At 27, she walked into a Pawn shop for the first time, laying down her bag of jewelry on the glass table. The musky and stale odor was utterly foreign to her. “The male Rolex I will come back for in 3 months. Please do not sell it,” she declared.
In her last “This Little Girl” post, she talked about how she overcame her challenges because girls should never underestimate themselves. She mentioned beating all odds to head up an international firm and foraging into a brand-new country at 29. But she skipped the part of what she had experienced 2 years prior. She saw everything she thought they owned being hauled off, including the BMW her partner was always so proud of. She became numb, and her baby was not even one year old.
Rent was up, and their joint account had only $118. Parting with the Rolex, her partner had completely broken down. The one thing that he thought represented his success. She was taught to stand by her man no matter the situation. She took enough loans to pay off the credit card debt that had compounded before their relationship but apparently there were more he didn’t divulge to her.
She took the first job offered with no relevant experience in that field; that fact is only known to her. She worked hard and fast to adapt, and she ultimately got good enough to convince her boss to let her start a new division with a different working model in which she actually had experience. In not three but four months, she saved enough money to retrieve the Rolex. The loans were paid back slowly in full after five years by herself. Needless to say, she also chose to bring up her son alone.
“It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters.” She ultimately continued her global career undeterred, living in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and now Singapore.
The journey of life will continuously surprise us. How we perceive and handle these surprises will shape our character. What causes one person to see only obstacles and another as opportunities? It boils down to the mindset. Our mindset guides our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It can change us from potential defeatists to someone who pushes on. A growth mindset can be trained and require practice. We have more control over our future than we think.
Why am I sharing this story? Because #thislittlegirlisme.
My advice to all the other little girls remains the same; never underestimate what you are made of; the future is not defined by anything but you. Your mindset is what's going to set you apart from the rest. Start training!
Do join the #thislittlegirlisme, thank you Miriam Gonzalez Durantez and her team at #InspiringGirlsInternational. Let’s flood social media with female role models!!!
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