Gloria Steinem has stated that “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” As a woman in America, I have many dreams that I would love to achieve. That is a prime reason why I decided to gain a higher education. In a world where gender inequality exists, it’s hard sometimes to keep those dreams afloat. It is a constant battle of trying to prove and succeed in a world that was not originally designed for women to pursue careers or hobbies outside of homemaking.

Being a woman, especially a minority woman in America is a challenge within itself. There are already misconceptions about minority women in the workforce. Not only are minority women doubted, we are also scrutinized whenever we want to push our businesses to the fullest potential.

Although that is a factor whenever we are trying to push through that glass ceiling, minority women are still succeeding and preserving. I have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful and successful minority women who are on the way to owing their own business or building a successful brand.

For example, my sorority sister, Ashley De La Mora is one of the most influential women I know. Even though she is not the same shade of brown as I am, I still identify with her on the fact that I am trying to build myself in my specific industry as a minority woman. In the time that I have gotten to know Ashley, I have noticed that she is hardworking and very humble. Her go-getter attitude is something that speaks volumes when she goes forward to do business.

She is working in the real estate industry as a bilingual mortgage loan officer for US Mortgage Corporation, an in-house lending company. When interviewing Ashley, I could hear much about her experiences and hear what inspired her to pursue her career. In December of 2016, after attaining her Masters’ Degree in Business Administration, she was able to gain a job with the mortgage company.

Something that was vastly different when Ashley was going through the process of interviewing for this position is that even though she wanted to make money she wanted to gain something more. “No matter what I just want to learn” Ashley stated. This desire to learn more about the industry is what drove her to go full force into this new passion. Whilst working in this new passion, she has been able to network and make connections with her clients as she guides them to financial security to get their dream home.

As a lender, she has worked with a lot of minorities, especially the Hispanic community. As she has grown in her career, she has been able to help many of her clients, as well as joining two boards for Real Estate and Business. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) and The Business Networking International board (BNI) both organizations are non- profit. These boards provide networking, educational and social opportunities.

Personally, being a college student and hearing her story really put things into perspective. And I had to ask her in all of this, “how do you face each obstacle that comes your way” because starting a career is not an easy feat. Ashley stated, “I pray, I ask God for everything”. That really hit home for me when she said that and then she continued to speak about how she uses words of affirmation and how she has trained her mind to continuously be positive. Currently, it is truly hard to keep a positive mindset and it was refreshing to hear.

As a minority women, we have obstacles against when we try to build ourselves in our careers. However, Ashley is a prime example that if one brown woman can do it and become successful than many brown women can go out and achieve.