A few years ago, Tonia Brewer found herself in front of a large audience of Bright Horizons employees about to give a speech.

It wasn’t a place she ever expected to be.

But then so much of Tonia’s career has been unexpected.

A one-time civil-engineering student who left college before she finished her degree, Tonia calls her Bright Horizons experience an exercise in opportunity; a career that’s taken her from a fledgling assistant teacher into a leader with two company-financed college degrees, a steady career climb, and a role as the director of a thriving child care center.

Not bad for someone who started with no teaching experience.

“I talk about opportunity a lot,” she says. “Because throughout my time at Bright Horizons, I’ve been presented with so many opportunities for growth.”

Tonia, in fact, never planned to be in early education at all. The summer before she discovered early learning, she was a surveying intern for the Michigan Department of Transportation, fully expecting to embark on a career related to construction or building. But as classes resumed that fall, she made a practical decision to grab a part-time job at a YMCA-run after-school program. It changed everything.

“I found a passion for working with children,” she says.

Her first Bright Horizons job was a leap of faith – for everyone. She arrived at her interview with a desire to teach, but no early childhood experience. “The director really took a chance on me,” she recalls. Once on board, she found a company full of people who encouraged her to push through new doors, first as assistant teacher, then lead teacher, then coordinator, then at last a leadership role as assistant director, helping to build a center from the ground up.

Then finally came the big opportunity – the chance to step into the interim director shoes and run a center herself.

Surprisingly, she didn’t jump at it. There were concerns. On one side were the worries about change. “It would be huge,” she says. On the other were the lingering doubts – the kind we all have when faced with a big opportunity. Did she know how to run a center -- and could she do it?
But then Tonia looked back at all of her years at Bright Horizons and saw that every step she’d taken had led her to this moment; every lesson had given her what she needed. From assistant teaching she got her initial training; from lead teaching she’d learned about running a classroom and creating intentional learning experiences; as assistant director she learned about the business side of operating a center and the growth and development of children at different ages and stages.

All those earlier jobs had been more than individual roles; they’d been steps that organically led her to right now. Not only did she fully understand the jobs of a director – she was already doing many of them. And in fact the timing couldn’t have been better. “With the company’s help, I had just finished school and earned my bachelor’s degree,” she says. “I was ready.”

Today, Tonia still proudly runs her center; still leading; still developing; still learning. Twenty-five years after that first halting interview, the director regularly finds herself on the other side of the interviewer’s chair, talking to potential new hires about what they could get from the job. “Nine times out of ten, they ask if I started off as a teacher,” she says. “And I proudly answer, yes.”

Which leads us back to that day all those years ago when she took to that stage. So what was Tonia giving a speech about? The story of her career, she says.
Getting in front of an audience was a double-edged sword, she admits, since she’s actually terrified of public speaking. But that just makes it another day at the office.
“My entire career here has been about people challenging me to do things I never thought I could ever do,” she says.
“And I’m living proof that you can do it, too.”

Tonia’s 5 Tips on Career Advancement
1. Set goals that complement your career path
2. Take on new responsibilities and "stretched assignments" towards your goal(s)
3. Partner with a successful mentor in your career path for guidance and support
4. Experiment, fail, learn, repeat...keep learning
5. Smile, breathe and be confident