Local author, Linda Bullard, has released a new book, The Well Ran Dry: Memoirs of a Motherless Child.
The book is my autobiography about growing up without a mother, who passed Dec. 25, 1968. Ms. Bullard was nine-years-old. At the age of 14 she became pregnant with her oldest son. He is now a captain in the Chattanooga Fire Department after serving four years in the U.S. Navy. His daughter, Ms. Bullard's oldest granddaughter, graduated from Emory University recently.
Ms. Bullard says that she believes that by changing her mind about her expectations for herself, she changed the direction of her life, her son’s life and his daughter’s life.
Ms. Bullard is a graduate of Howard High School and so is her oldest son. She has worked in corporate America since 1986. After raising three boys, in 2009 she graduated with honors from Chattanooga State Community College with an associate’s degree in Business Administration. In 2011, she graduated with a 3.98 GPA from Bryan College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on Organizational Management. She is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute and Launch Chattanooga. Ms. Bullard has volunteered for several local nonprofits since 2000, such as Junior Achievement, Girls Inc., United Way, Interfaith Homeless Network, and Chattanooga Room at the Inn, to name a few.
After 26 years at BlueCross working in various positions (including manager of a department with 73 employees), in October 2012 Ms. Bullard was laid off for the second time in two years. Then she was terminated on Jan. 28, 2013 due to the elimination of her position. She took the time off to open a business, LSMB Business Solutions, LLC and to finish the book she started writing on Jan. 1, 2007. In March 2013, Ms. Bullard begin working in the legal department at Erlanger Health System.
Ms. Bullard's original goal in writing the book was to empower teen moms and other motherless children with the power of choice. She wanted them to know they are not alone. She says she feels if she can help people to change their minds on how they see themselves, they will change their lives accordingly. Since her book’s release, several young mothers have told her they are using the book as summer reading tool for their pre-teens and teens in order to start having an open dialogue where they have an understanding and a better relationship.
The book is available on Amazon.com and booksamillion.com.