2013 Most Influential Women Honoree: Beckie Collins

Beckie Collins lives by a simple adage: Take that chance you’ve been considering.

“I keep that motto posted on my mirror to remind myself to always move out of the comfort zone and take those chances,” says Collins, owner of BDesigned LLC, a marketing and design company.

The reminder must work, because Collins has made a career out of taking chances.

At the age of 24, she took a management job with JCPenney, attaining the position of district salon manager and trainer and earning a corporate award for excellence in management for, among other things, increasing sales, profit and staff.

After three years, Collins turned down a promotion and relocation to return to school at Missouri State University, where she received an undergraduate degree in organizational communications. While in school, she worked as community director for March of Dimes and raised more than $25,000.

After graduating with honors, Collins went to work for The Larson Group, where it didn’t take long for her to be promoted to director of marketing and recruiting for 13 locations in six states. Eight years later, Collins made the biggest decision of her career when she left The Larson Group to launch her own business.

She followed her motto.

“I feel my professional career has shown my strong ability to take chances to grow and always be willing to make a change professionally. I feel it’s important to keep growing, keep changing and learn to embrace change as a new opportunity to expand,” Collins says. “I was scared to leave a successful management position to go back to school and obtain my degree, but I went for it. I was unsure of my ability to be the director of marketing and recruiting for a company the size of The Larson Group, but I went for it. I was terrified to leave a job that I loved and the comfort of my peers, but I went for it.”

Perhaps it was Collins’ experience recovering from a traumatic injury that fuels her determination to challenge herself while also devoting time to philanthropic endeavors. When she was 17, Collins was burned over more than 40 percent of her body in a house fire and spent more than a month in a Shriners Hospital for Children.

“I faced, dealt with and conquered skin grafting, learning to walk again and several years of therapy,” she says. “After experiencing this, I promised myself I would be one to give back. I was inspired by the Shriners to give unconditionally and not ask for anything in return.”

Collins has volunteered for the Shriners, Children’s Miracle Network and the American Cancer Society, for which she has helped raise more than $2.4 million. “I believe your attitude is who you are. I also believe that a positive or negative attitude is infectious. If you choose to be a positive, outgoing goal-driven person, your peers and co-workers will be more apt to be the same. You must lead by example. Smile and the world will smile back.”[[In-content Ad]]