NC IDEA reposted this
I got my NC IDEA name badge this week. And the first thing it made me think about was my Winn Dixie name tag from 2013. Thirteen years apart. Two very different roles. The same throughline running straight through the middle of both of them. At 14 years old, while bagging groceries and pushing carts, I was also learning something I didn't have language for yet — that showing up for people, consistently and without fanfare, is its own kind of service. The customers I remembered by name. The coworkers I checked on. The small moments that made someone's errand feel a little more human. I didn't know I was building a career philosophy. I thought I was just doing my job. But every role since then has been a variation of the same thing. Education. Community development. Workforce support. Consulting. And now, a month later at NC IDEA Foundation, where I've brought my passion of service to supporting entrepreneurs across the state of North Carolina. The badge changed. The mission didn't. Thirteen years of showing up for people. Of choosing public service over the easier path. Of building community in every room I've been given access to. This name badge means something to me — not because of the company name on it, but because of everything I know it took to get here. Here's to my next chapter. And to every name badge that came before it. 🤍 #PublicService #CommunityBuilder #Entrepreneurship #BuildingInPublic