Welcome to The Modern Professional Chronicles
The Beginning of a New Era
Well hello! Welcome to The Modern Professional Chronicles. I am Erika Orkes Williams, child of God, single, a mother, and an entrepreneur. I want to invite you along on my journey as I navigate this life of mine doing all the things. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, because there’s always something going on. However, I’ve decided that I want to share it all with you.
BACKSTORY
I’m not really sure how far back I need to go with this, but 39 years ago I was born. Question mark, LOL! Where do people usually start when they tell their story? Like there are so many aspects of a person’s life because something new is always happening creating a new beginning in each area of life: faith, family, education and career. But if I were to generalize those areas of my life, here’s how I’d tell my story.
FAITH
My faith journey began at the age of 7 when I accepted Christ as my personal savior. Throughout my life, I have been a member of four churches: Second Zion during my childhood, New Covenant Faith in my early young adulthood, The Progressive Baptist Church and New Hope Missionary Baptist Church as a more seasoned adult. I am currently growing in my knowledge of God and applying His word to my life daily and fostering a closer relationship with Him through prayer.
FAMILY
As PJ Morton sang, ain’t nothing like a New Orleans girl; and baby, I was born and raised in New Orleans, the East to be exact. However, not to be confused with the 9th ward. I’m just saying. If you know, you know. I lived in one house my entire childhood with my parents and younger brother. 1999 changed my life. That year, 2 months into 9th grade, my dad died on his job as an offshoreman. The oil rig he was on became unstable and plunged into the Gulf of Mexico. His body was never recovered. Fast forward several years ahead, at the age of 24 I bought my first house and got married. At the age of 25 I got pregnant and became a mother at the age of 26. Fast forward once again, to my 35th year of life, I separated from my husband and was divorced by the age of 37. I am currently single while parenting my teenage daughter, Maddison.
EDUCATION
At every level of education, I only attended one school. During my elementary career, I went to Gaudet Elementary, for middle school I went to Thurgood Marshall Middle Magnet, and for High School, I attended Warren Easton Fundamental Senior High and became dually enrolled during my junior year at New Orleans Science and Mathematics High School. Upon graduating from high school I majored in elementary education at Dillard University and graduated as a certified educator in grades 1st-5th.
CAREER
I began my career as an educator immediately after graduation. I started at McDonogh #32 Charter School as a 3rd grade teacher and remained there for four school years. During that time, I also taught 4th grade for two years and was the librarian for one year. I then went on to teach 6th grade English and Social Studies at Esperanza Charter School for one school year. That experience led me to found GIFTS On Display, initially to teach middle schoolers soft skills. Before I ended my career as an educator, the first time that is, I taught at St. Rose Elementary in St. Charles Parish for 1.5 years. In December of 2015, I left the elementary education profession to pursue entrepreneurship. I started a photo booth company, Shutters and Shoots Photo Booth and became a full time real estate professional for five years. I also obtained a life insurance license in 2017 and became a personal finance educator to aid my real estate clients in their preparation phase of the homebuying process. I re-entered the elementary education profession in 2020, during the COVID pandemic. Crazy! Right? Anyway, I became a 2nd grade teacher at Paul Habans Charter School; during my second year there, I taught 1st grade. However, I never stopped selling real estate, life insurance, or renting out my photo booths. Unfortunately, the politics of education hit hard and I left the profession of education once again. The summer of 2023, an opportunity I would have never considered on my own was presented to me; which was to become the legislative aide to my broker who had become a Louisiana State Representative.
So, currently I not only manage my schedule as an entrepreneur of four brands: Home Hero, Modern$Money, Shutters and Shoots and GIFTS On Display, but also Maddison’s and the State Rep’s schedule as well. Fun times!
PURPOSE
This, my friend, is The Modern Professional Chronicles! Here I’ll share my experiences and epiphanies as I live them doing all these things, leading up to the 40th decade of my life. I want to chronicle this journey while creating the life I desire.
So let’s GOOOOOOO!!!!!
You coming or what?