How do you see yourself, and how would you like to be seen?
I see myself as a God Fearing woman, a confident and strong, independent, ambitious, great mother, great friend, dedicated, loyal, admirable, inspirational, kind hearted that encourages everyone, good influencer with a positive and approachable personality. I hope a woman sees me as more than a friend, a sister, a woman with good character, genuine, humble, trustworthy, good citizen who is compassionate about my community, reliable source, caring, loving with strong spiritual beliefs.
How do you define your purpose in life?
My divine purpose is to create a brand that is focused on connecting with as many people as I can. To continue to provide hope, love, change, encouragement, resources, knowledge, life lessons experiences, especially the younger single mom generation.
What are three events that helped to shape your life?
The first thing would be getting pregnant as a teenager and becoming a single mother.
The second thing is getting a divorce.
The third thing was deciding to leave my full-time corporate job to open my storefront and becoming a business owner.
What woman inspires you and why?
There are many women that have inspired me throughout my life. I’ve had a couple of mentors that have molded me to be who I am today. My mom has always been my biggest inspiration to becoming the woman I am. She was a young mother herself, she left her home very young. She taught me how to cook, clean, how to be responsible and accountable. Being younger myself, through all the
trials and storms, she taught me not to give up as a mother, and showed me how to love others unconditionally.
Are there any assumptions about women that you would like to change? Why?
I believe that there are assumptions that women aren’t capable of running multiple businesses without a partner to help run an efficient business/empire. Women aren’t capable of juggling or balancing being a wife, mom or entrepreneur with their everyday duties.
I would believe some of the psychological barriers and bias against women have a big part of that.
What do you believe will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?
Many challenges for the next generation would be that women would let social media influence or their smartphones give them an opinion of who they need to be, or what image to be accepted in the world.
As a Woman of Valor, what advice would you give to your younger self and do you follow this advice now?
My biggest advice is to accept constructive criticism, understand “great things take time”, “everything happens for a reason,” “perfect timing for everything.” People come to your life for certain reasons and seasons, To surround yourself with people that have good and well intentions. People that have common goals. I would’ve really taken the time to understand what self love, self care meant. Lastly, not to allow anyone to tell me, “my dreams aren’t too big,” to achieve.
I have chosen not to be bonded from the past. To continue to be a blessing to others. I’ve accepted my mistakes, experiences, painful lessons, and overcame challenges and adversity. I truly believe I’m still working to become the woman God destiny me to be.
