CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) City of Clarksville First Lady Cindy Pitts and Montgomery County First Lady Mary Durrett both spoke Wednesday at the Women in Business luncheon hosted by the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce.
The two answered questions and shared details about themselves and their lives under the spotlight they share with their husbands, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts and County Mayor Jim Durrett, with the group of 120 women who were in attendance.
Both Pitts and Durrett talked about being Clarksville-Montgomery County natives and both recognized family members and close friends who joined them at the luncheon. They were asked to talk a little bit about themselves and their personal success in life.
Durrett talked about her success saying it took a lot of prayer and also being raised by her mother as a strong and independent woman. “I just don’t give up, I just keep going. We’ve all had failures in our life but you can’t let that define who you are. You just have to keep moving and keep going and it’s by God’s grace that I’m here today and so happy and honored to be in front of all of you all,” Durrett said.
Pitts said she thinks that as women we all want to succeed. “In my life I have tried so hard to hit that mark in myself. Until one day I hit a wall and I said Lord show me how I can be successful and the Lord said it starts with me. So what happened in my life is I let go of all my expectations and said okay Lord show me. And from that moment I let go totally of my expectations and picked up his, success started happening,” Pitts said.
When asked about an initiative that they have seen move forward in the community that they were most proud of, Durrett talked about the Downtown Commons and Pitts mentioned the community partnership between Mayor Pitts and Mayor Durrett.
“I believe that something Jim has done with the help of other community leaders is tour Downtown Commons. When he got elected that was going to be one of the first things he wanted to do and he did and I just saw how it really re-energized our downtown and how much people appreciated it. I see it as a catalyst that is going to grow our downtown,” Durrett said.
Pitts received applause when she commented on how the the two mayors are working closely together for the benefit of the city and the county.
“I think there is this excitement in the air. I feel like it’s almost like a heartbeat with people coming together. With Joe and Jim I’ve seen this brotherhood that has taken place. I’ve seen the excitement in the city,” Pitts said.
They answered other questions about their personal, professional, as well as their political lives they share with their husbands.
