Greenville native Bernell King is the first in exceptional achievements among African-Americans in the Upstate. As a personal and business coach for her company, Visions International, which she founded in 2000, she devotes each day to asking others, "Are you living your vision?"

Visions International has been in existence since King graduated from Clemson University in Clemson, SC. She is the first Black woman to graduate with a Language and International Trade degree with a concentration in Japanese from Clemson.

King was also the first student at Clemson to receive a full minority scholarship from AIFS, which goes out annually to one minority in the United States. This award, worth more than $11,000, allowed her to study abroad in Japan. As a result, King is also a Language and Intercultural Trainer, focusing on English and Japanese instruction for local and global business leaders.

For her community, she volunteers to conduct business plan workshops. She feels that budgeting and credit management are key areas to assist in building a foundation to improve the quality of life.

King's interest, however, is not just on economic progress for her community. She also serves in leadership at Water of Life Christian Church in Greenville, where she has been a licensed minister since 2003. In the church, she also works as a covenant care leader. From 2002 to 2006, King served as the Program Director for a successful steward's school there. During this time she helped to develop financial literacy course material.

Bernell King consistently embraces her clients' visions to offer services customized to fit their needs. She states that coaching is "better experienced than explained," but that it is done in weekly 45-minute sessions, usually by telephone. During this time clients are guided through a process to help them understand themselves. They establish the focus of the visions and she helps them to define the answers.

She holds professional affiliations with the International Coach Federation, The International Center of the Upstate, the Greenville International Alliance for Professional Women and the Urban League Young Professionals. Her education and training includes a professional coach training and certification from Coach U., Inc and the International Coach Federation.

For 2007, Bernell King hopes to expand her coaching client base, serving more entrepreneurs and expatriates and going beyond South Carolina.

"Every great work, every great achievement, has been manifested through the steadfast holding of a vision. A vision gives one direction, insight into the future, motivation, and a reason for being," says King in a personal quote on her website, www.visionsmadereal.com .