Dr.
Wanita
Mercer
Meet
an atypical executive coach renders atypical results.
writer.
educator.
researcher.
civic leader.
fashion designer.
ordained minister.
interesting facts.
As if the list above wasn't interesting enough, here are three facts about me.
China
I lived in China for a year and a half until I came home to visit my family and got "stuck" here due to the pandemic. I never went back.
Vegan-ish
I was vegan for over three years until the pandemic started, but I continue to cook plant-based foods and create recipes even now.
Dancing
I love to dance! Wherever the music moves me, I'm dancing. Grocery store? Restaurant? Watch me have a party of one.
my bio.
Dr. Wanita Mercer is an esteemed international educator with over 16 years of experience in secondary, higher education, private, and public sectors. Having served as an instructor, counselor, and professor to multigenerational and multicultural students, she brings a well-rounded and seasoned panache to her classroom.
Wanita has been recognized for her excellent work ethic, her knack for leadership, and her compassion for others since the inception of her academic career as a three-time alumna of the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. In 2006, she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in fashion management. During San Antonio’s Fiesta Cutting Edge Fashion Show, Wanita was awarded 3rd place for Best Construction and 3rd place for Best Collection. At age 22, she produced a prominent and stellar Prom Fashion Show sponsored by the American retailer JCPenney and the New York-based magazine Seventeen.
Wanita earned a master’s degree in administration with distinction in 2012 and immediately began doctoral classes thereafter. One of the youngest students in the Ph.D. in Education program (Organizational Leadership concentration), she graduated with a 3.94 GPA and her dissertation was entitled A Case for Spiritual Change Readiness: A Correlational Study, which her dissertation chair regarded as one of the most well-written and statistically-sound studies he had advised. Wanita now provides leadership development courses and organizational consulting services based on her empirical research, professional experiences, and biblical teachings on leadership.
A nod to her diligence and determination, Wanita excelled in her doctoral studies while working full time and serving the community. As a GEAR UP counselor and grant site facilitator, she contributed to her professional knowledge community by conducting numerous presentations at the NCCEP/GEAR UP National Conference from 2014 to 2018 and being a contributor to two college readiness guide books written by San Antonio ISD.
Wanita is also a civic leader having served on advising boards for UIW's Ettling Center for Civic Leadership and Sustainability, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas, and San Antonio's MLK Scholarship.
Wanita is also a founding board member and an ordained minister at Vertical Church (San Antonio). Since 2014, the organization has grown to over 400 members and, in December 2017, Pastor Will Bonds of Vertical Church presented Wanita with the esteemed Eagle Award for Transformational Leadership. She currently serves as the Pastor of Teaching and the Pastor of Online Ministry.
In pursuit of greater impact in education, Wanita completed a Master-level TEFL certification in 2018 to equip her to teach English globally to college students and professionals. She moved to China in September 2018 and within her first year of teaching, she taught English to more than 750 students -- ages 3 to 50, from kindergarteners to medical doctors -- in Shandong, China. In 2019, she began teaching at The Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing -- the prestigious and oldest graduate school by China's primary think tank. There, Wanita had the pleasure of meshing her love for research, graduate mentorship, and English education.
In October 2019, Wanita was invited to participate in "She Talks", a posh motivational platform for women in their thirties to share stories of triumph and perseverance. She was featured as one of only five speakers. In 2022, Wanita resigned from teaching in China for fours years to found a company and transition back to the United States.
In June 2022, Wanita founded Lead My Heart, an executive coaching and consulting company (under Dr. Wanita Mercer LLC). As a certified life coach, change management specialist, and management executive, and a leadership, change, and communication specialist, she knew her many gifts and talents were best suited in serving executive leaders. Wanita is living her purpose, and she is devoted to helping leaders live and lead with purpose and to be who God created them to be in the workplace: powerful professionals.
To hear her teach and speak is to know her passions and to be inspired to love God and love people in everything you do and with everything you have.
When Wanita is not coaching, teaching, or speaking, she is intentional in inspiring and motivating others in her writings. In 2021, she became an author with her first devotional book, The Man You Need to Marry, to encourage single women in their pursuit of a healthy and committed relationship, and it is currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble –- two of the largest e-commerce book companies in the world. She is currently working on two more books that she will publish by 2024.
Wanita is also recognized as an expert in her field and has been quoted in several articles that have been seen on Nasdaq, AOL, MSN, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, and GoBankingRates since 2022.
Of all her accolades, Wanita considers her role of leader - to love, educate, affirm, and deliver -- in the classroom, boardroom, conference hall, or pulpit -- her greatest passion.