Inspiring Living with Mark Candelaria
Welcome to Inspiring Living with Mark Candelaria, hosted by architect, blogger, traveler, chef, father, husband, and founding partner of Candelaria Design Associates. Mark has designed timeless homes across the country for forty years, while hosting tours to Italy, Spain, and beyond. Throughout the course of his journey, Mark has met wonderful people who truly inspire him and this podcast is about them and the opportunities that are all around us to Inspire Living! While we talk about architecture and design on this podcast, Mark also introduces you to a wide gamut of guests and industries, and ventures into all sorts of topics that will teach you, motivate you and inspire living your best life.
Inspiring Living with Mark Candelaria
Following the American Dream with Vernon & Lisa Parker
In this episode, I got to sit down with my friend and former Mayor of Paradise Valley, Vernon Parker. And his lovely wife Lisa.
Vernon served as first ever Assistant of Civil Rights for the Dept. of Agriculture and was a part of the settlement team for the largest civil rights claim ever won against the US, served as General Console of the US Office of Personal Management in D.C., and served as Special Assistant to President George HW Bush.
Vernon shares his story growing up in Long Beach, CA living with his Grandma in a poor neighborhood on welfare, being frequently robbed, watching his uncle shoot up heroin, yet Vernon was determined to lead a better life and make his grandmother, who meant so much to him, proud. Where he went to high school was actually the school the movie Freedom Writers is based around. He overcame so many setbacks and obstacles in life and went on to eventually graduate from Cal State-Long Beach with a degree in Finance and then went on to Law School at Georgetown University at age 25 with the financial help of his mother and grandmother. It was at Georgetown University where Vernon met his lovely wife and the two graduated together and later got married! In 1997 the happy couple moved to Paradise Valley, and by 2008 Vernon was elected Mayor due to his drive and vision! Listen to this inspiring story and how Vernon rose through the ranks and his perspective on social justice, racism and politics in America.
For more information on Vernon Parker and our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: https://www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast
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