11 minute read
SMALL BUSINESS PROFILES Hope Profile Features
Small Business Profile Features:
WITH YOLANDA SMITH
YOLANDA is a speaker, author and success coach with expertise in personal branding and professional development. With 15+ years of public speaking experience and a passion for empowering others to achieve their highest potential, she founded Branding 4 Success, LLC where she currently serves as Chief BrandthrupistTM. She is a certified brand analyst and diversity, equity and inclusion communicator, coaching corporate professionals and entrepreneurs to develop and master a powerful brand signature to achieve visibility, financial freedom and success through career advancement and business growth.
What do you most enjoy about what you do? I would say building relationships and connections with others, supporting them along their journey. I love working on the business structure with strategy and personal branding – it’s exciting when I can help clients through knowledge sharing, pushing them to identify and solve problems with innovative solutions. Most of all, inspiring others to dream big. Seeing opportunities to add value is so gratifying and personally rewarding, especially when the Ah Ha moments occur and the light bulb comes on when they can see it. The recognition and awards are nice, but it’s the people that truly matter most.
What do you do to encourage others? I encourage others through coaching and speaking, sharing my experiences that have not always been pretty, offering knowledge and insights, but more importantly, practical tips and tools to get and stay in action. I invest my time, talent and treasure in people to empower them to be their best and live authentically, bringing their whole self to what they do. I believe we all have gifts and talents and shouldn’t rob people of our gifts by not using them.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? Hands down, my mother. She was a wonderful woman who was full of love, encouragement and strength. She taught me the value of a strong work ethic and belief in myself. She instilled in me great confidence because she said I could be anything I wanted, do anything I desired if I was willing to work hard, treat others fairly and have faith in God. I believed her.
What inspires you? My biggest inspiration comes from seeing others achieve. That is so gratifying, especially knowing that I played a small role in helping them get the results they desired. I am in my element when I am engaging, educating and empowering others to be their best and reach their highest potential.
What obstacles have you overcome? Whew, where do I start? I was mid-career before I ever had a mentor, coach or sponsor. I didn’t know what it was because no one ever told me or suggested that I needed them. So, imagine matriculating through your career by trial and error, with no formal guidance from those who have been where I am trying to go. It wasn’t easy, I made many mistakes, was demoted, passed over and often felt undervalued. Yet, it was my tenacity, curiosity and take-charge attitude, with a whole lot of grace from God that allowed me to experience success in my career. In essence, I like to think I built my storied life and career brick by brick, fighting fears, failures and setbacks to have the success I always knew was mine to claim.
What is your personal quote or life’s motto? Never give up. When you know who you are and you know your worth, no one can take that away. They will try and you may buckle or bend, but you will not fall. If by chance you do, Look Up so you can Get Up. Never stay down!
What’s one message you wish all women could hear? Plain and simple, “You Are Enough”.
WITH JASMINE JACKSON LEWIS
JASMINE is a Corporate Litigation Paralegal by profession as well as the Creator & Founder of Plusher Chic Boutique & Modeling Agency. Plusher Chic Boutique is an emporium of fashion, specialized in serving an assortment of body types with timeless looks and supreme quality. They offer an array of selected fabrics cultivated into powerful collections that promote confidence and comfort. With “More Luxury, More Fashion for All Women!” as their motto, Plusher Chic Modeling Agency is one of the newest and most fierce agencies in the Midwest and Dallas area with their first signed model Kim Kay, who represents Plusher Chic women primarily for their boldness in setting trends in high fashion and high confidence.
What do you most enjoy about what you do? I enjoy choosing new collections and styling our models. I’m always looking for new ways to be creative and stand out from the crowd. Producing innovative ideas, incorporating my clothing for each model into the concepts I have created for our social media platforms, seeing what I have created worn by our customers, and watching my vision manifest are the most rewarding experiences for me as a stylist.
What do you do to encourage others? I encourage others by being kind. I’m always smiling and willing to be a listening ear if needed. Most importantly, I inspire those around me to set goals, to never dim their light and know that anything is possible. Who has been your biggest inspiration? My mother. My mother is/was the epitome of classy. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother, my angel... Gladys Jackson!
What inspires you? Challenges inspire me. I’ve found the times when I have been doubted are the times when I succeed. During the most challenging times, I am driven to become the best at whatever I have chosen to do.
What obstacles have you overcome? I have overcome my fear of the unknown. I recently relocated from Indiana to Texas. Each day, I am now reminded that overcoming my fears and stepping out on faith was not easy, but it has been well worth it. I now have new rooms to go into!
What is your personal quote or life’s motto? I am sure it may sound cliché, but… take one day at a time! “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” – Matthew 6:34
What is one message you wish all women could hear? You are appreciated. As women, we do so much for others and we often get lost and forget who we are. Sometimes, just a reminder is enough to let you know YOU GOT THIS and NEVER GIVE UP!
WITH BRIDGETTE BURKE
BRIDGETTE went to fashion school at age 36, graduated with honors and had absolutely no idea how she was going to take her love for fashion design into the real world. With the knowledge of how costly it is to start a line, she decided to start a clothing pattern business called The Crazy Grader, working to help other designers. She worked this business for 8 years, however, when the pandemic hit, the business took a hit. So she began to connect with other professionals in the industry and started taking courses from designers who had succeeded in the business. This gave her a great deal of drive and creative energy. With that energy, Leisure Miss was created. What do you most enjoy about what you do? The creation. I love fashion and technology. I dream about designs while I am asleep and wake up sketching to refine the design. Then I store them as future possibilities to be created in 3D, then in real life. In the near future, I hope to be able to mentor more young designers and create a space for them to learn, connect, collaborate and grow.
What do you do to encourage others? I like to praise efforts and progress, no matter how small. It builds morale, confidence and hope.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? Of late, Tory Burch, or should I say her foundation, has been my biggest inspiration. I tune in to her webinars and blog to gain insight on how to best succeed in the business of fashion. I specifically love how the foundation supports women of color.
What inspires you? Nature, color and textiles.
What obstacles have you overcome? This is a great question. Though I have two degrees in fashion, have placed high in a design competition, been awarded design scholarships and such, there is one thing that has never happened for me. I have never been employed as a designer for a fashion company and I have applied for many. I have actually interviewed with one specific company over the years probably 10 times. I have stopped applying, but they still continue to contact me for interviews for some reason. This has taught me to “Boss” up. Maybe, just maybe, I am meant for bigger things.
Another obstacle I have had to overcome is social media. A designer has to showcase their work on social media, which is something that has been a great challenge for me. I can remember when I got started on social media, I would have these slight anxiety attacks prior to posting something. But I am finding that the more I do it, the easier it becomes for me.
What is your personal quote or life’s motto? Less is More. Leisure Miss is born from this motto. The brand will grow to become seasonal capsule collections that will make outfitting your life easy. Around town leisure looks with the comfort and functionality of athleisure.
What’s one message you wish all women could hear? Be authentic, be you no matter what and never give up on your dreams.
WITH DEMETRIA BAKER JACKSON
DEMETRIA is a licensed marriage and family therapist, trauma therapist, wife, mother and friend. She has a private counseling practice, Free to Flourish Counseling and Consulting, LLC. She is passionate about empowering individuals and couples to transform their emotional, mental and relational world by supporting them to overcome anxiety, stress, trauma and relationship conflicts. She is also specifically trained in utilizing brain-based modalities to process and heal distressing experiences. It is her mission to empower adults and couples to connect with their sense of worth and be free to flourish with dignity, respect and authenticity.
What do you most enjoy about what you do? I enjoy empowering individuals and couples to experience a healing revolution that impacts their family, workplace, community and society, allowing them to connect with others in a healthier way! I believe life is a gift and we should live with quality of life and not just quantity of days alive. I love supporting people to become aware of their triggers, providing specific tools to decrease their current symptoms and gain new perspectives to resolve their own problems. What do you do to encourage others? I desire to support others with the gift of presence. Because encouragement is defined and perceived so differently by so many, I want to be mindful in how I can support a person to feel heard, validated and connected in a way that feels authentic to them. Holding and creating a calm space is the way I encourage others.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? I find so much inspiration from a variety of people throughout my life. I would have to say the person who has most greatly inspired me has been my grandmother, Annette. What stands out most is she was always dedicated to serving God by being His hands and feet to others and prioritizing her family. Because of her example of support and sacrifice throughout my life, it empowers me to be radical in my self-care and create safe spaces for others.
What inspires you? Reading, music and people inspire me! My clients often inspire me. It takes courage to talk with a stranger and be willing to learn new ways to confront their traumas and emotional distress. When I see their transformation and empowerment, it inspires me to keep growing and developing.
What obstacles have you overcome? When I decided to pursue the goal of becoming a licensed therapist over 25 years ago, it was challenging for many reasons. I did not know any other BIPOC therapists I could connect with as a mentor and it required extensive time, study and financial investment. One of the most challenging experiences included having to start my professional licensure hours all over again when I moved back to my home state due to a personal family crisis. However, all of the extra hours and work gave me more experience and expertise to connect with a variety of people and it prepared me to overcome other newer obstacles I would have to face.
What is your personal quote or life’s motto? One of my favorite personal quotes is “When you have hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.” This quote helps me to put into perspective that no matter how difficult and even damaging the betrayals, injuries and traumas that I or others have experienced, growth is always possible and it is up to me to actively change my narrative.
What’s one message you wish all women could hear? I work with a lot of women and one of the core issues I hear about is women feeling false or unhealthy guilt, shame and even responsibility for people and situations that were out of their control. I wish all women could truly hear and receive the message that “I can forgive myself and learn from every mistake. I did the best that I could do for that time.”
