Margaret “Candi” Pringle’s path to success wasn’t always so certain or clear.
She was born in prison while her mother was incarcerated in Middletown, Ohio. Rather than leave her to the care of social services, her mother’s first cousin, Mary Emma Watson Washington, came to care for newborn Candi.
A prominent socialite in Los Angeles, Mary left her life behind in California to raise Candi. Mary was an actress who appeared on the “Amos and Andy Show” in the late 1950s; she also starred in a film with Dorothy Dandridge. A graduate of the Ohio State University, Capital University Law School, Mary later became the program director of the South Side Settlement House, a social service agency.
The two settled in Columbus, Ohio, where Candi resides today. Candi refers to her cousin as her guardian angel, as she is the woman who first lifted her up and set her up on her path.
“I don’t know where I would be today without her,” Candi says.
Today Candi is a life strategist, motivational speaker, and health and human services professional who aims to teach, inspire, motivate, and empower others through her project — Seven7Minutes. She’s also launching a talk show, which is scheduled to start production this summer.
She also works as a senior services advocate for the health insurance group Aetna, assisting individuals with health care benefits and connecting them to resources that could potentially enhance their overall health.
In 2022, Candi completed her Bachelor of Arts in Health and Human Services at the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), where she currently serves as a member of the UAGC Psych Club.
“The goal is to influence deeper connections in the community through meaningful conversations that affect everyday life,” she says. “By earning my degree, I can speak to those issues due to my experiences and education.”
But her journey was far from simple, and she shares her experience is hopes that she can inspire and motivate others to pursue their goals.
“I want others to know that you can do and become anything you want when you set your mind to it,” says Candi. “There will be mountains to climb on your path, but when you get to the top and can look down over your journey, you will find it was worth the climb.”
From Young Mother to Motivational Speaker
Candi smiles with a tempered sweetness when she says, “Rainbows come from rain.” After all, she is no stranger to life’s challenges.
It’s why she can share that adage with such certainty. She knows good things are waiting on the other side of the struggle if you are willing to believe in yourself and put in the work.
Candi became a mother at age 14.
Her daughter, Jessica Roy, passed away in July 2014 during childbirth. The baby, a girl named Ivey, died four days later. Candi stepped into the maternal role, taking in Jessica’s five-year-old son, Kamere. These experiences led Candi to pursue a life of service.
“Growing up as a teen parent, I could not see this accomplishment for myself.”
Yet, through hard work and dedication, Candi pushed forward and secured a career and a path all her own. Candi started working at 12 delivering newspapers and cleaning homes, but ultimately dedicated her life’s work to helping others. Her work history is comprised of 35 years in the health care industry, and she has worked as a state-tested nurse’s aide, unit clerk, and receptionist supervisor, and has worked in workers’ compensation, health care benefits, and prescription benefit management.
After serving as president of the board of directors for the second largest, federally qualified health care center in Ohio, she gained invaluable perspectives on bureaucratic barriers that often block much-needed care and services to poor communities.
That’s when it clicked — she had more to offer!
“I aspired to be a part of a team that helped reduce those barriers and assist individuals in obtaining services needed to live better lives,” she explains.
Candi can be particularly effective in addressing what she terms, “the anemic social services.” She is confident her unique life experiences better equip her for speaking to social equity and fair access to social services. She says she also hoped to be “a valuable conduit between the faceless juggernaut of health care bureaucracy and the disadvantaged.”
Candi says she decided earning a degree would best provide for the realization of her vision.
“I wanted to do more for my community and felt like a degree from UAGC would help me understand others and be a trusted partner in the communities I seek to serve,” she explains.
But, as the sole caregiver to her grandson Kamere, the pursuit of a degree while employed full-time seemed implausible. Candi didn’t have the time nor the money for traditional, in-person coursework.
UAGC was the better fit. She says the online curriculum allowed her to study when it was convenient. Also, with financial support from her employer and financial aid from UAGC, Candi was able to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in Health and Human Services.
She became the first of her 12 siblings to earn a college degree.
Now that she has her degree in-hand, Candi is finding new ways to support her community and pursue her passion for service.
The Struggle of the Juggle
While attending UAGC, Candi suffered another succession of losses. The father of her grandson Kamere was murdered in 2018. She then became the young boy’s sole parent and provider. She went through a divorce, and her mother died in December 2020 — during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Candi confesses that she became an island unto herself.
As an already full-time employee who provided care for a child, being struck with such a loss presented a terrible challenge to her education.
“While obtaining my degree, some challenges nearly broke me down,” Candi admits. “There were days that I couldn’t imagine going forward. I had to analyze why I started, which motivated me to keep going.”
Candi cites the accommodating faculty at UAGC as one of the reasons she could complete her studies. Her teachers, she says, were respectful of her grieving. Rather than judge or pry, they bolstered Candi’s spirit with understanding and support. The professors were always there to assist with questions and concerns related to coursework, Candi says, and they ultimately helped get her back on-track.
“UAGC allowed me to study when it was convenient for me and still work and take care of a child,” she says. “The professors were always there to assist with questions and concerns related to coursework. One thing that I’ve learned at UAGC and continue to use daily in my profession is empathy. I learned to understand that everyone’s journey is different, and we all have to be cognizant of this fact. Being a helping professional requires patience and understanding.”
Measure-for-Measure
On her Seven7Minutes Facebook page, Candi posts affirmational statements to engage her growing number of page followers.
One states: “Using someone else’s ruler to measure your self-worth will always leave you short.”
Candi is a firm believer that no time is wasted. Instead, she sees every experience as an open opportunity from which to learn and grow. Her philosophy is simple: if one learns something from an experience, then how can time have been wasted?
“From my trials, I gained peace within myself; I gained patience with myself,” she says. “I also gained the persistence to want to move forward. I got my power back after I let go of the pressure. It’s not what you do with time, but it’s what you stop doing with your time.”
And at present, Candi is a bright beacon in her community. Her future will be brighter, still.
Her grandson Kamere says that even though it looks like she’s doing small things, everything Candi does has a major impact. When asked about this sweet testimonial, Candi’s eyes shine.
As for her future, it promises to be as radiant as her smile. Candi plans to go back to school to earn her master’s in psychology to further her knowledge.
“I want to earn further accreditation to better assist my community,” she says.
“This journey is for my 11 grandchildren, who may question their capabilities one day,” she explains. “This journey is for every teen parent who wants to give up. This journey is for every woman who has ever lost a child. Resilience, perseverance, and determination will always win in the end.”