Over the course of my life, I've been called many things: trailblazer, leader, real estate investor, lady, politician, student, and teacher. Poor and rich. Churchgoer. I've lived in the worst neighborhood in Nashville, and I've sat on Nashville's City Council, becoming the first elected female of any race ever to do so.

I've been both a student and a teacher in government and civics class- es in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. I've benefited from priceless advice from several distinguished mentors and in turn, dispensed some wisdom of my own. I executed a plan that I had nurtured since I was a little girl. I've spent countless hours in church.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Quite the opposite, actually. I was born in the toughest housing project in Nashville. And that's where my story begins."