Biography of
Celeste S. Duckworth
In 2010, Celeste Duckworth walked into a new career by becoming the Publisher of VERTIKAL LIFE Magazine nominated, “Best Global Magazine of 2013.” The mission of VERTIKAL is to uplift, educate, and inspire change in our local neighborhood for the betterment of our global community and how VERTIKAL does that is by promoting creative/innovative individuals that may not be featured in mainstream media. Recently her fiancée and founder of VERTIKAL Magazine passed away leaving the legacy of VERTIKAL to be carried on by Celeste.
Prior to her becoming
the President of VERTIKAL she was one of the top Safety Professionals for a
leading transportation company in Virginia and Maryland and the first to get
third party CDL testing for employees by the state of Virginia and creating a
comprehensive training program that allowed for frequent safety
incentives. For one location this
program kept them accident and incident free for up a year after training with
Celeste.
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But her career was cut
short when she found out male safety professionals that had less seniority and
were being paid more money than their female counterparts, then after applying
for a position as General Manager she was told that she did not have a college
degree which was part of the requirements but over 75% of the mail General
Managers did not have a college degree.
She decided if she had to return to school to pursue a degree then it
would truly be in a career she was passionate about.
At the urging of her
Aunt Joan she moved with her two youngest children to Arizona where she decided
to return to school. She found that she had a love for writing,
biology, the study of Human Genetics and Anthropology her true niche was found
in Medical Anthropology, but since there weren’t any programs developed for
that study her professor convinced her to study psychology where she ended up
taking every course in psychology the school had to offer, and minored in
Biology.
During her second semester at college she wrote a Science Fiction novel which led her to enroll in a Creative Writing class to assess her potential as a creative writer. Celeste had always written short stories privately and this was going to be the first time she would dare to expose herself to the scrutiny of others by letting them read her work. But those plans quickly had to be put on hold when doctors discovered she had a mass growing on top of her brain and sarcoids in her right lung. To add to that she was losing her eyesight in both eyes and could not see what she needed to read in her textbooks.
With no money or health insurance she asked her professors for a
private conference where she informed them she was losing her sight and would
not be able to finish school. One
professor said you will finish school and suggested she call every eye doctor
in Arizona until one would say yes I will treat you. One doctor indeed said yes, and it was the
beginning of a real faith walk to work at building up her immune system and
losing the weight that steroids had caused her to gain. After seven years doctors decreed she was in
remission from sarcoids with an 80% chance that the disease would not come
back.
Celeste started writing poetry on the human
experience putting the spin on how to take a negative and turn it into a
positive, because she loves to relate funny stories and sad stories and teach
how negative beginnings can become positive impacts on your life and others you
touch. Her work has been recognized by the City
of Phoenix Arts Council and one of her poems; “An Oasis in the Desert,”
a poem about diversity at the center of
a community, can be found in a mural on the wall of the Maryvale Community Pool
House. She was also invited to speak at
the Shermer
Museumand by the City of Scottsdale Arts Council.
Her book, the Lucy Project is due to be published next month with the goal to raise funds for a movie trailer to be presented to independent film producers with the hope of it becoming a movie.
Where will Celeste go from here? This year VERTIKAL LIFE Magazine has a goal to build the programs that she and Norman co-founded; Women on the Rise, Teen VERTIKAL Media Camp, and the Just One Dollar Fund. We also hope to engage our Global Community with stories that inspire Community change worldwide, and to show that the goals and desires of people worldwide will create dialogue for true inspiring that will create a ripple effect of peace, love, and understanding throughout the world.
You
can contact Celeste S. Duckworth at celesteduckworth@gmail.com
or 202.642.9377.
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