Shayla Drake’s story is a shining example of how a person can overcome a major challenge that upends career and life plans – and how accepting help from others is key in overcoming barriers and reaching goals.
Shayla, who is now a Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Workforce Strategy Consultant, was invited to share her inspiring journey at the Twin Cities commencement ceremony for Western Governors University graduates last Saturday at Target Center.
Several years ago, Shayla developed heart failure from an infection. Before that, she was a vocational nurse. She was working in a career she loved and life was good, with a boyfriend and a young son together.
“I had life figured out, or at least, I thought, I did. Heart failure changed everything. I needed open-heart surgery, and afterward I even had to learn to walk again,” said Shayla. “Overnight, I wasn't just rebuilding my health; I was rebuilding my career, my identity, and my future.”
After a few years of recovery, Shayla was back on her feet and knew she wanted and needed to return to work, but she needed assistance due to her disability and time away from the workforce. She found out about the Ticket to Work program through CareerForce. The U.S. Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work Program supports career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive Social Security disability benefits and want to work. The Ticket Program is free and voluntary. It helps people with disabilities move toward financial independence and connects them with the services and support they need to succeed in the workforce.
No longer able to work as a nurse due to her physical disability, Shayla needed to explore new career options.
Rehab Manager in Duluth, Cory Drake, Shayla Drake, and Shawn
Herhusky, former Workforce Strategy Consultant for Northeast
Minnesota, currently Statewide Planner with the Office of Long
Range Planning at Minnesota Management and Budget
Working with DEED Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) counselor, Sonia Vinnes, Shayla regained confidence, made a new career plan that worked with her new life circumstances and took the steps to achieve her goals.
“Sonia saw something in me before I saw it in myself. With her encouragement and the encouragement of my then-boyfriend, now husband, Cory, I enrolled in online courses through Western Governors University. One class became another, and another, until I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a focus in Human Resource Management in just ten months.”
That degree opened a door to an HR at a local long-term care provider. Shayla turned to the CareerForce system, the same system that helped her find her new career path, to help recruit, hire, retain and support facility staff. This workforce development experience – helping to create a pipeline of needed staff while working to retain current staff at the facility – would pave the way for her next career move.
Shayla started working with Shawn Herhusky, then the DEED Workforce Strategy Consultant for Northeast Minnesota.
“Shawn introduced me to a career I didn't even know existed: Workforce Strategy. Meeting Shawn led to serving on healthcare workforce board committees and leading sector-based initiatives in health care, then becoming a CareerForce career counselor in Duluth after my position in HR was eliminated and eventually transitioning to my current role as Workforce Strategy Consultant for Northeast Minnesota, after my mentor Shawn moved on to another position.”
Shayla continues in that role, helping to connect people who need work with the employers who need them. She also continues her focus on health care workforce development, leading Interagency Workforce Alignment work related to the caring professions as her team’s statewide subject matter expert on health care workforce, due to her lived experience.
Manager-Midwest Region, Western Governors University
Shayla shared these words of wisdom during the Twin Cities commencement address at Western Governors University last Saturday.
“Looking back, every opportunity was built on the one before it. And here's what I know for certain. None of it happened because I did it alone. It happened because people believed in me. My husband believed in me. Career counselors believed in me. Mentors believed in me. Colleagues trusted me with opportunities that expanded my skills and grew my confidence.”
“But what separates us isn't whether we have doubts. It's whether we choose to face them alone. The truth is, not everyone has a built-in support system. Some people have families who open doors and cheer them on. Others don't. That can be incredibly painful. But I've learned that community can become family if we're willing to let it.
Sometimes the person who changes your life isn't related to you. That person could be a teacher. A mentor. A career counselor. A coworker. Someone who simply sees potential in you before you see it in yourself.
"Accepting guidance isn't accepting a handout. It's allowing someone to invest in you so that one day you can invest in someone else. One conversation, one mentor, one opportunity can change the trajectory of your entire life. And as you leave here today, I hope you'll carry that belief in yourself and extend it to others. Along the way, remember four things: Find purpose, not just success. Be resilient when life doesn't go according to plan. Lead with integrity, because your character will always matter more than your title. And wherever life may take you, leave things better than you found them.”
