What is Your Greatest Personal Victory?

Mimi Dinh

In these tough times, it’s easy for anyone who is not a firefighter, volunteer or soldier to feel irrelevant. We have done our share of private battles of despair, guilt and anger. So let’s start the new year off by shifting away from those negative feelings for a moment and dig deeper to find something positive that makes us feel good. As we are waiting for victory for our nation, it seems a good idea for us to lift each other’s spirit and inspire one another by sharing personal victories of our own.

Mine was undoubtedly the day my daughter Kellie was born four years ago. I knew then that my job had only begun. My goal and challenge is to raise her into a loving, caring, self-reliant, responsible human being. Each time I’ve succeeded in making her understand why she should or shouldn’t do something, I’ve beamed with pride. In return, she’s taught me patience and selflessness, encouraged me to be in touch with my inner child and showed me unconditional love in its purest form. I consider each of her milestones a victory, each lesson we taught each other a treasure. This is not a declaration of victory in parenting (since our job is really never done), it’s a declaration of joy in the simple, yet incredible act of creating a true miracle.

My greatest personal victory came when I learned there was life after failure. I used to be petrified by the possibility of failure. But the day I realized I would still wake up the morning after I had really blown it, my life became much easier. It sounds really corny and trite, but when you take the fear out of failure, you wind up with a lot more victories.

Steven Devadanam, editor and writer, UKP

Building a successful business as a single parent. My accomplishments in business and as a mom are each cause for celebration in and of themselves. But doing both successfully at the same time makes me feel especially proud.

Sara Brook, owner, Dessert Gallery Bakery & Café

Founding WorldFest in 1961, which has grown into one of the world’s oldest and longest running film festivals. The Steven Spielbergs of today will premiere their films at this years WorldFest.

Hunter Todd, founder and executive director, WorldFest

My biggest personal victory came in 1993, when I realized I could “have it all” without having to sacrifice time with my family or work. I closed my public relations office at the end of that year to work part-time out of my home. That way, I could have a more balanced life to enjoy my husband and two daughters, as well as my career.

Susan Farb, president, Susan Farb Public Relations

My greatest victory is my career. I’ve wanted to be in the hotel and restaurant industry since the sixth grade. I arrived in Houston from India in 1989 and ended up in the University of Houston?s Conrad N. Hilton School. After finishing school in 1994, I went to Orlando to work as a restaurant manager for Walt Disney World and later at its All-Star Resorts. I moved back to Houston in 1996 and started with La Strada as a manager, and in January of 2001 was promoted to vice president of operations and marketing. This is not just a job for me; it’s a passion. Needless to say, I never went back to India.

Viral Patel, vice president of operations and marketing, La Strada