Meet Dr. Bobbie Mills | CEO & Founder of Elevated Vision Educational Consulting, LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Bobbie Mills and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Bobbie, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
My favorite quote is by Madam CJ Walker. She said, “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” Madam CJ Walker was one of the first self-made female millionaires in America. She rose from poverty and built a successful empire in the early 20th century when opportunities for African-American women and other marginalized communities were severely limited.

This quote to me means I can do anything I set my mind to. Many times in my life I sat back and complained about the lack of opportunities that I felt I was not getting. I would see other people living out their dreams, starting their own businesses, etc., but I still sat back hoping and waiting on someone to give me a chance. One day I woke up and realized that if I wanted to make things happen and take control of my own destiny, I could no longer sit back and wait for someone to do it for me. I had to get up and make it happen for myself.

What I like about this quote is that it motivates my soul and lights a fire underneath my entrepreneurial spirit. Madam CJ Walker created a successful business during a time when there was no internet, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Today, the world is right at the tip of our fingers. With that being said, I have no excuse not to get up and make my business successful. Building a business is not easy. I have had challenges and setbacks along with way sprinkled with some toppings of disappointments, but I keep this quote front and center to remind me that unlike Madam CJ Walker, I am living in a day and age where I have the freedom to create the life I want and take active steps to get it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Elevated Vision Educational Consulting, LLC works with school leaders to help them increase academic results. What sets my business apart from others is that we do not offer cookie cutter professional development or services. We tailor and customize services to meet the unique needs of school leaders and teachers. The teaching profession is not what it used to be, and more and more colleges and universities are graduating lower amounts of graduates from their education programs. School leaders are now faced with having to either hire teachers that do not have formal education training or recruit international teachers. Because of this, we offer customized services and professional developments to build teachers’ capacity and help international teachers get acclimated to American culture and schools.

I am excited about the many possibilities that are out in the field of education. COVID rocked the world of education and although we experienced many negative impacts from it, it opened up a whole new world and propelled us in a direction that we never thought was possible. School leaders and teachers today are faced with many obstacles and challenges, and I am excited to be able to offer services that will mitigate their stress and help their students achieve the academic results they deserve.

I got to where I am today by putting God first and having a coach. I am the type of person that wants to be around people smarter than me and who have paved the way and is now lending an olive branch for me to grab onto so that I can learn and be able to give back. I meet with my coach once a month. She is my accountability partner and holds me accountable for making sure I am completing tasks that will move my business forward. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, but the key I have learned about entrepreneurship is that you have to have perseverance, a strong mindset, and be in community and space with like-minded people. I’ve sent emails and one-pagers to potential clients and sometimes I never received a response. This does not deter me. As a matter of fact, I am thankful because this lets me know that they may not have been the right client for my business. It’s all about perseverance and having the right mindset!

Since owning my own business, I have learned that you must be visible. I consider myself to be a rather private person, but someone told me that you can be private, but your business cannot. I have also learned to embrace social media and show the world what Elevated Vision Educational Consulting, LLC has to offer. I post often on LinkedIn and other social media platforms to get the word out about my business. Networking at various events, such as conferences is also an invaluable resource that helps put me out in the world to show what I can offer.

My business is dedicated to transforming the landscape of education globally. The mission of Elevated Vision Educational Consulting, LLC is to boost individuals’ confidence in their professional and personal lives so they can authentically connect with individuals and cultivate interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships, provide a sense of cultural awareness for international teachers to better understand diverse backgrounds, attitudes, and values, and develop leadership capacity in order to create a pipeline of high-potential stakeholders that will help a school/organization achieve its strategic goal. Through innovative strategies, personalized consulting, and unwavering commitment, we aim to inspire a new era of educational excellence. Elevated Vision Educational Consulting, LLC is ready to redefine what’s possible in education and make a lasting impact on communities worldwide.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting the area and I wanted to show her the best time ever, I would take her to Charleston, South Carolina. We would visit Rainbow Row and look at the brightly painted homes, walk and have our girl talk on Folly Beach, and shop until we drop at the City Market!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my Shoutout to my daddy, Bobby Glenn Mills, who was the ultimate entrepreneur! My daddy worked in a mill in Laurens, South Carolina for 30 years. As a child and young adult, I watched him work long hours. On days he did not work, he hustled and landed jobs in town mowing lawns.

When I decided to start my own consulting business, I said to myself, “If my daddy could find customers and get out in the hot sun for hours on end and mow lawns all day to make sure my family and I had what we needed, then I can surely put myself out in the world and start my own business. His example taught me that nothing is given to you. You have to work hard and do what it takes to accomplish our goals.

Website: https://www.getelevatedvision.com

Instagram: get_elevated_vision

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbie-mills-ed-d-77bab112b/

Twitter: @ElevatedMills