S.O.S. Success over Statistics: I Choose!

By Nicole Gates

Shackled to my circumstances, I was the perfect storm plagued by crisis... Divorcee, Single Mother, Living Paycheck to Paycheck, No Support System, Unfamiliar Territory! I made a choice! I am not a statistic! I found my purpose, my gift, my walk in life and set out to build a legacy that would leave my mark on this world. Poised for greatness, I defeated the odds by understanding that I CHOOSE... Success over Statistics! This is my legacy in the making!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463438012

Nicole Gates

Nicole Gates Catalyst, Trendsetter, Trailblazer, Humanitarian and Philanthropist, who resides in Memphis TN. Nicole's hobbies include photography, graphic designer, event planning, listening to music, traveling, entertaining and scrapbooking. Nicole is the proud unapologetically single mother of four beautiful daughters Yolanda (21), Savanna (11), and twins Brooklyn & Bheanna (6). As a mother Nicole strives to be a living legacy for her daughters. She enjoys sharing cultural events, watching movies, Mommy/Daughter Spa nights Weekend Retreats and Traveling with her “leading ladies” as she loving refers to them. Nicole is the Owner of More Than A Memory events, a premiere theme event planning service and the Founder of the Infant Mortality Force of Memphis a grassroots education and awareness organization. Nicole is serving currently as the Shelby County Office of Early Childhood & Youth Campaign Coordinator for “All Babies Count” and “Ask first?” campaigns and Emerging Coordinator of Project Single Moms Memphis. Nicole is described by her colleagues as a supermom… Driven, enthusiastic, humble and an inspiration to everyone she has contact with. Nicole describes herself as a Woman of Possibilities, Purpose and Power. Recognized on many levels for her stellar community grassroots efforts including; 2008 & 2009 March of Dimes Lay Health Advisor of the Year, 2010 Frayser High School Inspiration in Action recipient, 2010 Dress for Success Memphis & Worldwide Community Action Project 1st Place Honoree, Volunteer Mid-South's Adult Volunteer of the Year Nominee, MPACT Memphis' Community Involvement Soul of the City Honoree, Ordinary People Magazine's Servant Award Honoree, 2010 BET Black Girl Rocks Memphis Honoree, 2010 Agent of Change Nominee, 2010 Congregation Health Promoter Champion, 2011 “A” Game Honoree, 2011 Women's Foundation of Greater Memphis Legends Nominee, 2011 Women of Excellence Honoree, 2011 Presidential Citizen Award Nominee and 2011 Jefferson Award Nominee. Nicole's face has graced the cover and has been included as a feature in many media outlets; Print: Diva by Design, Skirt Magazine, Memphis Woman Magazine, Ordinary People Magazine, Tri-State Defender, Commercial Appeal, RSVP Magazine, VIP Magazine; TV: Good Morning Memphis, ABC24 Midday Day News, On Cable Tonight, The Loretta McNary Show; Radio: The Pulse, WDIA, V101, Hallelujah 95.7, WRUG. Nicole is a champion for professional development and leadership adding to her repertoire Graduate of Leadership Memphis Grassroots and Fastrack Programs, Certified Community Voice Lay Health Advisor & Ambassador for the March of Dimes, Nationally Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and Certified in Infant/Child CPR, Certified Parents as Teachers Advocate, Nationally Certified Character Counts! Trainer, In addition, Ms. Gates is the Memphis Coordinator of Project Single Moms and as the National Government Affairs Coordinator for Project Single Moms Worldwide, Inc. she serves on the Fetal Infant Mortality Review, as the Church Health Center Faith Communities Steering Committee Coordinator and Memphis Teen Vision partner. Nicole Gates lives by the motto: To whom much is given, much is required. She feels honored to be able to serve her community and make an impact on the lives of Memphians! Nicole's mantra “Real Change is an Inside Job…CHANGE Has NO Season”

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© 2011 Nicole Gates. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 8/11/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3800-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3802-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3801-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914256

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1. DEFINE ME!

Chapter 2. THE GOOD IN MEMPHIS

Chapter 3. FOREWORD

Chapter 4. SHARE!

Chapter 5. LIVE!

Chapter 6. INSPIRE!

Chapter 7. IMPACT!

Chapter 8. GIVE!

Chapter 9. LEAD!

Chapter 10. BE ORDINARY ME!

Chapter 11. SUCCEED!

Chapter 12. RULE!

Chapter 13. THRIVE!

Chapter 14. ROCK!

Chapter 15. CHAMPION!

Chapter 16. DESIGN!

Chapter 17. CHANGE!

Chapter 18. FOLLOW MY HEART!

Chapter 19. EMPOWER!

Chapter 20. POSSIBILITIES!

Chapter 21. A GAME!

Chapter 22. BE A LEGEND!

Chapter 23. EXCELLENCE!

Chapter 24. KINDLE!

Chapter 25. T.A.G.!

Chapter 26. COUNT!

Chapter 27. HOPE DREAM LIVE!

Chapter 28. SURVIVE

I CHOOSE TO

DEFINE ME!

success [səksзs]

n

1. The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted:

a. The gaining of fame or prosperity

b. The extent of such gain.

2. the attainment of wealth, fame, etc.

3. an action, performance, etc., that is characterized by success

4. a person or thing that is successful

5. Obsolete any outcome

Success finds you, when you position yourself to be found.

OR

statistics [stə tistiks]

n

1. the classification and interpretation of such data in accordance with probability theory and the application of methods such as hypothesis testing to them

Acknowledgements

My A Team: My Mother Susan Gates, Father Alvin Gates, Sister Krista Barnett, Uncle J.D. Lowe, Aunt Pat Lowe, Dr. Mwaya Wa Kitavi

My Leading Ladies: Yolanda (21), Savanna (11), Brooklyn & Bheanna (6) my inspiration to succeed & defy the odds.

My Lights: Sheila Coates, Stephanie Clark, Nika Jackson, Doris Lee, Peggie Russell & Ruby Tate

TODAY, I CHOOSE!

Classification, Analysis, Interpretation, Theories of Probability….Statistics!

84, 45, 27, 23.5 the percentages of Memphis single mothers who are divorcees living at or below poverty level, using government assistance to supplement employment income…Statistics!

Single Mother of 4, Divorcee, Foreign Territory, No support system, living paycheck to paycheck… from 2006-2009 by definition, I was a Statistic!

Well, I don’t have a fairy tale story about the path to my achievements. I with the help of GOD designed with purpose my life… a Woman of Possibilities, Purpose and Power! A woman, daughter, mother, sister, entrepreneur, published author, advocate, lay health advisor, facilitator, teacher, volunteer, founder, chair, campaign coordinator, trailblazer, philanthropist topped with a strong desire for something better, something bigger and the opportunity to learn something new! A woman that had to rise from the ashes in my life…a polished GEM! A woman that had to learn that success is the best revenge and that failure was never to be an option! A woman who’d reign a victor and not a victim.

The epiphany: I was cheating myself, my children and my community! I knew I had untapped talents, values, and desires that could take me to