Faith Padgett
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FinalistFaith Padgett
1,065
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Nominee1x
FinalistBio
I am a stay at home who is attending Liberty University for my bachelor's in Digital Marketing as well as running my own marketing business from home. I used to work as a healthcare professional in various hospitals, once I became a mom I got the opportunity to explore new careers and I absolutely fell in love with helping others and getting to be so creative.
Education
Liberty University
Bachelor's degree programMajors:
- Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
Wilkes Community College
Associate's degree programMajors:
- Business Administration, Management and Operations
Ashe County High School
High SchoolCareer
Dream career field:
Marketing and Advertising
Dream career goals:
CNA
Watauga Medical Center2022 – 20231 yearCNA
Ashe Memorial Hospital2020 – 20222 yearsHostess, Busser, Expo, Waitress, and Bartender
The Tavern2017 – 20236 years
Jim Maxwell Memorial Scholarship
I was raised in a Christian household for my entire childhood. I believed but had started to lean into an Agnostic viewpoint. I had run far from God and found myself in an abusive unhealthy relationship and wasn't going to end up on a good path for a while. If anyone ever asked me about my faith my answer was always "Everyone has to find their own path to faith" but my mind was really saying "God has shown me nothing to prove He is real, every time someone has attributed something to God I can always find the behind the scenes cause or coincidence." I still think about that to this day and giggle now that God has taken me down "my own path."
It took me 5 years to get out of that bad relationship, and a few more relationships to find myself again. 2 years later I found my husband Justin. Although God brought us together, our life seemed to be a bit of an oxymoron. Spent too much time developing an alcohol dependency but also having late-night conversations about God and wanting to delve back into our faith but were unsure how. I was set to move 2 hours away to Charlotte, NC 2 months after we met but we knew something was pulling us together so the night before the move he packed his bags with me! A month in our new home God told us our partying lifestyle had to change. We were almost completely broke, struggling to feed ourselves, and found out we were pregnant with our son Aziah (translated to Strength in Yahweh.) So breaking our lease, destroying our credit score, and moving back closer to family was our only option.
We moved into a small college townhome and adjusted to our life as soon-to-be parents and if there's one thing that'll scare you into praying again, it's the idea of pushing an entire life form out of your body! February 23rd of 2023, Aziah was born! Church had become our place of peace where our postpartum thoughts couldn't wreak so much havoc. In less than a year we lost our apartment and were forced to move back into another toxic family environment with even worse credit and debt so any other living situations were out of the question. What I didn't know, was God was not only removing my pride and self-dependency but also my fear. My fear of control being taken out of my hands and life going differently than I planned. So one day in church I asked God to completely wreck and rebuild our lives. We were taken through a beautiful journey of career change, financial blessings as well as trust, having prayers answered in very obvious ways, and being shown that God even cared about the tiniest things that mattered to me. God has blessed many parts of my life and is allowing me to attend Liberty University for a degree in Digital Marketing while I run my own business from home with my son and I continue to pray over every path in my life.
Wild Scholarship
My name is Faith and I was one of the least creative people I could think of. I was a CNA for a few years and with a very strict and serious plan to become a doctor. At least until 2022 when we found out we were pregnant with our son Aziah. I continued to work as a CNA in various hospitals and toxic environments until I went into labor in February and decided that there was nothing left for me to get out of the field. I stayed at home for about 2 months after my son's birth and was given the opportunity to explore other career fields. I started off cleaning houses for money we needed but not even 3 months later I came across an Instagram post for a Social Media manager with a local company. I had to research what a social media manager was until I decided to give it a shot and email my resume. A week later I got a phone call saying I got the job and I was ecstatic yet very nervous because again, I couldn't think of a person less creative than me. However, once I made that leap something in me found a release and I unlocked a part of my brain that I thought was dormant or didn't exist at all.
The company ended up needing help with more than just social media posts. All of a sudden I was being thrown into billboards, business cards, signs, flyers, radio ads, store displays, and pretty much any and all forms of advertising. I absolutely loved the work but it was too much to work into a mom and college student schedule and started to cut into time with my family. So, I chose to take another leap and see if I could make it in the entrepreneur world as well as the stay-at-home mom world, which scared me more. I spent days creating my website and portfolio designs and soon after Mama Cooke's Marketing was born! I knew if I created a business that was focused on competing with all of the businesses around me, I would fail. So this is my marketing business that is focused on supporting rather than competing. I had such a tremendous response the first day of launching I couldn't keep up with messages. Orders have slowed down now but I'm hoping to attend Liberty University for my Bachelor's in Digital Marketing and Design to build a good foundational trust with my community and eventually people around the world. Feel free to check out my website and learn more about me at www.mamacookesmarketing.com !
Colby R. Eggleston and Kyla Lee Entrepreneurship Award
In February of 2023, I became a mother to a little boy. During this period I was in the process of transitioning out of the medical field to explore more career fields that worked around our schedule more. I wanted to make a life for our family where we wouldn't have to pick which special moments to miss. Not even 3 months later, I was brought one of those opportunities that seemed too good to be true. An environment where I felt safe, a place to challenge and broaden my creative mindset, and had more freedom for the things I needed to do as a mom. After a few more months I decided I still wasn't able to spend as much time with my family as I wanted to, which I agreed since childhood was bigger to me than a career. So was born Mama Cooke's Marketing. If you had asked me even months ago if I would ever try a creative field, I would have told you I was the least creative person you could know. Yet somehow I ended up unlocking a whole piece of myself that I thought was dormant.
Mama Cooke's Marketing is my business but made for a community of people. This is the age of entrepreneurs, a world in which ensuring success comes from communital support. What a great way I thought, to create a life that I love while getting to know and support the locals around me in their similar journeys. I took my time to curate a fun and personable way to help businesses around me, or even across the country, with their advertising and designs.
My grandmother has been a huge support to me. After meeting about a business plan, she offered to contribute by paying for my website. A place for business owners to see my work and select from a page of services such as commercial photography, social media videography, logo design, print advertising, web design, and free marketing tips. Day 1 of launching I was blessed with such an overwhelming response I couldn't keep up with messages! I was ecstatic to see groups of people ranging in all levels of success and fields jumping at the opportunity to learn more about the advertising world. I currently am enrolled at Liberty University for the Bachelor's in Digital Marketing 2024 program with the hopes that I find the means to pay for it so I can provide my customers with the highest quality of service.
Vickie Drum Memorial Scholarship
I was working in the healthcare field as a CNA at various hospitals with the hopes and very serious plan to get my DNP and was currently in an Associate of Arts degree. May 2022, I found out I was pregnant. While pregnant I continued working as a waitress and as a CNA but quickly became burnt out and overworked. Flash forward to February of 2023, I had the exciting opportunity to explore other career fields. I started my exploration by cleaning houses to just make the money I needed and came across an Instagram post about a market looking for a social media manager. I quickly started researching what a social media manager was before deciding it was what I needed to try next. About a week later I got a call back from the company to schedule an interview, and you know that feeling you get in your chest sometimes where you just know it'll all work out? I got that. I told my fiance I knew that I was supposed to find this job. A week later I started attending business meetings, creating things I had never put my hands on before, working with different lighting and props, managing 5 different stores for 1 company, unlocking a whole new side of my brain I never thought even slightly existed in me. A few months ago if you had asked me if I had any sort of creative abilities I would've told you that I couldn't think of another human less creative than me. Somehow though I ended up loving every bit of my work. Once my son turned 8 months and started finding all the toy and food-shaped dangers around the house and I had to return to a stay-at-home mom. I knew my progress-fueled brain however wouldn't be satisfied so, I started my own marketing company just a few weeks ago. With the hopes of creating a life for my family where we can find ways not to miss those special moments with any of our relationships and have a life where our environment isn't always work. Being a parent not only affects your physical ability to sit down and have needed school time but also financially but, I'm still following that dream. I recently applied to Liberty University and got accepted into their bachelor's in digital marketing program and will start January of 2024 if we're able to get the loans we need.