Life Wisdom from an Old School Mom with Lela Goodwin
This episode is a special treat because it features my mother, Lela Goodwin. This conversation features sharing her wisdom about practical and important life lessons. She has lived the full life as a mom, homemaker, entrepreneur, and matriarch. She keeps growing and being an example of how our journey continues to develop as we travel through our full life. You don’t want to miss a minute of this episode because she shares information that society and school often don’t tell you. She shares the truth and sheds light upon the mysteries of “adulting.” Don’t worry if you don’t identify as a woman, the added lessons that are specific to women will help you understand the women in your life (e.g. mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and co-workers) better.
What you’ll learn:
-Different identities of women
-What it’s like being a retired and an empty nester
-Balancing purpose and family
-The concept of having it all
-Burnout with special considerations for women
-Taking care of yourself vs. taking care of everybody else
Resources:
The Overwhelm Solution Blueprint by Dr. Ericka Goodwin: free ebook at www.overwhelmblueprint.com
Fix Your Fairytale: A woman’s guide to a great life, love, and legacy by Dr. Ericka Goodwin: www.FixYourFairytaleBook.com
Having It All: Black Women and Success by Veronica Chambers: https://www.amazon.com/Having-All-Black-Women-Success-ebook/dp/B000XUBFQK
About Lela:
My name is Lela M. Goodwin, and I am a problem solver. I am the fourth born of five children, two boys and three girls. I was born in DeSoto, MO and grew up in a Rolla, Mo which make me a small town in middle America girl. My mother worked as a day worker, cleaning homes for the local doctors and she would take me with her. The relationships developed during this time would later open opportunities for me that I would not have otherwise had access to.
As a young adult I spent my life as a wife and homemaker. I cooked, cleaned, sewed costumes, prom dresses, debutante cotillion dresses, was a room mother, chaperoned field trips, chauffeured to piano lessons, softball coach, was a swim team mom and loved every moment of it. I enjoyed making a home that allow my husband and daughter to be the best that they could be. Though I have been divorced more than twenty years, I think of that period as Lela 1.0. From that period in my life, I gave birth to and raised and amazing daughter and consider Lela 1.0 successful.
Now in my forties dressed in my banker’s blue suit, my business degree from the University of Missouri in my briefcase and my resume in hand, I was entering Lela 2.0, the employment world. After working for years in unfulfilling jobs and feeling undervalued, I was hired by INROADS, a coaching and development organization. When I left Inroads, I went to AT&T, where I managed customer service representatives and telecommunications technician. While at AT&T, I received the Network & Engineering Performance Award for my work on the build out of the internet network across the state of Texas. On November 2013, I retired from AT&T.
Since retirement, my passion for helping people make their lives better has not waned; therefore, I am embarking on Lela 3.0. I volunteer as a Tax Specialist with AARP Tax-Aide, and I work with the Board of Election Commission as an Election Judge. So far, I have coached a few people through getting their social security (SS) benefits, resolving economic issues, the best tax withholding selections now that they are receiving SS and still working. I also created an internship process for BYW Investment Advisors. I am looking forward to seeing where this next chapter takes me.
