Working Class To Breaking Glass: One Woman's Fight To Belong And To Lead

What happens when someone refuses to accept the limits placed upon them? Working Class to Breaking Glass: One Woman's Fight to Belong and to Lead is an inspiring, deeply personal memoir by Wanda J.

Herndon that chronicles one woman's remarkable journey from a blue-collar childhood in Flint, Michigan to executive leadership and influence at Starbucks-a path shaped by perseverance, identity, and the relentless pursuit of opportunity. Herndon's story begins in Flint, Michigan, a city then fueled by the roaring engines of General Motors (GM).

Her father, who dropped out of school in the eighth grade to help financially support his family in the Jim Crow South, took a life-changing bus ride North in search of freedom and a living wage.

He found both at GM, but his dream for Herndon was different: "You should get an office job," he insisted-a directive to avoid the backbreaking repetition of the automobile assembly line. Herndon took that dream and ran with it.

Becoming one of the first in her family to graduate from college, she defied the odds in an era when Black students were often steered away from college preparatory tracks. Yet the road ahead was far from easy.

Navigating racial barriers, economic limitations, and self-doubt, she confronted the realities faced by many Black students in America during the 1960s and 1970s. At Michigan state University, Herndon discovered both opportunity and adversity.

She pursued journalism while balancing work-study jobs and overcoming imposter syndrome, financial stress, and personal challenges-including difficult relationships and the emotional impact of family change.

These formative experiences strengthened her resilience and clarified her purpose: to build a career that would allow her to open doors for herself and others. Entering the workforce in the mid-1970s, Wanda quickly learned that a degree was only the entry fee. The real world required a different kind of education.

With unflinching candor, Herndon details the invisi