Lillian Lincoln Lambert

My husband and I just returned from an exciting week in Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO.  My primary purpose for the trip was to be a keynote speaker at the Economic Empowerment Summit at Harvest Church where the graduating class from its Joseph Business School was honored.  The school selects and trains entrepreneurs in practical aspects of starting and running a business. Based on principles taught in the church. It was a great experience where I met many new friends and entrepreneurs.

Why travel so far and not take advantage of other things in the area by adding a few extra days to the trip? Fortunately my sister-in-law lives in KC and she is very involved in the community.  We arrived in time to attend a reception and book signing for Terry McMillan who is promoting her new book “Getting to Happy’. What an interesting person!

It is amazing how we go to college with people and seem to not have much in common and years later can connect and share so much!  My husband and I had dinner with two classmates who were in my section at Harvard Business School and their spouses.  One I had seen a year ago at the 40^th class reunion, saw again when I was in KC in April and again on this trip – three times in one year after 40 years of no contact. The other one I had not seen since graduation in 1969. After all these years there was so much to talk about that there was not a quiet moment. We promised to stay in touch.

The trip ended with my sister-in-law entertaining friends at her home on Sunday afternoon. This gave me the opportunity to get to know some new friends in greater depth.  My sister-in-law likes any excuse to entertain and I promised to give her more excuses in the future.

Yesterday was a great day spent in the company of about 15 high school girls. I was invited to be the guest speaker for the Girls Empowerment Program of a summer camp.

I must admit, I was a bit intimidated when I first received the request. My thought was “How will I relate to a small group of teenage girls?” I need not have worried. These young ladies were attentive, respectful, interactive and anxious to learn. I shared with them my life story: how and where I grew up, mistakes I made, things I did well and not so well, how I dealt with challenges and overcame obstacles. They had questions and were not reluctant to ask them and to get involved in the discussion. Our discussion dealt with goal setting, decision making, self esteem and career planning. The overall theme of my message was based on this quote by Mark Caine, an author: “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you find yourself”. I left them with a list of my “Guiding Principles”, which were developed based on the experiences of my life.

At the end of the session the sponsor gave each young lady a copy of my memoir, “The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond”.  I signed the books and personalized each girl’s copy.

It was a very rewarding day.

With dreams of conquering the world, I left Ballsville, VA in Powhatan County more than fifty years ago and never thought I would return on such a positive note as I did last weekend.

Some friends hosted a lovely, well attended book event in the home of one of the couples. The host and hostesses had lived up North for a number of years but had returned home to to live in this quiet community. Their house was overflowing with about 80 people occupying the family room, music room and dining room.  It was diverse group – old, young, black, white, retirees, employees, etc. The array of tasty food and drink added to everyone’s enjoyment.  I was surprised to see some of those in attendance such as the current pastor from the church I attended as a child, TV newscasters and a newspaper columnist from the city where I now live, and the daughter of the man who was postmaster at my childhood post office. The latter is a white lady, someone I would not have been allowed to socialize with as a child because of the segregation laws.   She was so excited to know what had happened to me over the years.  I saw people whom I had not seen in years and met many new people most of who had moved to the area subsequent to my leaving.

The event was planned for three hours but a small group of us lingered around for another couple hours reminiscing about our younger days in this little town. I was exhausted when I arrived home but the pleasantries of the day overshadowed my tiredness. The day was a blessing.

A special thanks to my friends for such a memorable day!

When I was first invited to visit a book club to discuss my book “The Road to someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond” which had been selected as their choice for the month, I was somewhat reluctant. I could not quite imagine how that would be beneficial as a part of my very busy book tour events. I accepted the invitation and it was a very wise decision. I have recently completed my third visit with a book club and have enjoyed each one.

Members of the book club have usually purchased the book prior to the meeting and most have read it either in its entirety or at least some of it. Some members bring guests who either already have the book or will purchase one at the meeting.  It was obvious that most members really enjoy reading and they cherish the camaraderie of their fellow club members.

Book clubs have a diverse membership, though those I have visited are all female, but with varied backgrounds and interests. The exciting thing about book clubs is that members get to ask all kinds of questions – questions about things in the book on which they want more detail; questions about things omitted from the book and sometimes questions about things on which I plead “the fifth.  It is amazing the different messages readers get from the book, sometimes messages I was not aware I have sent. Overall, the discussions have all been intriguing.

To top things off, they all served delicious food! I am looking forward to my next book club meeting later this month.

Dream big, Act bold

What a wonderful day it was yesterday and such hospitable hosts for the first book event on my book tour! The students, administration and staff at Greens Farms Academy, a private day school in Westport, CT exceeded my expectations as they welcomed me to their campus.

The day began with a student assembly for the school’s Martin Luther King celebration. With a mixture of instrumental music, group songs, solos and recitations, my keynote speech, “Reflecting on the Values of Dr. King” was considered a central part of the celebration. The one-hour event was quite impressive. The students, particularly those from the lower school, responded well to my presentation. For more exposure for me and the students, I then met with 5th graders who were full of questions. The questioning had to be brought to an end in order for me to go to my destination – lunch with LEAD students, a group that works for and advocates diversity.

After a scrumptious dinner at Martel’s in Fairfield, CT, I returned to the school for a discussion and book signing. Attendance was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised to see many Harvard Business School graduates there as well as a classmate from my Howard University days, who was a student in the Department of Business where I was also a student.

My trip ended the next day after a taped interview with Gwen Edwards on News 12 CT for her OUR LIVES show which will air the weekend of January 23.

It was a great way to start my book tour.