Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Michele Vaughn.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Okay, well, I like to share the part of my story when I was 19 & pregnant and college drop-out with no clear vision for the immediate future. Prior to my pregnancy, I was attending college on a full track scholarship with the hopes of becoming a world-wide class track athlete. But my unexpected pregnancy shifted the entire trajectory of my life and my steps were quickly rerouted to an alternative path in discovering my life’s purpose.
Fast forward, at the age of 24, I was a newly divorced single mom with two sons to raise on my own with only a high school diploma. My sons and I had to start over from scratch. So, we moved into my parent’s home where I was sleeping on an air-mattress and my sons shared a single bedroom. This was a very low moment for me, which led me to seek God in prayer about my next steps in life and I heard a voice whisper, “Go back to school.” I never really had a passion for formal education, but I knew that I needed to do something different in order to see different results if we were going to dig our way out of poverty. I used my former athletic mentality and applied it to accomplishing a higher education as a single mother. The pressure to produce, provide, protect, and guide weighed heavily upon me as their dad was sentenced to serve a twenty-year prison sentence. Rejecting thoughts of suicide and uncertainty – I made a decision to complete my higher education and become the change I wanted my sons to see.
The late-night studies and hard work paid off. My sons and I went from sharing a single bedroom to purchasing our very own home and I was able to gracefully earn my doctorate degree in educational leadership at Argosy University. In 2012, my first book was published called “If You Can Birth a Baby, You Can Birth Your Dreams” which is an outline of my life as a former pregnant teen and young mom. This book can be purchased online at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. God has graced my professional journey and work ethic over the years to be recognized locally and nationally as a nine-time award recipient. I’ve been fortunate to collaborate in my past work with MTV Networks that included a follow-up appearance on Fox and Friends to discuss the importance of education and the epidemic of high school dropouts.
Today, I am the Founder & CEO of a growing nonprofit called the Teen & Single Mother Resource Center, Inc. where our mission is to equip, empower, and educate teen and single mothers to become a positive role model to their children through the power of advanced education and positive role modeling. Our work started as a local initiative serving single mom clients in Illinois but is now expanding to other states and (California) is one of them. We are offering our virtual coaching services and homeownership program. This global initiative is designed to help moms understand “who” they are and “what” is actually possible with a little guidance.
As a complement to our nonprofit homeownership program (SHE OWNS), I am also a realtor which allows me the opportunity to coach single mom clients on their house-hunting journey making the homeownership dream possible. Most recently, this past summer, a single mom client and I were able to film an episode on HGTV’S House Hunters show and share with the world her journey of becoming a new homeowner. The show will air in early 2021.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not. My journey consisted of many roadblocks and uncertain moments that challenged my faith. It has been the struggles in life that has produced the greatest mental and spiritual muscle for me. I wanted my two sons to understand the power of “not giving up!” I was very aware that society was depending on me to raise two responsible, accountable, and respectful young men, which made me that much more focus on how I raised them. I really don’t know what an easy journey feels or look like to be quite honest. My process has always involved some sort of struggle and hard work ethic. Developing a non-profit organization from the ground-up with barely any seed money required ‘faith’ and hard work. This is a group that is near and dear to my heart which makes the sweat equity that much more rewarding and the mission possible. It has been through my personal struggles and setbacks as a single mother to inspire other single moms globally to pursue their purpose with intentionality.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As we continue to grow our public service work, our desire is to expand our reach to other states and partner with schools, businesses, and similar organizations to offer the following services: homeownership assistance, financial literacy, life coaching, emergency assistance and education scholarships. The current research suggests 13.6 million single parents raising over 21 million children alone. Although, our nonprofit is grassroots – the numbers are too alarming to ignore. Our goal is to see single moms understand their individual purpose and to help them cultivate a plan of action that works. We want to see single moms become homeowners and transition from renting to owning their door!
Through our life coaching services – we understand about the power of positive parent role modeling to the next generation that is seeking daily wisdom, guidance, and direction and we are aiming to deliver!
What sets our non-profit apart from others is our unique ability to offer mobile services (we travel to other states or provide impactful virtual experiences) to various agencies, schools, and organizations in need of our help. Additionally, we offer other organizations an opportunity to carry our mission and receive the necessary training to duplicate our services at their location. If a single mom in California desired to receive coaching or wanted to buy a home, we are available to provide an online virtual coaching session to help her move forward intentionally. So far, our heart-work has impacted over 300 single mom families, raising over $50,000 in donations to provide education scholarships, homeowner down payment assistance, emergency assistance and other needs.
Our goal going into 2021 is to EXPAND OUR REACH!
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
Overall, it is literally watching single moms’ transition from what was once an uncertain place to a place of total empowerment! Serving this population is my way of not only giving back but it keeps me humble – always reminded of God’s grace. Very rewarding heart work!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.teenandsinglemom.com
- Phone: 224-419-5540
- Email: mvaughn.tsmrc@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmvspeak/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tsmrc
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
