Entrepreneur Spotlight ~ Nadine Abraham Thompson

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nadine Thompson

Photo credit Soul Purpose and Nadine Thompson

 

I’m back with my entrepreneur spotlight, and this week I would like you all to meet the woman behind Soul Purpose Lifestyle Company, Nadine Abraham Thompson.  She is a visionary, who created a line of natural, botanically based beauty and wellness products and a community of direct sellers who would be able to represent the brand she has created and share in her vision.   Nadine, who is the founder and CEO started Soul Purpose in 2008 with a mission for creating business opportunities primarily for women of color.   After years of being discriminated against because of race, gender and weight, Nadine decided it was time to redefine her life and  become an advocate for women of color to help us become entrepreneurs, become successful and control our source of wealth.  

Nadine’s socially responsible attitude is one that we all appreciate about Soul Purpose.  It’s her goal to run a green organization, all of the products are organic and contain no harmful additives such as sulfates, parabens, or petroleum.  Nadine is well known in the direct selling business community, receiving many awards including but not limited to The Power 50 in Network Marketing/Direct Selling.

I love Nadine’s story because she has the drive to keep her vision and see that the products she created will continue to serve women for years to come.  For those of us that want to be successful in this business, she has a comprehensive program that details how we will become successful.  One of my problems I used to have was feeling inadequate because my career didn’t go where I thought it should have.  I am in control of my career now, and being associated with a brand as Soul Purpose has done just that….help me determine my purpose.  I have a lot of work to do on building my brand, but I have set the foundation.  This blog and Soul Purpose Lifestyle Company are my goals.  I thank God daily for finding my niche, it’s been a process and as I progress, I will not give up.

 I hope my stories on entrepreneurs over 40 inspires you to reach for the stars in whatever you do, whether it’s starting a business, organization or project.  Have a wonderful weekend.

 

 

Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Inspirational, Lifestyle, Work & Career

Are You Worth The Price?

May 17, 2012 By 6 Comments

I participated in the Northwestern Habilitation Employee Health Fair yesterday in the St Louis area.  It’s a facility for mentally disabled adults, and a couple of the nurses there organized the health fair for all the employees.  It was well organized and put together.  There were fourteen vendors including myself.  There was PNC Bank, AFLAC, Sam’s Club, Medical West, a representative from the company with EAP, Usborne Books & More, Mary Kay, Avon, Organo Gold, Scentsy, a massage therapist, a woman who does exercises with weighted hula hoops and my Soul Purpose booth.  We were all networking and talking with the employees, I was feeling very comfortable if I may say so myself.  I was talking about the Soul Purpose products, getting people registered for my giveaway and really networking with the other vendors.  

Disclaimer….I am not a hater, really.  I will tell any woman, do your “thang” to make a living for yourself.   I’m sure trying, see my display?  

Here comes the lady selling the knockoff designer purses, sunglasses and jewelry!  Have you seen a swarm of ants when they discover a new crumb of bread or something on the sidewalk?  They scurry over to get to it and work that crumb like it was gold!  I have never seen something like that until yesterday.  They dropped us all like yesterday’s news and went over to the lady selling the purses!  She could barely get her tables set up before they were swarming her table grabbing those purses, trying on glasses and jewelry.  She couldn’t keep up with them!  One woman spent $150 on four purses.  I was astonished (I really was) looking at the women hunt for the purse of their liking.  Needless to say, she had a very successful day.  The ladies were all walking around with their new purchases, proud of them, talking about what they were gonna wear with them, etc.   This is my question….

How long will knockoff purses last?  They aren’t as durable as the “real” thing, so why keep buying them?  I will admit I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to this.  I shop at the discount stores, I love a bargain.   I’ll shop just about anywhere if they have something I like.  I learned long time ago when my girls were small that you can’t buy all their summer clothes from Walmart or Kmart because the quality wasn’t that good.  One good wash & dry and they shrunk, or the original shape was gone.  I shop there and buy things from both stores occasionally,  but I don’t put clothing I buy from either store or stores like these in the dryer and I wash in cold water only.  Also, check out my girl Donna on her new blog, discount thief , she tells us where the discounts are so we can save money.  Ok back to the purses….I own several designer bags, but every last one I’ve purchased has been at a discount.  The Coach outlet in Las Vegas, Dooney & Burke online with their 50% off sale every month, and my new favorite is the Army Exchange because the Mr is retired military.  In this picture of me, I got my Michael Kors for $100 less than retail!  The point I’m trying to make is if you are going to spend your money on a designer purse, then by all means do it, but get the real thing.  You are worth it, don’t cheat yourself, please ladies.

I know some are gonna say, we can’t afford the real thing.  Then don’t buy it, that simple.  Get yourself a good quality purse that you can afford until you are able to buy a real designer bag.  That’s how I did it, and most of them I’ve had for years.  I don’t own that many because it’s not a priority.   Most of mine are vintage ones  from my mother, those are all over 25 years old.  She was a true diva.  Let me know what you think on this subject, maybe I’m way off.  

 

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Our Style Tagged With: , , ,

Monday Went By Too Fast!

May 15, 2012 By 2 Comments

Hey everyone, what in the world happened to Monday?  I really need a schedule, I had too much to do yesterday.  Hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day, I know I did.  We went to church, brunch, home and I worked later in the afternoon.  I received beautiful pink roses from the Mr, handmade jewelry from the girls and two of my cards were Hallmark!  They bought ice cream and we had a good time!  

 

We sat next to a lady in church Sunday who was in our prayer circle and she explained that she just lost her job, she was 18 months drug free and she just reunited with her children.  She said she was struggling and as she cried I thought about how blessed we all are.  Yes, that woman at church didn’t realize it, but she was blessed too.  We all gave her a hug and gave her words of encouragement to carry with her.  I told her to have a great Mother’s Day and she said she would because she had her children back in her life.  I truly hope she had a great day, one with love and hearts of forgiveness.  

I did my first show for Soul Purpose with my upline manager Debbi Patrick.  It was an expo for National Council of Negro Women and they came to see what the different vendors had to offer.  It was an wonderful experience, I learned a lot and did some networking.   I passed out free samples, even though my I put the wrong email info on my business cards!  I can’t believe I did that, but I will order more.  Thank goodness Visatprint is reasonable!  We have a show scheduled for next month!  Being an entrepreneur is a challenge, one I accept.  I am open and willing to learn, and I have learned so much in the past six months.    I am proud to tell people I am self employed, it’s something I always wanted, but never worked hard at it until now.  There is no going back for me, I like working for myself too much now.   Don’t forget that there is plenty out there for women who desire to work from home, just gotta do some research.   The Work At Home Woman, is a wonderful resource for women who desire to work from home.  Have a great week everyone!


Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Family, Inspirational Tagged With: , , ,

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 11, 2012 By 2 Comments

Mother’s Day is a time when my girls celebrate me being their mom, but it’s also a time that I reflect on missing my own mother.  At first I wasn’t going to post anything today because I had spent the day reflecting about sadness, missing both my momma and mother-in-law.    I decided to celebrate all mothers, no sadness, just celebrate life, being blessed and having a wonderful family who loves me and need me!  I did a little shopping today, nothing major, a trip to Sam’s Club which I came out of there with only spending $100!    I had a wonderful afternoon, got my shopping done so I don’t have to go out this weekend.   I even styled my hair differently today!  It’s still a TWA (teenie weenie afro), but it’s really growing!  Check it out!

Let’s celebrate that we have a life that allows us to do what we love, for me that’s working from home, blogging and becoming a Independent Lifestyle Consultant for Soul Purpose, a personal care and wellness company.  I will have a link to my website with more information hopefully next week.  For now if you wanna check me out, go to my website at Soul Purpose and look at the catalog.  I love the product and I hope you all will want to experience what using Soul Purpose products are about.  I thank the Mr for holding it down and supporting me 100% on anything I do, it’s really amazing.  I thank my girls for letting me having my quiet time when I’m taking calls, writing or brainstorming on what I want to blog about and lately all the time I’ve spent getting my new business venture started.  I thank you, for reading my blog about my life and my goal of reaching women of a certain age, the middle aged sistahs!  This is gonna be a wonderful Mother’s Day, no sadness whatsoever!  My momma and mother-in-law wouldn’t have wanted it that way.   Enjoy this old school song about a mother’s love by Boyz 2 Men, it’s a beautiful song.  My dedication to all beautiful mothers.  Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!

 

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My Mother’s Day Gift List

May 9, 2012 By 1 Comment

 

My beautiful family…I love this picture

 

Yes, I have a gift list, don’t we all?  Not all of it is something that needs to be purchased from a department store, ordered on line or made at school.  Those things are wonderful, but I have a different mix of requests for this year.  Of course it really doesn’t matter what they give me, I’m grateful and will appreciate anything.  I have one request…I must have a Hallmark Mother’s Day Card, prefer one from their Mahagony collection.  I admit it, I’m a greeting card snob.  I only like Hallmark cards.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m from Kansas City and that’s where the corporate headquarters is located, or I used to date a guy years ago that worked at Hallmark, and he would give the best cards for my birthday.   I love to give beautiful cards to my friends and family, and I only hope and wish when it’s my turn, I get a beautiful Hallmark card, which is not always the case.  Ok, here’s my list.

1.  Money in a Hallmark card.

2. Gift card for a day at the spa, using Soul Purpose products (shameless plug!)

3. Gift card to take a scrapbooking or greeting card class.  Too funny, huh?

4. I would love to start a charm bracelet, Pandora would be nice.

5. A weekend trip to Kansas City by myself to visit my friends.

6. An unlimited spending trip to Nordstrom Rack, DSW and  IGIGI Yuliya Raquel.  IGIGI is a beautiful line of plus size clothing.

7. A full day to work on my blog and new business Soul Purpose, in the house alone.  No “mom can I?”, “do you know where my….is?”

8. Brunch on Sunday after church with my three favorite people.

9. To be pampered by my family totally for one day.

10. Visit my mother and mother-in-laws grave and decorate them with flowers.  My mom is in Kansas City, my mother-in-law is here in St Louis.

Being a mother has been one of my best journeys.  I love being a mom, the challenges, achievements that this wonderful life job brings.   I hope you all get your wish or desire for you special day this weekend.  I have the best gift, the love of my family…the other is just extra!  Have a great day!  What do you think of my new design?  Let me know what you think, it’s still a work in progress.  Muah!

Filed Under: Family, Relationships Tagged With: , ,

Driving While Cell Obsessed

May 7, 2012 By 5 Comments

Driving While Cell Obsessed…DWCO my newest acronym.  Geesh people, let’s put the phone down while we are driving!   My daddy used to say that we had to drive for ourself and everyone else.  That is so true today.  Have you ever counted the number of people that are driving while using their cell phones?  It’s getting worse, people texting and looking for phone numbers in their address books.  I’ve had to either slow down, or honk at someone that’s coming over in my lane because they are using their cell phones while driving and are completely distracted.  Sometimes I don’t want to honk because I don’t want to scare the driver and actually cause them to jerk the vehicle.  

I’m not the cell phone police, I use mine when I have to, but I wait until I’m at a red light or if I have to make a call or text someone, I actually pull over.  My 11 year old, now she’s the text police!  She will tell me every time she notices that someone is texting while they are driving.  

Here’s the deal….I don’t want to be a casualty in an auto accident because someone couldn’t pull over or wait until they stopped to use their phone.  It’s that simple.  They do it on the streets, freeways, while walking.  

We are obsessed with our cell phones, we can’t leave the house without them.  I know, I get it, that’s me too.  I just beg those of you that text while you drive, to stop.  Those few seconds that you think you can work the phone and drive could cost someone their life.  There, that’s my PSA for the week!  Much love, it’s the week before Mother’s Day!  

 


Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: , ,

Let The Music Play

May 4, 2012 By 12 Comments

I love music.   It soothes me and puts me in a great mood, no matter what’s going on in my life.    I’m listening to smooth jazz right now as I write this post.  It gets my creative juices working when I’m stuck, stressed or there is nothing on TV.  The other day I put a post on Facebook that I was running errands and listening to some Aretha Franklin.  She was sounding so good too.  I was leaving QuikTrip and a man was parked next to me and he yelled “sing it baby!”   Too funny!  There is always the sound of music in our home, we are always singing or playing it.   I love old school R&B, Jazz and Gospel.  I listen to just about everything, but those are my favorite.  We have a music box in our SUV that we can download our CD’s.  It holds like 2000 songs, we’ve downloaded quite a bit to it to listen to when we take road trips.  

When the Mr and I got together, we combined our collection of music.  Much to our surprise, I would say about a third of our music was the same.  He finally got his terabyte, so he’ll be able to take his music anywhere.  Now he wants another, because the one he has can only hold up to 2000 songs.   He didn’t take me with him when he bought it…gotta love him.   Our collection is a investment, you could probably ransack my house as long as you don’t touch our music collection, that’s how serious we are about our music!    

Back in the day, I used to record my favorite songs from the radio on a cassette.  Sometimes we bought the album or single (45), but it was just easier to hit the play and record button.   I had a collection of cassette tapes too, we used to buy them by the six pack.   Technology has brought us a long way, now iTunes gets plenty of my money, and they have music on the internet, Pandora, iHeart and several others.  I don’t buy CD’s like I used to.  When I’m working and don’t have the TV on, I’ll tune into one of those and it gets me through the my scheduled work time.

My girls both play musical instruments, and they enjoy it.  They don’t appreciate music like we do, but I’m glad they took an interest in music, how to read and play.  We have spent a pretty penny on instruments.  The only thing that tested my nerves was when my youngest played the violin, it drove me crazy.  She only played it for one year.  She’s playing the trumpet now and is very good.  She’s the only girl in her 6th grade band class.

Coffee, music and the internet….what a way to chill.  The best part about it now, I can take all of them with me.  Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 


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Sweet Iced Tea Time…

May 2, 2012 By 6 Comments

 

It’s that time of year again…I love SWEET iced tea with lemon!  I make a pretty good pitcher of it too.  My momma used to make it starting in May and all through the summer.  That’s one of her rituals that I continue to this day.  I didn’t make a lot of it last year, was really trying to do no sugar.  I made it and put honey, oranges, lemons and some watermelon in it.  It was good, but not my sweet iced tea.  I’m gonna try to make it with the different sweeteners this year, like Truvia or Splenda.  I’ve tried Splenda, it’s ok but I think I’m gonna try Truvia and see how that taste with my tea.  I’ll make a small pitcher for myself, and the sweetened with sugar for the family.  They will look at me like I lost my mind.  I pick my battles with them, we cut back on a lot of things, but no sugar in sweet tea~no negotiation on that one.  I’m doing the Truvia because I will drink several glasses a day, and the sugar loves my hips and thighs.  If it doesn’t taste like I want it, then I have to drink it in moderation.  That’s funny, drinking tea in moderation…

My girlfriends used to bring pitchers and sugar over my house and request I make sweet iced tea for them.  When they would stop by for a visit, it was nothing to go through two pitchers of tea.  I would always have two pitchers ready for my friends and family at any given time during the summer months.  

When I don’t have time to make my delectable sweet iced tea, I get it from McDonald’s.  They have the best to me, without a doubt.  Now here’s the funny part…I will not drink sweet tea without lemons!  I don’t like the taste of it!  I know, I’m weird, blame that on my momma.  She used ReaLemon Juice with her tea.  I’ll use that, but I prefer fresh squeezed lemons.  When I go to the drive thru at McDonald’s, I ask them if they have lemon wedges before I order my tea.  If they don’t have it, I don’t order.  QuikTrip has flavored iced tea, and they are ok, but none like mine or McDonald’s.  This is one of my favorite childhood memories, it reminds me how much I miss my momma.   Have a good one!

 


Photo courtesy Foodnetwork.com

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: ,

Encouragement and a Smile…

April 30, 2012 By 5 Comments

 

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Do you know why you are on this earth and what you should be doing?  I finally understand what my purpose is in this world.  As a Christian, I am suppose to share the gospel and encourage people to give their life to Christ.  I believe that and I do my part to share the gospel.  Women contribute a great deal of wealth, information, education and support to our society, families and careers, but we are not so good when it comes to nurturing our relationships with one another.  

The last week or so I have participated in online conversations about women and our relationships with one another and ways we can heal.  I know we can do it because of all the wonderful women I have met online since I started blogging almost 5 months ago.  I don’t have all the answers, but I know that it is my responsibility to be supportive, loving, and have something positive that will help at least one woman heal.  If that happens, then I’ve done my job and will receive favor in God’s eyes.  I have to remain humble while I share with you all, but I would love to see women heal to the point that our relationships with one another will not be an issue anymore.  If we could just work on current relationships that are damaged, or reconnect with someone from our past, we are doing our part.  

I’m not saying that we all have to be BFF’s, only a few people make that category if any.   Trust me, I know there are some relationships we can’t fix or heal.   In those situations, let’s do what I always say, forgive them and/or the situation and keep it moving.  I’m simply suggesting that we try being more courteous with one another, smile at each other and just say something that will make another person’s day.  You never know, you may just be that ray of hope a person needs to turn their life around.  We are nurturers, we love our families, give our husbands and children our all until there is nothing left to give to ourselves (I stopped doing that one).  I make time for myself now, and I’m a happier woman because of it.   When we are out in our social circles, let’s think about the woman that seems a little uncomfortable because no one is talking to her.  You don’t know what is going on in her life, but reaching out to her will let her know that you cared enough to approach her.  That one greeting may resonate with her for years to come.

I did a little shopping today and put my suggestions to test.  I saw one woman in the grocery store who was 62 years young, and she looked marvelous!  She had on some white cropped jeans, a bright pink blouse and some striped, cork heeled wedge shoes, with a bright pink purse!  Her hair was white, cut short and she had on some rocking glasses!  I told her how wonderful she looked, and she told me that I made her day and she refuses to be an old grandma!  She also told me she has 6 grown children and 10 grandchildren.  I wanted to take her picture so bad, but didn’t want to scare her away!  I did tell her I was going to write about her in my blog.   I also saw a woman who had on some nice jewelry, and I complimented her on it, and I’m going by her store this week!  See what happens when you take a moment to speak to someone?  Every woman I made eye contact with I spoke to, and all with a positive reaction. 

Maybe I’m encouraging you in some way, if so then take that encouragement and run with it.  I just want to see women have better relationships with one another.  What we see on TV has gotten out of control.  My purpose is to spread stories that uplift, encourage, make you laugh and think.  Some stories will be about me, my family, other people and situations.  That is my purpose, part of my journey.  I love music, and I think this video is perfect.  Have a good week, and smile at someone!  Take care!

 


 

 

Filed Under: Inspirational, Relationships Tagged With: , ,

Entrepreneur Spotlight ~ Sara Blakely

April 27, 2012 By 6 Comments

Part of uplifting women is to share our stories.  I’ve decided to start sharing stories of women who have made a difference for us, whether it’s a business woman, a corporation run by a woman, or someone not famous, but who has had an affect on women.  Who better to start off with than Sara Blakely.   I know you all have heard of her and read her story, very inspiring, great motivation and what a success!  I am one of her customers, I have a serious collection of Spanx products, from the heavy duty to the lighter version.  I am faithful Sara, I even subscribe to her video channel on YouTube.  I absolutely love Spanx!  

Footless Body-Shaping Pantyhose
 

Sara has the work ethic that is necessary to make her the success she is today, and I honor and feature you as the first woman who makes a difference on my blog.  You know I love the fact that is is over 40, although she made her billions before she turned 40.  Women over 40, don’t give up your dreams, whatever they are.  When she was searching for a patent attorney, she wanted a female, but couldn’t find one in the state of Georgia.   That didn’t stop her, she kept on working and pushing to get a patent on her product.  Then the boost from Oprah?   That’s exactly how we should support one another when we are trying to establish ourselves in the business community.  

I remember purchasing Spanx before she was featured on Oprah.  I purchased the Assets by Sara Blakely in Target, when my budget wasn’t quite at the Spanx level.  Of course I was too delighted when Lane Bryant finally started selling them.  It didn’t matter how much they cost, because they helped me look better in anything I wore.  I am a woman with hips, I’m 2 sizes bigger in in the hip area, so Spanx was a great product for me.  The Spanx makes my appearance very neat and they are comfortable.  Now it does take a minute to get them up sometimes, but once they are on it’s wonderful!  

Our hats are off to you Sara, thank you for being an inspiration to all women who work hard to get their business started, it’s not easy but worth it once you turn the corner and get that  entrepreneur spirit running.  

 


 

Picture credits Forbes.com and Spanx.com

 

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