Woman Wednesday: Rachel

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.


Q and A with Rachel Armiger, Leading Actress in Butterfly Kisses, Los Angeles, California

“I just hope that whatever it is that people dream of doing, they really go for it, so that none of us have to look back at our lives and wonder what may have been if we didn’t take the easier road.”

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: On a base level, I’m passionate about my family and my friends. They are important to my life, and I never want to take them for granted. I’m incredibly passionate about my work in the film and TV industry, and I hope to one day produce my own shows and films. I’m just trying to live my best life, and I feel so fortunate to be working in this industry and to be living in Los Angeles. I am currently wrapping up a feature film as a coordinator, and I just had a horror movie come out that I had the honor of acting in, “Butterfly Kisses”. I cannot wait to see what the future brings!

45091060_201669137394382_3390707793487986688_n

Family bonding time with my dad at the Biltmore Estate

Q: What were your younger years like?

A:  This is so funny, my coworkers were just asking this! It’s a sign! (Ha). I told them I was just like I am now, just less laid back. Basically, I am more wacky! I always tried to be a friend to everyone. The most impactful part of my childhood I would say is that I was home schooled, and I had the opportunity to take a drama class. My teacher there was very encouraging, which eventually led to me pursuing a career in film and TV. There have been so many encouraging people along the path that have helped me out, and I’m so thankful for them all.

44932906_2209260415785947_8722300609274839040_n

My crazy friends and I  😊

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

A: I recently wrote a letter to Sherry Lansing, a retired film executive who ran Paramount Pictures until about 2004. She’s my role model. I was so excited when I got an email back from her! One of the things she said is:
“Be persistent. Never give up. Success doesn’t come easily, but hard work always pays off.” If she rose to the top in this crazy industry, that advice must have worked for her, and I really value it.

45045100_279040672719884_8556881979683897344_n

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story?

A: I don’t know that I’m really someone that people should be learning from necessarily, but I just hope that whatever it is that people dream of doing, they really go for it, so that none of us have to look back at our lives and wonder what may have been if we didn’t take the easier road.

45025650_346851745889586_6219502692062986240_n

Out in LA

Check out Rachel on the movie, Butterfly Kisses on Amazon Video

Amazon Video : Watch the full movie by clicking here!

Director, Erik Kristopher Myers, says, “I wanted to show a woman in the director’s seat, being that film students are by and large male; those who aren’t tend to struggle harder to have their voices heard.  This is as true in film school as in the industry at large.” 

 

Amazon Video : Watch the full movie by clicking here!

 

Rachel & My Lilianas would love to hear from you! Comment below! 

Follow us on Instagram.

Connect with us on Facebook.

 

Woman Wednesday: Steph

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.


“I want others to know that it’s OK to do more than one thing. People thought I was crazy in college for playing more than one sport, and people think I am crazy now for having three jobs. I love what I do, and I enjoy all of it. If you can find a healthy balance, do everything. Be a jack of all trades. Know a little bit about all things.” 

Q and A with Steph, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

 

Q: What are you passionate about? 

 

A: It’s difficult for me to identify just one thing that I am passionate about. To start, my full time job is being a high school math teacher. I work in a small alternative school, and I find joy in encouraging my students and helping them to be comfortable and successful in a modified school setting. It’s challenging, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. There is nothing better than seeing a student succeed when others thought they wouldn’t.

Another passion that I put a majority of my time into is coaching. I am an assistant coach for a cross country team and a lacrosse team. I was a 3 sport athlete in college, so athletics are something that keep me driven and focused. I love being able to share my love of sports with others and helping them to learn life lessons through them.
Screen Shot 2018-10-23 at 9.50.40 PM
Lastly, but certainly not least, is my passion for photography and videography. I, along with my fiance, run a small production company called Ollie Productions. When we first met, we discovered that we had serious overlapping loves for the arts and most things dealing with visual design. It was inevitable that a business would be formed between our skill sets and our shared joy of working with people. Our business is something that we love working on together and have found success in. We have the opportunity to help people promote businesses, capture weddings, and simply create.
Screen Shot 2018-10-23 at 10.11.48 PM
Q: What were your younger years like? 

 

A: I was very active growing up. I was always doing something. My parents and family were very supportive of this (driving me everywhere and bringing me wherever I needed to go). I believe that this formed who I am now. I love to be busy, and if I am not working or working out, I am planning my next move. Something that impacted me more growing up than I ever thought, was running cross country. It taught me that I was powerful in my own unique ways and that literally anything is possible if you put in enough work and effort. I understood that being successful is painful. There are sacrifices that need to be made, but it is possible. Growing a business with my fiance has not been easy, but putting in those extra hours and finding the time to plan our success has made it a fast growing endeavor.  Most of my passions showed in me at an early age. Sports were an everyday thing that I loved to do, teaching was something that everyone else saw in me well before I saw it in myself, and my first camera as a kid pushed me to want to capture every moment in the way I saw it.

Screen Shot 2018-10-23 at 9.52.07 PM

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

A: There are two things that I think are important for everyone to know. Teaching has taught me an immense amount of patience. You truly have no idea what any person is going through or what their story is, so be patient and take everything with a grain of salt. I think it is important to remember that we are all different, and it’s important to learn as much as you can about others in order to be the best for them and yourself. The second thing is that you are more powerful than you think and more prepared than you know. If someone asks you to do something or be somewhere, it is because they believe in you. Believe in yourself, and everyone else will as well.

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story? 

A: I want others to know that it’s OK to do more than one thing. People thought I was crazy in college for playing more than one sport, and people think I am crazy now for having three jobs. I love what I do, and I enjoy all of it. If you can find a healthy balance, do everything. Be a jack of all trades. Know a little bit about all things.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 
A: Feminism to me is a broad and encompassing word. To me, it means empowering others and yourself to be our best in whatever situation. It means being kind and compassionate and loving, but also strong and willful and driven. To me, feminism means seeing where there are few females and asking why. It is being inquisitive and looking for changes where possible and wondering how if it’s impossible.
Capture
Our photo/ video website can be found at Ollieproductions.com. 
Would you like Steph & Karl to capture memories of your special day, event, or business? Click this link to get into contact with them!

 

 

 

Check out Steph’s Insta! :

@ollie.productions

 

 

Steph & My Lilianas would love to hear from you! Comment below! 

Follow us on Instagram.

Connect with us on Facebook.

 

 

Woman Wednesday: Sam

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.


 

Q and A with Sam, Sunshine Fields, New Jersey 

“There’s such a disconnect now with the way we ‘should’ live our lives and the way we want to live our lives. I graduated college, received a degree, got a good job in a good city, and I’m sure to many that would be a total success story, but it wasn’t the end of mine.”

 

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: My largest passion is people- helping people and working with people. I think that’s partially why I wanted to start up my own businesses (so I could do that all of the time).

 

44171284_403122840221941_4424824232035221504_n

 

My two current businesses are Forest & Farm and Sunshine Fields NJ (both I’m working on with my other half and partner of 4 years, who totally also deserves credit)! His name is Matt.

 

44179938_303339896937739_7314323923493978112_n

 

Forest & Farm is our woodworking and home decor business. It basically started by us building all of the furniture for our first apartment together. Matt is an engineer, and I’m an artist. Together, we figured we’d DIY our way through everything (coffee tables, shelves, dinner tables, dressers…), and eventually, everything in our home became handmade! We wanted to share that with others, so we started wholesaling, retailing, and opened up our own Etsy shop. We are constantly doing custom made projects for people.

 

44091772_2143174289344353_1537916553339600896_n

 

Sunshine Fields is a 115+ acre family flower farm (Matt’s parents primarily grow wholesale flowers there, but we decided to open up to the public for the first time ever this year!) The two of us planted pumpkins together, cut a 5+ acre corn maze together, and crafted all of the games and activities for this two-month long fall festival. Again, we wanted to share this with others. This farm is such a peaceful place, filled with beautiful flowers and family, and we felt it was so worth opening to the public.

 

44253186_258520891672828_718078696069529600_n

 

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: As a young kid, I heavily enjoyed four (…well, five) things: art, animals, music, being outdoors 100% of the time, and being a tomboy. I had fears, but generally, I always identified myself as a strong girl capable of learning anything (from learning how to play guitar in middle school to learning how to skate in college.) There’s never really a limit to what you can do.

 

When I was 14 years old, I ended up entering a beauty pageant (pretty unlike my tomboy self) for Filipino-Americans in the US (I’m half Filipino, half Irish), and I ended up winning that thing. I’ve always felt sensitive talking about it, mostly because I never wanted to feel any sort of entitlement or be different than anyone else. I really only wanted to win to break this negative facade of pageants and complete the charity work. I think it was a huge pivotal moment in my teen years and in becoming who I am. I had this opportunity to actually do something. When you’re that young, and you fly to the Philippines, and you live out this dream of helping others and donating yourself and your heart to others, it’s a little wild. I’ve always had that in the back of my heart (this feeling of a desire to be a part of something greater than myself).

 

44253986_243801192978201_1098942815192219648_n

 

Fast-forward to me sitting at a desk in an office in the corporate world. It just couldn’t cut it for me. I had multiple internships and jobs in New York City. I left those for smaller non-profits, and I tried out a whole bunch of career opportunities. As cool as the experiences were, there was just something that never really felt right. I couldn’t shake this feeling that I could really do something and really start something, so I left those jobs to try to figure it all out. It’s still a little crazy to say that [laughs], but I figured it’d be worth a shot.

 

44159386_255733221796723_5663253076601995264_n

 

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

A: There’s such a disconnect now with the way we ‘should’ live our lives and the way we want to live our lives. I graduated college, received a degree, got a good job in a good city, and I’m sure to many that would be a total success story, but it wasn’t the end of mine.

 

If I had gone to college and if someone would have told me that starting up two businesses at 23 years old would be difficult and impractical, maybe it would have made me want to do it more (…maybe)! I mean, just to know that the thought would even possible at all would have been pretty cool. We should feel more empowered to do this. I think I’ve been going through this process of both losing and finding myself throughout the things that I’ve done. It’s really (really) hard to put yourself out there and chase an idea, or a dream, in a vulnerable state. It takes courage, and it’s underrated.

 

44154282_918835768309505_387520124430581760_n

 

44139903_544682029305605_5010279298691497984_n

 

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story?

A: Take the plunge, and do what you like to do. You have nothing to lose. Trust me, literal blood, sweat, and tears and every penny I have has gone into everything I’ve done. Im still terrified. Its still really dang hard, but there is still nothing to lose (…& I should really take my own advice)! There is nothing more rewarding than doing it.

 

Check out Sam’s shop!

ETSY: www.etsy.com/shop/forestnfarm

 

Sam’s Instagram Profiles to Follow: 

@sunshinefieldsnj & @forestnfarmco

 

 

 

Sam & My Lilianas would love to hear from you! Comment below! 

Follow us on Instagram.

Connect with us on Facebook.

Woman Wednesday: Miriam

*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.

 

Q and A with Miriam, San Diego, California

“Believe you are valuable. Invest in yourself. Work toward your goals, and be proud when you accomplish something.”

 

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I’m currently an independent team leader with Color Street. I’m also a mother of two and happily married to a United States Marine. I moved to Maryland back in 2015, and I’m originally from California. Moving to the east coast was a huge change for me. After having my second baby, working full-time at my pharmacy career wasn’t realistic with having to look into childcare for the very first time. Having the only option to stay mostly at home was very devastating to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids, but I went to school for a full-time career and working full-time was the only thing I ever have known to do.

 

IMG_6978

Miriam and her husband, United States Marine

IMG_6972.jpg

Miriam is proud to show off her Color Street!
I started looking into what I could possibly do at home to make a stay at home income for myself. I came across direct sales companies. I had never previously known about them. After a lot of time spent looking into them, I jumped right in!

 

IMG_6973

 

To date, I have been with Color Street for about a year now, and I can’t even fully express my emotions on how much this company means to me. Not only have I accomplished replacing my full-time income from what I was making working in a pharmacy, but I have found what I love doing!

 

IMG_6980

Photography Courtesy of Faith Nicole Photography

 

I couldn’t ask for any greater reward than helping so many ladies conquer their goals and fears! My goal for myself is to continue leading and helping those who have the same passion as me. I strongly believe that anyone could do what they set their mind to and accomplish it for themselves.

 

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up really fast. I had my daughter when I was 17. It wasn’t easy, but I strongly believe that I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. She taught me so many things about myself along the way. Even though times were not easy, you get through them and become stronger.

 

IMG_6979IMG_6977

 

Q: What is something valuable you’ve learned that you’d like other to know?

A: Something valuable I’ve learned is to believe I am valuable.

Believe you are valuable. Invest in yourself. Work toward your goals, and be proud when you accomplish something. Like the known quote, “No one is you, and that is your super power.”

 

IMG_6976

Q: What would you like others to learn from your story?
A: I hope that whether you are a stay at home mom, a wife, a college student, that you know that anyone as an individual can accomplish anything. It depends on whether or not you believe you can. I hope that you don’t settle. Create a life you really enjoy.

 

IMG_6974

 

Women can do anything! I stay at home with my kids, work part-time nights, be a wife, and work my business full-time. I make it work, and that’s why I believe others can do it too. Who doesn’t like being their own boss?!

 

Get in touch with Miriam:

 

Instagram : beautykissednails_

Website: www.beautykissednails.com

https://m.facebook.com/groups/406348223133111

 

IMG_6975

 

 

Miriam & My Lilianas would love to hear from you! Comment below! 

Follow us on Instagram.

Connect with us on Facebook

Get Featured on the Woman Wednesday Blog!

Woman Wednesday: Christen

 *Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.

 

Q and A with Christen, Baltimore City, Maryland

“I have dealt with so much, but I am so happy, because I have chosen to surround myself with positive, amazing people. Know that there is always good even with the bad.”

 

Q: What are you passionate about?
A: There are only a few small things that I am passionate about. One is education. Specifically, the education of students of low-socioeconomic households. Unfortunately, students of low-income households usually come from a minority background. Students who go to Title 1 schools are faced with disadvantages that come from their circumstances. It takes more funding to teach a student who attends a Title 1 school than it does a for a student who attends a more affluent school, but the funding is not there. For example, the school that I currently teach at feeds children breakfast and lunch for free, we offer free clinical services to aide in mental health, there is a weekend food pantry, and we wash some of our students’ clothes to name a few things. All this has to come out of the school and district funds. We have to meet the basic needs of these students as well as educate them. What ends up happening is the teachers have to raise money for their own supplies or buy a lot themselves. I hope to one day teach in a country that fairly funds ALL students.

 

On a lighter note, my other passion is family. I have a wonderful son and husband whom I love more than anything. They bring light to my life and happiness to my soul. I could talk about them for hours so I’m going to cut myself off here.

 

christen3.jpg

 

Q: What were your younger years like?

My past is a hard thing to talk about, but it gets easier as I learn to process it. My biological father was not and is not a part of my life due to choices that he made. My mother got married to her ex-husband when I was five years old, and that is when everything changed.

For the next ten years, I kept the secret of sexual assault from everyone, including my mother. When I was thirteen, the assault became more aggressive, and the violence increased. I again kept this a secret from every person. I was scared and ashamed. Finally, when I was 16, I decided enough was enough and told a good friend who would not let me stay in that situation. He literally saved my life. I have beautiful memories of my childhood involving my mother, sisters, cousins, etc, but what happened to me in my past definitely helped shaped how I live my life and who I am as a mother.

 

Q: What is something valuable you’ve learned that you’d like other to know?

A: To quote Drake, “Know yourself, know your worth.” It is cheesy, but it is true. When you learn who you are and love yourself, life becomes beautiful.

Christen6

Q: What would you like other to learn from your story?
A: I would hope they learn to speak up and speak out. Advocate for yourself and your beliefs. Know that there is always good even with the bad. I have dealt with so much, but I am so happy, because I have chosen to surround myself with positive, amazing people.

 

Christen4

 

Q: What does feminism mean to you?

A: Equality! It does not mean that women are better than men. It does not mean seizing “their power.” To me, it means shared power. It means to judge men and women fairly in the work field. It means do not treat me different because I am a woman. Instead, judge me by what I bring to the table. A stereotype that has always bothered me is the assumption that feminists are man-eating, overly aggressive females. We are not. Feminists are strong women and men who want to be treated as such.

 

Christen2

 

Christen & My Lilianas would love to hear from you! Comment below! 

Follow us on Instagram.

Connect with us on Facebook