LCM Spotlight on
Lisa Nichols
Overcoming adversity even when the deck is stacked against her is what Lisa Nichols does best . She can lay claim to this fact because she ’ s had tons of experience .
Growing up in a gang-infested part of South Central Los Angeles required her to fight several times a week just to make it home from school . And being excellent in track and field , when she didn ’ t feel like fighting , she could run like the wind until she reached safety .
When she was fifteen , Lisa ’ s teacher asked what she wanted to be when she grew up . She replied , “ Alive .” She has told that story in so many of her well-publicized speeches , that it has spawned memes that have traveled social media many times over . All she could understand , through her eyes , was the kind of hard life she was surrounded by and it didn ’ t lend to the fact that she , a poor Black girl from the hood , was going to make it physically , mentally , emotionally or spiritually . There were no role models that would help her to see things differently .
She is dyslexic , so studying and producing noteworthy work did not come easy for Lisa . She was not a fast learner nor a great student . Her highest grade ever was a C +. In her speeches she says , “ And don ’ t forget the plus ” because even that little effort mattered . An English teacher once told her she was the weakest writer she had ever met in her entire life . Is there any wonder why students lose their zeal for education , when there are teachers who don ’ t see the value in bolstering a student ’ s weak area ? Later , she took a speech class and that particular teacher told her that she should never speak in public and recommended that she get a desk job . Those were demoralizing words for someone to tell a teenager who already didn ’ t have the brightest outlook on life . Unfortunately , for a long time Lisa let the discouraging words from both teachers settle in her subconscious ; which led to several not-too-successful stints in the work environment .