“We are all born with gifts and talents.” – Ginny
Ginny Scales Medeiros grew up in a trailer surrounded by 1,000 acres of trees in rural upstate New York. Born to teenage parents who dropped out of high school, her Dad was strict and controlling; her mom sweet and loving. From an early age she knew her young parents were in over their heads. Living in poverty and a victim of molestation, Ginny moved out at 15, and bounced around for nine months, attending nine different schools.
With no family stability in her future, a high school counselor suggested her best chance for self-preservation was to get a job and start taking care of herself. She left school after 9th grade and worked at a Head Start preschool while taking classes at night to earn her GED. Ginny loved working with children and says she had “a radar for stuff that was going on.” Tapping her intuition and using her own experience as an example, she felt she could make a difference in their lives by illustrating that “our past can be our greatest gift.”
At 17, she took a three-day bus ride to California to track down her mother. Living in an apartment in Livermore that hadn’t been permitted for tenants, her mom ran electrical out the hall and would go to car dealerships to test drive cars she’d take to pick up groceries.
Compelled to follow her instincts, Ginny didn’t follow her mom’s lead and got a job selling cars, instead. On her first day on the job, she sold a car. At 19 she sold a car every day for an entire month and was named Salesperson of the Year six years in a row. At 23, she bought her first house. Four years later she bought a second home and co-signed for her mother’s home loan.
Standing on the car lot one day, Ginny realized she was ready for her something else. As a child she loved watching Bewitched on TV. While her friends wanted magic powers, Ginny wanted to be Darrin Stephens, who created marketing plans for new products. This entrepreneurial spirit would lead Ginny to receive two patents for a sunless tanning product in the 1990s. She’d go on to write a book inspired by her life, changing the names and places “to protect the guilty” called What Is Normal? now adapted into a screenplay called WIN. Using her life story as an example, she wants people to understand that “we are all born with gifts and talents” we can use to inspire others.
Ginny can’t seem to escape the automotive world, nor does she want to. Not content to stay home after her children were grown, she’s held marketing and finance roles at several car dealerships including North Bay Nissan. She’s driven an electric vehicle she purchased locally since 2007 and has been gas-free ever since, contributing to the book and 2010 documentary film What is the Electric Car? that includes celebrities Jay Leno and Ed Begley Jr. She also has a Nissan Leaf for extended trips. With actors already signed on to star in WIN, she is focused on securing funding for the movie. A Sonoma County resident for nearly 25 years, she feels deeply connected to animals and donates a portion of her book proceeds to Sonoma County’s no-kill animal shelter. With determination and perseverance deeply ingrained, Ginny continues to use her talents to inspire others.
