Valerie Peterson-Kelly

Valerie Peterson-Kelly grew up with few advantages. Raised by a young, single mother who was on public assistance, Valerie and her brother had a humble upbringing.

“We lived in the house right next to the railroad tracks. Every time the train came past our house, our little house would shake. My mom was a great cook, and she kept a very clean house. She was also very crafty, so our house was always pretty, but we didn’t have a lot. We were ‘that family’; everyone passed things down to us”.

What Valerie did have were intelligence, insight and determination.

It was a late 1980s television show, “A Different World,” that showed Valerie how she could change the direction of her life.

“‘A Different World’ literally showed me a different world,” Valerie says. “People who looked like me were going to college, participating in sororities and fraternities, and having fun. And that opened my eyes. I knew this was my way out of poverty and the trap of government assistance. I knew I had to use my smarts in order to move to the next level.”

Valerie received scholarship offers from several universities. Ultimately, SVSU’s accessible size and scholarships brought Valerie to campus, where she found a supportive community that helped her discover and nurture her talents. 

With prompting from Robert Cheek, an SVSU professor who recognized her natural gifts, Valerie changed her major from accounting to marketing. Her leadership, self-confidence and public speaking skills were enhanced through involvement in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the president’s diversity task force and on-campus employment. And when she was searching for an avenue to teach at the collegiate level, Dr. Jill Wetmore, former dean of SVSU’s College of Business, encouraged her to get an MBA. Subsequently, Valerie served as adjunct faculty at Delta and Northwood for many years.

Now…

Today, Valerie is founder and CEO of VP Kelly Enterprises, which encompasses her many endeavors, including Very Positive Outlook, a collection of 14 interactive and curriculum-based programs, each with its own identity and purpose. She is married to a talented Houston chef and author, Elliot Kelly, and has two young adult sons.

Valerie’s professional path has often been the result of a creative and fearless response to a need.

After working in financial sector marketing for a few years, Valerie decided to change course and pursue teaching. While working as a substitute teacher in an elementary school, she discovered two things: a talent for connecting with children and a realization that boys needed more guidance in their lives.

This classroom experience led Valerie to develop “Young Men and the Power Within,” a social etiquette and character education program for boys and young men. She also published her first book, “Where’s My Daddy?,” which celebrates fathers actively involved in their children’s lives. Valerie was inspired to focus the book on fathers after recalling how her middle and high school friends revered her father. Although her parents didn’t stay together, her father was happy to “assist with redirection” anytime Valerie wasn’t moving in the right direction. The book, whose main character is based on her oldest son, is also a wistful expression of the kind of father-son relationship she wished her first husband had had with his sons. 

A friend and local elementary principal encouraged Valerie to create a workshop based on the book. The overwhelming response led to other workshops in other schools and two more books. 

Valerie recognized she was not only tapping into a need but could build upon this success to create a viable consulting business focused on “fatherhood and family.” She won the Great Lakes Bay Region’s 1^st State Bank RUBY Award (Recognizing the Upward, Bright and Young) in 2008 for her efforts.

That same year, Valerie moved to Houston. Her programs are now serving parents, boys, and girls in 20 different school districts in Texas and Louisiana as well as some nonprofits and criminal justice centers. Additional services include etiquette lessons and image consulting (as a Mary Kay sales director), business expansions that were the result of a widowed father’s plea and the need to teach young women proper skin care. Her Mary Kay business has subsequently grown into a significant business venture, so much so that she is among the top 1% of consultants worldwide who have earned the celebrated Pink Cadillac.

Forever…

Entrepreneur. Educator. Motivator. Image Consultant. Advocate. Fighter.

Valerie describes herself as a “rags to riches woman of faith” and hopes to continue making a difference in her community by inspiring and educating fathers and mothers about the important role they play in their children’s success, their family relationships and society.  

Scholarships gave Valerie access to education. She capitalized on that access to change her life’s trajectory.

Scholarships have the power to break patterns generational disadvantage and poverty.

Note: Donors to the General Scholarship Fund as well as the Unrestricted Fund contribute to SVSU’s merit-based university scholarships, supporting driven and deserving students like Valerie.