Lillian Lincoln Lambert gives new meaning to the aphorism, “Success is a journey, not a destination.”

A captivating public speaker she speaks about the power of persistence, resilience, courage and morality in surmounting hurdles that prevent people from reaching their full potential. As the first African American woman to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School and having become a barrier-breaking entrepreneur in the mid 1970’s, she draws upon her experiences to show how to use obstacles and barriers as stepping stones to higher levels of achievement and success. Understanding the power of storytelling, she uses her personal story to inspire audiences to dream big, act bold and pave their own paths. In her role as a business coach, she works with businesses and individuals to help them go beyond their preconceived limitations and achieve their goals and aspirations.

Born on a farm in the segregated South, she sensed that a better life awaited her. At the age of 18, she journeyed to New York City and Washington, DC to seek her fortune. After a few years of gutting out menial jobs as a maid and typist, she came to the realization that her journey was internal and that education would be her ticket to a new world.

At the age of 22, she enrolled in Howard University and with the help of loans, scholarships and part-time jobs she obtained a BA degree. It was there that a professor became her mentor and convinced her, a girl who had worn homemade burlap bag dresses to school, that she was Harvard material. In 1969, an era forever linked with the civil rights and burgeoning women’s rights movements, she earned her MBA and achieved the historical milestone as the first African American woman to receive a Harvard Business School degree. She did not set out to make history, but simply wanted a better life.

Due to the passionate response of audiences to her speeches and comments from admirers who exclaimed “Lillian, you should write a book,” her memoir, The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond, was released by John Wiley & Son in Jan 2010.

For 25 years, Lambert was President and CEO of Centennial One, Inc., a building maintenance company she founded in her garage on a few thousand dollars. She grew the company to $20 million in sales with more than 1,200 employees.

In 2003, Harvard Business School awarded Lambert the Alumni Achievement Award, its highest honor for alumni. The award recognizes recipients for "the contributions they made to their companies and communities, while upholding the highest standards and values in everything they do."

In March 2010, Enterprising Women Magazine inducted her into their Hall of Fame and featured her on the cover of the April 2010 issue. This is the magazine’s highest honor and is “reserved for women who have devoted a lifetime to building dynamic businesses or vital nonprofit organizations and giving back to the women business owners’ community in significant ways, making a tremendous difference in the lives of others”.