Patti Williams:  

After graduation from OHS, I went to Jacksonville State University where I graduated in 1977. After a year of nonsense in Philadelphia, PA, I returned home and had weight loss surgery in 1979. Later that year, I went to work for the local radio station. Almost a year later, I went to work at UAB. When the grant that funded that position ended, I went to work for Blount County DHR as a social worker where I later became involved in a non-profit organization called SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) as a board member. When SCAN grew to be a children's advocacy center, I withdrew from the board and applied to be the first paid staff. I served as executive director there until 1994, writing a lot of grants to fund the programs. My position was temporarily eliminated due to a federal sub-grant not getting funded...and it was really time for me to go. I parlayed my God-given artistic talent into a home-based business of typesetting and graphic design and freelanced from home until 1998 when, in need of benefits, I accepted a position at Brookwood Baptist Church in Mountain Brook.I did all the churchwide publications (print and email newsletters, worship bulletins, website, and special design projects), as well as provide support for other ministries. In November 2009, I took a huge leap of faith and decided to freelance in graphic design full-time from home. I am amazed how God has blessed my business and I really stay far more busier than I ever dreamed I'd be! I have clients all over Alabama, and even my biggest client in Austin, TX. As for family life, I married in 1985 to James Howard Stephens. We had a daughter, Natasia Jade, in late 1986. ...Expand for more