We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Valencia Griswold. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Valencia below.

Hi Valencia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents instilled a lot of wisdom in me at a young age. But, the most impactful lesson they taught me was to be grateful. As a child, I would complain about what I did not have. My parents, my mom, in particular, would say: “Valencia, you’re being ungrateful; stop that.”.

As an adult, when I catch myself grumbling about life, I look and observe where I was five years ago and compare that life to where I am now, and I remember to “stop that.” And to be grateful. Five years ago, I dreamt about the lifestyle I have now; I wasn’t living. But, by the grace of God and my parent’s wisdom, now I am.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Hi, I am a Kansas City, Mo native – well, I grew up in South KC. I love assisting others, so I try my best to stay active in the community. I am also an Engineer for a Financial Service company’s IT department. When I am not working or designing websites, I am usually with friends, family, or by myself. I love visiting local coffee shops and catching up on my favorite Netflix series. And I think I listen to music at least 90% of the day. Oh, and I have a dog; he’s nuts. That’s a quick overview of me.

How did I get to where I am today? During college, I grasped a niche in front-end development/website design. I found that I have an eye for color coordination and alignment and that I am detailed oriented. Also, I am good at bringing written ideas to life. I am also highly interested in how a website displays information and how a website is configured. Front-end development/website design is exciting to me. Lastly, I’ve had several conversations with family members and people I have met about my career choice, which motivated me to continue my journey.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Doubt. Do not allow it to creep in – this is to whoever is reading this piece of the article. Seriously, doubt will have you second-guessing your abilities, and imposter syndrome will kick in. Doubt can come from your thoughts, but I found that most of my doubt used to stem from others’ opinions. When I learned how to let their views roll off my shoulders, I quickly grew the confidence I needed to step outside my comfort zone. The only being that knows what is good for me is God. So, I’ve learned to seek the proper instructions to move forward and how to weed out negative criticism from positive criticism.

So to fully answer your question: Have I ever unlearned a lesson? No, because every lesson I’ve learned helped build my character – As a business owner, friend, and woman.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Simply having the opportunity to exercise my gifts to enhance other people’s success. Nothing more and nothing less.

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