Going Beyond Business and the Classroom – Teresa Wood

Going Beyond Business and the Classroom – Teresa Wood

This being back to school week in Oregon this is the perfect week to post about Teresa Wood.  Teresa was my high school business teacher and advisor for the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter; she is a dear friend, and role model.  My favorite memory is still 1993 Rose Festival when Brent Freeze and I dreamed up the wild idea that FBLA needed more exposure and we wanted to have a float in the Rose Festival Parade.  I’m sure in that moment you thought we were insane, and you let us do it anyway.  You are always the first teacher in the door and the last one to leave.  Many generations are in debited to you for your commitment.  I know I am who I am because of your zest for business, for encouraging me to compete in FBLA and go on to college.

Teresa & Warren, her husband was some of the first investors in my first company Event & Meeting Solutions, when I was a meeting and event planner.  Yes, they hired me to put on a Christmas party complete with horse drawn carriage in their neighborhood. They attended my wedding and were there for me as I cried my eyes out through divorce.

What can every woman learn from a friend like Teresa?  Release any limiting beliefs you may have about who you are and what you want to be.  Teresa with faith and fortitude has watched her job as a teacher evolve and adapt over the past 20+ years. She has seen kids come, and go.  Choosing not to be parents themselves Teresa & Warren parent all they come into contact with as role models, as caring community citizens and friends learning to navigate the journey ups and downs together.

Thank you Teresa for your early morning emails, late night text messages and mostly for reminding me that what is important is what is inside of me and not what others add.  Thank you for reminding me, that each and every day I have the chance to renew my goals and reach higher.