Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women

By J.Q. Rose

Do you dream about what you want to be when you grow up?
Meet sixteen contemporary women who had ambitious dreams when they were girls.
Find out how they made those dreams come true. Their stories assure you that your dream career can come true too!

Readers cheer for these incredible women as they overcome obstacles and crash through barriers to complete their goals. Join these hard-working women during a typical workday. Learn about the achievements they have reached in their chosen careers.

Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women includes stories about 21st-century women who have discovered cures to stamp out disease, made people laugh, earned Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, crossed the country behind the wheel of an 18-wheel semi-truck and more. Meet the people who mentored these dreamers and helped them negotiate the curves and bumps along the way.

Girls Succeed! suggests resources related to each occupation so girls can dive deeply into the career and get to know about the woman's life. The inspiring quotes at the beginning of each chapter encourage girls to work toward making their dream careers come true.

The Girls Succeed Reader's Guide, included in this book, suggests project and discussion ideas for classroom teachers and home-school educators to expand on themes covered in the book such as trailblazers, feeling different, persistence and more.

Author J.Q. Rose uses her experience as a classroom teacher and her storytelling skills as an author to inspire girls to Dream Big!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.Q. Rose
• Release date: Aug 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781386126058

J.Q. Rose

Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is “focused on the story.”  She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery books. Using her storytelling skills, she provides entertainment and information in articles featured in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines. J.Q. taught elementary school for several years and never lost the love for teaching passed down from her teacher grandmother and mother. She satisfies that aspect of her character by presenting workshops on Creative Writing and Writing Your Life Story.  When J.Q. is not reading or writing, she enjoys photography, playing Pegs and Jokers board games, and traveling with her husband. They spend winters in Florida and summers up north camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.

Book preview

Girls Succeed!

Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women

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J.Q. Rose

Copyright 2021 J.Q. Rose

All rights reserved. This book is licensed for your enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

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Image for cover art courtesy of Pixabay

Photos are courtesy of the women interviewed unless otherwise noted.

DISCLAIMER

The resources and website addresses (URLs) included in this book were valid when published. However, because of the constant evolvement of the Internet, it is possible that some website addresses have changed, or sites have closed since publication.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

DEDICATION

To my daughters, Sara and Lee Ann,

I have been blessed to watch you grow from little girls into

smart, successful women

who are making unique contributions to our world.

To my granddaughter, Aubrey, Dream BIG.

You can do it!

Love always,

oxoxoxox

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Heartfelt thanks to the marvelous women who took the time to share their stories with me. Each one of them did so because they wanted to empower girls to make their dreams come true.

Thank you to the Koffee Kuppe Writers, the Fremont Library Writers Group and to the Children’s Nonfiction Online Writers who helped to nurture and shape these stories for the readers.

Many thanks to all the girls who read and offered feedback on the stories and to those who took the time to suggest careers for the book. Appreciation is extended to Wendy Sinicki, Christy Huisjen Erickson and Sandra Cox for editing and to teachers Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Blamer, Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Creemer who shared the stories with their students.

Review for Girls Succeed!

This is a wonderful book. It contains the stories of several women in many walks of life who have pursued their dreams and succeeded in reaching them... I'm pursuing my dream of writing and being published, and even I found it inspiring and empowering. Thanks, Ms. Rose—Review by Rochelle Weber, Roses and Thorns Reviews

Contents

CHAPTER 1 PATI PIERUCCI, HORSE TRAINER AND COMPETITIVE RIDER 

CHAPTER 2 MACKENZIE WOODRING, WORLD AND NATIONAL CHAMPION CYCLIST 

CHAPTER 3 JANE STROSCHIN, CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHOR AND ARTIST 

CHAPTER 4 CATHERINE (CATE) BRADLEY, MEDICAL DOCTOR 

CHAPTER 5 SUE CHEF, COOKING PROFESSIONAL

CHAPTER 6 DIANA STONEBERG, GADGET GRRL, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT, SPEAKER, FILMMAKER 

CHAPTER 7 THE REVEREND LAURIE HALLER, CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

CHAPTER 8 SHARON LOVING, HORTICULTURALIST

CHAPTER 9 DR. JUANITA MERCHANT, MEDICAL SCIENTIST 

CHAPTER 10 ANGELA RUGGIERO, OLYMPICS GOLD MEDAL WINNER IN WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY 

CHAPTER 11 BARB TOTTEN, SEMI-TRUCK DRIVER

CHAPTER 12 BARBARA CHILES, PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR 

CHAPTER 13 LENAIR CORRELL, SOCIAL WORKER

CHAPTER 14 VERONICA BOSGRAAF, ENTREPRENEUR

CHAPTER 15 BRENDA FLOWER MARSHALL, PROFESSIONAL CLOWN 

CHAPTER 16 STACY FLANERY, ATTORNEY AT LAW

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: J.Q. Rose

THE READER’S GUIDE

THEMES

PROJECTS

CHAPTER 1 PATI PIERUCCI, HORSE TRAINER AND COMPETITIVE RIDER

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.—Henry David Thoreau

Pati Pierucci

Photo Courtesy of Judy Woodruff

True Love

Pati Perucci and her pearl-white horse, Idilio, waited in the center of the horse arena. Seventeen thousand pairs of eyes watched from the stands. Everyone anticipated Pati and Idilio’s first performance in the Gran Prix, the highest level of presentation in dressage competition.

Pati’s heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest.  She licked her lips and moved her shoulders to keep them loose.

This first appearance with her strong stallion was scary enough, but the delay made her nerves scream. She did not want to get too anxious because her horse would pick up on her nervousness and become uneasy.

Dressage is a French word that means training. The rider uses her hands, legs and weight to guide the horse through a series of intricate moves. The horse and rider seem to become one moving from one task to another flawlessly. The beauty and grace in the dressage movements performed by the horse and rider during the competition can be compared to watching figure skating, ballet or gymnastics.

Pati learned the levels of movement in dressage from talented teachers. She and Idilio had practiced for hours and hours to improve their skills for competitions. They advanced to the elite status in dressage which qualified them to perform in this prestigious show.

The Journey to the Competition

We can wait, can’t we, boy? We’re ready. Pumping up Idilio’s spirit helped to make the waiting endurable.

She turned Idilio and let him walk a few more paces to keep his strong muscles loose, just enough so that Idilio would be ready, but not tired.

She rubbed her hand along his neck speaking in a soothing voice.

Idilio, how did we ever get to this amazing competition?

Trying to curb her nerves, Pati turned her thoughts to the first time she rode a horse. She relaxed a bit as she remembered her old neighborhood located near the horse stable. Her mother signed up Pati and her oldest sister for riding lessons. Her sister lost interest, but Pati fell in love with horses after her first lesson at Winnie Stables in Kentucky.

Pati’s heart soared with joy when the owner gave her the job of exercising the horses and taking care of them every day after school. The work was hard, but she loved the horses and took on the responsibility of feeding, watering, grooming, cleaning out the horse stalls and adding fresh straw for bedding. After a year working in the stables, she started riding and showing the owner’s horses in the shows.

Later, at Barclay Farms in New Jersey, Pati galloped racehorses every morning. As head instructor, she gave riding lessons at the farm. Her interest in horses and farm operations led her