When Given The Opportunity To Succeed...Virginia Addicott

"People come into your work life and sometimes you just see things in them. It is very clear that the person has the ability, the aptitude to do these things, but they hadn’t been graced with the opportunity.”

--Virginia Addicott

Every other Tuesday, womenatliberty.com provides #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. In February 2020, Fedex announced that Ramona Hood, a 28-year company veteran has been appointed President and CEO of its Custom Critical division. The division provides a range of transportation capabilities for expedite ground, air, temperature control shipments, and industry-specific solutions. Custom Critical provides services in the U.S., Canada, and internationally, and is based in Green, Ohio.

Ramona Hood
Photo: Fedex.com

In Hood's new role, she is responsible for the division's performance and strategic direction and will lead the executive leadership team. Incidentally, she started her career at Custom Critical as a receptionist in 1991 when she was a young mother. Now as the first black woman to be named President/CEO at Fedex, Ms. Hood is the embodiment of the colloquial phrase, "started at the bottom and now we are here".

Hood is the successor to Virginia Addicott who retired after 33 years with FedEx and 12 years as CEO of Custom Critical. Addicott's quote above is taken from a February 24, 2020 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and it represents Addicott's sentiment toward Hood. Addicott ended the quote above by saying, "Ramona was one of those people." She characterized Hood as a "fantastic leader" and expressed excitement for Hood in her new role.

Virginia Addicott
Photo: Akron Beacon Journal

Ramona Hood is a graduate of Walsh University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and she also has a MBA from Case Western Reserve University. She is the proud mother of two daughters, Mariah and Kayla. For more information on Ramona Hood, see her profile here.  For more information on #LeadershipTuesdays, follow us on Twitter at: @LeadershipTuesdays

or visit womenatliberty.com.

Everyone Has Something...Elizabeth Vargas

Everyone has something that scares them. Everyone must make a choice at some point whether to be brave. Everyone has a story.
--Elizabeth Vargas, Journalist 

Focus, Focus On The Good...Nikki Rowe

"The world is broken he said, how will you fix it?

I don't think anyone can fix it but we can teach ourselves & each other to focus on the good and the important and maybe little by little this place won't feel so heavy."

--Nikki Rowe

Trust and Love Yourself...Golda Meir

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."

--Golda Meir

Don't Give Up...Joanna Gaines

"Don’t quit, and don’t give up. The reward is just around the corner. And in times of doubt or times of joy, listen for that still, small voice. Know that God has been there from the beginning—and he will be there until . . . The End."

--Joanna Gaines, Entrepreneur and Author, "The Magnolia Story"

We Have To Empower Each Other...Tamron Hall

"Every time a young girl comes in and asks me for advice, if you start your conversation with, 'How hard is it as a black woman,' or, 'How hard is it as a woman,' I turn you around. Because I cannot - we cannot look at the roadblocks and see the road at the same time.

If you keep running into a brick wall, as they say, don’t keep running into it. Find a way over it.

Women, teenagers, we have to really empower each other."

--Tamron Hall, Journalist and Host/Executive Producer, Tamron Hall Show 

I Raised My Voice...Malala Yousafzai

"I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. … We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back."

-- Malala Yousafzai, Activist and Nobel Prize Winner