UOPX alumni spotlight: Towanna Bazile is always inspired and always inspiring

After 10 years in law enforcement, Bazile had achieved a major milestone: master peace officer, one of the highest proficiency certifications available to her. But because Bazile had entered law enforcement early in life (at 21 years old) and had only gotten her bachelor’s degree after entering public service, she found herself reaching a plateau. Other officers who had been in the field longer were given seniority, hindering Bazile’s own career advancement.

Not content to call this her peak, Bazile began looking for opportunities to join the private sector. It wasn’t easy to say goodbye to public service, though. “I sacrificed many years for others,” Bazile says.

While leaving law enforcement was difficult for Bazile, the decision to restart her educational journey was not. “I’m a consummate learner,” she says, pointing to professional certifications as well as the undergraduate degree she earned while working and caring for her family.

Education had helped her reach her goals while working in law enforcement. It made sense to go back to school for her master’s degree while she continued her role in the public sector but considered a career change.

“I succeeded on the public side. I wanted to do the same on the private side,” she says. “What better way to do that than get my MBA?”

That MBA, and indeed all of her education, is part of Bazile’s model for understanding her whole self, the trifecta of “mind, body and spirit” that guides Bazile through everything she does.

“Through my journey of life, those three must be intricately connected for one to be whole for themselves and those around them, including their employer. It’s a passion — a calling,” she explains.

Working full time in law enforcement and caring for a family meant that Bazile needed the right program to fit her life and schedule — an important lesson in work-life balance from a student who was used to working all day and then studying until two in the morning. University of Phoenix’s online program allowed her to juggle all her responsibilities and be, in her words, “all the things I need to be: a mother, a companion, an employee. All those are connected.”

A smile creeps into her voice before she repeats her mantra: “Mind, body and spirit.”

As Bazile balanced her work and education, she started to hear back from those around her. Colleagues saw her studying during her break, for example, and she discovered just how many around her were taking their own journeys toward professional and educational goals. No two stories were exactly the same, but everyone saw their future in their education, just as Bazile did. In turn, they all saw themselves in each other.

Bazile’s hard work culminated in the Master of Business Administration she earned in 2007, a degree she recommends to others for its versatile range of skills.

Scott Whitener, Bazile’s supervisor at AT&T, agrees: “I am certain obtaining her MBA afforded her additional knowledge in leadership, business practices, self-confidence and decorum,” he says.

According to Bazile, the MBA helped translate the skills she learned in public service into those most needed in a business environment. Of these, leadership tops the list.

“My academy coursework provided foundational knowledge of what it means to be a public service leader and how to lead with honor and integrity and in compliance with legal codes,” Bazile says. “My MBA coursework provided the fundamental elements of what leadership and management [are] within a corporate environment and how to navigate the various dynamics of business, people, performance, strategy, budgets, etc., while in compliance with workplace policy.”

Earning her MBA wasn’t an endpoint for Bazile. After she completed her degree, she joined AT&T in 2010, an opportunity she calls “a godsend.” But while she only joined AT&T after completing her MBA, Bazile’s passion for knowledge and self-betterment — and the way that inspires those around her— continues to shine.

As Whitener puts it, “Towanna’s journey affords others to know there are intangible benefits to obtaining a higher education and exemplifies University of Phoenix’s mission of encouraging students to serve their community.”

Community continues to be a touchstone for Bazile, who has done work for Habitat for Humanity, the HBCU where she earned her undergraduate degree and especially AT&T. Her location in Houston contains a museum of the business’s history where Bazile volunteers her time. She’s especially enthusiastic about giving tours to younger students who come to understand how the smartphones in their pockets grew from old-fashioned rotary phones.

That evolution, in fact, bears some similarities to the way she grew in her career and the way she hopes to inspire the next generation to grow themselves. Part of this volunteer work involves writing inspirational notes and slipping them into the kids’ backpacks for them to find when they get home from school.

She is also a member of the Women of AT&T employee resource group, where she and her colleagues continue to inspire one another with their stories and growth. Bazile recounts one workshop in which members painted inspirational messages on rocks to trade with one another and in turn decorate their communities with. Bazile proudly painted hers with one simple word: “Believe.” The simple message informs Bazile’s other work as a life coach and inspirational speaker, work that includes podcasting and blogs, which she puts out with minimal fanfare.

“These reach whoever they need to reach,” Bazile explains. “No promotion, just letting it touch who it needs to touch in the manner it needs to touch them.”

Even after all these accomplishments, Bazile is careful not to brag, citing humility as a virtue she learned from her godmother. “My godmother passed a few years ago, and she didn’t want an obituary: she wanted her life to speak for itself,” Bazile notes.

This, she says, is something she aspires to in her own life as well. The proof of a life well lived, at least in Bazile’s eyes, may just be in the other people who find their inspiration in her achievements.

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