We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carmen Greenard-Varnum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Carmen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?
I started working my first job at the age of 16 at Krystal’s fast foods. I was trying to save some money my senior year of high school before leaving in the fall for college. I was raised in foster care and later adopted. Life for me wasn’t easy by no means. I was determined to make something out of myself to have a stable life. While attending my first year in college, I loved to sing so I auditioned with the music professor to join the choir in the hopes to obtain some scholarship funds. Well it worked and I got a partial scholarship. I was able to get financial aid, Pell grant, I also had work study and a small student loan.
I really enjoyed singing with the choir which was a huge thing at this HBCU college. Later that year commencement for the senior class was approaching. I was asked to perform a selection. So prior to I had to rehearse with my music professor.
One afternoon while in practice he attempted to kiss me while sitting on the piano and I pulled away and left the room. Upon final exam time I was asked to come to the business office because I had a final past due balance.
Come to find out he took my partial scholarship away. I had no one to fight for me not even my adoptive parents.
So I really had no choice but to leave and come back to Atlanta.
Moving forward I got my second job working at a K-Mart as a cashier. I worked there four years got married had my first child while there within the four years.
Later I decided that I needed more money. Of course I had no college degree, I was still determined.
I applied with a Bank and eventually got the job starting in Collections.
While working there I found opportunities to move up within taking courses online. I moved up within from Collections, lost cards representative and finally in a branch as a Personal Banker. I worked in Corporate Banking for 10 years due to a Bank merger it was time to move on.
Even though throughout my life the struggle was real, I never gave up.
I was told about a Job fair at a hospital by one of my customers who was a doctor. We had discussed what was happening within the banking industry and he suggested I attend an upcoming Job fair.
Well that following week I put on my navy blue suit and went.
I got a job offer the same day in the business office in accounting.
I worked in the Healthcare Financial Services for 25 years working with four different hospitals.
My life came to a screeching halt
October 17,2018. There was a desk in my office with a defective desk drawer. There was a metal rod that was bent sticking out and they never removed it after it was reported. That morning as I was standing near. I turned to walk out my office and the piece of metal caught the shin of my leg and I flipped over to the floor. This freak accident caused me four surgeries.
I had surgery to my shin in ER later to get infected and had to go back then follow up with a plastic surgeon. My knee had to be scoped of loose cartilage and knee cap had to be reset. Rotator cuff surgery to fix my shoulder and had bone shavings. My husband passed away between the surgeries to COVID. I caught as well. Later to go back to have a total knee replacement at the age of 55 due to the damage of my knee.
During my surgeries from an inside source at my job. I received a call to immediately file for my FMLA because my job was going to figure out a way to fire me. The moral of this story is whenever you file for workmen’s compensation you become a liability on these jobs. They don’t care how many years you have given them. You can always at any time be replaced.
That phone call saved me and all my needs were met before eventually resigning. I left on my terms not there’s.
Find your purpose in life! Figure out other ways to provide for yourself.
It’s unfortunate of the things I’ve endured in life but nobody but GOD covered me and kept me.
I finally figured things out an became Entrepreneur using the gifts God had given me.
God bless
Carmen Greenard- Varnum
Author, Motivational Speaker, Caterer, Event Coordinator and Mother of an NFL Player- Momanger
Carmen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
How I became an Entrepreneur, I learned how to cook at a young age in foster care. Later in life my passion grew in that area. My family and friends loved my cooking because I cook with love and passion. I was asked to cook for a birthday party of 50 and it was a success.
The calls started coming by word of mouth and it started from there 10 years ago. My largest group I cater for is 200 guest.
I wrote my first book after the passing of my husband last year. It’s a memoir of my life from foster care to now. The book is on Amazon.com called BY HIS GRACE HERE I AM.
A follow up journal as well called
MY NEW NORMAL There’s life after death.
My editor became my agent and she started booking speaking engagements. I love what I’m doing.
I’ve found my purpose in life.
God bless🙏
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I never gave up because God never gave up on me. I have so many guardian angel experiences that continued to give me hope in spite of my dark moments in life. I’m a strong woman and my faith kept me believing in myself.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
There are still good people in this world. Everyone is not out to do you harm. However, I asked God to give me more discernment dealing with people that’s not supposed to be in my life. Remove them and keep them away!
Contact Info:
- Facebook: Carmen Greenard Varnum
- Youtube: Carmen Greenard Varnum
Image Credits
Photographer David Price