Sharon Chess

​Co-Founder and President of FCCB

I’m not a musician, but I have been passionate about music since I was a young girl. My Mom was a concert pianist as a girl and a young woman, and my grandmother was an organist. The love for music came from them.

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As a baton twirler, I twirled to every march written. I listened to classical composers Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, and others show tunes written by Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Gershwin when all my friends were excited about the Beatles. Motown, the Monkees, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, and the Rolling Stones were my go-to groups as a kid, and I attended their concerts as a teenager and young adult. I was in love with Burt Bachrach and brokenhearted when he married Angie Dickinson. Henry Mancini, Peter Nero, and Liberace were favorites; I saw them all in concert. I never saw ballerina’s Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev, but their posters hung on my bedroom walls.

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My skills and experience for leading FCCB are organizing, networking, and connecting with people. These skills come from jobs, associations, connections, and involvement with other organizations and my community. Truthfully, I enjoy meeting and getting to know people. I’ve mastered the art of networking.

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My education is incomplete, meaning I have no degree but many certifications and training. I started college at 38 and attended Madonna University in Livonia, studying American Sign Language to become an interpreter. Due to family hardships, I could not do school, work, and care for my family, and I dropped my educational pursuits.

Years later, I attended Henry Ford Community College, Schoolcraft College, and the Institute of Children’s Literature for Writers and focused on writing. I have written stories since I was a young girl. In 2007, I wrote a children’s book about how exciting it is to become a Grandma. My book was published. I was elated at my success, and Writer’s Block kicked in. I haven’t written stories since.

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My favorite thing to do is visit with family and friends. My husband and I travel around the country and the Caribbean. We both enjoy spontaneous road trips and hosting parties and events. Spending time together in our home and our yard brings us great joy and solice.