Celebrating Women

From our CEO

In our anniversary issue, we talk with Chicago's very own Sandy Redd about Life after the Voice. Find out what she has been up to and what’s to come for this powerful singer. May is Mental Health Awareness, catch up with Dr. Barbara Evans, EdD, LCPC as she continues to share her knowledge on mental health.

Then get your dose of the Chaplin's Wisdom from our resident Chaplin Faith Berthey. Our small Business highlight, learn how Ria Harris is building one community at a time. Finally, purpose, life, testimony, and passion played a role in these authors sharing their story. Meet Michelle Chavis and Tracee Garner in our Author Spotlight. Don’t’ stop there, check out Selena Haskins and our new editor coming on board Shauntae Ward from Chicago. We are growing our team to bring you some fantastic stories.

Get Inspired, empowered, and entertained.

We celebrate our 1 year anniversary since taking

our on-l ine blog to magazine distribution in print/ digital. Happy Anniversary to Sistah's Place!

We like to thank all of our features from authors, artists, director s, actress , actors, authors, and small business owners who have shared their story with us.

Happy Mother's Day to all the powerful women who we honor and celebrate.

Thank you,

Letrise T. Carter, CEO

Ria Harris: Building Communities,One Home at a Time by M ia Thoma s

Ria Harris, a licensed real estate professional in Illinois and Indiana and owner of The Community Builder Realtor, is committed to building communities, one home at a time. She was inspired to become a realtor because her family owned income property when she was growing up. Later, she decided to take the family business a step further by becoming a realtor. To serve even more people, Ria earned the SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist) and ABR (Accredited Buyers Representatives) designations that allow her to work both buyers and sellers.

Helping people realize their dream of home ownership is an important endeavor she does not take lightly. When working with prospective buyers, especially first-time homeowners, Ria advises them to understand the responsibilities of home ownership; to be mindful of property taxes in any given area; and to know their “must haves” vs. “wants” for their home. She also urges them to establish a budget that includes an emergency fund plus a home warranty plan.

Ria enjoys watching entrepreneurs succeed in their fields of concentration; seeing them doing well not just as business people but holistically. This is especially true for colleagues in the real estate profession. “I’ve met many realtors in both states and don’t consider them to be competitors. Instead, I look at them as professionals with whom I can collaborate for the best interest of our clients. My goal is not just to sell a house but to improve the communities where my clients decide to live. Hence, my motto is “Building a beautiful, peaceful, and benevolent community one home at a time.”

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Ria is a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. However, her most important title is a servant of God. She enjoys learning, reading, and experiencing new adventures. She is excited about her newest adventure: boxing in the Chicago Real Estate Rumble on May 16th.

With decades of experience as a business owner, Ria offers the following tips to aspiring entrepreneurs: get a mentor, prepare a business plan, and setting goals. Create a realistic budget for your start-up business. “Don’t give up! Doing what you enjoy never feels like work; it’s a joy, honor, and pleasure.”

Learn more about Ria Harris by visiting her website at https://www.riathecommunitybuilder.com

8 Sistah's Place

Branding tools is your reputation and visibility. It is extremely important that you understand your brand, branding, and your brand identity. These will be critical to running a successful business. Here are a few branding tips to help grow the visibility for your business, book, or projects.

3 BRANDING TIPS

1. Start a Pod-cast: Host a show where you talk about your services, interview experts, or

discuss topics that add value to your customers.

2. Host Webinars: A great opportunity to find new clients by hosting a webinar about the

services that will be of added value to your to new clients. Teach this something new.

3. Collaborate with Bloggers: You want brand ambassadors, or product reviews.

Build a relationship with bloggers to share your products/services with their audience. Create more visibility for your brand.

How to Support a Loved One with a Mental Illness

by Dr. Barbara Evans, EdD, LCPC

www.Barbeface2face.com

“Her nerves are bad,” “The elevator doesn’t go to the top,” “She has a screw loose,” “His cheese fell off the cracker,” “He’ s a wackadoo” and lastly , “You know they are special.”

These are just a few of the negative slangs that have been used over the years to describe a person with a mental illness. People often make incredibly insensitive and downright despicable remarks especially since we have never been taught what to say and it is not innate at all to help someone who has a mental illness. However, most people – hopefully – know that being a jerk to someone about their mental illness isn’t just inappropriate and ignorant, it’s cruel.

With approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S –, 9.8 million or 4% is experiencing a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activity…is there any doubt that many of these people affected may be a family member or friend? It is difficult to see someone you love in pain and its confusing when someone you know well is not acting like themselves. You know how you would take care of them if they had a cold or flu, but what do you do for a mental illness?

While it’s important for families to learn that they didn’t cause their loved one’s disorder and they can’t cure it, it's equally essential for them to understand that how you treat your loved one has a significant impact on their well- being. In efforts to being supportive, sometimes well-meaning family and friends …although unintentional, often end up trivializing the condition. Here’s a small list of things one should never say to someone who has a mental illness.

On the contrary, here is a list of adequate things that family and friends can do to support their loved one with mental illness.