Featured Member – Vickie Minnella

My entrepreneurial journey is much like the laundry—never completely finished or caught up and sometimes it actually stinks. But after I wash it out, throw it through the rinse cycle and add the fabric softener, the freshness invigorates me and I’m ready all over again. I’ve heard fresh-smelling clothes described as the sign of a job well done.

I love being an entrepreneur. I love the idea that if I can think it, I can do it. If I feel led to take my business a certain way, I cut a new path and make it happen. I love the flexibility of scheduling and working around my children as well. As a mother of three very active children, I am sometimes exhausted trying to work more than full time, go to school full time, serve as the PTA president for a new school, coach cheerleading and raise my kids in a loving home.

Angela Thomas, Christian speaker and author of “My Single Mom Life,” serves as a huge inspiration to me and a key to my desire to press through. Her story has been a great influence in my life and motivated me to write my book and love my life, even as a single mom.

I started Beyond Walls to help people organize their lives to reach their full potential. We strive to create a simplified living space and set goals based on the client’s strengths while incorporating organizational skills to enable them to live the life in which they were designed to live.

There is a completeness that I feel when things are in order and goals are written down. I want to pass that on to others so they can experience the same type of peace that I crave. I have a systematic approach to developing and accomplishing goals and want others, especially busy women, in on the process.

I launched Beyond Walls with much research and training seminars. I joined a few reputable national organizations that helped me network with other like minded individuals and learn from their experiences. Then, I took the plunge. I said good-bye to logging ‘jail hours’ in the corporate world and decided to make every moment productive (not just my 7am-4pm required hours).

I’ll admit, it is quite scary sometimes being the sole source of income for myself and three little people, but it makes me work even harder. I know what I have to make every month and I let God direct me in the direction to accomplish that. He has yet to let me down.

For me, one of my biggest challenges of entrepreneurship is the start-up mode. The times I have to do without some of the things I like, or take income from odds & ends jobs to maintain this dream.  It is a building process and sometime this impatient little girl gets frustrated and wants more result than ‘climb’ and developing of character.

But like many others I’m used to challenges, having seen my share of life trials.  A major accident in 2002 left me in ICU with little hopes of surviving and if I had, doctors said I would remain in a wheel chair for the rest of my life due to a broken back and level three lacerated liver and concussion. I’ve also suffered the loss of a baby, and battled cancer while going through a divorce which leaves me raising 3 children single-handedly.

I have since gone on to build my own house, buy my own car, and put myself through school for an undergraduate degree that will be completed in less than six months and thanks to my almost 4.0 GPA, I will also be able to complete an accelerated masters degree beginning in April 2011.

My faith in God has been the driving force behind the survival as well as the success. There are days that I do not feel as motivated as others, but for the most part, I look at the list I have created (My Business Plan for my Life) daily and remind myself that if I have made it this far, there is a reason I am on this earth and I have to make it count.

I remain on my knees and crave the path God has for me.

My big dreams for the future? I hope to meet people all over the nation and beyond to inspire them to live each day with a passion and crave the direction and blessings of God. I want to be a well- known author, speaker and life coach leading people to the Father for their direction.

I would love to establish an organization for pre-teen girls to develop their self-confidence and educate them on the realities of the world in a Christian atmosphere. Also a group for mothers of this age group, where they can connect and be encouraged. I want to tour all over the USA and form these groups. During my freshman year of high school, I spent time on a feeding tube due to anorexia. My recovery led me to love leadership roles and to want to reach out to others. I feel I can contribute to other girls in this age group. I also see, now as a mother of 6 and 10 year old girls, the support needed for mothers as well.

Vickie Minnella is the Founder and President of Beyond Walls, L.L.C. Her company has taught many people how to organize their lives and find motivation through a systematic approach. She believes education and a strong faith in God for direction are two of the most important factors to living a healthy life. Vickie is a cancer survivor and raises her children single handedly by using her own motivational techniques and inner caffeine to get the most Rock-Star out of everyday. Visit her website at www.thinkbeyondwalls.com.