An hour’s drive and determination helped Piedmont Technical College alumna Nicole Herbert find a better life

Nicole Herbert’s life hasn’t always been full of promise.

Living in Augusta, Georgia, she had taken some rough paths and came to the realization that change was necessary, and the only way positive change would come would be to get away from the bad influences in her life.

So, in 2016, Herbert headed an hour away to Greenwood, which she determined was far enough from the path she wanted to leave and yet close enough to the family she loves. A friend who lives in Greenwood had invited her to come stay with her.

“I knew that I wanted it better for my life, to take care of myself, and I knew that education was the way to bettering your life,” she said.

Herbert enrolled at Piedmont Technical College (PTC) in 2018, taking courses in administrative office technology with a concentration in accounting while working as a waitress.

“I just jumped in headfirst and hoped for the best,” she said. “It was the teachers and advisors at Piedmont that kept me going.”

Menka Brown, dean of Business, Information Technology and Public Service at PTC, was a big influence who kept Herbert focused.

“Menka was the one who encouraged me to stay on track, believed in me,” Herbert said.

Brown saw something bright in Herbert, something that said she was destined for a far better path than she had been on in Augusta.

“Though initially uncertain, her dedication quickly shone through,” Brown said. “As she progressed in her Administrative Office Technology degree, Nicole's confidence blossomed, and she quickly rose to the top of her class.

“Nicole was not just proficient; she possessed a remarkable thirst for knowledge, always seeking to understand both the ‘how’ and the ‘why,’” Brown said. “She was also proactive, never hesitating to ask for help when needed.”

Herbert was more than a standout student, Brown said, describing her as a role model for her peers.

“While balancing a part-time job, she was deeply involved in campus life,” Brown said. “She not only joined Piedmont Tech’s newly formed National Technical Honor Society, but she also became its first president and spearheaded successful fundraising and outreach events. Her membership in Phi Theta Kappa further recognized her commitment to excellence. Herbert graduated from Piedmont Tech with honors, which was a further testament to her unwavering dedication and exceptional abilities.”

Herbert said PTC “opened a lot of opportunities.” But the experience was initially scary.

“I felt like a kid, just starting school, having to learn how to study again,” Herbert said. “I learned how to use resources … work smarter, not harder.” 

She also teamed up with other adult students who were in the same classes. They studied together and helped support each other.

Herbert has used her PTC experience in her role as director of marketing and student engagement at Greenwood Promise, mentoring other students who, much like herself, might not have envisioned being able to finish high school and pursue a good career by attending a two- or even four-year institution.

Greenwood Promise provides scholarship money to ensure that Greenwood County students receive financial support in continuing their education beyond high school. It also gives students and their parents and guardians the tools to navigate continuing education, from assisting them in filing FAFSA forms to applying for additional grants to helping guide them along the education paths they seek.

Herbert is as passionate - perhaps even more passionate - about her work at Greenwood Promise as she was about getting her degree at PTC. Landing there was somewhat accidental.

Or was it providential?

Katie Davenport, who was Greenwood Promise’s executive director, needed an intern to help her as Greenwood Promise left an umbrella organization under what was then the Greenwood Partnership Alliance and established itself as an independent nonprofit.
Davenport taught in Greenwood District 50 for several years before she took the helm of Greenwood Promise. One of her students was the son of PTC’s Menka Brown. Brown contacted Davenport to tell her she had someone in mind for the internship role. An interview was scheduled.

“She walked in, and it was just instant,” Davenport said of Herbert. “It was like some kind of weird, divine connection. I felt immediately that she was the person to help with the transition. She personified everything I had in my head – funny, hard-working … we just connected immediately.”

Herbert accepted the internship and helped with Greenwood Promise’s transition. That was in January 2020. March arrived and, with it, COVID. The internship came to a halt. But it was only a temporary pause.

When Davenport’s board determined she needed a campaign director, Davenport immediately thought of Herbert and offered what then was a part-time role in February 2021.

“She became my partner in this whole thing,” Davenport said. “It was not about me being executive director, her being campaign coordinator. She understood the struggles that went with the organization. Her heart was golden.”

Davenport has since left Greenwood Promise, taking a different career path, but Herbert  has remained and has served in a full-time role, now as director of marketing and student engagement, since 2022.

“I was upset about leaving but I left knowing that until they found somebody that Herbert was going to make sure that ship kept going. And she sure did,” Davenport said. 

In fact, Herbert has been a rudder on that ship. Carrie Hofmann now serves as the organization’s executive director. There were two others in that role between when Davenport left and Hofmann was hired.

Ron Millender, who might be considered the father of Greenwood Promise and who still serves as its board chairman, has high praise for Herbert, describing her as “fearless.”

“We quickly learned that her background was the perfect experience for her interaction with students – she knew what it was like to be undecided and unsure of an educational future, and she connected so well with these students. She really cared,” Millender said. “It wasn’t just asking questions and doing her job – it was so much more.

“She genuinely cares and sees that education can be and is a difference maker for students in their lives … she is grateful for the education and experience she had at PTC, other opportunities she had along the way, and the opportunity she now has to help (students) reach their po
tential.”

Herbert knows first-hand that it is possible to escape bad influences and make a better life. PTC’s influence in her life is a testament to that and it is why, to a large degree, she remains in her role at Greenwood Promise. There she can pay it forward by helping students redirect their lives. Many of those students wind up at PTC, too.

“I am extremely grateful for Piedmont Tech for believing in me, getting me to this point,” she said. “I tell people you are so lucky to have a school like Piedmont Tech here.”

The school, she said, not only makes sure students graduate, it also helps students land good jobs. More than 90% already have a job lined up when they graduate, she said.

Herbert, now 40, might not have seen a promising future for herself when she was younger. But that all changed with an hour’s drive and a determination to improve her life, a determination that led her to PTC.

It’s that same determination that also led her to Greenwood Promise and the opportunity she has there to help equip people to get on a more promising path and a more promising future while they are still young.

Visit https://www.ptc.edu/academics/areas-of-study/administrative-office-technology to learn more about PTC’s Administrative Office Technology program.

MORE ABOUT NICOLE HERBERT
•    Served as president of the National Technical Honor Society at PTC
•    Selected for the Administrative Office Technology Outstanding Student Award (fall 2019)
•    Recipient of the Greenwood County Distinguished Student Award (2020)
•    Member of the InterClub Council at PTC
•    Member of the Administrative Office Technology Advisory Committee at PTC
•    Recently earned a certificate in Facilitating Career Development
•    Board member of the Greenwood Kiwanis Club