Q and A with Marcela born in Bogotá, Colombia, and living in Sydney, Australia
“Learn to believe in yourself more than anyone, keep pushing, and surround yourself with people who support you.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: Finding my passion wasn’t easy as I was not fixed on one specific subject or a collector. I always dreamt of finding my “passion,” trying different tests, people, books, etc. I was lucky enough to finally find my passion after my third baby. She inspired me to keep fighting for her and my sanity to find real and long-term life solutions to help mothers and babies sleep better. This is how Lulo was born. It’s a sleepy baby koala with a compilation of the best science-based sleeping methods to help your baby get to sleep. Find out more at www.kalmbaby.com. I am passionate about motherhood, my family, baby sleep, “me time,” and having a balanced life. Currently, we are working on refining our mother and baby daily guide routines; these are full-day routines from 0 to 3 years old.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: Growing up, I loved playing sports with my younger brother. We had the best time together. My dad was very strict, and there was zero room for mistakes. He taught me lots of manual stuff like fixing the iron or stove when they were not working at a very young age. I think I was 12 years old when I aimed to open a TV, and I was fascinated with all the cables, electronics, etc. I remember breaking the bulb inside… luckily, there was a spare TV. And it was a secret between my brother and me. I grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, where I had my first baby at a very young age. He is now 19 years old. Then I moved to Australia in search of a better life for my son, who I had to leave in Colombia for two painful years until I managed to bring him to Australia and achieve a massive and life-changing goal. I have been living for the last 14+ years in Australia. I met the love of my life, who I married and we had two kids together (ages 4 and 2 years old). He supports me every step of the way, and I am extremely grateful to God for giving me such a unique and special husband.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Learn to believe in yourself more than anyone, keep pushing, and surround yourself with people who support you. I have learned that healing yourself internally is possible with God’s help and the people he puts on our paths. Everything has a reason. It may be something that you don’t think you need, but time covers our pain and time will uncover them again.
Q: What does feminism mean to you? A: To fight for equal gender benefits. We are still seeing many industries where there is a salary gap between women and men.
“There is one skill I value the most and that is asking for help.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about helping others by providing motivation, inspiration, and emotional support. I’ve always said that my purpose found me when I was a sophomore in college in 2012 when my grandmother was killed by a car. My line of work involves helping individuals by providing direct care services and providing counseling. I am currently working on planning my Self-Love Tour and building up a Sisterhood Community dedicated to self-love and self-care resources. I help women on a self-love and healing journey by providing coaching services, self-love brunches, retreats, and training sessions.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I have been through a lot growing up. I’ve always felt feelings of abandonment and rejection due to not having an active father in my life. I’ve always been self-driven to accomplish my goals. I have been able to complete undergrad at Mercy College in 2015 with a psychology degree and grad school at St. John’s University in 2017 with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.
After my grandmother was killed in a car accident, I went through anxiety issues, times of hyperventilating, and felt guilty for not seeing her as much as I could’ve. I had to learn how to regulate my emotions, and I learned early on to ask for support. I felt like I was always viewed as being the strong one and to finally allow myself to lean on support helped me through it all. Also, I felt led to go into the social science field after a few months after the accident. I finally made the decision even though I wasn’t sure, and now here I am ten years later operating with my gifts.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: I want others to know that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s important to process emotions and thoughts and learn the necessary skills to overcome them. Also, I would encourage others to stay encouraged and make use of asking for help. There is one skill I value the most and that is asking for help.
Q: What does feminism mean to you? A: Great question. It means being able to be empowered and overcome the challenges society places on women.
MORE ABOUT KEKE: My favorite color is purple, and I love to sing.
Q and A with Ama from Nigeria, Africa, living in Canada
“You have to be ready to put in the work even when you’re not getting the results you desire.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about my family, my husband, and my children. I am also really passionate about cooking. I am a food blogger, and I started a little over a year ago. Though I took a break for a long while, I discovered it never really left my mind. I love to cook and try new recipes, and I guess I’ve made it much harder for my husband to watch his weight. It’s so rewarding for me to see my friends and family enjoy my cooking. I discovered in my mid-twenties when I was at university, where I loved to cook and bake for my friends. I also realized most of my friends came to visit because they knew I would make their favorite delicious meals. This was what made me start paying attention to my passion for the culinary art of food and recipe creation. Presently, I am working on growing my recipe-sharing vlogs. I am planning to write my recipe book as well.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up in Africa, and I come from a really big family of 9 kids, with me being the 8th. While it was fun, I had so many voices in my head because I had so many older siblings that always told me what they felt was best for me, despite the fact that I knew what I wanted. I was never bullied, I was really loved, and being an adult now, I realized all the things they did were done in love. My early years were spent in my home country in Nigeria, but I spent my university years in Francophone Benin Republic, where I studied marketing and commercial communication.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: I have come to learn and understand that good things take time. Nothing good comes easily. You have to be ready to put in the work even when you’re not getting the results you desire. You can’t wish it to happen; you have to make it happen. As you are making it happen, remember to be patient and know it’s only a matter of time; it would grow.
Q: What does feminism mean to you? A: Feminism for me is about being true to yourself as a woman. I embrace my uniqueness and the value I bring to my family, but I still believe in my dreams and going after my aspirations. I believe my role in the family only supports my competence in the market place, and this should not be a disadvantage.
MORE ABOUT AMA: I am originally from Nigeria. My family and I lived in Europe for some years, but now, we live in Canada. In terms of business and career, I’ve spent most of my years as a beautician and makeup artist. I ran a business that catered to high-end clientele by providing bespoke cosmetic products for specific skin types and mobile spa services. I later ran a makeup artist studio. I also worked as an employment advisor.
“It has to start with believing in yourself and allowing time for what matters to you most.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about mindfulness, medicine, and motherhood! I titled my Facebook group after these 3 Ms because they are my biggest passions and pursuits in life. I love time with my family, I have three children, and I am very engaged in how motherhood has changed and shaped my world. I am a naturopathic doctor, practicing since 2005. I have a passion for holistic medicine that started young! As a teenager, I was a vegetarian and very interested in nutrition and exercise. After college, I became a yoga instructor and opened my first business. After a few years, I decided to go to medical school, and naturopathic medicine really resonated with me, so I enrolled at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. For more information about naturopathic medicine, click here https://aanmc.org/naturopathic-medicine/.
I started a family practice in 2005 and have worked in several group practices for the last 17 years. I am currently transitioning to working specifically online, leading women’s group workshops that empower and support women to reclaim their vitality, and what I call their “thrive zone.” The thrive zone is being in a place of alignment, where you feel connected to yourself and your gifts, you are in a space of prioritizing your own needs, and you feel that your energy is sustainable. This is the gift I wish for everyone!
Many of us, as women, go through some type of energy crisis. Where we feel we are a) unable to give or to do any more, b) feel disconnected from ourselves and what brings us joy, c) feel as if we are struggling just to get through the day, or put 1 foot in front of the other. This often involves our adrenal glands as well as our nervous system and brain, and it is a physiological state that is fixable and reversible. Yet, we often feel alone, and like we have to power through. So, this is what I am offering right now is a group program to help women who are currently struggling with their energy, either feeling depleted or overwhelmed. I have worked with thousands of clients over the last 17 years, and this was becoming an all-too-common thread, so when I took a leave from my day-to-day office work, I decided I would transition into the space of offering group programs to reach a wider group of women struggling in this area. I also plan to offer workshops in hormone balancing for peri-menopause, postpartum, and fertility support, because these are also so very needed.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: As I mentioned, my love for natural health started young. My mother and grandmother were both very interested in health, herbs, and whole foods. I did not know my interests would blossom into a career of doing what I love, but I am very lucky it has! As a naturopath, I have learned about herbal medicine, nutritional support, vitamins, energy work, and counseling as well as other healing modalities.
I also was a very driven, high-achieving perfectionist combined with being highly sensitive. This made for an interesting pair of traits! It has taken much practice and learning to be able to support my sensitivity with healthy boundaries and expectations so that I do not get overcommitted or stressed. I have had to really practice my own medicine! After two years of medical school, (which can be grueling!), I took off for a year to travel and study different indigenous medicines around the world. I was able to travel to South America, European spa towns, the Australian Outback, India, and Asia to learn about healers throughout the world. I also took a break from practicing after my first child, and then when my twins were born. However, going back to work with three children at home…trying to nurse two new babies, do well at my job, and keep my home life together…that was the time that I really came up against my own energy borders and began to experience exhaustion and burnout. I eventually took a month’s leave, which became three months, and then it became permanent. I had to heal myself, take time to recover, and really get back to who I was, and who I wanted to serve. I got really clear about what was most important in my life, which was my family, my particular healing medicine, and my practices of yoga, writing, and travel, that bring me joy.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: If I were to give women one piece of advice in the area of reclaiming their energy it would be this: Speak kindly to yourself, give yourself grace, and prioritize your own needs and desires. You can reclaim your energy from the ground up; I have witnessed it many times, but it has to start with believing in yourself and allowing time for what matters to you most.
Q: What does feminism mean to you? A: Feminism is certainly about being a strong, independent, confident woman role model. It is also about honoring the feminine way. This means respecting our feminine intuition, our feminine power, and her gentleness and sensitivity, as well as her strength. I now see my intuitive and sensitive gifts as the blessings that they are! Because I have learned how to protect them from getting stomped or passed over for ‘logical’, ‘practical’, or more aggressive methods. As women, we hold so much information within us, and much of our guidance is passed down from our ancestors. So I believe feminism is about empowering our daughters to hold this space, rather than fit into a male perspective; and teaching our sons to appreciate and understand that sensitivity and connection are their birthright as well. One of the reasons I am now guiding women, specifically in areas of my own struggle, is that I feel it is my mission to help women regain their self-love.
MORE ABOUT KEMBY: I currently live in Reno, Nevada, but have always been a gypsy at heart!
“We should always be open to change and know that crappy things can also bring positive change and new beginnings, and it’s all part of our personal journey.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about Africa, the people, and their incredible resilience. I am also passionate about my school in a slum in Kenya! My hubby and I founded the school several years ago. Tamariki Education Centre is the name. I wrote my book, “I Share My Heart With Africa,” and from that book, I founded my tour company, Helping Hand African Tours & Safaris, hosting small group tours to East Africa. A visit to the school was on all my itineraries of course. I absolutely LOVED my tours and felt very blessed to be living a life that allowed me to showcase what I called “my” amazing Africa. Then COVID-19 hit…and everything came to a grinding halt! My tours stopped, school sponsorship dropped, and I struggled…for 2 years! Looking back, I think I went into shock! Then the anger set in, then the sheer frustration of it all, and then one day, I woke up, said to myself, “FK this shit,” and got myself together and moved on.
Somewhere during the last 8 months, I started designing a range of swimwear for “mature ladies” (me!). It was brought about by my own frustrations of not finding anything with good coverage and great support but was still fun, gorgeous, with a little bit of class and sass! Kailani Pearl Swim was born. Kailani Pearl Swim is my new#1 focus, and I am super excited about my new direction. I have opened one tour back to Africa for the New Year 2023, and I have decided I will just take one tour a year. My primary focus has shifted to my swimwear business. Our school is going ok, but we lost a lot of our monthly sponsorship, so it’s just simmering at the moment. I STRONGLY believe things happen for a reason. I believe in positivity and always look for the silver lining.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I had a wonderful childhood with fantastic parents and two brothers. At age 40, I learned for the first time in my life, about my African heritage (my grandfather was half-African). Learning this all made perfect sense as to why I was passionate about all things Africa since a little girl. The path I have been on was all “meant to be” and is what led my husband and me to meet our beautiful son, who we met in Kenya as a young man, and who we were instantly connected with. As an orphan at 3 years old, he has no family or doesn’t know of any (at least). So, we brought him into our family and welcomed him in as our son and brother to his siblings (our biological son and daughter). He is now an extremely important member of our extended family. He now has parents, siblings, a grandmother, aunties, uncles, and cousins, who love him.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: All aspects of our lives and the journey should be welcomed and embraced. We should always be open to change and know that crappy things can also bring positive change and new beginnings, and it’s all part of our personal journey. We should ALWAYS embrace whatever comes our way. Always look for that silver lining.
Q: What does feminism mean to you? A: I am quietly passionate about women’s rights and equality. It’s a fundamental right that women are treated equally all through life. I don’t go rallying or standing on soap boxes advocating women’s rights, however. But I believe in 100% equality, of course! My parents were traditional for their era. My dad was the “breadwinner” and mum was the “homemaker.”
MORE ABOUT DENISE: I am a Kiwi, living in New Zealand, but I love to travel extensively (when we can!).
The Woman Wednesday Blog 