Isa Adney

Isa Adney

Author & Speaker


"Community College Success: How to Finish with Friends, Scholarships, Internships, and the Career of Your Dreams"

San Diego, CA USA


Not all dreams work out the way we want, but even if they don’t, there’s this fuel that dreams provide us that push us in the right direction.

Videos

By Roadtrip Nation

Isa Adney

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Grew up in a lower-middle-class family and was the first in her family to graduate from a four-year college.
Even though her father graduated from a community college and her mother went to cosmetology school, she didn’t realize that until later in life because school wasn’t discussed.
However, her family was very supportive of her dream to go to college—says they told her, “Go anywhere you want; we will take out loans.”
Was originally planning on going to a private four-year college, but due to the cost of admission she decided she didn’t want to place that financial burden on her parents.
She decided to attend the local community college instead—says the personal attention given to her by advisors and teachers helped her find what she was really passionate about.
Won a $110,000 Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, which enabled her to transfer to a four-year university and attend graduate school—she received her B.A. in communications and her master’s in education.
Was inspired to write her book, “Community College Success,” in order to share everything she learned in the process and help other community college students succeed.
She is now a full-time speaker, consultant, and author.
Keep following my journey

Career

Author & Speaker

I am an author, TV host, and national spokesperson for community college success.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Writing
Education
Communicating / Sharing Stories

Day to Day

Reaching out to an assistant to interview someone, getting on the phone to do a recorded interview for my next book, then sitting down for a few hours to work on a rough draft, then maybe edit a piece from another day, then posting a blog perhaps. It's a lot of solo-work but the interviews are always a thrill and all the writing that follows is challenging and invigorating.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for college students

Reach out to an author who has written a book similar to the one you want to write and ask them for advice. Read their book first, tell them what you loved about it, and ask for just a 10 min call or to answer one question via email. Be specific in your question and in your praise. If there is nothing that you truly admire in the book, find another author.

Recommended Education

My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Myself:

"I'm just not understanding or interested in literary critique. Maybe I shouldn't be an English major or even a writer. "

Challenges I Overcame

Financial
First-Generation College Student
Imposter Syndrome