Gwendolyn Leigh Valentine has spent the last few decades of her career in the world of corrections, while balancing those working days as a mother and the proud owner of her own jewelry crafting business.
The daughter of the late Teresa and James Leigh, Gwendolyn says that she realized early on that she had a talent for working with her hands. Initially, her talents manifested itself in hair and beauty routines, something that initially made her look towards the cosmetology field.
“It’s funny, we all take our little detours in life. Going into corrections was not what I thought I would be doing,” she laughs. “But when I was young, what I really want to do was always own my own business. Really, I envisioned myself having my own salon one day and being a beautician… I found out early that I was pretty good with my hands and for a long time I thought that doing hair was my passion.”
Despite this, Valentine always sought to broaden her career horizons. As such, after graduating from Creswell High School in 1988, she initially pursued a path in criminal justice, something that would serve her well in her future endeavors in the prison system.
However, in the meantime, she would work in a number of different positions across different jobs before landing within the most defining career of her life.
“I didn’t go right into the prison system right after I left school. I had a few different jobs before I got started,” she recalls. “I worked at Hardees for a bit, then I worked at Perdue Farms, which ended up lasting for a little while, somewhere around nine years. It was a poultry plant and I worked in the de-boning department, trimming out bones and cuts of meat and tenderloins… That was all well before I got into the prisons.”
After nearly a decade at Perdue Farms, Valentine says that she found an opportunity to enter the world of corrections from online postings and a few nudges from friends who were already working in that arena.
“I saw a few things here and there online and I had a few friends that worked there that would tell me about it and give me some information,” she says. “At the time, my brother worked there, too, and he convinced me to give it a try. Really, I started at the jail after a friend, Amy Hill, had an opening. I was 31 years old, didn’t have anything to lose, so I gave it a try.”
This turned out to be just the boon that Valentine had been waiting for...
