Celebrity runway coach, J. Alexander (Image: File)

Dubbed the “Queen of the Catwalk,” J. Alexander aka Miss J is known as the outspoken and fierce runway coach from America’s Next Top Model. The man who began his career as a model for Jean Paul Gaultier, eventually transitioned into a top-notch runway coach, schooling top models Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell, and Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey. His career has taken him all over the globe casting and coaching models for fashion houses and designers including Chanel, Bill Blass and Valentino, as well as scouting for model agencies such as Elite.

Just in time for this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, BlackEnterprise.com caught up with J. Alexander to talk about what keeps him passionate, his evolving career, and his advice for up-and-comers on how to reach longevity in the fashion industry.

BlackEnterprise.com: How did you break out of the pack and discover a career in fashion and ultimately entertainment?

J. Alexander: Hmm … I just jumped on the No.13 bus to the No. 6 Train at Castle Hill Ave. I didn’t want to just live and hang out in the South Bronx where I grew up. I liked the style of the people living in Manhattan. I would go down to the city during the day. I thought there was more opportunity in Manhattan; I also thought it would be cool to dress like them. I knew I had to be around them, and place myself in a fashion environment to get inspired. What I could not afford, I was able to get ideas to create similar looks for less.

How did you become a runway coach?

I knew I had something that was helpful to the new girls just starting in the business. My then agent, Gerald Marie, said I should get paid, which was fine by me, even though I was happy to give help to the girls for free.

What is a typical day like for you, and how do you combat associated stress of such a fast-paced industry?

A typical day— if not working— is doing nothing!  T.V., Internet, talking on the phone with friends. When working, I deal with stress by preparing for whatever it is I’m doing that day, such as looking at bullet points on the subject we are filming [for ANTM]. I also do my own hair and makeup and, of course, I make my own outfits. So while doing those things, I try and relax and take “me” time and not let too much bother me.

What keeps you passionate and wanting to get up every morning?

That I might learn or see something new that day, and realizing I’m blessed that I can still see and hear beauty to inspire myself and perhaps others.

What have been some of your biggest career high points?

One of the highs was winning a Teen Choice Award in 2009. Also, being in a place to pay my bills on time is a high (laughs).

How have you expanded the Miss J brand in the past five years? And can you tell us what new projects you’re working on?

I have expanded slowly and deliberately. I am not that person who wants to make a quick dollar saying hello at the club. So I started with my book Follow the Model: Miss J’s Guide to Unleashing Presence, Poise and Power (Gallery Books; $21.99) so people could learn about my life. Recently, I did a major campaign for Fruche Yogurt in Australia. And new projects … Well, for starters, doing this interview for  BlackEnterprise.com is what I’m currently working on now (laughs).

Want to elevate your career in fashion? Check out J. Alexander’s five quick tips for success.

Initially started as a way to introduce young people to tax accounting, Discover Ernst & Young has since expanded to explore various financial industry areas, including financial statement audits and risk management. Approximately 600 students have participated in the program since its founding.

Ken Bouyer, Americas director of inclusiveness recruiting, says the program serves an important purpose. “We are in the business of creating pipelines in the profession.  We invest in learning and development. A lot of people have misconceptions about this industry. They think it’s boring, but once they meet people like myself and other E & Y employees, they see that we are cool people who are also smart.  You might be in New York today and China next week. You become more culturally aware.”

Karyn Twaronite, Americas inclusiveness officer, strongly advocates for diversity in all industries. “A diverse team creates a better work product,” she says. “Studies have shown that diverse teams are higher performing than more homogenous teams. Additionally, we are a global company with over 150,000 employees in 140 countries. We have to be able to work effectively across all cultures.”

Here are a few facts: According to company numbers, minorities represent 32% of the staff and partner-level positions in their U.S. and Canada offices, a figure that has doubled in the past decade. The Bureau of Labor Statistics places the median salary for a tax accountant at $62,000 and $115,000 for financial managers.

Bouyer and Twaronite urge students who are interested in pursing a career in accounting and other financial industries to maintain a high grade-point average; take a broad range of classes; set up informational meetings with professionals; and participate in networking opportunities.

One former student did all the above. Deandrea C. Greer-Thomas participated in the Discover Tax program in 2009 and is currently an E & Y tax accountant. The Hampton graduate began working as a full-time staffer in July 2011. The energetic Texas native loves her job and encourages other young people to be prepared for all the opportunities that come their way. “When you come into a program like Discover Ernst & Young, everyone has a high grade-point average,” she says. “Having good grades will get you in the door, but it’s your preparation and willingness to learn and to work hard that will really get you where you need to go. Read up on business etiquette. Be aware of what’s going on in the world and be able to hold a conversation with anyone. Keep in touch with people you meet and have a great attitude.”

5 Tips for Financial Industry Success:

Walk the halls at the current company. Literally walk the halls of your company and get to know your colleagues. Take advantage of all in-office networking opportunities.

Volunteer to help executives with projects. Make a name for yourself by becoming known as a reliable, hard worker.

Take on a leadership role. Don’t be afraid to lead and exhibit managerial qualities. 

Volunteer at a non-profit. Volunteering at a non-profit not only showcases your time management abilities, but provides another way to expand your network.

Take the time to get certified. Whatever your chosen field, if there is an ability to become certified, do it. Doing so opens up more professional opportunities and helps to solidify you as an expert.

Visit http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Home for more information about the Discover Ernst & Young program.

But many experts disagree, citing the benefits of a course of study that includes mastering a diverse body of knowledge, from history to media to science.

AOL Jobs looks at four benefits of having a liberal arts degree and how degree-holders can effectively market themselves while job seeking.

You’re employable …
An important thing to remember is if you have a Bachelor of Arts it doesn’t mean you won’t find a job. There are positives and negatives to any field of study and the pros definitely outweigh the cons for liberal arts.

While there are many sectors that directly pull from the liberal arts, many companies (like Disney) prefer their entry-level employees to have a blank slate and will train on the job.

Read more at AOL Jobs …

(Image: Thinkstock)

Having the right goal-setting strategy is vital in progressing in this new year. Whether it’s how to go about job seeking, creating a plan to get that promotion, or totally revamping your career path by making a change, setting feasible goals with a road map for getting to milestones makes each move one that is effective.

AOL Jobs offers tips on how to set goals and how to manage them so you won’t be singing the same stagnant tune next year. Get started on the right foot to capture the success you deserve.

Take time to consider and play with various goals: Sometimes the best goals show up a day or three after we’ve submitted them to our boss. Or sometimes they show up in the middle of your morning commute or while watching a movie. Start now on a list of possible goals, and be prepared to discard many of them.

Read more at AOL Jobs …

Celebrity chef Kimberly Van Kline

Kimberly Van Kline never thought she’d be creating delectable meals for celebrities and royalty as a young girl learning to cook with her grandmother, a woman who worked as a personal assistant and cook to legendary Hollywood actress Margot Grahame.

A focal point of her best childhood memories, Van Kline, 43, grew up helping her grandmother prepare meals for the family, and became the primary cook in her household upon her grandmother’s passing.

As an adult, she worked as a professional at Verizon for more than a decade, but always knew her passion was cooking. On her 40th birthday, she decided to pursue her dream full time, and founded Passion for the Palate, a catering services firm, in 2008. Her client list now includes artist and actor Common, hip-hop artist Fabolous, haircare giant Bronner Bros., and royalty in Antiqua and Barbuda.

BlackEnterprise.com talked with Van Kline on how she got her start, what excites her about creating the perfect dining experience and how she plans to give back to her community via culinary education.

BlackEnterprise.com: What inspired you to become a chef and how did you get started?

As a little girl, I knew my grandmother as a great cook. She would cook every Sunday, and I grew up helping her prep meals. She always made me feel like I was part of every meal.

As I got older and my grandmother passed away, my grandfather couldn’t cook, so I had to get in the kitchen and start cooking. At age 12, I was the chef of the house, and it became my passion.

How did you make the transition from a full-time, white-collar worker into becoming a professional chef?

I had a 9-to-5, working in different industries, but wasn’t fulfilled with a desk job. I always had a cookbook on my desk. Upon reaching my 40^th birthday, I asked myself, ‘What makes you happy?’ and it was cooking. So I decided to study it. I’d work during the day and do an externship at night. Initially, I had to find my niche. I found that the restaurant business wasn’t for me. I wanted to be more creative, and I found that private cooking was more suitable— I had control to create a menu, put thought into it and give it my own flair.

How important is training and education in becoming a personal chef?

For me, I was always confident in my cooking, but there’s always that desire to better myself. I need every tool and every aspect to make me better and help me grow professionally. There are a lot of great chefs who didn’t go to school, and there can be long hours for many, which means learning on the job. But going to school gave me the background and the technical training for food preparation.

I think you have to educate yourself if you’re going to be the best at any craft. If anybody is serious about going into the chef business, it’s a good idea to gain the knowledge on different types of food, food safety, cooking styles, and what fits them. Even now, every day that goes by, I’m online, researching what’s new, what’s out and whats on trend.

The whole thing about the culinary industry is that there’s always something new, so the more knowledge the better.

Continued on next page …

Your company provides a full event experience, not just food. How do you go about tailoring each experience for your clients—even beyond the food?

One thing I love about cooking is that I can be creative. It all becomes part of the production. I often research a menu that will include a client’s favorite foods, the colors that would accompany it, the flowers—just the whole ambiance surrounding the food. I sit down with clients to talk about various aspects they’d like to incorporate. Depending on the type of food and the ingredients’ cultural and geographic origins, I create drinks infused with indigenous fruits. You want the client to have the best overall experience, so it’s not just about the food. You want them to be able to say, ‘Wow, she created a great, unforgettable experience down to every detail.’

Speaking of the ‘Wow’ factor, how important is quality of work and references to your industry?

The quality of work is very important; Cooking is the least of your problems. You have to cover every detail. For example, for one 50th birthday event, I created a drink especially for the guest of honor infused with vodkas that I knew the client liked. I also worked with the client to provide food reflective of her guests, who were African American and Caribbean-American. The client was very happy and many of her guests never forgot the signature drink or the types of foods chosen for the menu because it was tailored and made of their favorites as well.

I often like to let the client experience my work ahead of time, so I schedule tastings and previews of the experience. I also use the freshest meats, fruits, vegetables and spices. Clients want their hard-earned money to be spent on the best. And I like to cook from scratch because that’s when you cook from love.

You’ve had several large/high profile clients. How were you able to attain them?

Working with Common came from an ad placed on Craigslist. Yes, Craigslist! When you want to get your business out there, you have to talk about it. No one will know unless you tell someone. Put ads out there, whether it’s the newspapers, online or on social media.

Common’s assistant reached out to me from that ad. He was shooting Just Right, and he wanted a great chef to prepare health-conscious meals for him.

From there it was word of mouth. Fabolous had an event and heard about me and we ended up working together for that. I later worked with artist Danny Simmons, which was also by referral.

I worked with Bronner Bros. after being told about an opportunity from a woman I used to work with. I was attending a party for a hair salon, and that led to the opportunity to have them as clients.

You also have a passion for passing down the legacy your grandmother gave to you. Talk a bit about that.

A  lot of young girls and young women don’t cook. For me, I feel as you’re getting older, just the mere fact that you have to feed yourself … it is vital to know how to cook and prepare your own food. If kids learn how to cook,  they’ll feed themselves and find pride and quality in what they eat, which translates into other aspects of their lives, including health. Fast foods are just so unhealthy.

I’m creating a program to teach girls how to cook. Many girls today even have moms who don’t cook—because of busy schedules and having to work—so they have no point of reference to go by to know how to make a decent meal. And that’s important.

I think if mothers put their kids in a program to learn how to cook, it would make things much better and easier for them in the household. It’ll also teach the value of a dollar and promote buying groceries instead of fast food, so you can budget in the household and make meals that last and are healthy.

What are the top three things you’ve learned as a professional in the culinary industry?

Listen to your client. You always want to know about their needs, experiences and their desires. You want to be able to go over and beyond what they would like, and that comes with listening.

Sound contracts are important. Things could go wrong, so once you have a solid contract, you can reference it when there’s any dispute or issue between you and a client. It helps you manage all obligations or expectations professionally.

Have a business plan. You’ll always see the direction you’re going if you have a plan. My plan keeps me in check.

We challenge you, in this eight-day series, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want to go. Based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,™ this series will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.

DAY EIGHT: Possibility = Your Destination

Paving a path to a new destination that is physical, mental, social or spiritual is the best way to leave a legacy. For most people, life is just a journey to buy enough gas to make it to the end safely. After their engine burns out, their vehicle is worthless.

A better way to view life is to see it as an opportunity to build momentum that will outlast the vehicle that creates it to benefit others. You can leave a legacy by using your life to maximize your personal velocity so that others can benefit from your leftover energy. Your personal velocity dictates how far into the future your impact will last and you can increase that by living a purpose-filled life.

Creating new possibilities in your life, your organization and the world should always be the primary focus and you should seek professional opportunities that allow you to do that. Even if where you are is great, there is always a higher level. In the same way cars leave behind carbon footprints, when you exit Earth’s Expressway, you will leave behind a carbon copy of yourself imprinted in people hearts and minds. If you create new possibilities for people through the vehicles of your life, work or simply the way you live your life, the people that know you will have a road map to believe and follow until they are able to set out on their own road.

Everyone’s life has an impact on the world whether small, big, negative, positive, short-term or long-term. Through your actions, you have the power to determine how long your momentum will carry forward into the future, opening new possibilities for others that you never even experienced yourself. A lot of people see life like it’s just a drive-thru. They choose from a preselected list of options, pay with their time and money, and expect to have it their way at the same time. If the current menu doesn’t satisfy you, then you have to be committed enough to create something else. Life is not a multiple choice test—instead of using the process of elimination, try using the process of creation to create exactly what you want in your life.

Activity: Write down a one-sentence answer to:“What will be possible in the world because of my life?”

Example: People will be able to let who they are define what they do professionally, instead of letting what they do professionally define who they are.

DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard

DAY TWO: Passion = Your Keys

DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel

DAY FOUR: People = Your Motor

DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane

DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Destination

DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.

(Image: Thinkstock)

We challenge you, in this eight-day series, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want to go. Based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,™ this series will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.

DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Direction

On the journey of life, we all drive under the influence, however, in this case I don’t mean alcohol. Our pioneers have influenced us all. Pioneers are the cars ahead of you that have set the tempo and paved the way for you thus far, but will either one day off-ramp or be overtaken by you as you progress on your journey. Pioneers are people who are the first to travel into uncharted territory. We all have the potential to be pioneers if we remain independent thinkers. Independent thoughts are the seeds of creation.

When you are charting new territory, there is no map. Pioneers may discover new terrain within a preexisting lane or they may create an entirely new lane of thought altogether based on their picture of the world. While most people just see a map on a table, pioneers consider the entire room, the map, and the table. And in that room is plenty of room for error since pioneers try things that have never been done before. Pioneers go where no one else has gone and have visions to go even further.

A pioneer can be anyone whose principles cause you to think beyond where you originally planned to go with your life and ideas.The hope of any true pioneer is for another person to go even further than they went. To stop where they leave off is like standing still with the baton of progress. Standing with the baton is worse than attempting to run and dropping it. At least dropping it means that you tried to go forward and simply made a mistake. Mistakes and experimentation are commonplace on the journey of a pioneer because there are no definitive right answers amidst uncertainty and information that is far from perfect. Initially most pioneers are rejected. Nonetheless, pioneers uphold their principles even when the rest of the world erroneously rejects them because of their beliefs. This is the same belief we must feed off of as we transition from followers to leaders to pioneers.

Activity: List the names of 3 of your personal pioneers and 3 professional pioneers.

Example: My personal pioneers are Chip Anderson, Tim Ngubeni and Will Ash. My professional pioneers are Michael Beckwith, Tony Robbins and Marcus Buckingham.

DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard

DAY TWO: Passion = Your Keys

DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel

DAY FOUR: People = Your Motor

DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane

DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.

We challenge you, in this eight-day series, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want to go. Based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,™ this series will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.

DAY FOUR: People = Your Motor

People are the driving force behind our lives and work in the same way that a motor moves a vehicle. Seeing and being part of the positive movement in other people’s lives is what motivates us. The vehicles of our lives should help people get to where they want to go faster, safer, and easier. Together, we make up a mass transportation system that moves the world forward. Traffic in one area of humanity affects all humanity, but it can be mitigated if we coordinate and carpool through life and help each other. Unfortunately, most people drive through life alone. Most cars are four-seaters, yet they only transport one person a majority of the time. Imagine if everyone just committed their entire life to helping four people succeed.

Similar to a taxi cab, people step into our lives, tell us where they are trying to go, and we do our best to help them get there as safely and quickly as possible. We use our GPS—our purpose—to help them navigate areas of life that they are unfamiliar with. One of the greatest gifts you can give someone is the opportunity to help. When people are given the opportunity to serve, they feel valuable. Therefore, one of the greatest gifts someone can give you is the opportunity to serve them with your greatest gifts.

Your economic engine depends on knowing who you serve and how. The way it is designed, it will only work if you are working for people. Each of us should have stories to tell of people’s lives we’ve change in the same way that we can tell stories of people who have changed our lives. Ask yourself: “Who do I want to create value for?” “Who is in my carpool?” “How many seats do I have?” “Where can I take people?” Identifying who values your gifts and allows you to use them freely will result in an infinite amount of motivation so that your economic and physical engines never burn out.

Activity: In one sentence, answer the question, “Given my experiences and expertise, where can I take people in life?”

Example: I can help talented people move from being underemployed, unfulfilled and hating their jobs to find work they find meaningful, engaging and are passionate about.

DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard

DAY TWO: Passion = Your Keys

DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel

DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane

DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Direction

DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.

We challenge you, in this eight-day series, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want to go. Based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,™ this series will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.

DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel

Problems are the fuel that powers your journey. They are the substance that your creative mind consumes to stay alive. Since the beginning of life, problems have always existed in the world. Imagine the problems the minds of the first living beings had to address. How do we stay warm in winter? How do we store food? How do we avoid disease? Problems are fuel when we use them as motivation, but they are roadblocks when we allow them to stop us.

Sometimes when things happen in our lives, we ask, “Why did this happen to me?” This question comes from the victim mentality—as if we’re the only one in the world to whom tough things happen. An alternative question to ask is, “Why did this happen for me?” This way of asking the question assumes that everything that happens to us happens for us and creates a unique experience of life that positions us to serve and solve problems for others. The purpose of your journey thus far may be to help those behind you avoid taking the route you chose or experienced. The events in our lives that we think we need to hide because they hurt can be sources of fuel on our journey if we learn how to turn negative e-motion (emotional energy) into positive motion.

Fuel is simply stored energy ready to set something in motion as it is transformed and burned off. In other words, social and business problems have stored potential in them for new ideas, innovations and businesses energy. But in order to find the right solutions to the problems you see in the world you have to ask the right questions first.  The problems that businesses solve are called consumer pain points or gain points. Apple solved the consumer need to access and manage their digital music by creating the iPod and iTunes. A business that isn’t solving a problem won’t be in business for long.

In the same way that a company was created to solve its customers’ needs, you have been created to solve an outstanding need in someone’s life directly or through an organization. And the size of the problem you commit to trying to solve will determine your contribution and impact on the world.

Activity: Write one question that you think you would be excited to wake up every day and try to solve.

Example: How do I help people align someone’s purpose and passions with a profession so that they can make their highest contribution daily?

DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard

DAY TWO: Passion = Your Keys

DAY FOUR: People = Your Motor

DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane

DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Direction

DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.

We challenge you, in this eight-day series, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want to go. Based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,™ this series will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.

DAY TWO: Passions = Your Keys

Your passions are the keys that get your vehicle started. On the journey of life, passions are the activities that ignite you and get you fired up when you do them, hear about them, see them or talk about them. Only you hold the key to your passions. The ultimate goal is to find the right set of keys that set your vehicle into motion.

Like your keys, the best way to recover your passions is to retrace your steps by asking, “Where was I when I last had them?” This process usually requires going back to your childhood. Much like the way you recover your keys, you can recover your passion for life with a few simple steps.

Passions begin as interests and one interest can lead to another, which leads to another until you finally find an interest that you’re committed to making a passion.

Your passions unlock vital doors and you should use them every day. By making the same commitment to your passions as you do to your car, they will take you places that cars can’t go. If your passion is photography, then shoot at least one photo every day. If your passion is interacting with customers, then shift as much of your work schedule as possible to doing that. The only way to make a passion into a valuable skill is to use it so often that people around you begin to recognize you and rely on you for it. People who are the best at something in their company or community typically create and capture the most value in terms of money and long-term opportunities. Aligning your passion and profession is the ultimate form of job security because it makes you hard to replace.

Activity: List five to 10 classes, conferences, or organizations that will help you crystallize your passion into a skill and/or allow you to network with other people who share your passion.

Example: As a pubic speaker and motivator, I participate and invest in organizations and resources including ToastMasters International , Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within, The 5 O’Clock Club, The Manhattan Comedy Club’s introductory class and the Net Impact Conference.

DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard

DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel

DAY FOUR: People = Your Motor

DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane

DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Direction

DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.