1st Quarter |March 2019
CONTENTS
FROM THE DESK OF THE PUBLISHER
04
INSPIRATIONAL CORNER
06
GRANTS & RESOURCES
15
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
20
DIVINE HEALTH
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ON THE COVER
34
W.O.W. - Words of Wisdom
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Empowering Lives Business Magazine Sandra R. Harris | Publisher
13-Year Old Teen Mom Turned Successful Entrepreneur Jessica Thomas | Glam Bella Studio
Grants & Resources for Women Entrepreneurs
Small Town Girl with Big City Dreams Lakeisha Gilbert | F’yerce Elite Allstars
You Can Own a New Body by First Changing Your Mindset Serena Cooper | The Empower You Channel
Discovering Purpose in a Dark Place Tiffany Young | The Pink Hotel
Can Women Really Have It All At The Same Time? Sandra R. Harris | Empowering Lives
THE AUTHOR’S CORNER
43
BACK COVER
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Lead Dream Builder, Educational Consultant, Author, Speaker | Dr. Lateshia Woodley
Serena Cooper - The EmpowerYou Channel on Self-Discipline and Self-Love
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INSPIRATIONAL CORNER: Teen Mom Turned Successful Entrepreneur Jessica Thomas, Womanpreneur of Glam Bella Studio
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DIVINE HEALTH: Serena Cooper,
Womanpreneur of The EmpowerYou Channel talks “You Can Own a New Body by First Changing Your Mindset”
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Small Town Girl with Big City Dreams Lakeisha Gilbert, Womanpreneur of F’yerce Elite Allstars, LLC
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W.O.W WORDS OF WISDOM: CAN WOMEN REALLY HAVE IT ALL AT THE SAME TIME ? SANDRA R. HARRIS
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ON THE COVER:
Discovering Purpose in a Dark Place with Tiffany Young, Womanpreneur of The Pink Hotel in Atlanta
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Author’s Corner: Dr. Lateshia Woodley
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Empowering Lives Business
www.EmpoweringLivesMagazine.com
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Inspirational Corner 13-YEAR OLD TEEN MOM TURNED SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR
J
essica Thomas is the Womanpreneur of Glam Bella Studio in Tampa, FL. She has been in business for four years. She says she is different and has embraced her uniqueness. She shares her inspirational journey of faith and how she achieved success. Jessica, tell us about Glam Bella Studio. Glam Bella Studio is an eyelash extension studio located in Tampa, Florida. We provide eyelash extension services. We also have an academy where we teach other professionals how to grow their businesses by performing eyelash extension services as well. Oh wow, that is amazing Jessica. Is there a specific age group or who would be the ideal candidate for what you do? As far as our clients are concerned, we provide eyelash services for girls
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Empowering Lives Business www.GlamBellaStudio.com
as young as 13, up to 100 years old. For our students in the academy, we start training them as early as 16. If you have a passion for something, and you want to know more about it- why not start at an early age. So I start training them as young as 16 years old. That is going to lead right into my next question Jessica, how did you discover your passion? I have young ladies come to me all the time, and they do not know what their passion is, or say things like, “I’m not really passionate about anything”- so tell us, how did you discover your passion? I was always different, as far as my style and growing up, like in high school, I was the only person that would wear wigs. But now fast forward, everybody wears wigs just like it is the norm. So I’ve always been into the fashion and beauty industry, but I was always told: “Oh you won’t- you can’t sustain a career in the beauty industry, so you need to
have a profession and be a nurse or a doctor.” But I was just never into it. I was always into beauty and fashion. So, later in life - I was like 25 or 26, at that pivotal age like “what am I going to do with my life” that I decided to go to beauty school and pursue a career in what started as makeup- that’s what I wanted to be a professional makeup artist. So it was kind of later on in life that I took the big leap. Amazing, amazing! Now you were not always this success story- the successful entrepreneur that you are today. Share with us a little about your background and what led you to where you are today? I had my first child when I was 13 years old, and I had my second child when I was 18. I had just graduated from high school- well I’m going to say barely graduated from high school (chuckling) and being a young Mom, people always tell you, “Oh you’re not going to amount to anything.” I used to work a bunch of dead-end jobs. I was always in college. I would enroll in school, I would do good, and I would drop out because I wasn’t interested. So fast forwarding, working little call centers jobs and getting fired, because I was always doing lashes or calling off to take lash clients, or doing makeup or something. I just looked at my kids, and I said to myself, I have to do something for my kids so they know that they can make it. I can’t expect them to be successful when I’m around here barely making it” And I’m not living up to my fullest potential. So literally on my 25th birthday, I walked into a beauty school, and I was like- “Sign me up, I want to be a lash artist so I can make a bunch of money!” Literally, because I felt like 30 was my cut-off - like by the time I’m 30, I have to have a career because I felt like at 30, you’re an adult, you’re a grown-up. Wow! So what was your motivation to improve your life?
Empowering Lives Business www.GlamBellaStudio.com
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Inspirational Corner
be in school now. I wasn’t ready in my 20’s because I was concerned about other things - and school was just not it. I feel like you have to experience life a little bit before you can really take school seriously and for you to know the importance of it. So, share with us a little about your motivation - your kids and what are they up to?
Photos provided and permission granted for use by Jessica Thomas
I Have Always Been Different, and I Embraced My Uniqueness
It was my kids. I just wanted them to be able to look up to me and say“Wow my Mom really did it. Through everything in life, my Mom made it happen, and she’s successful.” So it was my kids. Wow, and would you say that a four-year college degree, a two-year college degree is just not for everyone? I think, it’s not for everyone. You have to go when you’re ready. I mean right now I’m actually back in school because there are other things that I want to accomplish that require me to have a degree. So I am back in school, but I feel like my mentality is right to
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Empowering Lives Business
www.GlamBellaStudio.com
Naomi is 20 years old, and she is going to start her senior year at (UCF) University of Central Florida. She’s going to be a teacher. She has always been a fantastic kid, and she never ceases to amaze me. She’s so helpful and really wants to give back to the community. Jeremiah is 15 years old, and he is like my mini-me. I feel like for him- school is boring for him so we struggle through it a little bit but I feel like he’s a natural entrepreneur. That boy can sell anything to anyone. He always has a way to get money. He always has a new plan and a new idea. So I look at him and say that’s my future entrepreneur. I just have to get him out of high school, that’s what I’m working on with him. So for our future Womenpreneurs and girls that want to be an Esthetician, tell us what exactly was required for what you’re doing today? So include information about school requirements and how much time you had to be in school? Okay, so as far as school, in the state of Florida, it only requires you to go to school for 320 hours to be a full specialist which means you can do nails and skin care. So that equates to if you’re going full time that will be about three months of school. If you want part-time- that will be six months of school. I actually went to an advanced program where I spent 18 months in school because I felt like I
Inspirational Corner
needed to cover every intricate detail in the aesthetics field. Doing lash extensions is more of a specialty, so outside of school, I took a lash extension course where they taught me the meat and potatoes so to speak of doing lashes, like how to apply them, how to make money off of doing lashes, and how to maintain them. That was a twoday course, and that was about $1,500 at the time, and the rest of it was just honestly trial and error. You know finding clients and gluing people’s eyes shut (laughing) and seeing what works and what doesn’t work. That was really what it was, it’s was just trial and error for me. (Still Laughing from the “gluing people’s eyes shut” comment) Okay, so for $1,500- did that cover everything? Was that covered under Financial Aid, or did you have to pay for it out of pocket? For the lash class, I had to pay out of pocket, but for aesthetic’s school, that was covered by financial aid. So I literally saved an income tax check one time, and I just reinvested it into myself. So that’s how I was able to pay and go take a lash class. I love the name Glam Bella- how did you come up with the name? I wrote down all of these words that I thought about when I thought of lashes, and I just threw them all together, and those are the two that stuckglamorous, beautiful lashes. That’s what I want people to have when they walk out of my studio. Wow! This is another part of what is going to be so exciting for other women Jessica because there are women with visions and passions, and they want to step out, they want to launch businesses, but they are afraid. They have a fear that they’re going to fail,
fear that it is not going to work. They say I don’t have the money. Tell the readers of Empowering Lives Business Magazine for Women Entrepreneurs exactly how you did it? I know you said you used your income tax to take the class but how did Glam Bella go from just being an idea to a fullfledged beauty studio? So, Glam Bella Studio basically opened up out of faith. I left my job- I was working at a really high-end spa, and it started because they were changing our hours, and the hours did not work for me. So I said you know what- I’m just going to find my own space. I was on Craigslist. I saw an ad for a studio. I went to look at it (the studio). The amount was literally the exact amount that I had from a previous job that I had done down to the penny. So I said okay, this is for me. This is where I’m supposed to be. “I opened up with one set of tweezers and one lash tray,” not one decoration, I didn’t even have a client.
Empowering Lives Business www.GlamBellaStudio.com
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Inspirational Corner
I
was just like this is what I’m going to do. I ran a Groupon ad, and just “a lot of prayers, a lot of tears, a lot of telling myself I have no other options, this has to work.” And it all came together. I literally went in there with nothing. I was just saying this has to work - and failure is not an option. I’ve tried different things, and I’ve had to tweak some things. We are going into our fourth year that I’ve been open independently. So I tweaked a lot of things along the way. Some things worked, some things didn’t. I incorporated a lot of policies, but the biggest thing was that “I stepped out on faith literally, with a set of tweezers and one lash tray.” And now here I am - four years later. Wow! I am literally tearing up. I’m serious; I am tearing up because that is amazing and truly inspiring. This is why I do this because there are so many women that really just need to hear your story.
I Stepped Out on Faith Literally, with a Set of Tweezers and One Lash Tray child as your encouragement and know you want to do better for them, but it’s not the end of your world. Wow, amazing! Well, thank you for your time. I have thoroughly enjoyed your story. I appreciate and thank you for sharing with Empowering Lives Business Magazine for Women Entrepreneurs. We wish you all the best and much Success!
Are there any parting words that you would like to leave for women entrepreneurs or just anyone in general? Just in general, you just have to do it! Don’t let your circumstances stop you from doing what you want to do. You have to do it in spite of your circumstances, and everything else will always come into place if that is what your true calling is. Are there any last words for teen moms, that possibly today are in the shoes that you were in some time ago? Maybe they’re discouraged, disappointed, and do not know what to do, or where to turn, are there any last words that you would like to share with them? I would encourage them to keep going. “Having a baby at a young age is not a period at the end of your life - It’s just a comma.” You’re going to make it. You actually have somebody that is looking at you, that is cheering you on and pushing you, someone that you have to be greater for. So just look at your 10
Empowering Lives Business
www.GlamBellaStudio.com
If you are in the Tampa area and need lash services or to support: Glam Bella Studio 3810 S. Dale Mabry Hwy Suite 310 Tampa, FL 33611 (813) 507-2091 www.glambellastudio.com
Empowering Lives Business www.GlamBellaStudio.com
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LAKEISHA GILBERT
W
omen are running multi-million dollar businesses, managing children, and households, trying to maintain a spark in our marriages and relationships, serving in our churches and our communities, all while trying not to forget about exercising self-care. Empowering Lives Business Magazine started as a passion project because I love being able to educate, equip and empower other women to succeed, encouraging other women to pursue their goals, launch their businesses, and shine a spotlight on the incredible things that women are doing in our communities. Womanpreneur Lakeisha Gilbert just made a ‘Power Move’. She launched her organization F’yerce Elite Allstars in 2019. Will you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your organization? My name is Lakeisha Gilbert. The name of my business is called F’yerce Elite Allstars. It is based in Polk County Florida, and made up of five teams. The coed team is made up of males and females from ages 4 -17. I am the Executive Owner of the program, but I definitely cannot do this alone. I have an awesome Executive Board member, one Director, one Assistant Director, four dedicated Coaches that specialize in tumbling, stunting, dance, and cheer. I have a host of parents who ensure the team’s success. We compete in six (6)
“SMALL TOWN GIRL WITH BIG CITY DREAMS” That is a lot. So let me ask you Lakeisha, this is a question that I believe is going to bless a lot of women. How do you balance it all with three (3) children, your husband, your dog and still make time for yourself? (Chuckling) Well, I call myself ‘Super Mom’ because it is not easy being a wife and a Mom. I am working a full-time job for the school board and running a business. Especially when all three of my kids are into sports, and I am making sure I am at every game. Now, that is tough! But with the support of my husband, who also runs his own business, and my lovely Mom, who supports me as well, that opens up the time for me and my husband to get a date in and also the opportunity for me to catch up with my girlfriends. So that support system has to be strong. Yes, yes. I absolutely agree. Especially with the part about having the support of your husband. The support of your spouse is critical when you are launching a new business. Well, let me ask you, how did you find the path to your destiny?
major competitions per year, all over the state of Florida. In addition to WOW showcase events, where the students are able to put their talent on display. Meanwhile, after all that dedication with the F’yerce Elite Allstars, I still have to be a wife, a mother of three kids, plus care for a dog at home. Wow! Wow! A wife, three kids and a dog. And a dog. (Laughing) 20 Empowering Lives Business
F’yerce Elite Allstars
I can honestly say that the path to my destiny chose me. I said that because I started coaching youth cheer for Northeast Rattlers Organization in Haines City, Florida for 7 years. I started off with eight girls on my team and it grew to over 30 girls along the years. I take great pride in helping girls of all ages physically, mentally, emotionally and morally during the years. During that time, we have won over 21 competitions, but it was not the winning that lead me to my destiny. It was instilling confidence in those who did not have any when I first met them. It was teaching them to believe that they could soar against all odds. It was instilling discipline and teamwork skills in their lives and most of all, watching them grow, and using those skills in everyday life. That led me to my destiny,
Photography Credit: Melanin Lens Photography
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MAGAZINE
GREAT THINGS NEVER CAME FROM A COMFORT ZONE and that destiny is impacting the lives of youth in a positive way. Wow! I love it, I absolutely love it. That brings me right into my next question. How has being a role model impacted the lives of the young people that you mentor and coach? Well, I teach them to R.I.S.E. R is for respect, I is for integrity, S is for service and E is for excellence. It shows in the classroom, with their grades, their performance and not only that, in the community as well. So looking at them doing all of those things that I have taught them, is what makes me proud to see that I’m impacting their lives in a positive way.
“THE IMPACT” Many women want to start a business. They have been thinking about it for years; they have a vision board; they have written goals down. Tell us, how did you move from the idea stage, and the visionary stage, to actually starting your own organization? I had the vision and the idea of launching my business three years ago but those years passed me by, and I never made the move. Truth be told, I didn’t have the funds to really do it, and I knew it was going to take money. I just didn’t do it. I was scared, and I had gotten comfortable with what I was doing.
Finally, with the help of an amazing support group of friends that saw the work that I was putting in daily, they are the ones that pushed me to start my business. That support group coached me; the same confidence that I have been giving my cheerleaders. They believed in me, so I stepped out on faith with not one dime.
Empowering Lives Business
is behind you to support you, and is going to push you to your dreams. You should be the one to make that first step. I love it! I keep hearing you say support, so your support system is really strong. Definitely! Definitely!
That is amazing because that is the one thing that a lot of women say - I have the vision, I have the dream, I have the ideas, I just don’t have the money. Sometimes, it doesn’t always take a lot of money, you just have to start. Is that something that you will agree with? I definitely agree with it. You have to make that first step and step out into the world. You don’t know who
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Wow! That is powerful!
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Awesome. What is your personal statement or the one-catch phrase that you live by? The catch phrase that I live by from the experience that I just mentioned in getting my business started.
“Great things never came from a comfort zone”.
MAGAZINE
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
BUILD YOUR BRAND TO BE REMEMBERED What advice would you give to other visionaries or other women that are on the path to success? My advice to ladies would be never be too scared to ask questions, always listen to advice, whether right or wrong. You must stay consistent, and remain humble in all circumstances. Remember, quality is over quantity, so build your brand that will be remembered.
You can write out a check made payable to F’yerce Allstars. I would happily accept donations of any amount. It would be appreciated in helping these girls get farther in the future and doing what they love to do!
Any parting words that you would like to leave or share what is on you heart that I didn’t ask. I would like to leave the ladies with this, never give up on your dreams. Never give up on your goals. Strive to do it, step out in faith and like I mentioned, having a support team is imperative. I had a grandmother that raised me up in the church, and she always turned to me and said, “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you”. So as long as you have God first in your life, He will never leave you, nor will He forsake you, but you have to trust in Him that He would guide you in the right direction. I love it… You need a lot of faith to step out, not just faith in God, but in yourself. as well. Be confident in yourself, and faith and confidence in God, I love it!
Photo provided courtesy of Lakeisha Gilbert Well, that concludes this interview, I would like to thank you for taking time to share your journey to success
Thank you for taking time to share your journey to success as a Womanprenuer. We look forward to great things from you in 2019. If anyone wants to sponsor F’yerce Elite Allstars, how would they go about doing that? ld they go about doing that?
Definitely, we would love the support, as you can see, I am strong with support. You can email me at fyerceallstars@gmail.com. You can contact me; I am always available.
Empowering Lives Business
F’yerce Elite Allstars Lakeisha Gilbert 863-569-2144 fyerceallstars@gmail.com It doesn’t have to be a large amount, any amount will help. So if you would become a sponsor today, send what you can and let’s support Lakeisha Gilbert in what she is doing in the lives of these young girls. Thank you so much. Blessings & Much Success to you. Thank you.
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Serena Cooper
I will not allow others to disrupt my gym time. My gym time is my gym time, and I don’t play about my gym time
Empowering Lives Magazine www.empoweryouchannel.com
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DIVINE HEALTH
YOU CAN OWN A NEW BODY BY FIRST CHANGING YOUR MINDSET
S
erena Cooper shares with Empowering Lives Business Magazine, some fitness tips for women on the go, and women entrepreneurs on how we can take care of our bodies. She speaks on self-discipline and self-love being essential for re-training the mindset and setting some fitness goals. Serena Cooper candidly talks about how she began to get fit by changing her mindset through the power of selflove. So introduce yourself and tell us about your business? I am Serena Cooper, and I am the Owner and Founder of The EmpowerYou Channel. The EmpowerYou Channel is a motivational platform where I offer motivational speaking as a brand speaker and Fitness Enthusiast. We hone in on the value of self-love and motivating others that have a desire to change their bodies by looking inward first. The information that I am sharing with people around the world is what
changed my life. So I am putting myself on the forefront showing my imperfections, my failures, the trials that I have gone through, and the journey of what it looks like from start to finish to achieve your fitness goal.
together to help those that were asking me to train them, and God did the rest. Besides, I enjoy physical fitness because I believe fitness teaches us a lot about life, and that is something I talk about when overcoming obstacles and challenges.
Amazing. Amazing. You were sharing with me some of the great things you are doing and a new venture you are launching. Tell us more about the boot camp.
The EmpowerYou Channel is also hosting a 5k race in April. The intent behind that is to raise funds for our Women’s Conference.
Yes, I started a Physical Fitness Boot Camp at my church. I am inviting people of all fitness levels to come out and have a great time while achieving our fitness goals together. It is ironic how I started out doing fitness training because, to be honest with you Ms. Sandra, I am not a Certified Personal Trainer by the world’s standards. I’m not what the world would define as qualified, but people were coming to me and asking, “Do you train, do you train?” So I decided to put the boot camp
Incredible. Being healthy and finding the time to work out and take care of the body can be challenging. It is imperative that we exercise and have fitness goals as well. How did you find a passion for fitness and just helping other people meet their fitness goals? Good question. I am a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army, and I was deployed in Afghanistan. At the time when I was deployed, I was in a state of depression. I was at a point of desperation of wanting to learn how to genuinely love myself. I bought a book by Sarah Jakes, T.D. Jakes’ daughter; she had a book about loving yourself,
Empowering Lives Magazine www.empoweryouchannel.com
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God, and do things just a little different, such as learning to invest back into myself. I know this sounds like it has nothing to do with fitness, but it does.
with allowing ourselves to gain weight to a point where we are unhappy with our appearance. I did not correlate fitness with self-love, but great point.
I began investing in myself first by doubling up on my car payments and setting financial goals to be debt-free when I returned to the States. Then I started working out here and there and researching fitness.
We have all types of goals. We set financial goals and career goals, but how many of us stick with our fitness goals after the new year? That leads me right into the next question I have. My next question is for the Womanpreneur, for the Mompreneur, especially the nine to fivers due to lack of autonomy with time. We have husbands, children, and their extracurricular activities. We have pets; we are serving in our churches and our communities.
I did try the personal trainer route. I tried all kinds of personal training I tried all kinds of workout regimen. Any fad diet that was out there, I tried it, and I was doing research trying to find out what would work best for me. Do you know what I mean? (Laughing) Yes. I think most of us have at some point tried a fad diet. and know what you mean. We get so wrapped up in the results, but I started seeing results the moment I started investing in myself, including things like learning to set healthy boundaries helped me to have a different relationship with food. I started setting boundaries on things like, I wouldn’t accept work calls after 9:00 p.m. I distanced myself and set boundaries between me and negativity, and just little things like that translated into healthier habits of eating because I set boundaries on how much food I would consume. “I
will not allow people to disrupt my gym time, my gym time is my gym time, and I don’t play about my gym time.” I don’t care what happens, I am going to the gym. Just setting those boundaries helped me to get in shape, but I do not believe it was so much as the workout regimen that changed me, it was not the food that I ate. I had to change my mind first. I had to change the way that I saw myself, and I think that is where it started. Wow! You just said a mouthful, Serena. Many times, we do not make the correlation between our mindset and the way we see ourselves, or self-love 26
What can you share with the readers of Empowering Lives Business Magazine to help us to exercise more? What tips would you give? You want to have a strategy when you go to the gym, but something as simple as – well, I’m not going to say it is simple, but something as basic as getting up at 4:00 a.m. and getting up early before everybody else gets up. I’ll tell you why, in the Army, if I have formation at 6:30 a.m., I go to the gym at 5:00 a.m., and sometimes, I would simply walk. I will walk on the treadmill, and I will listen to a word from God, meditate, or I listen to different audiobooks to inspire me. Many of the ideas that I have about EmpowerYou started from me walking on the treadmill early in the morning. Wow! I would recommend not even focusing so much on how you look, body composition, and physique.
Those things will come when you start to discipline yourself, set boundaries, and create new habits. I would put more focus on what kind of audiobooks you want to listen to in the morning? Begin to set goals during that time and you will notice after doing it a month, month two, month three - your body will start to change.
Empowering Lives Business www.empoweryouchannel.com
Focus on Discipline, Setting Boundaries, and Creating New Habits, and a New Body will Follow
Empowering Lives Business www.EmpowerYouChannel.com
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DIVINE HEALTH TREAT TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH AS ONE AND THE SAME
woman. We provide so much to so many people, but you’ve got to be able to invest back into you, so that you can contribute to someone else. Ultimately, that is what God commands us to do. He commands us to love others as we love ourselves. This is something I want to reiterate. We get caught up with the hustle and bustle, but we don’t want to forget, it is a commandment; we must love ourselves and put back into ourselves too. Yes. I love it. I love it. What is the one personal statement or the catchphrase that you live by? I will say this is something that I’ve recently learned, it keeps me happy, and it keeps me humble; you’ve got to treat tragedy and triumph as one and the same. You’ve got to treat tragedy and triumph as one and the same. As one and the same. Yes, Ma’am. Because sometimes we get so 28
Empowering Lives Business
caught up on the things that we’ve accomplished, that we celebrate, and we never get out of that honeymoon phase and life goes on and we forget to keep working. For instance, when you work out, and you meet that goal, “Oh, wow! I’ve lost five pounds,” and so instead of having a cheat meal, you end up having a cheat day, and a cheat day turns into a cheat week. The triumph turns to tragedy. Likewise, you are working out, going hard in the gym, “Oh no! I have gained two pounds,” and now you’re going to throw the whole workout out the window, you don’t want to do it anymore because you’re so discouraged by the two pound gain. We can’t get caught up on tragedies and triumphs. We bask in the moment, live in the moment, reflect, learn from it, and then move on. Amazing! The last question is, what advice would you give to other visionaries that are thinking about launching a boot camp or they want to start a business that has been on their minds, that they have been thinking
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Serena Cooper The EmpowerYou Channel Photography Credit: C E Photography
Serena Cooper of The EmpowerYou Channel Photography credit: C E Photography
about it. What advice would you give to them about their vision? My advice for them is “Go for it!” It is not going to feel comfortable in the beginning because anyone that is blazing a trail, that is different, that is going against the grain, is going to cause friction and just know that when you are a trailblazer on your path, you just may be making history. What is the one thing we know about history? History is something that people talk about. They have positive thoughts about history, they have negative thoughts about history, but history gets talked about. Keep focused, keep your focus higher than the negativity, because, you just may be making
history. Just like Kobe Bryant made history, Michelle Obama made history. If you are a trailblazer, just go for it. Do it! I love it. There you have it, folks. This is Serena Cooper from EmpowerYou. Go ahead and tell us how we can follow you on social media. Yes, Ma’am, I’m in the coastal area of Savannah, Georgia. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Serena Cooper www.EmpowerYouChannel. empoweringeveryday@gmail.com Thank you for your service to our country and thank you sharing your journey with Empowering Lives Business Magazine. Blessings and much Success to you. Empowering Lives Business www.empoweryouchannel.com
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Empowering Lives Business
www.ThePinkHotelAtl.com
T
iffany Young, Owner of the Pink Hotel in Stone Mountain, Georgia has a candid conversation with Empowering Lives Business Magazine on how she discovered her purpose in the midst of a dark time in her life. So Introduce yourself and tell us about your business. I am Tiffany Young, Owner of the Pink Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia and we do parties for ladies and girls. Whether celebrating a birthday or having a baby, if I can sow a little spark of magic into their lives by celebrating their special event – that’s what I do. How did you come up with the name, The Pink Hotel? Now you don’t want to know how I came up with the name. When I talk to women about starting a business, you either have to be one of two things – “You have to be rich, or you have to be angry.” When I came up with the name, I was in a very low place. I was in a hotel – a dirty hotel with my one-year old son, and I was sitting there crying saying, “Lord, how did I get here”? Just three years prior, I had two locations, TV shows, and celebrity clients. Now I’m in a hotel with my baby, waiting for a knock on the door that never came. So, I sat there…I took that little notepad
that sits next to the phone in the hotel, and I started drawing. I was drawing what my business was going to look like, what a stage will look like, and drawing a hotel suite for myself inside my business vowing that I would never be without a roof over my head again. After my son had been exploring the room and all of the cabinets, I watched him sleep peacefully, while tears streamed down my face, I sketched out the building on those little pieces of paper. I scratched out the name of the hotel on the notepad, and I wrote, The Pink Hotel. Wow, Wow! Tiffany, how did you discover your passion? “How I Discovered My Passion”… I said I love kids, I like to party, and I want every girl to feel empowered when she is on the stage. However, can we get to the nitty of the gritty? Let’s get to the nitty and the gritty! “The nitty and the gritty is not always pretty.” Getting to where I am today was not pretty. Sleeping in that hotel room was not pretty, but I am a Christian, and God hides you and covers you while you are trying to make it pretty. But,
what you see on my website, what you see on my business cards, and what you see on Instagram is God’s light shining so brightly on me that every man shall see. “It is not bright in a dark hotel room, but it bright in 10,000 sqft building that every man shall see the goodness and the graciousness of the Lord.” (Laughing) I love it…. I love it! I want the real Tiffany Young, the uncut, the unedited version to your success, so women will know that it is a journey. When you see people winning and succeeding, and God is shining His light on them, they had to go through something. Many times, we do not know the story, we only see the glory – but you don’t know the story behind that glory. So, I love it; I love it! How did you move from the conception stage of this just being an idea on a notepad? I run into many women with great ideas. They may not have a strategic business plan just yet, but they have an incredible idea, so how did you go from the conception stage to launching a real business? Well, I’ll tell you this…there are many books on how to launch a business.
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Leap and the Net Will Appear... If You Know You’ve Got Something, Stop Waiting and Leap...
We buy those books and run a highlighter over the pages and set them on the side of the table and never open them again. Okay. From my experience, you either have to be angry or have money. Because if you have money, you will invest what you have and that will keep you afloat for a few years. However, if you get angry enough, you will reflect on everything that you have lost, and know something has to change. I have a college degree. Why is someone telling me what I can’t do? First, you must have a goal in front of you, or you will look at what is around you – and that is only temporary. If you are looking at your 9 to 5, or not having enough time to do anything else or looking at your bank account, you will get swallowed up by those temporary situations. You have to flip that and ask yourself, “If I can put all of this energy into a business, where would I be”? You have to get angry about your situation and say, I’m going to start this nail salon, I’m going to start 36
Empowering Lives Business
this hair salon, I am going to do these things that are in my heart. You have to make a decision. If you do not have determination in your heart, and you are not self-motivated, you will have to get angry enough to change your situation, and have a little Jesus on your side. Those two things to me are key.
Women are taught to be everything for their husbands. But guess what? If we are everything for our children, and everything for our husbands, and everybody else, and you don’t have anything left, you are pulling from an empty bucket…”you can’t pull
Laughing… okay
You can either use what happened to you to push you forward or use it to hold you backward. There is nothing in my past that I want, I am moving forward. That’s the attitude you have to have. Put your mind on what you want to do, and push the gas and go.
I could advise you to wake up early every morning, set a goal, limit your social media. I can give you all of that, but at the end of the day, in order for you to stay in it – because it’s going to get tough – and in order for you not to quit, you have to think about why you are doing it. I can’t quit, my son is watching me. I can’t quit because the person who thought they had me down has got to see… so I think you need a little anger and a lot of God. Laughing, I love it! I love it! I hear you saying, you got angry, what did you get angry about? I got angry with being a woman.
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anything from an empty bucket.” You just said a mouth full!
As a Womanpreneur with a family, and running multiple facets of your business, how do you balance it all? I balance by prioritizing. I don’t carry a $600 bag, because I have to balance. I shop at Target, Home Goods, and TJMaxx because I have to balance my life and my finances. I have to prioritize what comes first, and my business comes first and my other things are secondary. I don’t spend a lot of money on nails, or $200 for my hair. I pull my hair in a ponytail to the side and
handle my business. If you are trying to look like an Atlanta Socialite while trying to launch a business, you are going to struggle Sister.
is waiting. But if you leap, He won’t send you to a place and not give you what you need. He just won’t do it. It’s not in His nature. He said he came to give us life, and life more abundantly.
Wow, wow! Let that business motivate you, let your goals motivate you. All of the material possessions are only temporary. I balance by prioritizing and putting my business first. I’ve had to live everywhere. I’ve slept in my car; I lived in my shop for two years because I couldn’t afford rent at home and rent for my shop. So, I chose my shop and I slept in a little mop closet and I put a bed in there, a TV in there, and little refrigerator in there. Remembering this keeps me motivated. Of course, this was before I had my son. So, setting priorities and prioritizing is how you balance?
I love it! Tiffany, give us five tips on what you did and how we can expand our businesses? 1. Keep a Journal next to your bed on your nightstand and write down all inspiration and creative ideas. It is essential. 2. Keep re-inventing yourself. I started a business called ManCave where boys could come, but I quickly found out that parents do not spend that kind of money on their boys like they do their girls. I had to re-invent that space that was not working. I turned it into a test kitchen where kids could come and bake. It was a success the second month. You have to keep re-inventing yourself. “If something is not working, change it.”
you are above anything because you can be one pink slip away. You need to stack your money the best way you can to start your business. Please don’t play with it; you have to be real about your situation. Take your tax return (Uncle Sam’s way of forcing you to save money) and start your business. Jump and have faith. Where else are you going to spend it? The mall? You have to sow into things that are going to sow back into you. You have to jump! 5. Last tip is don’t quit. I don’t care what you do. Don’t quit. Quitters don’t win, and Winners don’t quit. I know it is cliché, but it is true. What if God would have quit? Where would I be? Women, we just need to re-direct our focus. There is nothing special about Tiffany. There is only something special about the God that is in me. Because when I didn’t have him in me, I lost everything.
Yes, yesss… Priorities. So Tiffany, what is the one catchphrase that you live by? This phrase represents you through and through, your quotation mark statement? “Leap, and the net will appear.” Leap, leap first, and the net will appear. A lot of people try to wait until they get enough money, or enough time, wait until the kids get out of diapers, until their son goes to school, everybody
3. Pray. Before I do anything, I pray. You must have a strong prayer life. Because you may be able to do this or that, but if God is not leading it, that money will go right down the drain. Just ask, God is this what you want me to do? If so, He will send you the funding.
Wow, this is some great stuff! Last question…Women have incredible visions but having the seed money is a obstacle to achieve their dream. Can you give the ladies of Empowering Lives Business Magazine tips on how to overcome this obstacle?
4. Take a chance on yourself. You have to risk it. I was a waitress and a busboy (or girl) until a waitress position came available – with two degrees. Don’t think
Okay. It’s going to get tight, but it’s right. Are you ready? We are ready!
I t is not bright when you are in a dark place living in a hotel room, but it is bright in a 10,000 sqft building that every man shall see the goodness and the graciousness of the Lord
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On The Cover 38
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1. Put all change, including dollar bills to the side for seed money. You are saving and don’t even know it. 2. Cut back on hair money. If you spend more than $50, cut it out. What’s the use in looking good on the outside and broke on the inside? Spend less than $50 on your hair ON PURPOSE! (LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY) 3. If your nails cost more than $30 to get done, cut it out. I’m telling you because I don’t know another way unless you are rich. If you have to ask somebody for money for your dream… you’re not ready. Because when somebody sees what you are doing, I believe they will sow into you. People want to help people that are trying to help themselves. They want to. I sow into businesses myself because I see them working trying to help themselves. 4. The key is the Father, He will give you everybody you need. Any parting words for the subscribers of Empowering Lives Business Magazine for Women Entrepreneurs? Business is not for the lighthearted. You have to have faith and know the ability of your two hands. If you don’t want to sacrifice your hair, your nails, and your bags, and your turn up on the weekends, then you are not ready yet. However, if you know in your heart that you’ve got something, then all there is to do is to start – Start it Today! Thank you Tiffany! Blessings and much Success to you.
Photo: Provided and granted permission for use by Tiffany Young
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W.O.W – Words of Wisdom
Proverbs 31 Woman:
Can Women Really Have It All at The Same Time? March 17, 2019
Sandra R. Harris Another woman disagreed and said she believes that we can have it all at the same time, but she did not elaborate. Although something inside of me agreed with her, I wanted to hear her thoughts on why she felt that way. I think deep down, I wanted some scientific proof or her to point out a living example of a woman that was doing it to substantiate her thought process. Needless to say, the discussion quickly became quite interesting as we respectfully listened with the intent to understand each other’s viewpoint. few weeks ago, I met with a group of ladies for a civic dinner. A civic dinner is a group of people coming together to have meaningful conversations over a meal. Our overarching topic was entitled, “The Voice of Women.” This group was comprised of women that are business owners or in very high ranking positions in their fields. We came together to discuss various issues that plague women today.
A
One of the women in the group posed the question, “Can women really have it all?” Can we have a husband, be ambitious, have goals, launch businesses, care for the home, and take care of the children and ourselves all at the same time? There were various opinions as we went around the room to hear the thoughts of each woman on the subject. One said that she thinks women can have it all, just not at the same time.
Then someone mentioned both the husband and wife cannot be goal-oriented and ambitious- that someone has to take the back seat, before she finally settled on, “Maybe we can have it all like Oprah, but you would need a husband like Stedman.” We laughed and continued with dessert and the next topic. After giving my pleasantries, I headed home. The question about having it all was still plaguing me, especially after I thought
W.O.W – Words of Wisdom
about one of the most powerful women in America right now Michelle Obama and her journey of ‘Becoming.’ I prayed and asked the question, “God, can we as wives do what you’ve placed in our hearts, and serve You, our husbands and our families, the church, and our communities?” Can we really do it all at the same time without feeling like we are just ready to throw in the towel and quit - usually our husbands? Do we really have to put what you’ve placed in our hearts on hold to support our husband’s dreams and careers or until the children are grown? The answer did not come right away, but I was awakened around 3:00 a.m. with Proverbs 31 in my spirit. I love the book of Proverbs because it teaches Godly wisdom, Godly discipline, Morality, and how to live our everyday lives in a practical, yet godly way. As I opened the Bible app on my phone, I read several different versions of the text and was blown away with what I saw. I have read this chapter many times; however, this time I had a paradigm shift as if I was reading it for the first time. So, let’s look at the following passage of Scripture, Proverbs 31:10-31 (The Virtuous Wife). One version of the Bible refers to her as a wife of noble character,
and another version calls her the wife who does all things well. After reading the text, I drew one conclusion...she was bad to the B-O-N-E! Verse 10 begins by posing a question, “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies”. This tells me that she is valuable but rare. She is a trustworthy wife, and her husband’s heart is safe with her - and he knows it because she brings him no harm. She is a hard worker; diligently works with her hands and utilizes her God-given talents. She is not lazy because (v. 15) tells us that she rises early and goes to bed late (v. 18). She is not poor because (v. 16) tells us that she considers a field (land, real estate) before she buys it, and plants a vineyard with her profits (re-invests), so she is a wise business woman. She is a woman of compassion and is charitable because (v. 20) tells us that she extends her hands to the poor and reaches out to help those in need. She is well-dressed in fine garments physically (v. 22) and wears strength and honor intrinsically (v. 25). Her husband is not some regular old Joe. She is married to a well-known and respected man (v. 23). She is an entrepreneur (v. 24) reveals that she makes linen clothing and sells them. She is kind and cares for her household and her maidservant (v.27). She is revered
by her children and praised by her husband (v. 28). After giving a depiction of an excellent wife, a woman of virtue, it ends by telling us that “Charm is deceitful and beauty fades, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised (v. 30). I thought to myself, this is a woman with outstanding abilities and excellent character. Again, I asked God what was He trying to reveal to me by waking me up at 3:00 am to read this after my question, “Can Women Really Have It All at the Same Time?” She is the complete model of womanhood and an affirmative answer of “yes,” we really can have it all at the same time. Although, every woman will not be like her because the first verse tells us that she is rare. However, we can learn from her hard work, respect for her husband, how she cares for household and others, her concern for the poor, her wisdom in finances, great decision-making, resourcefulness, entrepreneurship, and a good steward. Although she has many accomplishments, her attractiveness and beauty come from her character and her fear of the Lord. We can use her as a model and continue to strive to be a woman of virtue - A woman who really can have it all at the same time.
#VirtuousWife #Womanpreneur #WeLaunchBusinesses #EntrepreneurGoals #WifeGoals #Becoming #MichelleObama #Oprah #EmpoweringLivesMagazine
AUTHOR’S CORNER
THERE IS POWER IN SELF-DISCIPLINE & SELF-LOVE Back Cover: Serena Cooper, The EmpowerYou Channel (www.EmpowerYouChannel.com) Photography Credit: CE Photography Hair by Deshae’s Beauty Salon Hinesville, Georgia
