Mahisha Dellinger - Against All Odds: From the Projects to the Penthouse

Against All Odds

From the Projects to the Penthouse

By Mahisha Dellinger

Houston, Texas * Washington, D.C.

Against All Odds 2015 by Mahisha Dellinger

Brown Girls Publishing, LLC

www.browngirlspublishing.com

ISBN: 9781625177063 (eISBN)
9781625177070 (print ISBN)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical or photocopying or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be included in a review.

First Brown Girls Publishing LLC trade printing

Manufactured and Printed in the United States of America

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It is reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Ive always known I was destined for great things. Dont ask me how I knew. I just did. It definitely couldnt have been my environment. After all, the mean streets of Sacramento can shatter anyones dreams. In fact, my Meadowview neighborhood was dubbed Danger Island and although it was nestled between the affluent Pocket/Green haven area and lower middle class, Mack Road, it was not a place you wanted to be caught outside after dark.

I definitely didnt have the support at home. Its not that my family didnt believe in me and want more, but my mother was working so hard and so long that dreams (hers and mine) took a back seat.

However, I knew that I wouldnt allow someone else to write my story. I knew that my story was bigger than the impoverished streets I called home. And now, as my company, CURLS LLC, boasts its best year to date, I look back and reflect on where Ive been and where Im going.

Im hoping that my story will inspire others to take their own journeys, to not let their pasts dictate their future, to go for their dreams and not let anything or anyone get in their way. While my story may be deemed a rags to riches tale, its bigger than that. So much bigger. Its about an ordinary girl who decided she was capable of extraordinary things. Its about a woman who took all the obstacles tossed in her path of life and used them as stepping-stones to bigger and better things.

I truly have come from humble beginnings and as I worked my way up through the rigors of corporate America, the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur, the frustrations of trying to maintain a proper work-family balance, Ive learned some valuable lessons. They are lessons that I share with you in the coming pages. From the pitfalls to the pinnacles, I bare it all.

Now, as my company which started from my kitchen is poised to post-record sales, Im sharing my journey. Not only of how I overcame an impoverished background to pursue my passion, but also of how I went from just dreaming to doing. With valuable, applicable tips, it is my hope that after reading, the entrepreneurial spirit within you will be awakened.

My story can be your story. And if you walk away with nothing else, I hope that youll understand my motto: When you wake up in the morning you have two choices - go back to sleep and dream your dreams, or wake up and chase your dreams.

I choose the latter. What will your choice be?

Mahisha

Chapter 1
A Tale of Two Worlds

Im not supposed to be here.

At least thats what the statistics said. According to all the studies, and the declarations of negative people in my life, if I did survive my gang-riddled neighborhood, it would be unwed with several children by my side, a dead-end, low-paying job, and a future that lacked hope. Thats what the statistics said.

But I had a different ending for my story.

I never have settled for the norm. Even as a little girl, from a broken home, I knew that my destiny was greater than my existence. After all, Id survived abuse, and my life had been spared more times than I could count.

Given my background, I couldve easily become that sassy, tell-you-off, around-the-way girl who ran with the dope boys and held her own in the streets. Quite the contrary, though, I was about as close to perfection as you could get in a child.

With flopping pigtails and a smile that melted everyone I met, people in the neighborhood knew that I wasnt like the rest of the girls. From a very young age, I was a very self-motivated, independent, and simply, an easy child to raise. I never got in trouble (I would occasionally mouth off, but my mother was quick to pop me in my mouth to get me back in line). I was where I was supposed to be, when I was supposed to be there.

However, one day, I wasnt where I was supposed to be - at John Sloat Elementary School. To this day, I believe my mothers boyfriend, Willie, is to blame.

My daily routine was the same - my mom left for work at 7 a.m. I got myself up, dressed, and off to school by 8:30 a.m. Willie was always the last person to leave before me, he knew that the garage was my only way out. I didnt have a house key (my brother did because he always made it home from school before me, so I didnt need one). Willie knew that I exited through the kitchen into the garage, manually lifting the exterior garage door. This day was like no other, except when I went to lift the wooden garage door to head to school, it was locked. I had already locked the door to the house so I couldnt get out. I was stuck!

I knew I would miss school that day. I hated missing school. I hated getting behind. Still, I didnt panic, at first, even though I was afraid. I tried to pick the lock - no luck. I was eight years old and had no idea what I was doing. I tried to kick in the door. Nothing. I weighed all of sixty pounds so I dont know what I thought I was doing anyway. After accepting that I wasnt going anywhere, I had to find a way to keep busy, for nearly nine hours. I sorted and folded the clothes in the dryer. I swept the entire garage, organized every item I could get my hands on. When I finished that I discovered that only an hour had passed!

I reviewed my spelling words again, I checked my homework again, and I read another chapter in my history book. After three hours I started to panic. I was really scared and started to weep. My cries were interrupted by a voice.

Hello, is there someone in there?

It was the mailman!

Yes! Im locked in! I screamed.

What is your name? he asked through the garage door.

Mahisha. Mahisha Vernon, I anxiously replied. Help me, please. Im stuck in here.

Who can I call for you? he asked.

Please call my mom, I said, giving him my work number.

Okay, Ill be right back.

I would later learn that he went to my neighbors house and called my mother. She was frantic but she couldnt leave her job, so she called my uncle, Calvin, who lived close by. As long as I can remember, my Uncle Calvin always came to our rescue. When my mothers car was stolen, for the third and final time, a week before Christmas, he gave her a car to use for two years until she could get another one. He has always had a kind, giving spirit and that day was no exception. Uncle Calvin came to my rescue ten minutes later! He cut the lock off of the garage door, even cutting up his hand pretty badly. I dont think Id ever been so happy to see someone! And I was even happier to be out of that garage. Uncle Calvin gave me a big hug and took me for a ride on his motorcycle. My mom was upset with Willie that day, even though he swore he didnt purposely lock the garage. I didnt believe him, but we could never prove otherwise.