“How you start doesn’t determine how you end. You are the number one factor in that. My mom was a single mother of five children. Statistically, we didn’t have a lot going for us. Experiences are huge. Education is huge. Exposure is huge. If you can get those three things, you can be anything you want to be in life. We’re good and she promoted that in us.” – Melanie Turner of Florence

Turner says her motto is “to inspire, uplift and motivate others to be creative.” She likes to inspire people through her brand, @livingluxuriouslyforless.

“I was really creative. I did scrapbooking, I did beauty pageants, I did a lot of crafty things, parties, and the biggest thing was just finding a way to mesh all of those things together. I think a lot of times people feel like you have to hone in on one gift or one talent to find out what your purpose is in life. Your purpose could be a hodgepodge of all those things.”

Melanie Turner says experiences, education and exposure are a powerful combination. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

One thing she’s always wanted to do?

“One thing that I wanted to do, that I haven’t been able to do yet would be to start a family. I think that that is something that is not in our timing, it’s in God’s timing. I’ve had a lot of titles, and I’ve done a lot of things in life, but to me, one of the most meaningful titles of all is Mom. To be able to start a family will probably be the one thing that I would like to do. The biggest thing I would want to instill in them is knowing who they are upfront and not allowing other people to tell them who they are and what they’re capable of doing. I think a lot of times, people would go a lot further in life if they had that notion, that they could be anything.”

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 News Center partnership.