It was 9 a.m., and a 31-year-old appliance company account executive sat in the Whole Foods parking lot in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on a conference call to hear who would be nominated for Account Executive of the Year.
After being eligible for the award for a few years, she knew that her hard work would finally pay off.
It was the height of the recession at the time, and she did everything she could to stand out.
She came up with innovative ways to expand her territory along with taking the initiative to enroll in culinary school to better demonstrate food and appliances to her clients.
“The Account Executive of the Year nominees are …”
Shemeka Wilson wasn’t called.
That was the moment when she said “Enough is enough.”
“They don’t appreciate my efforts, and if I wait on someone else to appreciate what I do, I’ll be old and gray, so enough is enough,” she said to herself.
The account executive then decided she would soon put in her resignation with a company she was with for almost eight years and worked her way up the ranks. Days later, she sat in Starbucks to have a work review with her boss over the phone.
Shemeka, a.k.a. Meka, received “exceeds expectations” on everything noted on the checklist. After being praised for her hard work, her boss never imagined what would happen next.
“Shemeka, is there anything you need to talk about?”
“Yeah, I’m leaving.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take a leave of absence?”
“No, I’m done.”
She was officially gone a month later and spent six months as a business development manager for a former client, which wasn’t fulfilling. After a conversation with her boyfriend, now fiancé, about stepping out of her comfort zone, Meka decided to quit that job and rebuild her life in Atlanta.
The unknown was scary, and Meka was filled with self doubt. Yet, she moved with a bucket list in hand and a mission to “be in the moment” since she was no longer bound by corporate emails and reports.
“I started at the bottom again, and I started being a server at Houston’s,” Meka said.
It was confusing to some as to why someone who worked her way up the corporate ladder would restart at the bottom, but that didn’t faze her because she was determined to succeed.
After two months, she had marked becoming a bartender off the list along with catering. The chef began catering for a high-end appliance company and a high-end, renowned designer in Midtown. Culinary school re-awakened her passion for cooking, so she was excited to see where it would take her.
She later left Houston’s and pursued catering full time. After a few months, she started working full time at another well-respected restaurant where leadership roles were offered. Instead of taking on those roles, Meka decided to focus on another bucket list item.
“One day it came to me, ‘you need to do real estate,’” she said.
Meka always had an interest in real estate and thought that would be her way out of corporate America. She signed up for an online real estate course but was shortly relocated, which put that goal on hold for years.
Other opportunities have presented themselves including catering for Jenn-Air. That was a “full circle moment” because she used to hire chefs for their events even while she was wishing she was the chef being hired.
“These are really big aha moments for me that I know what I’m talking about, that I am enough and other people can appreciate who I am and trust me,” Meka said.
Meka wants to continue to flourish in both the culinary and real estate industries. She also wants to build a brand that will one day take her to television. Meka knows her journey hasn’t been easy, but she’s appreciative for the challenges now because she’s able to look back and see how they helped her grow.
Her advice to individuals wanting to pursue their dreams is simple:
“Scared money don’t make money.” She adds, “You can be scared and be stuck or you can be courageous to do what you really want to do.”
Caleb Britt 