Pamela M. Covington

Biography

Pamela M. Covington is a motivational speaker, author, and advocate whose previous careers include work as a journalist and a training instructor. Prior to her occupational successes, though, she unexpectedly went from living a cozy, financially secure, middle-class lifestyle to that of a welfare recipient struggling below poverty level in crime-ridden, drug-infested neighborhoods. Shocked by the appalling circumstances encountered in her new life, she immediately committed to freeing herself and children from them.

Her memoir, “A Day at the Fare: One Woman’s Welfare Passage,” portrays that harrowing period of her life. She explains how the book came into being.

"After a layoff in 2010, while talking with friends and associates about my unanticipated employment status, I divulged a rather hush-hush part of my life. They were only familiar with the Pamela who always seemed to be doing better than okay, and were expressing sympathy about my loss of employment. I told them I was glad to be gone from there, anyway (that's another book!), and the loss was nothing compared to what I'd been through many years ago. They were surprised to hear from me how I had once fallen into deep poverty and struggled to work my way out of it.

I'd written the original first 14 chapters earlier, but stuffed the makeshift manuscript away in my book room when I'd taken that job in 1997. Once I became unemployed, so many synchronicities kept lining up in reference to the time period of my proposed book, that I knew it was time for me to pull those chapters out and get the book written--no matter what. "A Day at the Fare" is a true, gritty story that needed to be told. It took me 5 years."

Today as a speaker, Pamela encourages others towards achieving their greater potential rather than adopting a sense of futility, even in the most troubled of times. She presents on the topics of motivation, self-esteem, literacy, welfare independence, advocacy, literacy, and education. She also serves as an anti-poverty advocate.

Pamela holds two master’s degrees from Troy University: in Management and Human Resource Management, a bachelors degree in Communications from the University of North Florida, and two associate degrees from Florida State College in Jacksonville. She is single and resides in Virginia. For leisure she takes road trips, walks beaches, attends theater performances, spins copious amounts of music, enjoys learning about various cultures, and collects books. Lots of books.

Her work in progress is "Inspiration for Everyday People."

Smashwords Interview

When did you first start writing?
Informally, as a teen I kept journals. Officially, in February 1986 when my first printed piece appeared in the then-new daily newspaper, USA Today.
What's the story behind your latest book?
My most recent acquaintances had no idea I'd ever been through the harrowing experience I describe in "A Day at the Fare." When I mentioned it to them they all said, "You need to write a book. It would help a lot of people!" I'd actually written the first 14 chapters of its draft back in 1997, but tucked them away in my book room when I took a new, highly technical job. I didn't pick it back up until after I was laid off 13 years later. It took me 5 years to write. I insisted that because of its subject matter, a matter of controversy for many, that every detail be accurate and historically correct. It was also important to me that the book is a high-quality product in every way.
Read more of this interview.

Books

This member has not published any books.