Chief Coach + Founder of Mission Accomplished Transition Services: Carmen Duncan. After experiencing the kindness of an influential person during a hardship, Carmen made a commitment to pay it forward by creating Mission Accomplished.
Her passion to motivate teens & young adults unlock their potential and find their place in the professional world through career education and coaching has been a launching pad to many other achievements. Carmen’s story is truly inspiring, and she is the epitome of practicing what she preaches.
Tell us a little about yourself and what you wanted to be when you grew up.
I’m Coach Carmen and I’m originally from Poughkeepsie, NY and moved to Albany in 2000 with my wonderful father. I was able to move up here and spend half of my life with my dad. I really feel like I’ve always been a person that is supportive of my friends. Originally my goal was to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist. The I was introduced to the world of entrepreneurship, and decided that was more me.
Can you share the circumstances that brought you to start Mission Accomplished?
I am an individual that was fortunate enough to live in two seemingly opposite worlds- I grew up in the suburbs of Poughkeepsie and then moved to the city of Albany. Living in the suburbs and the city, once I grew into young adulthood I realized they aren’t really that different.
In the city or more urban communities, you have parents who are working their butts off to keep a roof over their family’s head is really no different than the person in the suburbs working 60 hours a week to do the same thing. The person in the suburbs may make more than the urban person working multiple jobs, but they still do not have the time to dedicate to supporting their teenagers and young adult children as they navigate their life. I was fortunate enough to have people that supported me while going through a very rough time and make me realize I was more valuable than I thought I was and support me as I transitioned into a better lifestyle.
My future should not have to be a result of my circumstances at that time. And those people didn’t have to do that, they had their own families. But they saw this kid who was lost- I experienced so much loss as a teenager, my grandmother died, three of my uncles died, my boyfriend at the time was given a prison sentence, my brother was given prison time, and my father spent time in prison. All of this happened in a very short amount of time, 3-4 years.
There was so much loss all while I was connected to the streets, violence, and the things that motivate violence in the streets. I had people in my life that sat down and spent time with me, to educate me about an opportunity or resource and walk me through the process of transitioning into the business world. As a result of my experience with people loving on me, intentionally and unapologetically, I decided to start Mission Accomplished to provide the same support to rising young professionals.
Photo By Doug Mitchell Photography
Where along your journey did you go to school?
In undergrad at Sage College I came up with the idea for Mission Accomplished. Originally the organization was going to focus on transitional housing for youth and runaways, because I was homeless at 16. I named it Mission Accomplished Transition Services because I felt I accomplished my mission against all odds.
At 23 I was promoted to manager at a larger organization and I had the experience of being on call and decided “I wasn’t doing this”. I also looked into the certifications and requirements and just felt like wasn’t going to have the flexibility that I wanted to create the culture of supportive adults who look like me.
I’m a black woman who didn’t learn much about my heritage and the good history of what it means to be a black American and have descendants from Africa. Even the education part of it, February is Black History month and you’ll hear about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks but there were others not in the limelight that paved the way for me and others like myself.
When you hear about Black America you hear about slavery. When you look at the statistics of the juvenile system it is disproportionately black and Hispanic children. It was important to me as someone who graduated from or transitioned from an independent living program to want to establish a housing transition program that will also highlight just how incredible we are.
But I was selfish at 23. I still have traveling and things to do and being on call wasn’t part of them. Someday I hope to be able to do it. Once I was in grad school I was in class and serving as an intern at local community based organization as well as Albany high school and I was able to see the students who were prepared to transition from high school, the students who were prepared to transition from undergrad and then the students I was in class with all had the same transition challenge.
Academically we were fine, but when the steps to transition into higher education, into the business world, making the right connections, the transition into navigating the world as an adult and we just didn’t know. Everyone tells you to graduate high school, under grad, then grad school and you’re going to make all this money. But no one is helping us how to figure it you.
It’s really important to do intentional research when determining your career choice. Then interview some people in that field, find out what the job is really like. I took the initiative to do this process and I utilized my grad career.
I saw that everyone had the same challenges, interacting with all different socioeconomic backgrounds. Both the student with a solid home life and the student that going home wasn’t an option, were terrified. I decided to establish an organization that will help people navigate this process, researching careers, networking, everything.
We’re heavy on group coaching. The class will have anywhere from 2-15 students that have an interest in a career field but have a passion for different aspects. Our job is to educate about the industry, then focus on a specific career path, then connect them with people in that industry.
How do you not let your setbacks define who you are now?
They define me everyday because Mission Accomplished exists because of my setbacks. When I wake up I’m reminded what my circumstances were, and being able to navigate through.
When I speak with people I encourage them to look at themselves as a survivor, not a victim. When you look at yourself as a survivor, you recognize the grit that you have. You recognize the resilience, perseverance, creativity that you have to get through what you needed to get through.
The most important piece is to ask for the right help. We are an interdependent world. No one can do anything without depending on someone else. Look at yourself as a courageous survivor who’s asking for help to get to where you are truly meant to be.
How do you set boundaries with students that you coach?
Every person is different. I have grown out of my overstepping boundaries self. I used to think I could save everyone, I had the formula and I could save the world. Now I have gotten to the point I know the signs of someone who is ready and someone who is not. Now that I can recognize the signs, I’m comfortable saying, “It doesn’t appear to me that you’re ready for this part of the coaching process. I would like to work on your mindset- is there fear? How can we get past that fear so we can move on?”
Can you share a transformational story of one of your students?
Recently we had a young lady who was a rising image consultant and now she’s an image consultant. Now she says it with conviction, “This is what I do.” I was able to meet her in this place where she knew all the right information, she needed the next step. It’s incredible to go on social media to see her confidence, post tips and hacks for wardrobe. She’s a completely different person now.
Another gentleman named Eugene has his own embroidery and screen printing company. He was running his company for 6 years before he came to us. His next step was run garment production. He participated in our fashion institute. [Eugene] had never constructed a garment himself but back in September he launched his new line at one of the largest fashions shows in the capital region. He came in with a goal, we coached him through some of his goals, and now he’s launching his own line, Made in Truth Clothing.
What would you say to someone who has a dream but feels like they’re in a hopeless situation?
Just go for it. Write everything that’s in your head down, even if it doesn’t make sense. Then reach out to someone to help you start to organize your thoughts, start to complete your goals by taking baby steps. Don’t try to do it all simultaneously, you’ll get overwhelmed. It’s always the ideas or visions that people think make no sense, that everyone loves. Listen to people that have experience because they have failed forward. You can really circumvent failures just by listening.
Photo by Megan Cooper
Talk about the Fashion Edition Institute and some other initiatives that you are working on?
The Fashion Edition Institute is a program specifically for individuals between the age of 18-35 with 3+ years of experience in the industry- make up artist, image consultant, and a variety of other roles.
The goal of that program is to:
1) Highlight professionals in a growing fashion industry
2) Support the fashion professionals that participate so they recognize they don’t need to leave the capital region in order to be successful.
3) Help people get past their fears. We always help people try to see past their fears.
4) Creating the business foundation within the fashion industry.
It’s a mini business course for fashion professionals. Branding, marketing yourself, and also the company you will establish. You must apply, we will accept 4-8 individuals and you can apply at matransitionservices.org/fashionedition.
At the end of the course the fashion professionals will do a pitch of their company or themselves so they can get hired by clients or a company. It’s not promised but we create an environment where it’s possible.
The Little Black Dress Initiative is affiliated with the Junior League of Albany. It started in the UK and the purpose is to raise awareness on poverty and its affects on women. It is a way to raise awareness and raise funds. During this time you wear the same black dress or outfit for 5 days. All of the funds will be invested in the Rockwell Scholarship for young women continue their education.
What do you typically do for lunch?
It depends on if lunch is at 12 or if lunch is at 4. There are times I will sit in my office and I will meditate, other times I’m eating and working. Sometimes I work through, no food. Just depends on the day and how the tasks grow.
Contact Info:
Website | Email: cduncan @ matransitionservices (dot) org
