that meant.” As a result, Neferkara found that just having time to be in her Montclair, New Jersey, neighborhood was a huge source of joy. “Until I took that year off, I had no idea what went on in my neighborhood,” she says. “I didn’t even know what went on in my house.” She took advantage of the time by working with her husband, renovating their 1928 Tudor-style home.
She had started a consulting business from her home when, in 1999, she got a call from a headhunter who had tracked her down through a former secretary. “Nike was looking for marketing executives.” As fate would have it, Nike was just developing its Jordan brand.” The job was in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside Portland. I grew up in D.C. I had flown over Oregon, but never stepped foot in it. I went out for the interview, thinking there was no way I would ever move, but I figured I should keep those interviewing skills in practice. What I found is that it’s beautiful out here. There were so many great quality of life aspects, and the job, which I didn’t think I would have the applicable experience for, turned out to be a great fit.” Neferkara joined Nike Inc. as director of marketing for the Jordan brand.
Four years later, Neferkara’s family, which now includes a 16-month-old son, is happily settled in Portland. In her current job she oversees the retail marketing, field services, and store displays of billions of dollars worth of Nike products throughout the U.S., heading up a team of 110 people. Just as important to her, she lives just three miles from her office, which is located on a lovely campus where hitting the gym is not necessarily viewed as goofing off. “Rather than being disconcerting, stepping away from the goals I’d been targeting for so long was liberating,” says Neferkara, 40. “My viewfinder went from being very laser-like to being as broad as it could be. Suddenly, I was open to anything, and once that happened, the Nike opportunity — something I would never have pursued — came and found me. This whole experience has underscored for me the idea of keeping an open mind toward life and not limiting myself. Sure, I gave up something, but I gained something else. Life is full of those opportunities if you’re open to them.”
DR. CHRISTOPHER LEGGET
MY MOMENT OF TRUTH
MEETING A WOMAN WHO LIVES HER FAITH
Dr. Christopher Leggett Interventional Cardiologist,Medical Associates of North Georgia
Dr. Christopher Leggett is the tenth of 11 children raised in a family that strongly values two things: God and education. His father was a Baptist minister and Leggett was a typical minister’s son in many ways. He was respectful and achievement-oriented, attending prep school at Andover before going to college at Princeton University. But, by his own admission, he was also a bit wild. “When you grow up the way I do, you think you have a good sense of right and wrong. But in high school