Today we’d like to introduce you to Cynthia Washington.
Hi Cynthia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi! I am Cynthia Washington, a Southern California Valley Girl born & raised, now, a Park City Local of nearly 18 years. Many of my colleagues call me C Dub or Miss C Dub. Currently, I am a Strategic Business Consultant and an Inspirational Leader & Mentor, who will be attending The Chief Marketing Officer Executive Education Program at Columbia University in Fall 2022.
Well, it all started with my mom & my dad… LOL. Truly, my parents achieved success by working hard, staying focused, and working together to accomplish their goals. My dad was a very successful banking executive in downtown LA. He worked hard to provide us with a quality life. My mom stayed home with my brother & me and babysat what seemed like all the neighborhood kids. Our home was the heartbeat of the neighborhood., everyone was welcome at our home.
Growing up, I attended high school at Ramona Convent Secondary School. Yes, a convent. It was a beautiful campus. I was accepted into USC. For financial reasons, I chose to attend California Polytechnic University in Pomona. I studied Microbiology, changed my major to English, then again to International Business & Marketing with an emphasis in Asian Studies. I took a gap year. I lived the Southern California Dream. I surfed, snowboarded, partied in the Hollywood Hills, and, then, reality hit. I took a paid internship in an Old Town Pasadena restaurant, which led me to open eateries at the Staples Center, which then led to working among Hollywood A-Listers and, of course, the Los Angeles Lakers. As fun as that era of my life was, I absolutely loved the career that flourished shortly thereafter.
I was hired as a Management Trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I met this fiery, red, Type A, go-getter, who became my mentor. She was #GOALS for me. I watched her career soar. She was working at the Group 32 Level which spanned from Santa Barbara to San Diego. I wanted that for myself. The company was growing and I had the opportunity to be a corporate liaison for ERAC inside an Insurance Partner’s Corporate Office with a small team of Enterprise staff that I managed. It was an amazing opportunity! And, my territory spanned from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
My husband (at the time) and I opted to relocate to Utah with ERAC. We brought California business talent with us to Utah, which was a valuable commodity. At the time, my role did not exist in Utah. After my maternity leave, I began working in the Rental Branches while Enterprise Rent-A-Car was transplanting women from various areas of the business to Utah to help grow the female employee pool. The women who relocated to Utah and I developed a Women’s Leadership Program for the women in the Utah business. I left ERAC to work on my marriage.
I took a 20-hour teller job at America First Credit Union. Thankfully, they saw my leadership qualities. As my divorce was finalized, I started climbing the leadership ladder. It was extremely humiliating and humbling to inform my branch management of the fact that I was on food stamps and cleaning houses as a side hustle to make ends meet for my daughter and me. I declined alimony and child support. I knew that I was smart enough and had a strong support team to help me through the single mom journey. Thank you to our tribe! I am beyond grateful to have had my career flourish at America First. I always dreamt of working downtown in the heart of a big city… and, well, I accomplished that when I was promoted to Branch Manager at City Creek in Downtown Salt Lake City in the heart of the financial district and the State Capitol. I worked closely with the Downtown Alliance and the Salt Lake Chamber. In 2017, I had the opportunity to represent AFCU in the 2017 Leadership Utah Program.
A colleague from my Enterprise days reached out with a cool NEW opportunity. I reviewed said opportunity with my VP, my mentors, and my family. I took the leap of faith to Medicare Sales Management in Silicon Valley. It was fun, fast-paced, and a new challenge. The best part about it was that I worked for a Silicon Valley Company doing business in Utah. Bingo! I entered the company when the stock price was $19 and grew it to over $150 per share and have watched it steadily decrease over time. I coined the expression, “Grind with Grit” because that is exactly what it took to be in Medicare Sales. There were pros and cons to working in Medicare Sales Management. The money was great, however, there were a lot of “Not” Best Practices practiced throughout the Utah Sales Center. Employee concerns seemed to gravitate toward me. I was told not to go to HR and to only go through my director.
I kept working the “grind with grit” because I believed in the employees, the products, and the people across America who need Medicare. A new director came into the company in 2021 when the company was ramping up Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives. They asked for a grassroots ERG for women. I collaborated with 2 other female colleagues (one in Virginia and the other in Texas). The company was hiring differently and I was doing my job by speaking up about necessary improvements to mitigate potential risks. I had a seat at the table and influenced the C-Suite. In a one-on-one, my second director told me as feedback “to stop being a female leader and just be a leader.” I took that to HR directly myself. I was placed on LOA while they investigated. Immediately, I knew my time with the company was limited.
I learned from my divorce to always have a series of plans in case you need to pivot because. Life happens. I learned from banking that documentation is key. I began working with a professional coach, speaking with my primary care provider as well as my therapist regularly. They began chronicling my work matters as the tides turned to rough waters. We had federal regulation changes and corporate changes which shifted the tide of the business. “Grind with Grit” became “Grind with Grit and Sell Compliantly.” This was a good change for the industry. As a leader, it was important for me to miss a few sales opportunities to teach my team to sell compliantly and well.
Thankfully, it proved successful as my team adapted to the transition smoothly. As we entered into 4th quarter, employees began speaking up about some Anti-Semitic behaviors that should not take place in any work environment in the year 2021. As a leader, I spoke up about it with data to my peers, my director, and above. As that internal investigation occurred, AEP was wrapping up. I informed my third director about my back hurting. She dismissed my complaint because she and I had purchased the same Executive Desk Chair from the same Amazon link and her back did not hurt her. She focused on my response to her while I was in dire pain and used that as a stimulus to site me for unprofessionalism. Not once did she offer me FMLA or empathy as any employee should receive. Fast forward, I was sick, very very sick.
In January 2022, I was informed that a decision was made on the investigation and there were no findings. I called bullshit. I was fired for unprofessionalism. In early 2022, Utah made global news because of the soaring Anti-Semitic hate crimes occurring across the state. It was refreshing to work with the Utah Unemployment adjudicator assigned to my case. She said the company failed to provide evidence of my unprofessionalism. Unemployment was something I never expected. It has been an eye-opener to understand the process of it while I am now on sabbatical and reframing my career. I have always had a title. Being without a title was a bit of a shock. I had been defined by that for so long. Thankfully, I was hired quickly as Club Pilates General Manager. This was a fun Q1 project! I helped them launch their Park City location. I stepped in to help with construction to soft opening reaching their soft opening membership goal. I learned a lot about franchises and their inner workings while working one on one with their Corporate Leadership Team.
In April, I grew sicker. Well, I have been sick since December. I had eating disorders as a young adult. I cried the day I found out that I was having a baby girl. Why? Because, at that moment, I made a promise to myself that I would be my best self for her. That meant healthy living and no more eating disorders. I did not want her to learn that from me. I strived to teach her to be a good roommate, her best self, and as Marilyn Monroe said, “A girl knows her limits, but a wise girl knows she has none.” I kept that promise until December 2021 when I lost control of my eating disorder control. My diet had shifted to sugary energy drinks, tons of coffee, little to no sleep, and very little exercise. My energy was depleted. I could not eat. When I did eat, food came up. My doctor advised me with the same advice he gave to his wife, “your job is toxic, you have two choices: die a slow death working there or live a quality life.” I had determined in December that I would choose the latter and finish Q1 strong. Thankfully, God works in mysterious ways.
On April 28th, I was violently sick projectile vomiting for nearly 3 hours. April 29th, I went to the ER. My team of doctors started working to help me determine the root cause of my sickness. In May, I was deathly ill. For 3 weeks and a half, I could not keep food or drink in my system. I also felt my food digesting through my intestinal tract. My gut needed healing before the doctors could do any testing. The test results proved that I am healthy and that the stress from the toxic environment that was my job was a key contributor to my sickness. While stuck in bed, I had a lot of time to think about my vision, my legacy, and my future.
I needed to keep my strategic business skillsets sharp and my mindset positive. I applied to Northwestern’s CMO Executive Education Program to give me hope through my healing. Although I was not accepted, their application process helped me share my story. I had no idea that in doing so, I was influencing so many people and consulting so many businesses. As a result, I launched my business: LVL UP with CW. Since I have a plethora of strategic business skill sets, I have been mentoring young professionals, taking local businesses to their next level, and developing leadership programs to help businesses level up their staff. My most recent accomplishment was Pendry Park City. I hosted Locals & Leaders for Mimosa Monday with MissCDub at Pendry Park City to keep our local community rooted in our values and our future. While I attend Columbia, I will continue to LVL UP businesses & leaders. Please contact me at cynthia@LVLUPwithCW.com
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There will always be an obstacle or challenge to work through. Anticipate it by being a forward proactive thinker. Give yourself grace. Turn your mistakes into learning opportunities by keeping a clear vision and adhering to the systems & processes that work. Trust the process have faith.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk Taking is super important to launching and growing a successful business and/or a brand. It’s all about balance. A very strategic thoughtful balance. Impulsive actions often backfire. Take time to think through your business plan to develop systems and processes that will lead to long-term success and growth. Be brave, be bold, be you!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/misscdub
