Like many, Ria faced adversity in life. Ria was sexually abused by her father from age 12 – 19, forced to play the role of his wife, and even shared with other men. Desperate to escape, she left home at 19 without a job, a car, or even a high school diploma. She started her career working as a waitress, earned her GED, started community college, and went on to earn an Associates degree in Office Management, a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management, and an MBA, all with a 4.0 GPA.
Today, Ria is an author of 12 books, a TEDx Speaker, and has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership and management. Ria’s background includes more than 10 years in administrative healthcare with several years working as the Director of Compliance for a large healthcare organization.
Ria is a certified leadership speaker and trainer and has been selected three times to speak on stage at International John Maxwell Leadership events. In 2013, Ria served with John Maxwell in Guatemala, training 20,000 Guatemalan leaders as part of the Cultural Transformation Initiative. Ria is a Leadership Lee County Alumna and was invited personally to share the stage with motivational speaker Les Brown in 2014.
Ria is an active member of the Georgia Statewide Taskforce on Human Trafficking where she serves helping human trafficking survivors learn to thrive. Ria created Fearfully and Wonderfully Me, and she shares powerful leadership principles and tools of transformation from her journey to equip and empower women, helping them maximize their potential in life and leadership.
