LESSONS ON TRANSFORMATION

Wing Tips!

"A Life Worth Living"

Sometimes I hear people talk about that fifth grade teacher, first boss or some other person who impacted them in a way that changed their lives forever. For me, that person was my mentor Jo Groomes. We lost Jo a few days ago and yesterday we celebrated her life through our tears with music and beautiful memories.

I started this weekly Wing Tips newsletter to inspire you and keep you excited and encouraged about transformation. So it feels appropriate for me to dedicate this week’s issue to Jo because of the way she helped transform my life. I was honored to speak at her funeral and the following is what I said in remembrance of the woman who impacted my life so profoundly:

“It’s hard to say goodbye to Jo but it’s really easy to remember her. In fact, it’s an honor to do so because Jo lived a life worth living – a meaningful, purposeful, impactful life that touched the lives of so many women. And I’m one of those women.

Sometimes people come into your life in a way that changes you forever and once God connected me to Jo, I was literally never the same. I met her in 1997 when she hired me as her executive assistant after Martha Gantt. Working for Jo was the first time I experienced true mentorship. We had such a special bond from the beginning and I didn’t know it but my life was about to change forever.

You see, Jo believed in me before I believed in myself, and she trusted me and she helped me grow. Now don’t get me wrong, she was supportive but also feisty so I did what she told me to do. One of those things was to go back to school. When I started working for her, I had earned a ton of college credit hours but no earned credential, no college degree. Jo made me go back to school and finish my degree. I say it that way because I always joke when I tell this story because I don’t recall it being a choice. It was more of a mandate, “You’re going to finish college” . . . and so I did, and I was the first person in my family to go to college . . . and it was because of Jo.

That was the beginning of so many other things that happened in my career, many while Jo was still serving as my vice president at Piedmont Technical College. She was so selfless. She allowed me to make mistakes and learn and one time she told me, “I knew I was eventually going to lose you.” What she meant is that she was willing to let me go in order for me to grow. She gave me wings. It’s like she never just thought about herself. It always seemed to bring her the greatest joy to see her mentees grow and thrive in their careers and lives.

I say “mentees” because I’m not the only one. There are many of us out here. What Jo did for me, she did for many others. My friend Fran Wiley and I talk about Jo in that way all the time. In fact, we lovingly refer to her as “Mama Jo” because of the way she loved on us and mentored us – always with such class, always modeling the way we should carry ourselves as educated, professional women. She set the bar high and so much of the way we lead, the way we treat others in the workplace, the things we do and say . . . it all goes back to Jo Groomes.

To sum it up, Jo had a way of believing in you before you believed in yourself and that continued into her later years. We kept in touch. She was saavy with Facebook and Facebook Messenger so that’s where continued to share our special moments. We stayed connected as recently as last year . . . and she was still mentoring me and loving me. She told me how proud she was of me, and she continued to congratulate me on accomplishments and share updates about her family . . . and I continued to thank her and appreciate her and honor her.

And I will continue to do that. I will continue to honor Jo’s memory by helping other women believe in themselves and become the best version of themselves . . . and I will continue to tell them about this little lady who lived a big, impactful life . . . Mary Jo Groomes . . . Mama Jo.”

Thank you Jo.

###

Wing Tips is a weekly e-mail from Dr. Knowles to keep you inspired and empowered to transform your life! For more information, visit MatteelSpeaks.com