Last month, the Urban League of Greater Atlanta recognized her success by presenting her with its Young Professional award at its annual Equal Opportunity Day Dinner.

The honor put Green in an elite group. This year’s winners in other award categories included Toni Braxton, the president of the State Bar of Georgia and the president of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, among other civic leaders.

“When the list was first given to me, I was shocked and humbled,” Green says.

Originally from Charlotte, Green chose moving to Atlanta over graduate school.

“Right before I graduated, I visited a friend who lived here, and I fell in love with the city,” she says. “So after I graduated, I packed my bags and moved to Atlanta.”

Along with her A&T degree, she had just her car, a trunk full of clothes and her faith in herself. What she didn’t have was a job, but that didn’t slow her down.

“I never think I was made to be a failure,” she says. “I said, ‘I want to be able to try this. If I don’t succeed, then maybe this is not for me, but at least I will give it a try.’ I just stepped out on faith.”

That faith led to AT&T, where she became leader of a Uverse sales team, and then back to school for a project management certification. Now she’s a program management operations analyst in the Atlanta office of American Tower Corp., which builds cellphone towers.

Green manages budgets on construction projects that can include up to 100 towers.

In addition to her corporate job, Green has launched an entrepreneurial career in a very different field.

“I think we have many gifts and many talents,” she says. “I think we’re not created for just one purpose.”

Her parallel career as a business owner began last February when she opened a hair salon, 2nd Level Salon Studio.

“It’s a small, boutique salon where I have three chairs,” she says. “It runs itself because it’s so small.” It provides additional income, and Green can handle the management, marketing and paperwork on weekends.

She had learned a little about the business from her aunt, who was a hair stylist. That wasn’t a course she had ever pursued. Nor was being a business owner.

“It was very much a challenge for me because I didn’t know anything about owning my own business,” she says. “It was something I was teaching myself.”

Business has been good so far. Even though the salon hasn’t been open for a full year yet, the experience has been encouraging.

“I definitely don’t want to stop there,” she says. “I have more things I want to do.” She’s planning an online jewelry boutique next.

“I’m trying to tap into my gifts, my talent, my resources to be just a well-rounded person. That’s all I want to be.”

For Green, part of being well rounded is giving back to the community. She’s active with the Urban League’s Young Professionals group, which engages in such community service projects as feeding the homeless and delivering food to the elderly. They also hold social events and offer the opportunity to network with peers in diverse professions.

She also is a member of the Atlanta Business League and the Atlanta chapter of the A&T Alumni Association. Like the Urban League, the two groups offer opportunities in both community service and networking.

Green credits the opportunities she found growing up in Charlotte and attending A&T for both her openness to new directions and her dedication to the community.

“In school you participate in so many different activities, volunteering and serving the community,” she says. “Once I was out on my own, I definitely didn’t want to stop.”

Send Us Your News  
Do you have good news to share? Have you recently received a promotion or special recognition? If you’d like to be considered for a future story, click here.