About Anne Akers
Everything begins with a dream. Everything begins with a vision. Nothing can be accomplished without an authentic belief in yourself. And nothing can be sustained until one learns the value of giving back.
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My vision began with my first job in Honolulu, Hawaii. A savvy employer at a PR firm where I was hired required that every new employee read two books as a pre-requisite of employment: Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking" and Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People". The underlying message of these two iconic best-sellers made it all seem easy, i.e., you can if you THINK you can and one can never underestimate the importance of meaningful relationships with others.
The dream began as I sat in the middle of "Paradise" with its endless days of weather perfection, bikini-clad girls and bronzed surf boarders. I ordered a subscription of the New York Times delivered to my office (in those days, it was not online), scouring the Help Wanted section, apartment rentals, and the Arts and Leisure section with the lights of Broadway and New York's cultural offerings prompting a vision of what could be. Then, the hard work began.
My first days in Manhattan were not easy. The small paycheck I received as a Kelly Girl (temporary office work) demanded frugality. For example, a bus ride or a subway ticket was considered an extravagance, the distance, and inclement weather notwithstanding. I walked everywhere.....but while most new Yorkers walk purposefully, intent on their destinations, or perhaps reading iPhone messages.....I walked at a leisurely pace, looking upward at the skyline and Manhattan's iconic architecture......and then, eyes downward, at the homeless on the street, those to whom life had not been kind and their dreams vanquished or a thing of the past. The contrast, the possibilities, the challenges that loomed ahead, suddenly were very real. At some level, it was frightening. On another level, totally exhilarating!
Many decades later, the dream, the vision, and the positive belief in myself and others took on a new meaning as I stood among a group of top female business leaders and philanthropists to receive the SMART CEO Magazine Brava Award for "Entrepreneurial Leadership with a Sense of Giving Back to the Community". Today, the challenges remain constant, the work continues, but I am happy to share that: