Yolanda Thomas: Paralegal Powerhouse & Hidden Vocal Talent

A spotlight on this week's guest, Yolanda Thomas, a paralegal making moves and a singer hitting the high notes. We enjoyed a good meal and good conversation at Guido's Bar & Grill today.

I met Yolanda when she was on a couple of the city boards. The boards and commissions at the city are filled with volunteers who serve because they want to help. They give the community a voice and help by reviewing and making recommendations on issues as they move forward through the city departments and City Council. They do a lot of helping and don't get a lot or recognition. I am glad that there are people who put in the time and effort.

Recently Yolanda got hired on as a full time Paralegal. It is sad to lose a good volunteer, but it is great to have a new colleague. Talked to her about how the job is going, and she was effusive in her praise of the people she works with. It has been a common theme among the workers at the city when they talk about how nice their co-workers are and how encouraging their managers are. Yolanda's experience is no different. She has gotten a lot of support and advice from her boss and other senior lawyers.

Getting the job at the City was one of her goals when she moved here. And she isn't just settling now that she is there, she is planning on getting back to school to get her law license and eventually move up at the City. I asked her what she does at her job, and her answer was a lot. But hearing her story makes it seem like doing a lot is just part of her essence.

The road to the current job was not an easy one. Yolanda worked for different organizations both here in Champaign and in Chicago. She also made a lot of sacrifices when she was working full time and going to grad school full time. She's got a couple of master’s degrees already and is continuing to learn. All of that wouldn't have been possible without her husband Luther, who encourages her to be the best possible version of herself, a woman of stature, class, and integrity. Having that kind of support from your family makes all the hard work and success possible. I am glad she has that support that she needs.

Yolanda comes from a large extended family. As I have mentioned before, I am horrible with names, so I don't remember the names of the people she mentioned, but I do remember that her older brother Roosevelt as an inspiration to her. She looked up to him and wanted to do great things because of him. While she was born in Mississippi, she spent her first half dozen years moving to different parts of the country -- the reality of being in a military family. The family finally settled down in Chicago when she was seven.

Yolanda reminisced about growing up in an apartment about her grandparents' bar. There was always music playing down there. She didn't realize it at the time, but there were a lot of big-time talents coming through those doors. That early exposure to music must have left a lasting mark because she has got some music talent flowing through her body. I first noticed when she came down to record a video message for one of our projects. I could instantly tell she has that amazing voice that you hear on radio. I didn't know she had experience, but she said she had done some work in the field earlier and had also done some singing both as a backup singer and fronting her own recordings. She doesn't talk much about it, but she was nice enough to send me a little recording of one of the songs that got some radio play up in Chicago. Definite talent there. She got some offers and made friends a lot of movers and shakers in the industry, but she is happy pursuing her current career.

As a music lover, I was surprised to hear that she had not explored much of the local music scene. I invited her out to a concert at The Rosebowl tomorrow. Hope she can make it and maybe get out to explore some more music in the area.

I just realized that I have completely messed up my normal format of describing the meal early in the post, but I am just going to say it was intentional and that I am trying to mix things up. We were at Guido's so what can I say other than I still think Hunter and Meghan are my favorites of the downtown servers/bartenders. We were of course greeted with a small shot of their soup of the day, and as usual inspired the purchase of a bowl of the delicious broccoli cheese soup. Yolanda had that with an order of chicken tenders on the side. I pushed past my desire for a cheeseburger and instead chose the Cajun style grilled chicken sandwich and fries. Everything was great at usual. I like the consistently good experience that I have at Guido's.

So, to wrap things up, just a thank you to Yolanda for sharing a meal with me. It was good to hear a little about your story and I look forward to working with you when I need voiceovers in the future.