Living the Dream: Woman Overcomes Addiction, Launches Career

Jennifer arrived home at 6 a.m. after a night of partying, just as her neighbors were getting into their cars to go to work. As she watched them leave on that morning in 2007, she wondered what it felt like to have a career — to have responsibilities, purpose and direction.

“I wanted to be part of that,” she says. “I wanted a chance at having a life like that for myself: buying a car, owning a home, doing something meaningful. I just didn’t know how to get there.”

Jennifer’s drug use began when she was 16. By her mid 20s, she was an addict. She worked some odd jobs, but never stayed with anything long. By her early 30s, drugs had become the focus of her life and partying — it seemed — was the sum of her achievements.

“I didn’t feel like a person at that time. I had a desire to just become a person,” she says.

Determined to make a change,Ω Jennifer moved from Arizona to Paris, Tenn., where she had family, with the idea of getting herself together. Within a year, she returned to her old ways. So, she decided to check into a residential drug treatment facility in Nashville.

While in rehab, she began looking for a job. She had no luck, however, because her background showed legal troubles over drugs and her work history was spotty.

“I was having a hard time getting somebody to trust me and give me a chance,” Jennifer recalls.

A friend referred her to Goodwill Career Solutions. At Goodwill, she got help with her resume, guidance in filling out applications and advice on how to dress and conduct herself during interviews. Then, on May 15, 2009 — her birthday — Jennifer was placed into paid retail training at Goodwill’s Charlotte Avenue store in Nashville.

During the first two weeks, she performed housekeeping duties. Having mastered that, she was moved to the linens department.

Soon, she was hired on full time and working across multiple departments.

“My self-esteem was so low, I didn’t expect anyone to think much of me. So when I got the job, I worked harder than 10 people to keep it,” she says. “I learned the business from the ground up, trying to better myself and better my life.”

Her determination paid dividends. Within two years, Jennifer was promoted to a lead associate. In 2013 she was promoted to assistant manager. Then in June of 2016, she was named manager of the Charlotte Avenue Goodwill store. In November, she was asked to lead one of Goodwill’s newest and largest stores in Middle Tennessee in Nashville’s Bellevue community.

Goodwill Retail District Manager Lisa Binkley said Jennifer’s confidence and enthusiasm have grown so much in the last several years, they have become infectious. Jennifer leads by example and takes a personal interest in developing all her team members. Her personal story inspires both her employees and her supervisors.

“At Goodwill, we talk a lot about our mission (of helping people with barriers to employment),” Binkley says. “But to be able to see someone standing there who is a product of that mission, and who is achieving so much, makes people hopeful. It lets you know that no matter what you come up against in life, you can overcome it and better yourself.”

Jennifer says her life has improved in every way since that morning in 2007. She is a wife, a mother and a homeowner. She knows her self-worth, and Goodwill’s mission gives her a strong sense of purpose. And every morning at 6 a.m., she gets in her car and drives off to her successful career.

“I’ve become the person I was meant to become through Goodwill,” she says.

“There is hope. You’ve just got to reach down deep and do it. Take that first step, get into rehabilitation. And when you are ready to get your life back on track, come and see us at Goodwill.”

– Jennifer’s advice for those struggling with drug addiction

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— By Chris Fletcher
Prior to joining Goodwill as its PR & Communications Manager in 2014, Fletcher was a professional journalist for
more than 25 years working at media outlets in three states, including the Associated Press.