Executives Spotlight stories appeared on this website starting in 2001. Some of the executive's professional experience may have changed since they were published.

Executive Spotlight - November 17, 2006

Adrian Bracy

Vice President, Finance; St. Louis Rams

"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.

- Footprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson

This was on her desktop, along with a book titled, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." I knew she had a different story.

We were talking over Quizno's sub sandwiches last week. I asked her a usual question. Her answer greatly humbled me. All I asked was, "How did you get here?" Her answer was well worth sharing with others.

She was born in Liberty City. If you know it, it's not a nice section of Miami. She was the last of six children born to two school teachers. Her mother fell ill while having her. Adrian was sent to her great-aunt and raised there for 10 years. She was then adopted by her cousin for the next six years. It was a better home, but to raise money for some nice clothes and other expenses, Adrian cleaned houses and worked at a fast-food store.

In high school, she felt fortunate to be befriended by a group of girls who were ambitious. They wanted to be doctors and lawyers. She felt fortunate. She was a track runner: enjoying the relays more so than the individual competitions. But she had to quit track to work.

By sixteen there was a shake-up in her family and she had to move back to Liberty City with her grandparents. She didn't tell her classmates. She took a bus to school.

Offered a scholarship at a large Florida university, Adrian turned that down to go to an all historically black college, Morgan State University in Maryland. Her counselor reviewed her SAT scores and suggested she take an accounting class. "No," she responded, "I want to be a lawyer, not an accountant." But with more persistence by the counselor, Adrian acquiesced and signed up for the class. She loved it.

Fast forward many more years... Adrian Bracy drives a black Mercedes Benz and is the chief financial executive for the St. Louis Rams. After she was finished she turned to me and asked, "Tell me about how you got here."

"The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success" by David Sarnoff... Amen

- Buffy Filippell