50 DIVERSEability Magazine www.diverseabilitymagazine.com
BUSINESS 2 BUSINESS
F
rom the time Andrea Lacy was in ele- mentary school, she knew she wanted to go to college and work for Hewlett Packard, but at the same time, she knew that there was something different about the way in which she processed information. Her high school counselor went as far as to dissuade Lacy from applying to college. He told her due to her lack in math requirement, she would not get accepted to any university. Ignoring the advice of the counselor, Lacy applied to San Jose State University through the Equal Op- portunity Program, where she was officially diagnosed with dyslexia, working with uni- versity administrators to replace some classes with other course requirements to help raise her grade point average. The experience taught me the following important lessons, Lacy says of her diagnoses, Never let anyone
TOMAS OVALLE PHOTOGRAPHY
Luv's Brownies Founder
Finds Sweet Success
tell you what you can and cannot do. Put your mind to whatever you want to accomplish, make a realistic plan and timeline and start working toward your goal.
Turning challenges into opportunities
Between the ages of 17 and 20, Lacy worked three jobs at a time to pay her tuition, rent and car payments. I was a Sears bill col- lector, a DoubleTree hotel phone operator, a Macys handbag salesperson and a salesper- son in the Nordstrom Brass Plum department and in credit card new accounts, she shared. Along her journey, she met some wonderful people who believed in her, even met some- one at SJSU who helped her land a job at Hewlett Packard. As a thank you gift, Lacy baked this friend some brownies that baked thicker and differ- ent than what she was used to. It wasnt until after her diagnoses with dyslexia that she dis- covered that her dyslexia had transposed the numbers in the recipe she had used. That very fortunate mistake led to Luvs award-winning brownies. Now through her successful business, Luvs Brownies, not only does Lacy get to share her brownies to a wider audience, but she has a bigger platform to help those with a wide range of disabilities. Over the past 25 years of running her business, Lacy has always given back to her community. She teaches students marketing and entrepreneurship skills at her alma mater, and is even involved in the Black Leadership and Opportunity Centers African American College Readiness Program, which helps Black and African American students prepare for the next steps in education. Earlier this year, Lacy decided to take her desire to help others in a similar direction and created the Andrea R. Lacy Grit Award Scholarship -- three $500 scholarships de- signed for students who have shown tenacity in overcoming challenges, and who now wish to build on their success by pursuing higher education or vocational training. A portion of all sales from Luvs Brownies goes to support these scholarships. I developed the high school seniors schol- arship fund because I wanted to recognize other hard-working individuals who were working on pursing their educational goals, Lacy says, While I was earning my under- graduate degree, I was hustling to figure out why I failed the same math class five times, struggling with dyslexia all while working three jobs to afford books, tuition, room and board while managing to study. When I think about all the people that have supported me over the years, I am so thankful for their kind words, prayers, counseling, mentorship and inancial assistance. The scholarship founda- tion is my way of giving back. To learn more about the scholarship pro- gram and about Lacy visit luvsbrownies.com.
Source: Luvs Brownies and Andrea Lacy
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