From Teen Mom to Permit Queen: Shalonda Washington on Perspective, Resilience & Relentless Pursuit

Описание: In this episode of Relentless Pursuit with Marjorie Dudley, Marjorie interviews Shalonda Washington, owner and CEO of Reliable Permitting and BSS, about her journey and her event, “A Day With Shalonda Washington,” themed around perspective and vision for women navigating life while running businesses. Shalonda shares how the event used an icebreaker with “shades” labeled with real-life challenges—infertility, grief, rejection, infidelity, and family—prompting women to examine how they see and respond to adversity. She recounts her upbringing in Naples, Florida, raised by her grandmother after her mother’s addiction and repeated incarceration, and explains how early mentorship through a summer youth program (now Junior Achievement) at a vo-tech school exposed her to supportive office professionals who coached her with respect and helped shape her confidence. Shalonda describes becoming pregnant at 14, the support she received from mentors and school staff to stay in school, and additional help from a neighbor who cared for her baby so she could earn her diploma. She details working multiple jobs, pursuing clerical training, entering work through a temp agency, and landing at a construction company where she learned permitting—eventually being approached to do permitting for others and building her reputation as the “permit queen.” Shalonda discusses leaving government assistance after realizing it capped her growth, confronting imposter syndrome, and viewing adversity as essential to resilience and purpose. She closes by sharing where to find her businesses and social platforms, promoting the next “A Day With Shalonda Washington” on August 28 with Eventbrite ticketing, and offering her final encouragement to be relentless because others are connected to your example.

#resilience #relentless #goals #adversity #businesscoach

00:00 Welcome to Relentless Pursuit (Show Mission & What to Expect)
00:21 Meet Shalonda Washington + Introducing ‘A Day With Shalonda’
01:07 Inside the Event: Perspective & Vision for Women in Business
02:43 Why She Created It: Turning Pain into Purpose for Trailblazing Women
04:43 The Pivot Game: Childhood Rejection, Addiction, and Resilience
06:45 Raised by Grandma: Finding Mentors Through Junior Achievement
09:08 Mentorship That Changed Everything: Being Seen for Who You Can Become
11:04 Teen Pregnancy at 14: How Those Women Showed Up in the Trenches
14:19 Don’t Take It Personal: Grandma’s Reaction & Learning Compassion
16:09 Staying in School: The Secretary, the Tutor, and ‘Bring Me My Diploma’
20:46 After High School: Two Jobs, Temp Agencies, and the Clerical Career Path
23:09 Temp Agency to Construction: Catching the “Construction Bug”
23:44 Why She Chose the Harder Path: A Covenant at Eight Years Old
26:23 First Big Break: Bought Out by Erickson Hunt & Learning the Permit Game
28:59 Turning Down the Safety Net: Rejecting Limits to Bet on Herself
32:56 Owning Her Value: “Everybody Knew Me Before I Knew Me”
35:30 Imposter Syndrome & Imagining the Best-Case Scenario
37:53 Adversity as a Muscle: Building Grit, Resilience, and Going Upstream
42:34 The Power of Next + Where to Find Shalonda (Final Thoughts)

Find Shalonda: www.reliablepermittingbss.com | Facebook: shalonda washington | Instagram: @shalondawashingtion
Find Marjorie: www.MarjorieDudley.com