We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeannine Carrington and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeannine, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
As an educational leader, author, entrepreneur and a keynote speaker on the education of students with developmental disabilities, it is my belief that risk taking is crucial in one’s personal and professional development. Taking calculated risks builds self confidence and demonstrates to the individual that although challenges may come as a result of taking risks, the individual pushed through the fear and faced it head on. The outcome may have been a positive or negative one, but it is important that if the outcome is not favorable, it will be a learning experience where true growth will occur. I always try to always learn from everything that I do, including my mistakes. Sometimes my mistakes are what have led to my greatest successes and or supported me to use my mistake to educate others, including my children, not to go that particular route or at least be aware of what may occur. By doing so not only have I learned from that mistake but others won’t make that same mistake either. The most important thing to remember is that when taking risks its ok to make mistakes; mistakes are lessons for our growth and development. As an educational leader, I take risks on a daily basis. For instance, I am constantly reviewing multiple data sources to identify trends in student performance across the school district to determine if there are disparities in the instructional practices versus that of subgroups and to what extent teachers are implementing researched based instructional methods to ensure fidelity of instruction for students with and without disabilities. After analyzing various data sources, I then develop & train teachers on instructional strategies that will lead to an increase in student achievement. I took risks in developing new instructional techniques, modeling for the teachers and even when teaching students directly to unlock each student’s full potential. Being that each student is unique, there isn’t one instructional method that will work for every student. It’s my honor to develop a teaching method with instructional strategies that will support the student to increase their level of academic performance. There was a time when I had worked hard to develop an instructional strategy for a subgroup of students that required support with academic context that I had never taught before. The individual that was responsible for supporting these students had abruptly resigned; therefore I offered to support these students to prevent them from slipping through the cracks. I took on the responsibility for my students achievement and accepted all risks,unfortunately I totally bombed;my students were completely confused because my teaching style was different from how their teacher taught. I recalled a quote from Oprah Winfrey, “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment.Own it”.  I then gathered my thoughts, kept a positive mindset and went back to the drawing board to try again. This time, I spent more time observing my students to see how they learn then during the evening hours I reviewed scholarly research in that specific content area and tried again the following day. Thankfully, each day my students began to show growth which led to an increase in their self confidence and self advocacy skills. It made my day to see the light go off in my students eyes when they understood a concept that was difficult for them earlier. They even scored high on their state assessments. All of my students knew that I cared about them and would do everything possible to support them to achieve their academic goals. Due to devoting my life to the education of students with developmental disabilities, also known as Exceptional Children and through mentoring young women over the years to empower them to Know Their Worth, I decided to combine my two passions by writing a book called, “Know Your Worth My Daughter, Unlock Your Full Potential”. As a new author, I found myself taking on another risk; fear made its way into my mind once again. Is this really the right time to do this? Do I have something to say that can be of benefit to others? If so, will they read it? How will they take it? Will it negatively impact my career? How will I allocate time to write it being that I work full time and I’m also a full time doctoral candidate? Will I have the finances to cover all of the expenses involved in writing and publishing a book? Will I receive negative reviews and the list went on and on. However, I reflected on the words of Robert F. Kennedy, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” Therefore, I faced my fears again and went for it. Good or bad, this was going to be a learning experience for myself and others, through the words that I wrote in my book.  Again, taking this risk was a positive experience in my life that led to my personal growth and the growth of others.  As a result of my book, I am being asked to speak at conferences, workshops, church group events and podcasts due to the positive that my book had on others.         As an entrepreneur, you will need to take many risks, in terms of putting up your own funds to start your business, securing loans to operate your business,cultivating relationships with stakeholders,allocating large amounts of your personal time to focus on the success of your business, among other things which I have done to keep my business,Diva Fashions Unlimited afloat.  Again, as an entrepreneur, fear popped its ugly head again. Can I really do this? What if it fails? But I faced my fears by doing extensive research, secured a mentor and then jumped in and I’m so glad that I did. My business is growing and I’m learning more and more everyday due to taking on this risk.  Lastly, as I have stated earlier, I have spent the majority of my professional life advocating for the rights of children with developmental disabilities; as the Director of the Learning Disabilities Association and through other Senior Level Director positions where I had provided leadership to multiple non-profit organizations throughout New York and North Carolina. To this date, I have been providing instructional leadership to teachers, facilitating special education law trainings to parents, and providing self-advocacy workshops to students. I have been licensed as an School Principal for 5 years now, but haven’t had the opportunity to serve as an Asst. Principal or Principal. However, I had the opportunity to support school principals in developing & or implementing school wide initiatives which have supported me to increase my skill set.  My goal is to become a North Carolina School Administrator at a school district that shares my beliefs that all students can be successful in school and it’s our job as educators, administrators and parents to work together to unlock their full potential. As a result, I am actively looking for an Assistant Principal position in a title I school where I can continue to take risks that will benefit my students, our faculty and members of the community.  I had also applied and was accepted to a doctoral program to enhance my educational leadership and to become certified as a Superintendent. Fear once again popped up into my mind. My classmates in my doctoral program are all School Principals, Associate Human Resource Directors and Aspiring Superintendents but I’m not at their level, can I really do this? Am I smart enough? Do I have the energy, the mindset, finances,time and commitment to see this through to the end? Being that I knew that I had battled fear many times throughout my life and made it through, I put one foot in front of the other and jumped back into graduate school because the outcome was worth the risks. Also, I used positive affirmations on a daily basis, instead of focusing on the negative”. I told myself that I am worth it, I CAN do this!  Although it has been extremely challenging going on this doctoral journey, I’m so glad that I did.  It is projected that I will graduate with my doctorate degree in 2023.  More importantly, if you don’t remember anything else in this article, please remember this, don’t let fear stop you from taking risks. You won’t accomplish anything rewarding in life without taking risks. I recall an old saying,” Do you want to be safe and good, or do you want to take a chance and be great?” Always strive to be great and see mistakes as opportunities for growth and keep moving onward and upward. We may encounter many defeats in life but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou    Taking risks supports your growth and develops you as a leader no matter what job title you have. Please know that you can be a leader in any position in life.  A leader pushes through fear and adversity to achieve their goals, while inspiring and leading others to be successful in their life. It is my hope that my life will do just that. I would love to hear from you, please feel free to send me an email at divafashionsunlimited@gmail.com

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Mrs. Jeannine Carrington,is an author, educator, entrepreneur, philanthropist, doctoral candidate, and a keynote speaker on the education of students with developmental disabilities. Mrs. Carrington has spent the majority of her professional life advocating for the rights of children with developmental disabilities,while supporting the development of the teachers she supports. To this date, she continues to advocate for the rights of students with developmental disabilities, through providing instructional leadership & coaching to teachers, facilitating special education law trainings to parents, and providing self-advocacy workshops to students; to uphold the rights of students with disabilities while working collaboratively with school district faculty and parents to unlock each student’s full potential. Mrs. Carrington, is the author of the book, “Know Your Worth My Daughter: Unlock Your Full Potential”. Mrs. Carrington hopes that this book will support young women of all ethnicities, to build the life that they truly want and deserve and more importantly that her readers will Know Their Worth and are EMPOWERED to achieve their goals in life.  Mrs. Carrington is the Chapter President of the Tau Chapter – Charlotte, NC, of Lambda Kappa Omega. Lambda Kappa Omega Sorority, Inc. is a non-collegiate, professional Greek-lettered sorority founded on December 5. 2007, to unite and empower women in sisterhood and to promote awareness in the community. Lambda Kappa Omega’s primary goal is to empower women & implement programs designed to meet the needs of the community. Mrs. Carrington is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership program at Gardner Webb University. She holds a dual Master’s degree of Education in Special Education and Elementary Education, with a certification in School Administration, Special Education, and Elementary Education. In addition, Ms. Carrington has 16 years of teaching experience, as an EC Special Education Teacher, Department Chair/Instructional Coach and as an English Teacher at the elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Ms. Carrington also interned as an Assistant Principal in a local middle school from 2017- 2018.  It is her professional career goal to become a school administrator by 2023. Personally, Mrs. Carrington grew up in Long Island, New York. Approximately,14 years ago, Ms. Carrington and her family chose to relocate to North Carolina. She has been happily married to the love of her life, Erwin, for 31 years, and is the proud mother of three amazing, adult sons, Erwin Jr., Xavier, and Sheldon; one beautiful daughter in heaven, Laeticia, and three young amazing grandchildren, Erwin Kai III, Annaliese, and Princeton. Lastly, Mrs. Carrington is the CEO of Diva Fashions Unlimited; an online boutique that provides high-quality, on-trend, alluring fashions at low prices due to her relationships with vendors all over the United States and beyond.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take my friends to the Deluxe Fun Dining Restaurant on 4th street in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have visited there many times and I’m always impressed by the presentation of the delicious food, the great atmosphere and impeccable service. If you are looking for something special this would be the perfect place! I highly recommend it!          After dinner, go out for some laughs at the Comedy Club (NC Music Factory). They have great comics, delicious food and a fun environment in Charlotte, NC.  If you are up for some great food and music, check out the Stats restaurant onDavid Cox road, Charlotte, NC. Lastly, if you like the outdoors, such as white water rafting, riplining etc..go to the US.National Whitewater Rafting facility in Charlotte, NC.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are many people in my life that deserve credit and recognition, too many to list,such as my family who have always supported me  throughout my life and to my mentors that guided me through the obstacles to support me to make informed decisions that aided my growth and development.

Website: https://www.divafashionsunlimited.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divafashionsunlimited/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannine-carrington-2730b330/

Twitter: @DivafashionsUn1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diva-Fashions-Unlimited-LLC-103284941563415/?modal=suggested_action&notif_id=1603214767451680&notif_t=page_user_activity

Yelp: https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Worth-Daughter-Potential-ebook/dp/B0979K2JM1

Youtube: https://youtu.be/SkgzFQtTWx4

Other: https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Worth-Daughter-Potential-ebook/dp/B0979K2JM1

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