Qiana Hicks is a mother, a college graduate, a career professional, and an author. Her parents were drug and alcohol addicts, and her father spent most of Qiana's youth in prison. She has an MBA with a specialization in finance and is now managing a team of IT resources for a pharmaceutical management company in Minneapolis.
Although her life can be categorized as that of a disadvantaged childhood, due to her mother’s substance abuse problems, her biological father’s absence, and her stepfather’s alcohol and drug addictions, she survived a tumultuous youth. Qiana and her siblings suffered from many forms of abuse, neglect, and poverty and had to raise themselves.
At age 15, Qiana became an adolescent-parent. But she worked tirelessly to overcome the challenges of her past and positioned herself to face the obstacles of the future. She finished high school on time, then enrolled in college immediately after graduation, and raised her son while pursuing a college degree and building a career.
Qiana REFUSED to allow her past to determine who and what she would become. She used her experiences as opportunities and lessons for her future, making her wiser and stronger. (I nicknamed her Qiana 'tenacious' Hicks and you will too!)
"We don’t get to totally choose what happens to us in life, but we can choose whether we allow such circumstances to make or break us.”–Qiana HicksOur experiences are opportunities to learn from and to create a better future for ourselves. I know first-hand how to create something out of nothing.”–Qiana Hicks, MBA
This is one challenging, compelling, and often heart-wrenching interview you do NOT want to miss. Her mission is to share how anyone can use their past to build a strong future.
In her new book, Life in its Rawest Form: A True Story of Perseverance and Triumph, Qiana writes about overcoming a disadvantaged childhood and shares the lessons she learned through experience.
When Qiana Hicks was a kid, she was one of the eight million American children living with one or more parents who have a drug problem. That figure comes from a 2016 report prepared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau.
“My mother’s drug of choice was crack cocaine. She also smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. My birth father had a problem with alcohol and ended up in prison. My step-father had a drug problem too,” said Hicks, who along with her older brother and younger sister often found themselves neglected and abandoned because of the substance abuse.
At the end of each chapter are takeaways readers can use to help themselves, or kids they know, avoid the same kinds of situations Hicks and her siblings struggled with for years.
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