Marilyn's Career Path
We spoke with Marilyn Lands to learn more about her dynamic career path, as well as how her various professions have prepared her well to work as a Representative in Montgomery.
Q. Can you explain a bit more about your career history, as well as how your past professions will be useful as a Representative?
My first jobs were in high school, as a Baskin-Robbins and local grocery store employee. While attending UAH, I worked full-time at what was then Henderson National Bank and went to school in the evening—I feel that much of what I know about finance I learned from that work experience, rather than my collegiate coursework. After graduation, I was offered a job at Boeing, where I worked for the next seven years as a Market Analyst. Lots of my coworkers at Boeing were from different parts of the country, which was a very fun, exciting, and informative experience—I even ventured out of my comfort zone to join the company bowling team!
My next job was working as the Director of Marketing for the Madison County Airport Board Authority. I worked there for six years, and was lucky enough to be present during the development and construction of the new concourse and attend the Paris Air Show—all through my job. This job helped me to stretch my marketing muscles, taught me how to conceptualize and plan important events, and emphasized the importance of working with a good team. At some point, however, I began to long for something different.
If you know me, you know that I am very much a helper type by nature. As much as I loved my jobs up to this point, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. I had always dreamed of being a counselor, but because I received a degree in Business, I felt that this dream was impossible to achieve—looking back, this was a powerful learning moment in terms of not saying no to myself. I was certain that I would need a PhD to become a therapist, but after learning more about the field, I realized this was not the case.
As the proverb says, a thousand mile journey starts with the very first step. My first step was researching programs and discovering that this dream was very possible, even at colleges within my own community. As soon as I entered school for my counseling degree, I felt a great sense of calm and knew that this was the right decision for me. In fact, I felt no anxiety or busyness for quite some time while getting my Masters—until I had my son and, of course, got quite busy again.
After graduating, I worked on Gallatin Street at Wellstone Mental Health (which, at that time, was Mental Health Center of Madison County), working in marketing half of the time and PR the other half of the time. I eventually shifted over to counseling full-time, and then became director of the Counseling Services Division. However, when my son was six years old he became unhappy in after-school care, and I decided to transition back to part-time work in order to pick him up after school—a great decision that I was fortunate to make.
After many wonderful years at Wellstone, I started my own part-time private practice, operating out of my home. I still work in private practice now, and also mentor people studying to receive their Professional Counseling Licensure from the state of Alabama.
My diverse career path has been a truly fun and fulfilling journey, as I have been able to learn so much from each job and am continuously able to bring old skills into new positions. I believe that all people can excel in this world, and that one way to encourage success is by allowing everyone to play to their strengths. I am very lucky that I have been able to do that, no matter what new interest I have or what path I choose to embark on. Because of this, I have also been fortunate enough to feel that I am always at the right place and right time in terms of my career choices.
Unfortunately, this is quite different from what I hear many of my clients say during their counseling sessions—instead, they often must work in jobs that do not fit them, or that were someone else’s plan or idea. As a counselor, I strongly encourage people to follow their own path and forge their own way, especially in terms of their career, as this mindset has served me well within my own professional life. I now hope to motivate and encourage individual success on a more systemic level in Montgomery, helping allow citizens of our great state to follow their passions and achieve professional excellence.
