Category: Uncategorized

Q and A with Sabrina H. from Oliver, British Columbia, Canada

“Growth begins when you commit to moving forward before everything feels perfect.”

Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: What lights me up is building or reshaping workplaces into something efficient and effective, yet still fair and resolute.

A company must grow, stay profitable, and keep its edge, but the people within it deserve the same chance to grow in confidence, skill, and earning power.

My psychology degree gave me the human lens and my years in HR provided the systems foundation.

I help people and businesses succeed by creating systems and conversations where fairness and accountability can exist in the same room.

That balance is what I’m most passionate about.

When it’s right, everyone moves forward together and the business grows, and so do the people within it.

Smart Solutions was born from that intersection, after years of watching how companies rise or fall based on how they choose, support, and value their people.

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up in a home led by strong women.

My mom raised me on her own, with my grandmother close by.

Together, they taught me that speaking up, thinking for yourself, and finding your own way are necessary, even when it goes against the grain.

That mindset became the foundation for how I work and lead today.

Learning has always been my way forward, so I went back to school as an adult and earned my degree in psychology while raising my two sons independently.

That time demanded focus and discipline, and it showed me how powerful education can be when it connects to real life experience.

By the time I finished my degree, I had fifteen years of administrative experience and a solid background in project management, operations, and logistics.

HR became the natural next step, a place to blend human understanding with structure and strategy. The last two decades have refined those skills and brought me to this point, where experience and knowledge come together in work worth sharing.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: If there’s one truth I’ve learned, it’s that waiting for certainty only delays progress.

Growth begins when you commit to moving forward before everything feels perfect.

It may sound counterintuitive to someone who builds systems, but iteration is part of reality.

Holding out until version one feels flawless only makes it harder to reach version two, three, or four. That lesson was shaped and reinforced when I went back to school as an adult. It wasn’t about timing or convenience; it was simply about starting, and then starting again, until I reached the finish line.

It took many years to complete my degree because life often demanded my attention elsewhere, and each pause made returning feel more daunting.

In the end, I finished with a GPA of 3.28 and a clear understanding that progress is built one imperfect step at a time.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: To me, feminism is about equality.

It means that women should have the same freedom to define success on their own terms, whether that means leading a company, raising a family, starting over, creating something new, or doing all of it within one lifetime.

The strong women I grew up around did not receive the same support or opportunities as men, even though they were often the ones holding everything together.

Watching that shaped how I see the world and taught me that opportunity rarely shows up uninvited.

You build it, one decision at a time.

That same belief guides how I work today.

Now, in mid-life, feminism feels less about demanding a place at the table and more about using your voice once you are there.

It is about standing in your experience with confidence and not waiting for permission to be heard.

MORE ABOUT SABRINA: After years of watching businesses succeed or struggle based on how they chose to support their employees, it felt like it was time to take everything I had learned and turn it into something practical and lasting. That is where Smart Solutions by Sabrina comes from. Starting this business reflects what I value most: fairness, growth, and the belief that people and systems work best when they evolve together. It feels right to be building from a place where experience and intention finally align.

Thank you for reading!

Let’s connect! Here:

Website: www.sabrinasmartsolutions.ca

Email: info@sabrinasmartsolutions.ca

www.sabrinasmartsolutions.ca

Q and A with Moriah from Brooklyn, New York, living in Hampton, Virginia

“…we have the greatest gift and honor in being able to control our thoughts, our perceptions of our circumstances...”

Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I am incredibly passionate about my work with Black women—helping them to see themselves, in all their potential, but most importantly, in all they already are!

I found this passion as I navigated through different therapist roles at various agencies, but the spark was lit tremendously as I started to take a mental note of the population that I naturally gravitated towards the most—when I didn’t feel like I was “working” but simply supporting—and the burst of joy I’d feel every time a Black woman shared with me that they felt so much better (more confident) about themselves, and less shame, guilt, and inward confusion.

I found myself having visions of my future, and feeling extremely energized and inspired as I saw more and more people who looked like me, reaching the phase that I’d describe now as self-actualization (read up on “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,” if you’d like more on this). It gives me life, as some people say! 

Currently, I am focusing on creative ways to reach, inspire, and empower more Black women, using the gifts I feel blessed to have.

I have already launched my YouTube channel, which is a dedicated safe, resourceful, and validating space created specifically for Black women, and I write whenever I feel inspired and share.

I will say, though, that it is my one-on-one conversations, be it in sessions, “run-ins” with other Black women that I have in my day to day, or even with friends and family, that I value most. To me, it’s nothing like those intimate spaces where vulnerability shines bright, and each person I encounter has an opportunity to feel seen, heard, valued, and appreciated. I believe it’s my calling. 

I love that I get to do this! What I’ve also learned to love in doing this “work” externally with others, is that it also causes me to reflect more often and continue doing the work within myself. 

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: My younger years were very much grounded in faith, family, culture, and education.

If I’m being honest though, there were also multiple experiences of fear and anxiety—only I didn’t realize that’s what it was then. 

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and unfortunately, I didn’t always have the safest experiences usually when leaving school—I will also never forget what 9-11 was like as a 4th grader living there, and this still impacts my experiences when I need to fly…but more on that another time!

I remember my group of friends and I, especially in middle school, would travel in packs and had to be “ready” always to physically defend ourselves (fight) because there were often others around from other schools (usually older kids), who didn’t have the best intentions and were looking to “jump” and stir up trouble with those of us who were younger or at other schools.

It wasn’t the most fun time in those instances, but it taught me early on, that even though I had supportive and safe parents and others who loved and cared for me, that there may be others in life that I may encounter who may not have the best intentions and I’d need to protect myself (and sometimes those I love and care for) in those instances.

Those are tough lessons to learn as a child, and I’m thankful that I’m here, despite the odds, and that I didn’t allow those experiences to taint my view of everyone.

I also encountered friends, mentors, and people (during that time, and as I got older) who were beautiful souls, good-hearted, and showed themselves to have good intentions.

My parents always kept me, and my brothers, grounded as well, which allowed for me to still see the good in people while still remaining vigilant, and even prayerful.

Even while those difficult experiences occurred, I was still able to be very active, and my parents encouraged creative outlets, which I chose through dance, song, and even a little bit of drawing and theatre, particularly while in high school.

I attended and graduated early from Brooklyn School for Music and Theatre with an Advanced Regents Diploma as Salutatorian of my high school class, which afforded me the opportunity to deliver a speech to my graduating class—an experience that mustered a fondness of public speaking, and it’s when I realized I was pretty good at it too!

I remember being a very inquisitive child who loved learning from and connecting with others intimately, and I truly fell in love with the arts (of all kinds) during my teen years. 

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Something valuable I’ve learned that I share often nowadays with others and I would love for EVERYONE to know is that, although life’s circumstances, the initial emotions we experience in our humanity, and even society often reminds us of what we do not have control over, we have the greatest gift and honor in being able to control our thoughts, our perceptions of our circumstances, our long-term emotional experiences, our words, our responses, our behaviors, how we treat others, how we treat (and speak to) ourselves, how we choose to raise our children, how we show up in the world, and all things pertaining to ourselves. The more we focus on that fact, the better off we are, the healthier and happier we are, and thus, the better the world can become. 

I want others to learn, from my story, to love themselves, so they can show more love outwardly. I also want others to know that they can do ANYTHING they put their mind to; I just hope that what they put their mind to is for the greater good! 

Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: To me, feminism is about seeing the value in and embracing womanhood, recognizing our rights, strengths, and uniqueness as women, and confidently walking in our innate (God-given) power. 

MORE ABOUT MORIAH: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York; however, for the last 15 years, I’ve lived in the state of Virginia. I currently live in Hampton, Virginia, with my loving husband of 8 years and vibrant 4 year old son. 

Thank you for reading!

Let’s connect! Here:

Website: https://mpoweredcounselingservicesllc.info/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moriah-holland-lpc-511b69357?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@moriahholland-g1h?si=uUSmDoHIl4ioI2tn

Substack (writings): 

https://open.substack.com/pub/moriahchollandlpc?r=4azqc8&utm_medium=ios