Paula Washington
Gap Alchemist ·Strategist ·
Author · Speaker
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MBA, International Business – Strayer University
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MS, Organizational Leadership – Colorado State University Global
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Certification in Entrepreneurship – Yale School of Management
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Certification in Leadership Development – Georgia State University
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Certification in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – University of South Florida
The Work Behind the Work
What looked like disruption was direction.
My career has not followed a straight line. It has been shaped by layered experience, corporate disruption, personal transitions, and sustained leadership.
After a corporate downsizing, I went to get a business loan and left with a contract to build a program for women business owners. That moment clarified my path. The space between who I had been and what I was stepping into wasn't empty. It was the asset.
That insight became The Gold Is in the Gap™.
For nearly three decades, I have advised leaders, business owners, and accomplished women at critical inflection points, within The MidTime™: the strategic passage between established success and the chapter ahead.
I don't position leaders to start over. I position them to use the full weight of their experience to build what's next.
Every engagement begins with the Golden Gap Compass™ and continues through one of two paths:
The Leadership Bridge: for leaders and business owners turning what they've built into greater impact and income.
The Encore Bridge: for those designing a whole-life next chapter with intention.
The destination is Leadership & Wealth Alchemy™, Where Soul meets Strategy, Wisdom becomes Wealth, Legacy is Built by Design.
The Story Behind the Work
I come from a lineage of pathmakers.
Women who moved forward without waiting for permission.
My great-grandmother graduated cum laude from college in 1894. My grandmother, a Juilliard-trained pianist, became a real estate broker who helped Black families secure homeownership when access was denied. Her own family's home had to be purchased through an attorney. My mother became the first woman manager at a major bank branch, at a time when the only other women there were tellers.
I am their continuation.
I didn't arrive here by accident. I arrived through lived experience: navigating disruption, rebuilding, and leading through complexity.
The MidTime™ is not theoretical. It is a crossing I have navigated myself.
MANIFESTO
MANIFESTO
I believe...
Experience has no expiration date. It is one of our greatest strategic assets.
Everything we have navigated, the setbacks, the pivots, the disruptions, the decisions that didn't go as planned, is not simply our history.
It is our gold.
I believe meaningful impact requires moving forward, even when the path isn't clear. Stop rehearsing readiness. Begin with what you have.
Refine as you go.
I believe legacy is not a retirement conversation. It is something we build throughout our lives. Ask yourself early and often:
What am I building that extends beyond my direct presence?
I believe the leaders who create profound impact are not always the loudest or the fastest. They are the ones who lead with clarity, act with intention, and build with both today and tomorrow in view.
Your gold is in your gap.
Let's cross it together.
What Paula delivers is not merely encouragement, it is perspective, permission, and a pathway forward."
— Frances M. Strickland, Founder & CEO