So, getting right to it, I must say Ms. Baker was so captivating and the photo of her daughters really done it which was the initial thing I gravitated to at first sight and I must say your family is absolutely beautiful. The photo itself says so much without words being expressed. A unity and an untouchable connection that is bonded into a family love and sisterhood.
Q: First, can you please tell us a little about yourself and your family?
A: How old were you when you start having your children? I was married September 14, 1991, at the tender age of 24 years of age. We waited before we had children. We didn’t want to add children to a new marriage. It’s one thing to date and fall in love but you must fall back in love with the one you married. When we date a person we put on our best but after marriage, you get to see what you didn’t see. I was 26 turning 27 in two months when I delivered our first daughter Brea. We talked at great length about having a family. We took premarital counseling before we got married and we wanted to make sure we were ready to be a parent before we had children. Life isn’t perfect but we didn't want our pain raising our children so we wanted to be of “sound mind” before we brought any children into this world.
Q: Growing up yourself what was actually your dreams before you had children? What did you want to be?
A: Hmm that a good question. I was raised in the church and the only messages preached during that time was live right, heaven or hell, etc. No one talked about what are your dreams or going to college. It was more like what will you do in the Kingdom of God. That caused me not be prepared for life after high school. Those conversations weren't approached. If you went to school that was good but if you didn’t go to school, that wasn’t a problem.
We were told to get a job and pay your bills. I didn't begin dreaming until I was an adult and had children. My parents accomplished a lot but the church environment didn’t talk about dreaming as it does today. Because of the rat race, I found myself living in; check to check, I wanted more for my children and myself. I shared with them my struggles, my mistakes, my obstacle course in life and told them what better decisions would do for them. When I began dreaming I dreamed big. Now the author of three books wrote and produced two plays that traveled around the world, executive produced my first music cd, created a mentorship program, life coach, preacher and teacher (all can be found under www.tinabaker.org). I showed my children what dreaming could produce.
Q: In your briefing on facebook you made a comment that touched a lot of women home base that you never thought you were smart enough to attend college, with that being said how did you manage to not let your girls sponge off those thoughts of self-doubt you had? What motivated you to find that self-esteem and courage to go back? Where and when did you find that inspiration or who inspired you to fulfill your dreams in higher education?
A: My kids were my inspiration. I asked God to show me how I can lead my kids to a place where I had not gone. They applied every principle that my husband and I taught them and they were successful in reaching their dreams and they are still dreaming. In 2015, 30 years after I graduated from high school, I told my children that I was going to face my biggest fear. How could I produce brilliant children and not be brilliant myself? I told my kids, “I was going to go to college.” What an emotional day. The entire time that I drove to school; I cried. It was not tears of sorrow but tears of joy, relief, and freedom. I was reaching my ultimate goal in life.
Inspirational 24