Maverick Carter

My mom and my dad were the first two teachers in my life. My mom has been a social worker for 25 years and graduated college while raising me. She would work and go to school during her one hour lunch break. I always admired her work ethic, ambition and determination to achieve her goals while remaining a great parent.

My dad to whom I truly respect had a different approach to success but never wanted me to follow his footsteps. He was born a natural hustler, he dropped out of high school in the 9th grade but had a Masters “In figuring it out.” Without understanding one might judge the path my dad chose but the beginning of his life was challenging. He had open heart surgery at the age of 5 years old and was not able to ever obtain a regular working job. It was not easy for him to be considered disabled or unable so he decided to take his smarts to the streets which eventually lead to him being incarcerated. After learning a life changing lesson he returned home to ensure that I’d follow his lead for the positive. My dad’s ambition and ability to work hard in the streets and my mom’s drive to work hard, be enrolled in college and keep me on the right track showed me that determination was innate. Both of their spirits exist in me. The path I chose would be up to me.

One of the best lessons I’ve learned from my environment was how to interact and get along with individuals from all back grounds and cultures. The exposure taught me how to relate to and understand differences. As an established and yet growing professional I knew very early in my life the importance of broadening my social and business network. The ability to do so allowed me to learn about various languages/ dialects, foods, social and business etiquettes and simply the people as a whole. Although I started out conducting business domestically I eventually began to conduct business within the international market. This led me to doing business with many worldly individuals.

I have always been driven by cultural differences. I decided to use the resources that were easily accessible to me such as communicating with my peers in school, the neighborhood, reading books, the internet, and local travel. I would ask so many questions to learn as much as possible and more importantly I would seek advisors who had a broader understanding in specific topics. Along the way I realized in order to be a great student of life it is important to be a great listener who asks lots of questions and takes the knowledge elsewhere to teach others.

Become a life-long learner! Strive off of new information and open yourself daily to learn from everyone and everything around you. I can say with humility that my experiences have allowed me the opportunity to inform and educate people on many levels. Since I want to continue to be successful and grow closer to wisdom, I allow myself to observe, absorb and inquire. I continue to read books, research, and above all I study. As the world changes, the way we conduct business changes therefore I position myself around great and successful people from all walks of life so that I can always pick up the best tactics to help me develop my business. This simple guideline is occasionally overlooked because its right before your eyes, seems too easy to attain but it really is the greatest resource before, during and after any academic institution you enroll in. In the end you are born a student and life prepares you for lessons good or bad every day. Be wise enough to make the best decisions, expose the positive lessons and teach someone else.