.

I was excited. I thought I was meeting a mentor.

Instead, on that Zoom call, I was told they were already here and I should find something else to do.

I was told to just focus on cooking.

Stopped in my tracks.

I ended that call, put on my suit jacket, and added a chip to my shoulder. I cried. Then I shook it off.

The song You can't stop me by Andy Mineo was playing in my head loud and clear and I was pumped again. Let's do this!

Later I asked another nonprofit to partner on a back to school drive. I had a park reserved. Five hundred new book bags. Supplies. Hot dogs. Music. Captain America and his crew.

They said no. They do their own thing.

So I did it anyway.

Children were helped anyway.

Then we received a large grant to open our first food pantry. Weeks before opening, that same nonprofit that would not partner asked me to coffee.

I thought maybe we could collaborate now. I firmly believe if nonprofits work together this world would be unstoppable. We could help change so much hurt to positive outcomes.

Instead I was asked, what are your intentions? And then I was told we would compete for the same donors.

I sat there calmly, while my in my head I sceamed "What!!!"and said softly but firmly my intentions are to help children. And no, we will not compete. We have two completely different programs. What we are building does not exist.

I walked out with another chip on my shoulder and more fire in my spirit.

The song You Can't Stop Me by Andy Minio played in my head after I left that meeting, over and over. Again, let's do this!

On January 28, 2021, my birthday, we had our grand opening.

Happy Birthday to me.

My gift was the ability to finally help children the way I wish someone had helped me.

Fast forward.

On February 9, 2026, we opened again.

Double the space. Double the growth. Double the impact.

We are serving Loudoun County, VA, the very place I was told not to open. We serve Fairfax County, VA. West Virginia. And we are preparing for another site coming soon. I never want to see another child go hungry or give up simply because they do not know how to overcome their circumstances. We will work tirelessly to achieve this goal across the US and eventually overseas.

Let me tell you something clearly.

Do not let someone else’s insecurities cancel your assignment.

Do not let someone else’s fear become your ceiling.

Every time someone tried to push me away, I built something stronger.

Every time someone underestimated me, I sharpened my vision.

Adversity in business is not a sign to quit. It is a sign you are moving.

If I had listened in that elevator, in that Zoom call, in that coffee shop, BetterALife would not exist.

And children would not be eating.

You can cry.

You can be embarrassed.

You can feel disappointed.

But you can not stop.

Because the dream in you is bigger than the doubt in them.

And when you know your why, no one gets to tell you to go away.

When you are feeling doubt, I encourage you to play and listen to You can't stop me.

Final Reflection

If you are in a season where doors feel closed, remember this:

Closed doors do not cancel calling.

Rejection does not reduce vision.

And resistance does not remove assignment.

The difference between those who plateau and those who expand is endurance.

So when the meeting ends abruptly.

When the partnership falls through.

When the room questions your intentions.

Stand firm.

Adjust your jacket.

Refocus your mission.

And move forward.

Because when purpose leads, doubt cannot win.

You Can’t Stop Me.