If you picture life as a multi-lane highway with detours, construction, and off ramps this might be the best place to begin when describing Myra Minuskin. With a fervent love for family, a deep faith and belief in tradition, and a kind inspiring spirit, this woman is the literal definition of what being well-rounded means!

Growing up a “city girl” in Rogers Park holds many great memories for her as one of five siblings which included 2 older brothers. Recounting those early years, she credits her baseball playing brother with helping her uncover a passion. “He was tired of having sisters, so he pulled me out into the alley to play catch and the rest is history. I loved baseball. I watched every game I could and by the time I was 10, I could name all the players on all the major league teams.” This love of the game would serve her well as she grew up. Preferring the outdoors, green spaces, and a more open feel led her to her current destination in the southwest suburbs, with a corn field as part of her view.

The question of what she wanted to be when she grew up held multiple answers based on her age at the time. “When I was really young I wanted to be a bagger at a grocery store, then a crossing guard because they could command the traffic”, she chuckled. “By the time I was in High School though, becoming an architect was the path I decided to take. I loved the design aspect of it – the creative.” This led her to her major at the University of Illinois-Champaign. Needing a variety of coursework for her bachelor’s degree, she ended up taking a constitutional law class. Coming from a background of lawyers in her family, Myra knew without a doubt that she did not want to become a lawyer, but she did enjoy the class as well as the poly-sci class taught by her favorite professor. That professor was also a campaign manager for a candidate at the time and this completely inspired her to change her major in her sophomore year to poly-sci. Once achieving that degree, it was on to her master’s degree in Public Administration. Maintaining that “well-rounded” aspect and following her passion for ball, she began to coach a club softball team as a volunteer. While winding up her master’s, she had a job lined up to work on a gubernatorial campaign. For anyone going into politics, this was a perfect jumping in point. About this time, another “off ramp” came into view for a part-time job coaching women’s softball at Harper College and she took it! “My passion for the sport and for coaching young women was much stronger than my passion for politics”, stated Minuskin, “Even though it was only part time, I did whatever I had to do so I could continue to coach.”

Another opportunity to coach came at National Lewis University, and while there a very sad vehicle accident happened with another team in their conference and one of the players died. “When I found out about that it made me wonder if I was really impacting lives; something I wanted to do, so I decided to pursue my PhD in medicine. I took advantage of the tuition opportunity being a staff member and took the MCAT to enroll in medical school. Ironically, this was the first year that in addition to the multiple-choice questions there was an added essay question and it happened to relate to politics. I could hear the collective sigh of all the other science-based students (which I was not) and breezed through that essay,” she laughed. As another “off-ramp” appeared into medicine, and while still coaching she received a 2-page letter from one of the team members telling her how she, as the coach, had inspired and impacted this young woman. It was at that moment the realization of what she was doing as a coach really was making a difference and she really was helping these “amazing women” as she calls them. Off-ramp detoured her right back into the lane of coaching and inspiring, where she remained for 30 years.

As much as she loved coaching, she felt unchallenged. In 2016, suddenly another off ramp appeared with an opportunity to enter the financial planning world. She had always loved numbers, so this seemed perfect. She attained the certification for a financial planner and thought that was her path for this season. Que one more off-ramp – in her famous Hair Salon Story, Myra recalls, “I had just gone in for my regular hair cut when the salon owner mentioned to me that she had recently washed the hair of a woman who had a University of Chicago softball shirt. When the salon owner mentioned that she had another client that had coached women’s softball, the woman asked what her name was and she told her it was me. The woman in the shampoo bowl was the head coach for the UC Women’s Softball team and said tell her I’d like to hire her as the Assistant Coach!” Well, my friends, as they say, that’s all she wrote. In 2019 Myra joined the UC Team. For a period of time, she juggled both careers. This however became more than she bargained for and retired from the financial world in 2020 to follow her true passion, which was coaching amazing women! When asked what the best and worst parts of her career were she responded, “Making a difference in someone’s life. Helping these brilliant women realize their potential, see things in perspective, overcome adversity when things don’t go as planned and ultimately to build their self-confidence.” On the flipside, “I am the recruiting agent, so having to convince these amazing women to come to UC and then to ultimately have to break some of their hearts when we have to say no, softball isn’t for you, is the absolute worst.”

When asked where her fire and inspiration come from, Myra responded quickly with, “My faith and belief in a higher power and I’ve always been open to what the universe may hold for me.” In being curious about what strong successful women do daily, Myra’s routine is simple but effective. “Peg and I get up about 3 hours before we must leave. We sit and have coffee, chat about the pending day, maybe read for about an hour then on to exercise whether inside or outside, then breakfast. Then it’s time to take on the rest of the day.” When I inquired about what people don’t know about her other than she wanted to be a doctor for a period of time, she replied, “I was raised on Motown, and I had a huge crush on Michael Jackson.”

Myra has been a member of PWN since 2017. She has served as Membership Co-Chair and is our immediate Past President. When talking about advice and words of wisdom for women entrepreneurs and PWN members she passionately stated, “Be prepared to invest the time and make the sacrifices it takes to be in business. (Oh, and I did own a business for a while) just another detour in the road. Always take pride in what you do as well. Give yourself the credit you deserve. To PWN members, you are an amazing group of women! Become involved in this organization. The present and the future are bright. The organization has and is continuing to evolve – be an active part of it!”