Gale & Shauntell Nelson
“The first time I met Shauntell, she did not give me the time of day and that was a problem for me,” exclaims Gale Nelson, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami.
The couple met at a singles Christian seminar where Gale says he had to beat back a swarm of ladies.
Shauntell, who is now an affordable luxury lifestyle ambassador, was definitely not one of them.
“I was the staff photographer.” she emphasized with a laugh. “My job was to take photos.”
He remembers her dimpled smile and her hair, which she wore in a short bob. Intrigued, he approached her and they exchanged contact information.
They wrote each other letters, but as Gale’s interest grew he realized he needed to know more. He decided it was time to reach out to his contacts at the FBI, (otherwise known as Fellow Brothers Incorporated)
Their response was swift and after launching an aggressive, top-down, multi-brother investigation, they concluded that Shauntell passed muster. But once he discovered that she also knew her way around the kitchen, her case escalated to a CODE RED. It was all hands on deck and he was ready for phase two.
“It was game over,” declared Gale. “Bob. Smile. Dimples. Fried Snapper. Long term. Done.”
He was a man with a plan and he made sure she knew it. He even sealed their fates by scribbling his intentions on a napkin during a Denny’s dinner date.
For her part, she knew exactly what she wanted in a man. “My list was tight,” Shauntell recalls. “I wanted him to love the Lord. Someone that was kind and I also wanted a family man.”
She then made sure to cover all of her bases in her prayers. “Lord, you know what I want but send me what I need,” she would ask. When Gale arrived, he became the fulfilment of those dreams.
This year, they will be married for 31 years, They have been blessed with four children. and adore their family life while accomplishing demanding careers.
But If you ask Gale about work-family balance, he roundly rejects the notion. He asserts that everything should be integrated and in harmony.
“If I am going on a business trip, if I am going on a speaking trip, I tell people straight up: My wife is coming with me.”
