In December 2004 Brandy Roberts had a semester of school under her belt and was working in the purchasing office at CSU. This was her second go around at Charleston Southern. In 1994 she had completed a year of school, but when her daughter, Lynlee, was born with health problems, Roberts chose to stay home. Now it was time to finish what she had started. But the prospect for completing her education looked dim when during a Christmas party that year she received an urgent phone call from her husband, Michael.

“He was very disoriented and said he needed me to come home,” said Roberts. She rushed home to find Michael lying unconscious on the floor, his face horribly swollen and splotches covering his body. When she wasn’t able to rouse him, she immediately called 911. Since Michael has a history of severe allergic reactions, she assumed that was the case. But when she arrived at the hospital, Roberts learned he had had a grand mal seizure and was experiencing severe memory loss. And then the bomb was dropped: the physicians told her they were unsure if Michael would ever be able to work again or regain his memory.

After the initial shock, Roberts was met by the uncertainty of Michael’s future, “as to whether he was going to come back fully or what it was going to be like for him. I felt I had to continue and get my education because I was going to be the one to provide the livelihood for the family,” Roberts stated. “Against all odds, that’s what I was going to have to do.”

While Michael endured endless doctor’s appointments, hospital admissions and medical tests, Roberts continued her classes, worked her job and cared for the family. Both were concerned about the future. She continued working in the purchasing office and was grateful for a manager who allowed her to work from a hospital room or work late because of a doctor’s appointment during the day. When it was too risky for Michael to be at home by himself in the evening, he sat in the back of her class listening to music on his headset.

“I don’t think I would be where I am today had I not been in that environment,” said Roberts. “There are good, good people there. I tell everyone that it’s not the kind of stuff you find anywhere else.”

In the midst of the enormous stress, Roberts continued day after day, always with the same unruffled appearance. Her peers overwhelmingly affirmed her remarkable perseverance and ability when they voted her Staff Employee of the Year in 2005.

Her manager, Linda Parker, worked side by side with Roberts. “Besides going to classes and everything else she did, she also took courses to become a certified buyer. She was stellar, just absolutely amazing… and I never heard her once complain,” said Parker, who regularly keeps in touch with her.

Roberts did beat the odds when she graduated summa cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor of management arts degree. Soon after, she began working for Charleston County as a buyer. “I could handle the job, but I knew I didn’t want to do that forever, so I put my resume on monster.com. to see what my other options were.”

In December 2007 Roberts received a phone call from a recruiter asking if she was interested in talking with Target about implementing a purchasing card program at their headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Roberts was very interested, and after three phone interviews, Target flew her to Minneapolis for more interviews and testing. Ten days later they offered Roberts the job.

During this same time, The Citadel also offered her a position. She and her family carefully weighed the options. Moving to Minneapolis would mean leaving their family and friends which meant Roberts had to ask the tough questions: “What if something happened to Michael? Who’s going to help me? How will I do it?” But in the end, they ultimately decided to make the move to Minneapolis. “I had to decide between the two offers, and the one thing I never wanted to tell myself was that I didn’t try. I didn’t know what it was like to work in corporate America, and I never wanted to later say ‘what if…,’” Roberts said with resolve.

In March 2007 Roberts left for Minneapolis knowing her family would follow when they found a house. Target set her up in an apartment in downtown Minneapolis, but her training was 20 miles outside of the city. Everything was new and different and huge. Nothing was familiar. “I started thinking, ‘What in the world have I done? I hope I haven’t made the wrong decision.’ But I know those things that don’t kill you are going to make you stronger,” said Roberts.

As Roberts began assimilating into her job, it clicked how God had previously prepared her for the diversity of people she encountered in Minneapolis. At their church in Charleston, the Roberts befriended many military families from around the country, many from the mid-West. “Falling back on that knowledge is what helped me integrate myself with my team at work” recalls Roberts. “It helped me plug in and talk about our differences.”

Roberts quickly felt at home in her new position. She credits the BMA program at CSU with easing her adjustment into her corporate position. “Some of the most beneficial classes I had dealt with learning how to deal with diversity in the workplace,” said Roberts. “I also had professors who worked in the corporate world, so they gave that real-life perspective. Beyond what the books said, their experiences were what got us prepared. That was a crucial part in my education.”

Once the family arrived, they connected with their community and their church and made it a point to meet their neighbors. “That’s part of why we love it here so much is that we have made some really great friends. My job is great, and I love my job. But at the end of the day it’s those kinds of things that have been a really big win for us.”

This March marks three years the Roberts family has lived in cold country. Their adjustment has not been without its rough spots; however, their determination and willingness to make it work is evident.

Roberts has been promoted and is now a business partner operationally responsible for the Target Cafés within the 1,700 Target stores, many of which include a Pizza Hut and Starbucks. She also received a National Sales Meeting Award for successfully launching the Purchasing Card Program at Target and was the only one in finance to receive an award in 2009.

Michael has severe headaches occasionally and struggles with some memory loss but has not had a seizure in three years. He is currently working on an associate degree in applied sciences at Rasmussen College. Lynlee will be in high school next year and is three inches taller than her mom, and their son, Josh, will enter the third grade and has been known to say, “ya betcha,” occasionally.

Roberts loves telling the story of how God carried them through those years – years that seem long ago to her now. She lives life one day at a time and takes nothing for granted. “I don’t know that tomorrow I’m not going to wake up and things will be topsy-turvy again, but I know that God is still there for me, and I know who wins the game.”