Happy Mother’s Day to the Ultimate Epitome of a woman, My Mother, My confidant, My hero, My mother, Deborah C. Nelson. Everyday I think of my mom and I am always in awe. I am sure she knows I adore her but its hard to express about someone who is phenomenal. She showed me independence. She raised me to be intelligent. She made sure I knew how to conduct myself in any and every environment. I love my mother for that. She’s always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. She still does. She is my front cheerleader. Even when she moved to California, she never left me. When she goes to Korea every so often to teach English conversation, she never leaves. She has always been one call/email away. She’s been a mentor for my blog, she’s given me words of wisdom to become a great business woman.

But enough about me, my mom not only has been great to me, but also my older brother Ishmael Sistrunk and my deceased brother Anthony Caldwell. My mom showed nothing but strength to us all. It was unreal at times situations she would endure and still smile.

I believe God knew what He was doing when He blessed me and my brothers as the children of Deborah. He knew we were destined for greatness and once each of us were born, she confirmed it.

Oldest child: Anthony -means- flourishing or praiseworthy

Anthony was very strong, very intelligent, funny, lovable. I believe if he were still here, he’d do his best to make sure our mom wouldn’t need anything.

Middle child:Ishmael -means- according to the story of the bible, people would say Ishmael was an outcast as the son of Hagar. But Ishmael was an ‘outcast’ because he was promised to be protected and multiplied by God.

12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said untothee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottleof water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness ofBeersheba.

15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; forGod hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

God told Hagar do not fear, just like us mothers need to not fear being a mother and just be thankful for having God on our side. God promised that He would make Ishmael a great nation.

Now I love that my brother is named Ishmael because he has been everything great. A great son, brother and now husband. Also gifted with a writing talent, he writes for the St. Louis American Newspaper and also is fluent in IT. Besides my mom I look up to him. He definitely shows my mom was blessed with a son destined for greatness.

Youngest child-Winnie (ME!)

Winnie means “fair and smooth; happiness; holy, blessed reconciliation; joy and peace; first-born daughter; fair, pure”

I must say that’s crazy because i am my mother’s first and only daughter. As a child and young teen, I worried alot. But listening to my mom I learned to be patient and calm. Now i am all about finding happiness and peace. I now relay that message to my son. I remind myself everyday, working two jobs, in college, writing for myself and a magzine, life can seem unfair and overwhelming, but I always remember my mother stressing to me everything will be ok. She would always tell me my breakthrough was coming. I used to just wave her off but she knew just as God knew. I was surprised each time a door opened but my mom would just smile like “I knew it.”

Mommy (Yes at 24 I call her Mommy lol) I love you, I am thankful, and I am blessed to call you my mother. From the things we endured when I was a child, when if I were in your shoes, I would’ve given up, you kept going. I mean look at you, beautiful, writing for a living, teaching overseas, and married to a great man who gives you nothing but happiness. I love you and Thank You.

Happy Mother’s Day Mommy!!!

See wonderful stories about living in korea by my mommy at: http://www.kimchibydeb.com

See wonderful writing from my brother at : http://questalpha.wordpress.com/ and http://www.stlamerican.com/sports/sports_columnists/in_the_clutch

🙂

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The FIERCE DIVALICIOUS Motivational Mommy, Theresa “Reece” Pearson, 26 years old, with daughter Rae who is 1 years old (15 months), is conquering the world one strut at a time. Reece is a woman who voices her opinion freely, yet she’s reserved on some levels. I see it as a sneak attack. She handles her business, doing more than you know, then BOOM, she’s strutting right past you with her head held high n confidence. Working as a CSR and modeling on the side, Reece shows Mommies can rock out too!

I knew Reece had some things up her sleeve but I just had to dig in deeper to figure out what.

Winnie: What inspired you to model?

Reece: I’ve ALWAYS wanted to model. I wanted to sashay (laughs) down the runway to the dopest music and try things that I probably wouldn’t wear on the regular in a photo shoot..I LOVE taking pics.

Winnie: I heard you have some shows coming up? Congrats! How’d that happen?

Reece: Yes!Check me out in NYC Full Figured Fashion week in June and L.A. Full Figured Fashion week in October. but when I was pregnant I was offered to do a TV show for TLC about pregnant plus size ladies but they didn’t get some type of clearance so the guy Mark kept me in mind and hooked me up with a Skype interview for NYC Full figured fashion week and I got picked then basically the same thing for L.A. Chelsey hooked me up and. I got picked. I’m the shortest model, one of the bigger ones also and 2 shows for each event but that’s big in the Plus size world.

Winnie:How does it feel to be a mommy?

Reece:It still feels weird, I never wanted to have kids because I didn’t really like them (laughs) but being a mother has brought a different side in me, like the feeling is wonderful. I look at her every day and think this is my baby!

Winnie: What are one of your most memorable mommy moments?

Reece: It’s hard to pick one moment, my daughter has truly been a gift from God and is literally a mini version of me. Full of personality. But one moment that I love is when I was teaching her to walk at 9 months, I would hold her hand so she could get used to not holding onto objects and after the 2nd day she let go of my hand like ‘Mommy I got this’ and she’s been walking every since (laughs).

Winnie: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Reece: In 5 years i plan on being well established and settled, hopefully I will have traveled the world with my daughter and MAYBE even married. (Laughs)

Winnie: What keeps you going on your path to success?

Reece:What keeps me going is my daughter and the fact that I’m not perfect so everyday is a chance to be perfect. Yes. I have my down days but then God ends up talking to me like… “What you trippin for like you don’t have me?”

Winnie: What do you have planned for the future?

Reece: I’m putting together a social club for plus sized females that encourage and empower them to love themselves no matter what. Too many females (not just plus sized) do not genuinely love them selves.The social club would something like lets say a sorority but no pledging or anything like that but hold events like brunches, fashion shows, parties, travel together, mentor young ladies, community service things of that sort bring things to a positive life. it’s still in formation right now.

Winnie: Any extra comments?

Reece: To everyone…Never give up and thanks Winnie!

Reece has always been a woman with her own mind. I love the fact she is inspiring to women, especially women who may find it hard to embrace what she’s blessed with. A very powerful post Reece made:

“I am a plus size lady been this way all my life, so 85% of the time I post things pertaining to the plus size community. Not everyone loves us, not everyone hates us, but if you do have a problem with ANYTHING pertaining to the plus size males and females then it’s best to just delete me. I LOVE me the from my big nose to my big ass, I’m far from perfect but I LOVE me. People will say that being overweight is unhealthy, yes you’re right.. But so is drinking, smoking, having unprotected sex, stressing over the next person and what they are doing, etc. The question is are you 100% healthy? If I lost weight today, I would never look down on the plus size, because that was once me. You also never know why that person is overweight or the journey they may be going through because they don’t post pics of them in the gym, food they ate, etc. As I stated I’m a plus size lady I’m going to post what I want, don’t like it delete me. Don’t try and downgrade me because you aren’t have never been or ever will be happy with yourself. Because lowkey trying to attack me does nothing but give me the giggles and boost my self esteem higher! It’s called CONFIDENCE get you some!”

~Reece, thank you for showing confidence inside and out and being a great mother while doing so. Happy Mother’s Day Reece!~

To keep up with this Motivating Mommy, follow her Twitter @iamcurvyvixen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I introduce to you a Motivating Mommy,Bionca Smith, CEO of Bully Barricade, mother, friend, confidant and more! Bionca takes every chance to fully enjoy life! From traveling across the world any chance she gets, being a full-time mommy, running a great organization, all while smiling, Bionca inspires everyday! She is a risk taker, a game changer, and she even has her license to fly a plane! Whaaatt? She shows me you can do whatever you put your mine to, no matter what you’ve been through. I decided to choose Bionca Smith because of her wonderful spirit and great foundation, Bully Barricade.

The Bully Barricade is a Non-Profit Anti bullying Not for Profit corporation founded in St Louis Mo. It is a Anti-bullying organization that focuses on social weaknesses within society that ought to be strengthened for improvement in relationships. Social development skills are such as etiquette and honor. The Bully Barricade Foundation is committed to serve St Louis school districts, after school activities and colleges. By performing ongoing tours and events throughout the city. The Bully Barricade spreads awareness about the affects of bullying in education, neighborhoods and at home.

Winnie: How old are you and your son?

Bionca: I turn 25 May 14th. Carter is 4

Winnie: Special moments that make you enjoy being a mom?

Bionca: The conversations that we have over dinner or on the way home from school about how our day has been. Events that went on, etc. I love listening to his maturing mind.

Winnie: What keeps you going as a mother and CEO of a organization?

Bionca: What keeps me going is knowing that I have no other choice. God has laid out my purpose and I can’t avoid it. Understanding your purpose is important in order to become successful. If someone doesn’t know… I would encourage them to pray about it, write in a journal, get to know themselves by being still for thought, listening to god and observing the world to see reality more clearly. The moral is : When your too busy and distracted; you can’t listen for what god is calling you to do! Very important! Be still!

Winnie: What inspired Bully barricade?

Bionca: What inspired me to start the Bully Barricade was growing up in a broken home where I was bullied severely for years without understanding why. Growing up in a home where emotional support wasn’t present made me feel worthless and from time to time considered suicide. However, many times I felt something that let me hold on and feel that I’m not alone. Not growing up in church but feeling god in my heart allowed me to stay strong and know that life would get better some day. After highschool the bullying ended for me but bullying still continues in schools. After seeing a little girl on the news commit suicide from being bullied I felt something in my heart that showed me what I could do to minimize child suicide. I decided to be the voice of the unspoken victims of bullying because I’ve been there and there are emotions that schools and parents need to hear! Emotional support is essentially needed in the conditioning of childhood.

Winnie: Where do you see Bully barricade in 5 years?

Bionca:In 5 years the Bully Barricade will have visited over hundreds of schools and have inspired thousands of parents to become more involved in their child’s educational & peer life.

Winnie: What advice would you give to other young mothers?

Bionca:The advice that I would give young mothers is to be a creator and not a victim in life. If something seems “impossible” find a way to make it possible and do not let anyone discourage you! It’s a never-ending battle. The power of what you want to have or become starts with your thoughts! Make note!

To request us at a school near you, please send a message to: https://www.facebook.com/BullyBarricadeFoundation

~~Happy Mother’s Day Bionca!!!~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michele Kendle, CEO of Misheke Cosmetics, is one Motivational Mommy! Her makeup line caters to women of any ethnicity. 44 years of old and a mother of three daughters and two grandchildren, she also recently graduated last year in 2012 from American InterContinental University obtaining a bachelors degree in Fashion Marketing. WOW! Michele has always been a go-getter but her road to success has not been easy. Even though it wasn’t easy, she never let it stop her.

Recently Michele entered a contest to improve her knowledge to having the best Cosmetic company around.

Michele shares her inspirational story:

“As I began to take my journey and started working on my line getting things in gear for the fall line I had a major set back. I needed to leave and go to St. Louis to see about my mother who was very sick. In the process of me going to St. Louis I thought my trip was going to be a three week time span but it end up being three months. While in St. Louis taking care of my mom I was at my daughter home and began experiencing chest pains. She took me to the hospital and they found a blood clot on my left and right lung and I was admitted into the hospital. I was put on blood thinners and my world seem like it turned upside down, I didn’t know what to do or say at that moment all I could do was cry. I know that God was with me but at that moment and time I couldn’t see it I was scared. During that process my business had to be put on whole for a while. After being released from the hospital I came back to Atlanta to get my life back in order but sometimes things always take a detour I wind up back in the hospital again in Atlanta. I thought to myself could things get any worst, I started getting depress and not knowing who I was the woman who can conquer anything if I just believe. I begin have panic attacks something I never had before but through prayer and uplifting from my spiritual parents, spiritual sisters, friends and family I begin to see the vision that God had for me. Although I was going through my situation I begin to pull myself together and started working on my business again putting together all the new colors for my spring line. Needless to say I have overcome the obstacle that plague my life ,even though I still have to take the medication the blood clots are gone. I’m healed God is awesome and the journey that he has me on is amazing. Making women look beautiful in my products is just the beginning of what God envision for my life in sharing and helping others. I think this seminar would be a great opportunity for me to gain,more knowledge for my company to strive and grow. A dream of a lifetime to be able to sit in the same room and listen to entrepreneurs that already done it and is achieving it. That would be priceless for me a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for allowing me to share my story.”

With that passionate entry, she is now the winner of, IndustryChick’s “Breaking Into Your Dreams” and attended the Dreams Project ATL Symposium. i just want to applaud Michele as a great business woman, mentor, mother, friend, and more.

(Michele’s daughters)She is a blessing to society and she proves no matter how, when, where, you can reach your dreams.

To check out and order her hypo-allergenic cosmetics visit: http://www.misheke.com/

When you meet her or purchase, say Winnie sent you! 🙂

~~~~~Happy Mother’s Day Michele!!~~~~