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Vision and Journey

May 23, 2013 by Whitney 4 Comments

I’m a day behind on the mini blog challenge, but I still wanted to present my vision board I made on Picmonkey. I love using Picmonkey, it’s so easy to use. It’s brief, to the point and shows what my vision is, marriage, family, blogging, natural hair, social networking and drinking coffee. Let me know what you all think!

It took me a long time to realize what my vision and purpose was. I would work at everything and try this and that, but something was always missing. I never realized how much pressure I was putting on myself by trying to live up to my last job and salary. It was way to much pressure. My husband lovingly brought that to my attention because I was stressing about not doing my part financially. That was my vision when I was a single mother, and I can’t hold myself hostage to that any longer. I’ve finally let go of the “good job” and be in control of my destiny.

My vision and reality today is working from home, blogging, crafting and being there for my family. It has taken me a while to grasp that and accept it. I’m a woman who has not been open to change, I would resist. One more layer gone, I’m loving it!

What is your vision or purpose? Share please.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Family, Inspirational, Lifestyle Tagged With: blog challenge, journey, lifestyle, purpose, vision

An Evening With Curly Nikki

April 8, 2013 by Whitney 12 Comments

Nikki Walton aka Curly Nikki was a pleasure to meet on Saturday. The place was packed with natrualistas, relaxed and weaved hair sistas and everything in between. It was fun looking at the beautiful women, the complete look from head to toe. I took plenty of pictures, but because it was in a club like setting, the lighting was dim and I didn’t get the best, but I’m sharing what I have.

The event was presented by Shea Moisture with special guest Q-Redew, and sponsored by Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey and Chambord Flavored Vodka. They had alcoholic drinks to honor Nikki, Curly Nikki Cosmo, Curlfriend, Kinky Bee and Shea Moisture Honey Bee. We were given a complimentary drink ticket and I had the Curlfriend and it was quite tasty. I must admit it was delicious. They had young women walking around offering finger food and samples of the Curly Nikki signature drinks. They were beautiful, gracious and kind servers. The hostesses with the Shea Moisture t-shirts on were helpful, full of product information and extremely friendly. I truly appreciate great customer service, something that is hard to come by these days.

Nikki got up and said a few words of gratitude and expressed how it felt to be back in her hometown celebrating the success of her new book, “Better Than Good Hair”.

I participated in videotaping my hair story, being interviewed and sharing my experience was fun and I wasn’t nervous at all. Do I have a new career in the making? Who knows. They had consultations for anyone that wanted to participate, we even did the Wooble! That was a lot of fun and yep I participated. I had to show those young women I could Wobble, I was tired when we finished though!

Nikki worked the room, very gracious with her fans and followers, taking pictures and signing her book. There wasn’t a bad attitude in the room and I made a friend that evening. She came to the event alone like I did, we stood in line together. Once we got in we went our separate ways but saw each other and hung out for the rest of the evening. I love real time networking, it was fun and we all need it from time to time.

I was so glad I attended the book signing event, I almost didn’t go. I was running late, didn’t take my twists out and when I stepped out the house to tripped over my own feet and fell flat on the concrete! My daughter had just closed the door and I called her like the old people do in the commercial when they’ve fallen and can’t get up. I was so disgusted with my clumsiness, but I got up, dusted myself off and got in the truck and kept going. My daughter tried to help me, she weighs 100 pounds and she was there more for moral support while I struggled to get up, poor thing.

The book signing event was a very professional, organized and just simply enjoyable. Curly Nikki was gracious and I had a wonderful time. Congratulations again to Nikki Walton and your continued success.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Fashion and Style, Lifestyle, My Hair Story Tagged With: book tour, curlynikki, meetup, natural hair, networking

You Are Phenomenal

March 18, 2013 by Whitney 14 Comments

Do you know how special you are? How often do you celebrate your phenomenal abilities? I am a great woman with a history of women who worked hard, made no excuses, wasn’t perfect but lived life to the fullest. I realized that Saturday evening after my Open House for my new Silpada Designs business. My up line manager Debbie, came to my home with her 12 year old daughter to help me with my open house. She brought all her jewelry and was so excited and positive the whole afternoon. We set up all the jewelry on my dining room table, the little open area that connects the kitchen and dining room and a card table that I had.

While we waited for my invited guest, Debbie and I talked and shared our worlds with one another. Both of us have 12 year old daughters, and they hit it off from the moment they were introduced to each other. We acted like old friends, looking at jewelry, putting it on, talking, and having fun. Two hours later, no guests but you know what? We had a ball, seriously. I felt guilty that she spent her afternoon and no one showed up. I didn’t feel bad, I was very surprised. I thought I would be mad that I invited people and no one showed up. I had a phone call and she sounded like she was coming, but no show. I didn’t spend a lot on food, had some veggies and dip, cheese sticks and artichoke parmesan dip, cookies and drinks.

I was surprisingly optimistic in my thinking, it will happen I told myself. I just need one person to have a party. I’ve set small expectations for the beginning, one party a week, one contact at a time. One other thing I won’t allow to get into my head is spending someone’s money, because we afford what we want. My old managers at AT&T would be proud of me, because I used to hate selling phone service and features to people that didn’t need or want it, but I had to offer it.

That evening, I sat and talked to my husband about how the event went. He was very supportive and told me I may have to reach out to people I don’t know. We were on the same page, because that’s exactly what I thought too. I so appreciated the way Debbie graciously gave up her afternoon for the sake of my new business, spent time to get to know me and my children. That’s how you build beautiful friendships, one person at a time. I realized that we were phenomenal women, and nothing will stop me or you from being successful at whatever we decide to do. Surround yourself with wonderful people, build relationships and shine! Divatude Challenge 2013 in full effect, watch me!

I had to share this with you all, it’s so uplifting and Maya Angelou recites it with so much confidence and love! Enjoy!

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Inspirational, Work & Career Tagged With: business, entrepreneur, friendship, open house, phenomenal woman, silpada designs

Motivation and a Push

May 21, 2012 by Whitney 7 Comments

I’ve been slipping lately….feeling like I’m all over the place. I haven’t exercised all month. Yes I know, and believe it or not I miss it. On Monday’s, I always go to Rene Syler’s Good Enough Mother to listen to her Monday Morning Motivation and today it was about things we need to do for personal growth. Rene was on point with her advice today because I haven’t been focusing like I need to. The first thing I did this morning was get out my planner and write down my agenda for today. I’m sticking to it! It’s amazing, because without it, I would spend 20 minutes working on a project, stop in the middle of that project and go to something completely different which to be honest with you, was either a social network that would totally distract me or something around the house. I like this, I’m focused and calm, working and listening to some jazz as I write. One thing I decided to do was to schedule time to do my social media and read other blogs, and really stick to that one. This activity can and does take hours because I get caught up reading and socializing, which can last until 10:00 pm. That’s late because I start my day at 5:30 am.

Since I started blogging and building my brand, one of the things I do is take plenty pictures of myself. I had my daughter take a couple of pictures of me yesterday after church and decided two things; to continue exercising and invest in a good camera! I walked 2.3 miles this afternoon and although my knees are killing me, I’m glad I got out and walked. I use the app Pedometer to keep track of how far I walk, time, steps, and calories that I burn. I also use Lose It! to keep track of what I eat and my weight. I usually take pictures with my iPhone, which sometimes it takes very good pictures. I have a Kodak 35mm, 10.3 mega pixel camera that I’ve had for about 4 years. I used it the other night when my daughter had a concert at school, and it was awful for distance. Later this year, I’m going to have some pictures taken by a photographer.

Menopause is a time in a woman’s life when her body changes and I’m determined to not let it get the best of me. I remember my OB-GYN told me that I would gain weight, cry for no reason and have mood swings with menopause, and I’ve experienced all of those symptoms. I want to be a healthy, happy middle aged woman with goals and aspirations. Keep praying for me while I achieve my goals, build my brand and tackle menopause! Have a good week everyone!

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Health & Wellness, Menopause Mania Tagged With: entrepreneur, exercise, health, menopause

Entrepreneur Spotlight ~ Nadine Abraham Thompson

May 18, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

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.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Inspirational, Lifestyle, Work & Career Tagged With: career, entrpreneur

Monday Went By Too Fast!

May 15, 2012 by Whitney 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!

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Filed Under: Entrepreneur, Family, Inspirational Tagged With: entrepreneur, family, love, WAHM

Entrepreneur Spotlight ~ Sara Blakely

April 27, 2012 by Whitney 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!

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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