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TABLE OF CONTENT 4
Editors Note
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Month Of Gratitude
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Athlete Of The Month
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You Are Responsible For Your Own Happiness
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Brown Beauty Of The Month
Deborah Risper
Christina Marie
Tracy Jackson
Brandi Readus
Lanisha Stewart
14 10 Ways To Eat For Your Goals Through The Holidays Jessica Fallen
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Thanksgiving Cooking Tips & Tricks
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Building Generational Wealth
Chef Shelenn White
Authors Mitchell & Deborah Risper
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EDITORS NOTE Deborah Risper
Happy November!!
We are in the home stretch of 2021. November is the month of Thanksgiving. As we transition into the holiday season be sure to count your blessings. With many things in our world are still happening, we should all take time to reflect on the good. While not having a job or a place to stay may not be your story, it could be someone else’s. Take the time to be kind. Kindness is never forgotten. As a reminder during this season, shop small businesses to support families. Our customers are the heart of how we survive. We love you for loving on us! Enjoy the amazing edition packed with tips, ideas, and holiday love. From my family to yours we wish you and your family an AMAZING Thanksgiving!!
XoXo,
Deborah
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MONTH OF GRATITUDE Christina Marie
November is National Gratitude Month, but thankfulness can benefit your health all year long. Gratitude is more than simply saying “thank you.” Finding someone or something to be thankful for every day makes a lasting change in the way we see the world while also improving our health. The Benefits of Gratitude Gratitude offers numerous mental and physical health benefits. Its importance cannot be overstated: Gratitude reduces stress and makes us more resilient. Gratitude helps us feel more positive emotions. Gratitude unshackles us from toxic emotions. Gratitude improves our selfesteem. Gratitude decreases the symptoms of depression. Gratitude helps us sleep better. Gratitude improves our interpersonal relationships. Gratitude enhances optimism. Gratitude can even help us lower blood pressure, stop smoking, or lose weight.
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ATHLETE OF THE MONTH Tracy Jackson
W.O.E takes great pride in highlighting our athletic community. Talent, ambition, attitude, and leadership make a great athlete. Join W.O.E in congratulating Tracy Jackson on his amazing achievements. He is a Freshman and has so much talent to show the world. Take a look at how Tracy is shining through.
W: Outside of your sport, who are you? T: Outside of sports I am an intelligent young black man. I help others to achieve success and I support people. I think I am almost where I want to be as a person but I do need to work on some things.
W: What has this sport taught you? T: This sport has taught me to not take everything for granted and cherish everything I have in life period. W: Do you see yourself playing this sport for life or as a professional?
T: Yes I see myself playing this sport forever. I love football and want to make a living for not just myself but my family.
W: What are your goals for this sport now and in the future?
W: Why/how did you choose your sport?
T: My goal is to first make it to D1 in college, and
T: I chose football mostly because of my size
then hopefully make it to the NFL even though I know the chances of that.
and the attitude my teammates bring. And also coach Saulsberry took me in at a late time in the football season and accepted me. Football is more than just a game, it’s life.
W: How long have you played your sport?
W: What advice would you give to newbies in your sport?
T: Every time you fall get back up immediately.
T: This will be my 2nd year ever playing football.
Coaches love to see a hard worker that’s not afraid to take hits and not afraid to fail something.
I love it but I wish I had been playing tackle football since a kid.
W: Do you have any exciting things in your life
W: What is your position and how important is
or sport that you’d like to share?
it to your team?
T: Yes, I got the film from my coach and
T: I play Defensive tackle / Nose guard. This is
realized the stuff I need to work on and the stuff I improved in. And I lost weight since spending my time on the Whitehaven football team.
a very important role for the team because I’m rushing the quarterback trying to either throw off his throw, or trying to sack him.
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Follow me on Instagram @imnot.tj
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YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN HAPPINESS Brandi Readus
Mary J said it best “All I really want is to be happy”… That’s the goal, right? What we all strive for personally, professionally, spiritually, emotionally…to be truly happy. We pursue happiness. We chase joy. We do all the “things” that “they” tell us to do. We expect all of our relationships to fulfill this inherent need of being happy. What many of us end up getting in return is disappointment. Why is that? I believe it’s because we spend too much time and energy looking outward for happiness when it all starts from within. Happiness is an inside job.
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When we expect the bulk of our happiness to stem from people and things outside of ourselves, we set ourselves up for disappointment, resentment, strained and failed relationships, and heartache. No relationship will ever live up to your standards or fulfill your needs because you’re asking someone to give you what you probably haven’t even identified for yourself. Let me explain. If we haven’t done the work of introspection, trying new experiences, and living in our truth, can we say we even know what makes us happy? Probably not. I’ll never forget a “spirited discussion” W.O.E
WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE (aka an argument) with my husband where he expressed that he didn’t feel like he could ever make me happy. At the time, the statement truly confused me, and I thought to myself, “he should know how to do that by now”. The conversation ended with him saying, “tell me what you want” and I struggled to answer him. That’s when I realized that I expected him to know somehow what to do to make me happy when I didn’t even know myself. How absolutely ridiculous is that? I had to be honest with myself, and in doing that, I realized I had never honestly spent time figuring out what truly makes me happy. What sets my heart on fire and gives me pleasure. What brings me back to the uninhibited bliss of a child. What makes me want to dance or cry tears of joy. When I began to reflect on these things, most of them were all things that came from within. They were simply enhanced when they could be shared with someone – especially someone I loved and cared for. Think of your happiness as a cake. When you’ve found your joy, that cake is layered and iced. Fully functional all on its own. Relationships add embellishments like fondant flowers, sprinkles, glitter, or fruit filling. All of which makes the cake even better and more enjoyable. But you can take all of those things away, and the cake can still stand and be just fine on its own. Relationships should add to your joy and happiness, but they cannot be the sole source. Handing the job of your happiness to others sets everyone involved up for disappointment. You will be frustrated that you aren’t getting what you need, and someone who loves you feels like they have failed you even though they were doing a job that they had no business doing in the first place. The weight of trying to make someone happy who isn’t content with themselves will kill a relationship. It’s a race where the finish line keeps getting moved, or worse, you find you’re not even on the correct course at all. Take some time to get to know yourself. The real you. Not the person you pretend to be. Not the representative you’ve been sending out into the world. Your most authentic self. Think back to times you felt unbridled happiness and note what you were doing. What can you think about, and a smile instantly comes across your face? Those are the things that make up your happiness – the ingredients of your cake. Now, it’s up to you to bake it.
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BROWN BEAUTY OF THE MONTH Lanisha Stewart “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” - Albert Einstein La’Nisha La’Shay Stewart (Smith); born in Chicago, Illinois raised as an only child on the south side in Englewood. She has made it a point to strive for her goals, which were nothing less than her grandest dreams. One of LaNisha’s dreams was to escape living in the heart of no love city. Raised by her single mother and Paternal grandmother she would daydream often about how life would be once she became an adult. La’Nisha’s hobbies included crafting and designing in 2002 she enrolled at Robert Morris College for interior design. She was allowed to pursue studies in New York but decided not to, she was recently engaged to a childhood friend and they later welcomed their first child in March of 2006. Things after 7 years. This was not the story LaNisha once envisioned as a child. However, her greatest motivation was her son. When he was around 4 years old she met her now-husband Cortez Stewart in 2010. They later married in May of 2011 and welcomed a daughter that July. Not long after, they welcomed another child a son March of 2013. In 2017 they picked up and relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada where they decided to lay down their foundation to build a legacy for their family. Currently, a Human Resources Generalist for her cities transportation company while pursuing her Business Management degree with Capella University she is a member of ( The National Honors Society and Phi Theta Kappa
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National Honors Society). She also manages her online boutique with her now 10-year-old daughter. Danyella Boutique was originally established in 2016 as an adult jewelry line then added children accessories fast forward 2020 they have extended the brand with clothing and beauty products. Management has been in LaNisha’s blood throughout the years being now called the matriarch of the family she has entered into the entertainment world. Her youngest children are signed with ENVY Model and Management based out of Beverly Hills, CA. Her family has done work for brands such as COACH, Xfinity/Comcast, Amazon Fire-TV just to name a few. Her husband who is the owner of Stewart Management Administration has recently appointed her Operations Manager of his trucking company. Her origination skills and the outlook that she brings with building, planning, and branding are unmatched. -Cortez Stewart This is just the beginning for this boutique owner, momager, manager, wife, mom. We are social: Facebook: DanyellaBoutique Thestewartsiblings Instagram: Danyella_Boutique Thestewartsiblings For bookings: sma_bookings@outlook.com Shop online: linktree/Danyella_Boutique
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10 WAYS TO EAT FOR YOUR GOALS THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS Jessica Fallen
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ello, my name is Jessica Fallen but most of my online clients know me as MamaLove-A lot, and am I’m so excited & honored WOE has invited me to share a little bit of holiday love with you all. I’ve been in the health and fitness industry for over ten years and teaching beginner’s yoga and meditation for 7. I have learned so much along the way and as the industry continues to grow and change, we must do the same. So as a lifestyle trainer I hope you find these next 10 tips helpful along your journey. When it comes to navigating the holidays, maintaining is one thing but thriving through them is also obtainable. So without further a due, here are 10 ways the holidays can serve you. 1) Celebrate with those that can relate! In other words, celebrate with people that share similar lifestyles. If you plan on dining in with extended family or friends for the holidays, this is the way to go. To ensure a seamless, efficient, and mutually beneficial celebration, give it a shot and thank me later. Dining with those of similar lifestyles increases the possibility of healthier meal options. Not to mention sharing exciting new tips and recipes, being the easiest transition into a nice open conversation piece. 2) If vegan, prep for success! Celebrating with the family that normally has more traditional
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holiday meals? No sweat, simply request or inquire about vegan options with your holiday host beforehand. But to be honest, it’s been my personal experience that the best way to ensure your own satisfaction without compromising the integrity of your lifestyle, is to simply bring your own vegan meal plan options. This way, there is no extra pressure. Everyone will be fed, full, and stay in a fun family mood. 3) Avocados & sweet potatoes! Adding some nontraditional holiday foods or side dish options can be refreshing and healthy for the holiday season especially if tired of making the same dishes every year. Limit your intake on dishes that contain foods that cause inflammation within the body like large amounts of cheese and dairy. If cheese is in everything, choose one side and eat a smaller portion. Incorporating more avocado slices on a tray with the holiday nuts or adding more avocados into your actual dishes are great for belly fat reduction. Sweet potatoes are also known for their belly fat reduction properties. But we know extra sugar; butter and peaches are generally a staple in the black community. As good as that cobbler is, those extra sugar and butter additives counteract the benefits of the natural sweet potato so the loophole is to substitute the butter and sugar for healthier
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WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE options if can like vegan butter. 4) Enjoy but don’t overindulge! Now I know all the fun holiday colors, flavors, smells, and sounds make us all secretly revert back to our childhood whimsical selves and make us just want to try and explore everything we can see and is within reach, but sloooooow down. Making healthier or simply more intentional choices does not mean living a life of deprivation. No need to panic. This is not a season of telling ourselves no, just maybe not right now or not as much. Telling ourselves this simple statement again relieves the pressure and guilt generally associated with having specific kinds of foods. Telling ourselves, no, can often trigger the exact opposite effect in us and with a vengeance, often causing us to fall completely off the bandwagon by overindulging. Instead, we start by rewiring our brains and allowing ourselves to have what we want but in healthier ways. With that being said, enjoy the holiday special dishes but use portion control training when making your plate or when eating. 5) Portion control for your goals! Now I know everyone will want and encourage you to taste, eat and love their dish the most to deem it best. But this makes it even more vital to portion control for your goals, not aunt Lavern’s, cousin Sheera’s, or your sister’s, yours! Say it with me one more time, “Portion Control For My Goals!” Not to mention the holiday perk of finally having a legitimate and respectful reason to stand up to your motherin-law and or that one drunk aunt. No need to pretend to try or love that bootleg baked mac n cheese or dry “homemade” stuffing cousin peaches fails at every year. Simply share, “no thank you, I’m on a specific meal plan,” as you
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smirk while you discreetly decline and slowly walk away. For weight loss, focus on smaller portions of carbs and larger portions of protein and veggies. Or simply do a KETO meal plan which is basically limited to high-fat proteins and veggies only. For mass gain, you should have more carbs and protein than anything else on your plate when you eat. 6) Desert first? I know, you’re like, “wait whaaaat?” But hear me out, now this tip results and benefits vary across cultures and cuisines, however, newer research shows that taking a few bites of dessert before eating your meal can help you absorb vitamins and nutrients better. According to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, it was found that indulging in dessert before a meal could actually lead to healthier eating overall. The advantage of eating dessert first is it delays gastric emptying. This causes you to feel fuller quicker so you generally end up eating less. So if weight loss is your goal, or you’ve hit or are close to your caloric intake for the day on your mass gain journey, this little tidbit could be a game-changer. 7) Eat around the frosting to stay popping! Let’s be honest, the way most desserts are made was bound to end up eating at least some of the frosting anyway. So whatever you do end up eating in your attempt to eat around it, is more than likely enough. So again no matter what your dessert choices are, eat around the frosting! Laughing but very serious. Seriously though, of course, this method mainly applies to cakes but honestly, it applies to anything with frosting. The frosting is what contains the most sugar so reducing your frosting intake makes enjoying your favorite holiday pastries guilt-free.
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WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE 8) Make conscious choices! Reflect if eating to flee, for fun or fuel! Now, it is the holidays so emotions are sure to run high at some point and it being the season of comfort foods, emotional eating is a slippery slope. So if you find yourself perusing the holiday spread or desserts table 2 too many times, take a moment to reflect, assess how you are feeling in the moment, make sure you’re not emotional eating. Eating to escape uncomfortable situations or to fill a void. If eating for fun, think of the act as taste testing. Overall, evaluate if you are really hungry. If not opt for a healthy snack instead of another meal. 9) Make Intentional Drink choices. Now, this is where maintaining even a weekly meal plan can get tricky. A lot of us slip through the cracks when it comes to making the consistent and intentional drinks choices we need to complement our goals. Honestly, this happens because when we have our meals, were simply do not think much about our drink choices. Either or default choices kick in, we choose based on what’s available, or others’ suggestions. But truth is, having something that seems as harmless as a can of soda or a pop a day, can have long-term permanent damage to your kidneys. 10) Drink to peak! Water is the one drink that is undeniably good for and restores us! Having something as simple as a cup of hot tea or room temperature water after every meal can help your digestive system. So to
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keep it simple, choose water most, juice/ pop sometimes, and or alcohol hardly ever. I mix all 3 however, Limit your drinks. If up to a challenge your old ways, whatever drinks you have that isn’t water, drink double that amount in water to flush your system. Just be prepared to flush the toilet just as much because you will have to urinate more than usual. If you feel you will need a little bit more extra accountability getting through this tasty tempting season successfully, you are reading the right article. By doing so, you’ve learned at least 2 very important things about me, as an official online lifestyle trainer, I can be petty but I have the best times hacking the ish out of the holidays. Whether you need high quality, goal complementary supplements, fun and affordable workout programs for your specific health, wellness, and body goals, easily accessible tracking tools & or coaching via my online accountability group, all are ready & available for you via my #budgetfriendly monthly subscription options here: https://linktr.ee/ embodyphysique Let’s Goooo! #GetWithMe #Igotyou. If you find these tips helpful, please share the love via our Embody Physique Online Wellness Club FB Page https://www.facebook.com/ embodyphysiqueHealthandFitness Until next time, happy holiday season and happy eating.
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THANKSGIVING COOKING TIPS & TRICKS Chef Shelenn White
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ey y’all, As you know Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that’s one of the biggest holidays of the year. This is the time that you get to come together with your family reminisce over the years laugh love and eat. Getting ready for Thanksgiving can be kinda overwhelming but I have some tips and tricks that will help you prepare for the big day without being stressed out and tired. Prepping will always save you time in the kitchen no matter what you are preparing, prepping it will always help in the end. Here are a few tips to help…it is very important that you have your essentials ready to go, these are things you can prepare ahead of time. First, go ahead and make sure you make your own chicken broth or beef broth, it is very inexpensive and it can be done ahead of time up to a month or two ahead of time. Also, It can be frozen after preparation so it will be ready for when you need to use it. Second, you can go ahead and dice up your vegetables that you will be needing for your various dishes like celery, onions, peppers, etc. They can be chopped 1 week in advance and placed in air-tight containers. Freezing them is also an option. If you’re making cornbread or regular dressing go ahead and crumble or chop up your bread the way you want. Put it in a ziplock bag along with your spices and pop it in the freezer. Now for desserts always cook your desserts the day before so that you don’t have to worry about those things on the day of. Baking those cakes and pies the day before
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will save you so much time. For a flavorful and juicy Turkey make sure you brine your turkey overnight. Brining will allow the flavor to get all the way through the Turkey. Ensuring a juicy and flavor-packed bird, that will definitely be a hit. Now I know some people are not really good with making gravy the key to making a flavorful gravy is using either beef broth or chicken broth to kick up the flavor. If you are cooking a Turkey you can take the pan dripping from the Turkey to use for gravy. Chicken broth will work as well, just don’t use water because water takes away from the flavor. Remember salt doesn’t equal flavor. You can purchase low sodium and flavor-packed seasonings on my website. I hope these tips will help you navigate through the holidays without stress. Remember that your meal is a reflection of your love, so as you prepare your meal remember that the ones you love will know that they are loved. Follow me on social media platforms Instagram: @verettas_kitchen Facebook: Veretta’s Kitchen YouTube: Veretta’s Kitchen Tictok: @verettaskitchen Website:verettaskitchen.com
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BUILDING GENERATIONAL WEALTH Authors Mitchell & Deborah Risper “You Gotta Build With Somebody Who Wants It As Bad As You Do” Power is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. (Oxford Language). Couple is defined as two people who are married, engaged, or otherwise closely associated romantically or sexually. (Oxford Language) I can recall Mitch & I moving into our first apartment at 20. My what a feeling of accomplishment that was. 2 children and our own place in a nice neighborhood. Mitch & I grew up in the inner city of Chicago during the crack era so to make it out alive and move our 2 children at that time was a huge accomplishment. We knew that there was life outside of where we grew up which prompted us to make a plan for more. Fast forward, we added 2 additional children who are known today as the Fantastic 4. Our children grew up in a diverse community and still to this day. Mitch and I wanted our children to know they can exist in a world and have the best of life. Now, don’t get us wrong, we had bruises and bumps in the road but our hunger remained the same. After having our last daughter and seeing all the stay at home Moms I wanted a piece of the pie. I began learning tax preparation and there my love for business grew. I’ve
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had the pleasure to serve clients across the states, train other preparers and a host of many opportunities. Not once did Mitch become upset, envious or spiteful with my many opportunties;rather he assisted where he could because the goal is and will always be generational wealth. Now that we are headed into our 15th year marriage with our children getting older, Mitch and I have explored various ways to add to our wealth. We have recently added logistics to our wealth building. We are proud to share this journey with our children because one day they’ll be the overseer of Risper Inc. If we could leave you with a few pieces of advice it would be: 1: Find the RIGHT partner to build with 2: Create an income that you can leave behind 3: Teach your children the ropes 4: Always master one thing before moving on 5: Pray for your spouse and business often We are better together and together we will change the world! Mitchell & Deborah 20