Lizzy Morris has been through ups-and-downs, but has persevered in becoming the first Black woman to be a certified Scrum Trainer. She will be talking about her journey to becoming a life and career coach at the 2018 Long Beach Best You EXPO on March 24.
Morris grew up in the United Kingdom, where she always thought she would become a lawyer. That idea changed after her family moved to Canada. Morris was a teen but stayed in Canada through her early 20s after getting married and having two kids. Even though she had built a life in Canada, she had a feeling that she needed to go back to her home country.
“I was doing dealer broker financing and became a head dealer broker, but I had a call to do ministry, so I gave it up,” said Morris. “In the call to do ministry, I felt that it was time to go home, so I took myself and my 2 children back to the UK.”
Moving back was a struggle, but Morris was eventually able to get a job with a training company that gave her, her first look into career training and coaching. She enjoyed working for the company but just as she was getting used to everything, the company went bankrupt. Morris found herself without a job, two kids to provide for, and a husband who was not involved. This state led Morris to her first deep depression.
“I felt lost, I felt stuck and I couldn’t see a door,” said Morris. “My mother came over from Canada and told me that I had two weeks to get myself together. She said that she would take care of my kids and that I had two weeks to find another job.”
Morris started a method that she teaches today, which is making affirmation cards. She took out 200 index cards and started writing out what her ideal job looked like. She also took out her Bible and made cards giving thanks for where she’s at in life but also saying that she believed that God would send her a job that has a leadership position and a good salary. After a week of putting out the prayers and positive energy through affirmation cards, Morris was offered four jobs that exceeded her expectations.
She ended up taking a job as an executive assistant for an insurance company where she learned all about project management. Morris did really well as an assistant and her boss promoted her to join an elite project team. Her coworkers had been working longer than Morris and thought that she needed to pay more dues, so they gave her duties that nobody else wanted to do. The work conditions and tension with her coworkers led Morris to another deep depression. It turned out to be her biggest launchpad as she decided to start her own business.
“Because the distaste for me was so strong, it caused a lot of stress and physically I wasn’t able to work and had to take time off,” said Morris. “I got home one day and I remember falling on my face and saying, ‘God this can’t be my life.'”
Not being able to work, Morris ended up homeless with her two children. To add on another life decision, she found out that she was pregnant with her third child. Morris decided that she was going to get an abortion and even contemplated suicide. Right as she hit rock bottom, she heard a voice saying, “trust me,” and telling her to not to do what she was thinking of. She took out her cards and started writing again. The cards worked like a charm and two days later Morris got an opportunity to work with a big training company in France. By the time her baby was born, Morris was able to buy a house and was working with Fortune 500 companies.
Morris went on to build her own training company, Bearded Eagle, and is now a certified Scrum trainer. This gives Morris the ability to train people on project management all over the world. She has been to India, Dubai, Singapore and more training businesses, coaching individual lives and giving her life testimony. Morris is making her way to Long Beach to speak at the 2018 Best You EXPO on March 24. Girl in Charge Public Relations is giving out 20 free tickets on their Facebook. All you have to do is go to their page and type #freeexpotickets. For more information about the Best You EXPO, visit www.thebestyouexpo.com. For more information about Morris, visit www.lizzymorris.com.