Real Stories Real People

Miriam Benard - Banker turns to teaching

Originally from Nicaragua, she came to this country in 1979 at 16 years old, after just graduating from High School. Due to her circumstances, she promptly acquired a position in an international bank agency as a receptionist and that is how her banking career started. As she grew in knowledge, she felt motivated and kept looking for even better opportunities. Miriam found that banking was very rewarding, especially in the international arena. She received her undergraduate degrees in local universities in Psychology and Business and later an Executive MBA. She didn't feel it was easy as any working mother will agree, to balance a home and a career, considering work involved traveling for both parents. As the kids grew and her husband became the bread winner at home, they started to re-think their priorities. Eventually, they thought, something will have to give if they continued to maintain this fast pace. Miriam had an opportunity to teach a local college on-line class and had the time of her life!

After giving it a lot of thought, reshuffling their finances and sacrificing certain material aspirations, Miriam decided she had to call it quits. It was difficult to put away a very decent salary, but it was worth the try, and she could not be happier. Her daughter is thrilled with the fact that her mom can pick her up at school promptly at 3pm. Miriam is grateful she decided and took action to place a new focus on what she PRIZED most in her life.

What can we learn from Miriam's story?
When she took a hard look at what was most important to her in her life, she was able to quickly take action to re-create a life that made more sense for her and her family


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