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White Trash Girl to CEO: My Money Story

Deborah grew up in Cabbagetown, a poor area of Atlanta. Then she moved into the corporate world

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I was born a white trash girl to a single teenage mom. We lived with her parents in Cabbagetown, a poor section of Atlanta with small mill houses that surrounded the Fulton Bag Cotton Mill. Both of my grandparents worked there for 75¢ per hour and I remember the mill controller coming by our house every Friday to collect the $4.32 per week rent, which we most often did not have. We lived primarily on dried beans, cabbage, potatoes, and corn bread with a roasted chicken as our big splurge on Sundays after church. When my Mother started working as well, that afforded us an occasional ice cream or a few clothes from the thrift store. We were indeed dirt poor.

My first thrill was when my mom’s oldest sister, Mary Elizabeth, bought the family our first television set. I sat glued to the few shows that aired, mesmerized by the images of faraway places. The highlight of my year was the arrival of the Sears Roebuck Christmas catalog. I would spend hours every day going page-by-page circling all the things I wanted to buy when I grew up, moved away from Cabbagetown, and had my own money.

There was never enough money and any inquires about buying me something I wanted were met with “you know we can’t afford that,” “money doesn’t grow on trees,” or “quit obsessing about things and money; it is the root of all evil.” Still, I was green with envy of my friends who had pretty dresses, took dance classes, and whose parents had shiny cars and June Cleaver houses. I on the other hand rarely invited friends to visit my house and was ashamed of my cheap clothes and worn shoes.

I became obsessed with money and thought that if I just had some, it would be my ticket out of there. I studied hard and made straight As in elementary and high school. I ran away from home and spent the next eight years putting myself through college while working full-time as a secretary and supporting myself. I majored in accounting because I wanted to be good with money and because it was, after much research, what I determined would make me the most money with the least amount of education. I landed a job with Ernst and Young out of college for what seemed to me at the time a fortune: $15,500. I was told “you have to work hard to make money,” and no number of hours or amount of travel was ever too much.