9-to-5 job. “What has kept me with being an entrepreneur is I don’t think there’s anything else I do well,” she says. And it’s that inspiration that fuels her work to help her clients grow and develop their careers and businesses. “With my clients, I experience so much success. I love this quote by Dr. Martin Luther King: ‘I have not become who I am until you have become you are.’”
Eyes on the Road Ingram’s business and passion features an entirely separate facet, in addition to career coaching and development: language studies and culture studies. And she offers these to both local individuals and companies, as well as to expatriates and their families. “That’s something I’ve really developed my company around: not only teaching the language skills they need, but also supporting them throughout their expatriation and really developing a relationship with them and being what I like to call a good citizen,” Ingram explains. “They are in our country, and when they haven’t had experience or speak the language, it can be very challenging day to day, and I’ve seen severe situations that have almost lead to being suicidal or having to be repatriated because they were a danger to themselves or other people.” Much of the passion Ingram has for this part of her business she has gleaned from her time overseas. While she was studying for her undergrad at Clemson, her program took her to Japan for the first semester of her senior year, where she experienced her own form of expatriation. Her time with clients far exceeds mere language and culture studies. “That’s one of the focuses that I take: I’m also here to support you if you need a dentist or don’t know how to go to Walmart,” she explains. “I’m there to support them as a good citizen and neighbor.” Ingram shares story after story of the, not only the impact that she’s had on the lives of clients and their family members, but of the impact that they, in turn, have on her and her business. “It’s not just language training,” she continues. “It’s about that person and the reason that they have that goal and the challenges they face and the expectations they have placed upon them.”
The Continued Journey Visions International celebrates its 10th year in business this year. This milestone marks a special change for Ingram, though, in addition to the business itself. Seeing her business grow and succeed for this long has solidified her decisions and her future. “I have grown to love entrepreneurship,” she says. “I really got to the point this year that it became reality and truth for me that this is me. I’m not going back.” And as Ingram and her business continue to move forward, there are new offering on the horizon for the Upstate—and possibly the world. “We’re entering a new season of offering more language courses and hiring teachers for that,” she says. “I still enjoy teaching my students: professionals and executives all the way down to middle Q4 2010
Business Black Box
minister actually called her on my behalf and set up an appointment for me.” So Ingram took the opportunity to meet Dr. Debra King, PhD, LPC/S, a licensed professional counselor, psycology professor and now interim CEO of Foothills Community Health Center. King advised her to update her resume, find a mentor and pursue an apprenticeship, and then took Ingram to a group of professionals where she could hopefully meet a potential mentor. It was also during this time—and before Ingram could put into action King’s advise—that Ingram’s faith was both tested and strengthened. “Through prayer when I was down to my last $100, I said, ‘Lord, I have nothing left. What am I supposed to do?’ And He said, ‘Call Dr. King and ask her to be your mentor,’” Ingram recalls. “So I did, and she said she’d be delighted.” Following even more nos and letdowns, Dr. King mentioned a different opportunity with potential. “I met with my mentor, who talked to me about entrepreneurship, and I didn’t give it any thought at that time,” she says. “I went back to the computer lab and did what she told me to do: applying for jobs until 11 p.m.” It was this time that Ingram began considering starting her own business, since she kept meeting closed door after closed door. Although she had not considered it previously, one of the key things King had shared with Ingram related to entrepreneurism: if you can’t find it the job you’re searching for, create it. “That night I was thinking about ideas, and I heard the Lord say, ‘Write it down,’” Ingram says. “I was writing from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., and everything that I wrote became my business plan I’m living today.” That’s not to imply everything that followed was smooth sailing, though. “Every door was closed and slammed in my face, so I had to create a job for myself,” Ingram says. “I had no money, no resources—nothing but a vision and some skills that I could assemble to make it happen. And also, I had a mentor and other people who have supported me along the way.” Working to develop the ideas she wrote that night, Ingram began to build her business. “What I wrote that night was professional and career development and Japanese teacher,” she says. “I didn’t know what coaching was—many people didn’t at that time—and that was the direction I started to take, but the doors were just not opening.” Ingram kept pursuing this new idea, though. “I didn’t know what to call myself—I’m not a consultant, and I’m not a mentor, but I was doing coaching and not even knowing it,” she says. And then she struck gold. “I read an article in the Greenville News, and it talked about professional coaching and gave a reference to one of the governing boards that was trying to bring shape and regulations,” she recalls. “It talked about a training school, and I said, ‘That’s what I am!’ So I began researching and studying, and when the timing was right, I invested in a formal training program at an accredited school working toward certification.” From that discovery, Ingram’s business grew and took shape, and clients began to follow—many of them similar to her. “I noticed that the people that were attracted to me during that time were entrepreneurs,” she explains. She began to help people build careers the way she did—through discovering how to turn passion into a business and utilizing the proper inherent and transferable skills to make it a reality. “I know somebody says along the way—although we never quite seem to get it—to think about what you have, because skills are so transferable,” she says. “Ask yourself, ‘What do I love to do? What am I good at? What do people say I’m good at?’” Since beginning her business, it has continued to grow, and she’s never taken an opportunity to leave—even for a convenient, secure
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