The Road to a Diploma

Having traveled them so frequently, Kyndra Mitchell knew public transportation routes and cracks in sidewalks in the Detroit metro area by heart.

As a team member in State Farm^® Agent PD Dandnaik’s office, Kyndra’s daily routine for a year and a half included riding two city buses up to three hours and walking another mile and a half every day to get to work. She repeated the process to get home.

“It would have been easy to just say forget it, but I wanted to work and learn,” Kyndra says. “I learned how to work here.”

In addition to working part time in PD’s office as a receptionist, Kyndra attended college classes part time as she pursued her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She used public transportation and her own two feet to get there, too.

Development and investment in his team members are the backbone of PD’s office in Redford, Mich., and his second office in Detroit. He encouraged Kyndra to pursue higher education as part of her overall development in his office.

“As part of her commitment to me and my office, I thought about what I should be doing to develop and support her,” PD says.

Kyndra, who is now licensed in Property & Casualty Insurance and Bank-trained, earned her college degree in psychology in May 2016. And PD and the team were there to celebrate with her. Kyndra credits PD with encouraging her to earn her college degree despite several obstacles that stood in her way

“The last few years of my life have completely changed since I started working here,” Kyndra says. “I have become more efficient, assertive and confident in everything I do.”

Kyndra wants to pursue her career with State Farm at one of the main Hub offices with dreams of opening her own State Farm^® office someday.

And she’s not riding buses anymore to get to work as she saved enough money to buy her own car.

“PD invests so much time and energy in us, it makes you want to do well for him and the rest of the team,” Kyndra says.