Published On: 05.24.21 | 

By: 35187

People of Alabama: Cecilia Crenshaw of Birmingham

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Cecilia Crenshaw learned lessons from her parents that she passed on to her children. (Reagan Wells / People of Alabama)

“My parents were both born in Alabama and were here during the ’40s and ’50s, which was a very trying time. If anybody had the right to give up, they did. But they persevered and ended up moving up North – my father was in the Air Force – and were able to push and break through any barriers that they found. For me, I have been divorced, moved back to Birmingham with two little kids in tow and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what do I do next?’ Looking at my parents, who have always been my role models, I said that if they could go through and handle what they did, this is nothing. I pushed through, went ahead and got my master’s degree, made sure my kids were in the best schools. Just never give up.” – Cecilia Crenshaw of Birmingham.

Crenshaw is a Financial Planning and Analysis analyst at Regions Bank.

Crenshaw said she tried to instill the same lessons she learned from her parents in her children.

Cecilia Crenshaw encourages others to not be discouraged. (Reagan Wells / People of Alabama)

“They have been blessed tremendously. One of my sons is a nationally ranked French horn player and is in grad school at the University of Memphis and was invited to audition at Juilliard. That is his goal: to play at Juilliard and be the principal horn in the Chicago Symphony. I’ve always told him, make sure you follow your heart, no matter what you want to do, follow your heart. I’ve tried to instill in them that whatever you can dream, you can achieve, regardless of what it is. Even if there’s a setback, a setback can sometimes be a setup for your comeback. Never ever be discouraged. Continue to follow your dreams. If you can focus your energy and channel that energy, then you can be successful in whatever. I’ve also told them that because they’ve been blessed, they need to give back. Everybody doesn’t have the opportunities that you have, everybody doesn’t have the same things that you have, but if you’ve been blessed with what you have, make sure someone else has an opportunity as well.”

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.