Andrea and her husband Rick Schmidt
My Fashion Maven is honored to have Andrea Borden in our “Women Who Inspire” series for www.myfashionmaven.com/blog. As much as we want to inspire women to look great on the outside, it all starts from within. We couldn’t have picked a better representative this month than Andrea Borden. She is not only great on the inside, but is definitely a fashionista according to her friends and family who have known her. She is always dressed to the nine’s even if she is having an off day.
After Andrea finished college gaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from University of West Florida, she moved to the exciting, bustling city of Atlanta where her sales career began with Compaq Computer Corporation/HP as account manager for the southeastern region. She later joined Pinnacle Micro, an optical storage manufacturer headquartered in Southern California, as Regional Sales Manager growing the channel sales division to over 75 distributor and reseller accounts on the East coast.
She also worked in the technology media industry with CMP Media and later Ziff-Davis Media / ZD.net as Regional Sales Manager representing such publications as Computerworld, PC Magazine, and Computer Reseller News.
Although she has been very successful at sales and entrepreneurship, her passion for mentoring started in college. Andrea started mentoring as a Big Sister where she would help young girls with school work and self esteem as well as a volunteer cheerleading coach for the YMCA. As she moved on in her life, her need to volunteer remained. When she arrived to Atlanta, she quickly got involved in the Big Sister organization again, helped deliver food for AIDS patients for Project Open Hand and for seniors with Senior Connections, and volunteered at Peachtree Hospice.
Presently Andrea is working in a program at Woodson Elementary in Atlanta. She and her husband Rick have committed to spending their time every week with 3rd grade boys and girls.
“I believe mentoring is so important because many children do not have confidence and hope for the future. In my opinion, the most important thing a child needs to be successful in life is CONFIDENCE. Even if they don’t do well in school, if they have CONFIDENCE they will keep trying and reaching out for help so they will improve. I have failed at many things in my life but I had the CONFIDENCE to get back up and try again. My parents made me feel like I could do or be anything I wanted - as long as I kept trying. So many kids I meet do not have confidence in their abilities, whether academically or socially.
When Rick and I mentor our kids at Woodson, we hear “I can’t do that or I’m not good at that”. We tell them, ”You can definitely be good at that. There is nothing wrong with you. You are smart. You just need more practice. Let me help you. I will practice with you.”
A little encouragement goes a long way. We see so many kids who give up too quickly. When we have them read books out loud, they do not read well and other kids will make fun or laugh. They want to stop reading, but we don’t let them stop. They have to keep going in order to get better.”
Andrea not only has brought hope to these students lives, her life has been equally enriched. We all have our inner passion to help others in some way, it is inspiring to see people acting upon them. Once again, we thank our “Women Who Inspire”.
Andrea is currently the partner of Borden Schmidt, LLC , a company that provides Tax, Accounting, and business consulting services to a broad range of companies(contact her at andrea@bordenschmidt.com). She is on the volunteer membership for NAWBO for Atlanta and lives with her husband Rick and dog Eddie in Midtown, Atlanta.
Prior to Borden Schmidt, Andrea successfully launched and owned a professional recruiting business in Florida.
A few of Andrea’s favorite quotes are:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up!”
–Winston Churchill
Stay inspired, help others even if it’s one person at a time, and you may as well look good doing it!
Andrea Hart Sobocinski
www.myfashionmaven.com
A beautiful tribute of a beautiful woman and friend who is beautiful on the inside and out. Thank You Andrea for taking the time to make a difference in the lives of children and inspiring so many just by being you.
Thanks Kristan!