“When I was at my worst, I felt like I was in a sea of darkness. I held onto a little bit of light, and I looked into it, and it grew bigger. Everyone has that. So, no one should ever give up. You have a reason and a purpose.”
For years Carolyn* yearned for a consistent career, but going to school for a four-year degree in psychology took too long for her goals.
She loved working with people, and with her associate degree in psychology, she decided to work as a paraprofessional, which is similar to being a therapist but without the full credential.
She quickly burnt out with the hours. Exhausted, she decided to work at a pet store. For seven years she also provided dog-sitting services for supplemental income.
“Fortunately, I had financial support… But I was relying on my parents and my boyfriend. I don’t have independence or my own money. I wanted to make my own money again. I needed to be more independent and build a future that is not reliant on someone else.”
In 2019, Carolyn’s sister enrolled in Fresh Start’s Techie Lab program and participated in several other programs hosted at Fresh Start’s center in downtown Phoenix.
“I thought the courses she was taking were so cool. I came here (to the center) for Fresh Start’s Celebration of Success, and they had a Women in Finance speaker, so I investigated the program. I applied and six months later, I got in.”
Carolyn saw her future career aligning in front of her eyes during the Women in Finance (WIF) program. She had always been interested in finance, but she didn’t have the financial literacy needed for a career in that field. The WIF program taught her the finance industry basics she needed and as part of the class, she updated her resume, learned how to interview successfully, and was introduced to potential hiring managers.
“Women in Finance helped me get started. I changed banks, I learned about credit, budgeting, the fundamentals.”
After graduating from WIF, Carolyn felt most passionate about the securities side of the financial industry.
“I realized I wanted something more specific in banking. In the finance industry, there are so many pathways. It accommodates different personalities, and I wanted to go into security.”
Carolyn enrolled in Fresh Start’s Security Industry Essentials (SIE) cohort to expand her knowledge of a niche area within finance. During SIE, she also enrolled in Fresh Start’s Personal Empowerment Series to further identify her personal and career goals.
While in the cohort, she learned about the role of securities professionals, the laws and regulations of financial advisors, how to make investments, and leverage her personal income to get her money working for her.
“This course is like someone offering you a vehicle that can take you to different places in life. I have access to the world now. It’s like, before I had a car, and now I have an airplane. I can go further and not be limited.”
Even though Carolyn felt like she was soaring during SIE, she still ran into challenges along the way.
“I had to drive from Goodyear for class, and I get very stimulated by noises, light, and loudness, so it’s stressful for me to drive. It exhausted me, but being at Fresh Start was always a positive experience.”
She also faced unexpected sickness at the beginning of SIE which was a rarity for her. Even though it would’ve been easy to quit and take a later course, Carolyn continued to attend class.
SIE also gave her the opportunity to reteach herself how to learn new skills in a quick and intense timeline.
“I’ve had difficult classes before, but this was hard… This was different because they hold your hand in grade school and high school, but to pass our SIE exam, we had to work with real people and real money.”
Carolyn felt confident, and on the road to success, which she defined as being physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy. She never took her overall health for granted after struggling with an eating disorder in her teens and early 20s.
“It led to a lot of physical health issues. My joints constantly pop. I damaged a lot of my teeth. The last time I hit rock bottom, I realized I had to save myself.”
At one point, Carolyn’s health had gotten so bad that her body was skeletal, and she had to go to the hospital.
“I realized I would die. Living through those experiences and the way I thought, I realized I was killing myself. I was going to die, and I was thinking about what would happen after. I was very suicidal at that time.”
For a decade she had three panic attacks a day that she couldn’t overcome on her own. She turned to psychologists for help, and she knew then that she didn’t want to die.
“I started slow, and I got better, little by little. So, success for me is to be healthy and balanced.”
With the SIE course under her belt, Carolyn was most proud of completing her goal of finishing a hard course and learning how to interview.
“That was really big for me. Before, everything felt accidentally absorbed because I have a good memory. So, I learned how to learn.”
She recommends Fresh Start to women looking to be met where they currently are at in their personal and professional journeys.
“Even if you feel like you can’t do the program, Fresh Start helps build your self-esteem. If you need help being empowered, they have their pillars. Wherever you’re at, Fresh Start will meet you and help you get to your next step.”
She hopes that other women continue to fight for their goals and dreams, even when it feels like they could be out of reach.
“Sometimes you don’t see the result until the thousandth step. Sometimes people give up because they have unrealistic expectations about results, how fast they’re going to come, but it’s about sitting down and being patient and reevaluating your course. Just keep the goal in mind. You’re going to get there one day.”
Thanks to her time with Fresh Start, Carolyn was reinvigorated on her journey to self-sufficiency and excited to begin her new career.
“Working with Fresh Start reminded me that I can accomplish my goals if I take them one step at a time. I struggled for so long, my body and spirit were tired. I just wanted to get a job, eat, and be happy. I still wanted certain things for my future, but I assumed they were insurmountable. Fresh Start really helped me see the staircase to the next step.”