Written by Bloom Magazine
Meet Valerie Horton-Rakes, a Tennessee native with a big heart making a difference in everyday life. Horton was born and raised in West Tennessee. She completed her undergrad and law degree in her home state before becoming a mom to three wonderful children, 2 daughters and a son. Becoming an attorney was a childhood dream, and through high school and c ollege that was my goal. Law was very different 35 years ago. It was very male dominated, of course. As time went on, she began to realize that as much as she loved the law, she could not be the best mom. She moved to California where she took on the role of being a full-time mother. Later, during her time in The Golden State, she began working for a non-profit where she handled cases for low-income ratepayers.
This was just the beginning for Valerie’s career. A few years after her time in California, she went back to Tennessee. “I went back to Tennessee, and I actually worked in the Tennessee legislature on behalf of children and families. I was called a legislative liaison. I helped draft position papers on laws that impacted children and families. During her career, Horton worked within many organizations. She worked with a non-profit called VORP (Victim Offender Reconciliation Program), which was a mediation program model. “I became the Executive Director of VORP in Nashville, working with judges and the inside of the legal system to incorporate mediation into the criminal litigation process. The agency handled low level criminal cases which reduced the court docket and was a diversion process for defendants.
From there, she became the Executive Director of Davidson County Caring for Children, a child neglect investigative agency. After a few years, her next challenge was in real estate development where she worked for several years, both in Nashville and in Richmond, Virginia.
So, how did Ms. Horton get into the Worker’s Compensation arena? “When news of an EF4 tornado hit my hometown in Tennessee, I was offered a position to work with the city as its Hazard Mitigation Consultant. Once this project was completed, I was offered the position of Risk Manager, which I accepted. I joined the public risk managers association in Tennessee and became president of that organization which was extremely worthwhile.” In 2012, Horton moved on and became the Director of Claims at the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation in Ohio for about six years before moving to sunny Florida where she began as the Risk Manager for the City of Tampa.
When asked, ‘What has been your favorite part of your career?’ Horton says,
“Across everything that I have done, I have worked in the community. You take every single job that I have ever had, and you see that I have reached back out to the community. I don’t care what city it was, if I was doing real-estate development, or if I was working with people from the community doing risk management, I was working with the community overall. Here, I do a lot of things that are internal but as a whole, this office touches the employees and their families. That has been probably the one thing I have enjoyed the most about all of it. I have been able to help the community.”
Valerie has always been about the community. In 2005, she stared an organization called Mothers 2 Daughters. “It came about as the result of my interaction with the sister of two of my childhood friends. I saw her in the grocery store and asked how she was. Sadly, she told me her son was in prison, she was raising his children, and she just didn’t have enough. I was in tears. I decided to try to do something for my community.”
Horton quickly realized that there were a lot of women out there who were struggling with all kinds of issues. They needed an outlet and Valerie was determined to help her community. “I started Tea and Talk. I was doing small events to get these women together. I was reaching out to women ages 8 to 80 and hosting community events. We would have discussions about issues and things that were impacting them in the community. I was doing a radio advertisement about an upcoming event and the Radio General Manager asked me if I had ever done radio. Of course, I said no, and that question turned into me doing Radio. We were having these conversations on the show and talking about it as a community. That radio show then turned into a regional TV show.” As she journeys through her own personal life, Valerie not only looks for things that make her smile but the things that can make others smile.
“I own a small business and it helps make others smile. I own a travel business that I started in 2017. I have a small team of travel agents that work alongside of me. I book travel for the community. I have learned so much about the world because of the exposure. I know most people want to travel, but either they can’t afford it or they just don’t have the time. It’s a little sad but I have figured out ways to help them.”
Valerie believes travel is essential to our well-being! She will take time to work with you to plan your dream vacation! “I love living. I know that sounds cliché-ish but I think that every single day that we wake up and we are able to open our eyes it gives us an opportunity to do good things, to explore, to connect to other people, to love and enjoy each other, nature. It is all of those things that sometimes we forget about. We go through life and take things for granted. Its important to be thankful and giveback.”
Interested in connecting with Valerie?
LINKEDIN: Valerie Horton Esq., PCA
Interested in Booking your next vacation?
WEBSITE: Valeriehorton.inteletravel.com.