St. Clair County Community College alumna Annette Caulfield says SC4 taught her that anything is possible if you work hard enough.
After earning her associate degree, the 1982 Anchor Bay High School graduate moved up the corporate ladder quickly and today serves as the executive assistant to the president and chief executive officer of Ilitch Holdings Inc. in Detroit.
Caulfield, 54, who lives in Taylor, said she decided to go back to school at SC4 based on a friend’s suggestion and graduated with honors in 1998.
“I was in retail management for many years, and when my last store closed, I knew I needed to do something different,” Caulfield said. “I was a single mom at the time and did not have many options. A very good friend suggested I look at taking some classes at SC4, as the college had very good options for single parents and a supportive culture.”
Caulfield said she completed an internship for her degree at SC4, where she also went on to become both a full-time clerk and a department operations manager.
After five years, she took a position as the executive assistant to the chief financial officer with AAA in Dearborn, Mich. In 2015, Caulfield worked at GTB Agency in Detroit as the executive assistant to the global chief talent officer before beginning at Ilitch Holdings in 2017.
Ilitch Holdings Inc. was founded in 1999 to provide professional services to certain businesses that were founded or purchased by Detroit entrepreneurs Mike and/or Marian Ilitch, including food, sports, and entertainment venues and teams such as the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Little Caesars and MotorCity Casino Hotel. Ilitch Holdings’ companies collectively employ more than 24,000 full- and part-time employees worldwide and have more than 350 million customer interactions annually.
Caulfield said SC4 provided an ideal atmosphere for her to head back to the books at that time in her life.
“SC4 had the best environment for a single parent to succeed, from class times and sizes to instructors who cared and understood that life can and will get in the way,” she said. “I could not have succeeded without the support of family, friends and my SC4 family.”
She and her husband Tom have three children, Bailey, Brooklyn and Tommy; and six grandchildren, Zoe, Ava, Violet, Colton, Bryson and Harper.
Caulfield said her local community college also gave her the encouragement to pursue her goals.
“SC4 helped me gain the confidence to make a career change and taught me that anything is possible if you work hard and never give up,” she added.
