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No one knows better what it takes to be a resilient
survivor than Katrina Walker. She may have been kicked down multiple
times throughout her life, but she always found the strength to come
out victorious. As a woman with such a warrior spirit, it's no wonder
that she was able to transform herself into a multi-millionaire from
scratch. Coming from humble beginnings in Akron, Ohio, Walker
was an entrepreneur by the age of 8. The self-sufficient little girl
collected bottles, knowing that she was cut from a different cloth
and that one day, she would rise above her poor surroundings.
She then became a teenage bride and had four
children. She began a career at FedEx, but had no clue that hearing
the soul-stirring words of FedEx Founder and CEO Fred Smith would
change her life. From there, Walker knew she was going to be her own
boss. Success did not come without its fair share of
trials. After divorcing her abusive husband of 20 years, more
dysfunctional relationships followed. Walker, who grew up watching
her own mother suffer from physical abuse, had married the wrong man
a few times, but she did not allow it to waiver her aspirations. In
the midst of the rough marriages, she opened a 24-hour day care
center, Rainbow Kidz Learning Center, in Tennessee. Before she knew
it, her passion for children and her unwavering grind had made her
wealthy.
Today, Walker is on the verge of opening a third
RainbowKidz location, in Alpharetta, Georgia. She motivates others to
become their own boss, and she opened the BE (Blind Eye) Foundation
to help those suffering from domestic violence and substance abuse.
She is also in the process of writing her memoir with former Jet magazine writer and editor,
Clarence Waldron, titled Unbreakable, The Down Home Truth: The Katrina
Walker Story. The book is expected to be released in May or June
of 2016. What sets Walker apart from many other self-made
successes is that she never forgot where she came from, and she loves
to give back. So, in hopes that others will learn from her story, she
shared with
rolling out how she mastered
bouncing back from difficulties, even when a life of success seemed
almost unimaginable.
Tell us your back story.
As a young kid, I was different. My mother got
pregnant in Ohio. She told my grandmother she was going to the store.
She comes back a year later [with a baby girl] and tells my sister at
5 and a half years old, "Come here, take her." So, that was
the story that was told to me.
I was married as a teenage bride. There was a lot of
abuse. But what I had was TV, like the "Leave It to Beaver"
family, for example. That's the way I always thought things would be,
even though I never had a father. So becoming a teen bride, in my
mind, I thought "This is how my life is going to be." And
it was not. I suffered from a lot of abuse. I had four children. And
I stayed with that husband for 20 years. It was a lot of running,
hitting, and whatever money would come in, he would always be
scuffling. I was always just trying to feed my children, but it was
like, if there was one piece of chicken, he would be getting it. And
he would come in and just be wanting to fight.
I remember one particular incident when I thought "I
can't take no more." I was running to my little boy's room and
putting him and my little girl, who were 3 and 4 years old, on the
top bunk bed. I locked the door, and [my husband] kicked the door in.
I got on the bottom bunk, and my little boy yelled out, "Mam ma,
duck!" The iron [he threw] landed inside of a wall. From that
day on, I knew that if that iron had have hit me, I wouldn't even be
living and standing to talk about it. The advice I got from women back then was "Stay
with him, you can't do any better, you're not going to be able to
survive with your children." And that was far from the truth.
After leaving your husband, what did you do
next?
I took my four children and I came up with a plan. I
landed a decent job. FedEx was a young company, so I started straight
from the bottom at the temporary service and talked my way in by
listening to Fred Smith talk about moving up in his company. I said,
"I want to move up. I want to make my life better." When I
would hear him speak, I would always say to myself, "You know
what?" I don't want this to be my life. I'm going to start my
own business. If he can do it, I can do it."
I knew that I was good with children and I knew that
companies like FedEx had packages that were being stored overnight,
so those parents needed a place to take their children. So I wanted
to teach little girls, and my [childcare service] grew from there.
The mothers loved me. So I started advertising within companies like
FedEx. Then I thought, people need a good daycare to take their
children to. So I went and found myself a building. And I said, "You
know what? I'm going to do something different. I'm going to run this
thing 24 hours." I'm always thinking outside the box. From
there, I said I was going to make my first $5,000. Before I knew it,
it was $20,000. The day care business was booming. I had no where to
place kids, there was a waiting list.
What happened with your next relationship?
This time was even worse. He walked right into my
life. He was an architect engineer and I was in the process of
building my new [childcare] center. This marriage only lasted 8
months. Two of my children were adults at this point. I started
building another [location], and he had a crooked contractor who was
taking my money. He was taking all my ideas and building another
childcare center for him and his wife on the other side of town. So I
went through a lot, but I always went down and then came back up.
How do you think you landed in those
tumultuous relationships?
I think before I gave myself enough time in between
one relationship, I would get into another to kind of forget about
the past. I think I was as green as the grass outside. I didn't know
that these people were cheaters and abusive.
Are you married right now?
I've been married close to 10 years now. I have a
wonderful marriage and I'm very happy. I really believe in marriage,
but I don't believe in cheating and abuse. [The mistakes] don't make
me a bad person. You don't always know someones true intention.
Tell us about the BE Foundation.
It's all about my nephew. He was addicted to crack
cocaine. Back in the day, when a lot of people didn't know [about the
drug], people needed help. I always told myself I would never forget
where I came from. We just go about our daily lives and we see these
people who need help - hungry children, the mother with a black eye
or no utilities. Blind Eye is where I want others to try and help
somebody. Right now, I'm about to build a rehabilitation place to
help drug and alcohol abusers. I also want to do have a facility for
domestic violence abusers.
How many RainbowKidz locations are you
looking to open?
I have three, because one is going up in Alpharetta,
Georgia. We will be franchising out to one in New York and one in
Virginia.
What's the most important advice that you
would give someone with lots of obstacles who feels it may be
difficult to become a success?
Change your thinking. You can't keep thinking you
can't do it. And you have to get out there and make it work. And
you've got to make good choices in your life and be skeptical about
who you let in your world. Be consistent with what you're doing. I
bought a little book. I wrote in that book every day, even if it was
a little thought that came into my mind [and] all these great ideas.
To me, that was a big deal.
For more information on Katrina Walker,
visit www.mskatrinawalter.com.
Follow her on Facebook at thekatrinawalker and Instagram
@mskatrinawalker. |
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