Woman Wednesday: Andra


Q and A with Andra from New York, United States

“If we are having bad experiences in our lives, that’s how we feel inside. Our external world is a match to our inner selves.”


Q: What are you passionate about?

A: Igniting joy by guiding others to shed their ego and embrace life fully—because true happiness in health, relationships, and work begins when the ego ends.

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

A: We all experience different levels of past pain and trauma, but we don’t have to be a continued match for it. We must forgive and accept our parts in it to move on. We are meant to have an incredible life to help one another through. If we are having bad experiences in our lives, that’s how we feel inside. Our external world is a match to our inner selves.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: At its core, feminism strives for a world where individuals are not limited or defined by their gender but are valued equally and have the freedom to pursue their goals and live their lives free from discrimination and inequality.


I personally believe women are change agents. That we can achieve anything in this world. But we must stop seeing ourselves as underdogs. If we give ourselves that class, we will always be received in that class. We were always the strongest sex capable of doing everything a man could and better. But we must align ourselves with helping, not competing. The only competition is with us to be our best.

https://www.facebook.com/andra.annette

Woman Wednesday: Iesha


Q and A with Iesha C. from Bear, Delaware

“…you will come through on the other side


Q: What are you passionate about?

A: What I am most passionate about is my mission to empower and encourage women to navigate through the ups and downs of life, while seeking the promises of God. This passion came from a personal traumatic experience after the loss of a child, which left me seeking God for answers. During that time, I established a women’s ministry that I felt would be both relatable and transformational. Beauty for Ashes Ministries Inc. is now a faith-based nonprofit organization.

My focus with this nonprofit is to be a bridge that helps women impacted by life’s challenges to find meaning and purpose. The mission is to provide resources to encourage, empower, and educate women. The ultimate goal is to help women develop a positive outlook and self-image. This is done through seminars, workshops, and support sessions, using various tools and literature such as my published self-help book titled A Walk Through the Valley, which deals with grief and healing. The vision for Beauty for Ashes Ministries Inc. is to be recognized as a premiere holistic resource for women from all walks of life.

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

A: What I have learned through my journey through life is that as you keep going, you will come through on the other side and there’s life after. 

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: To me, feminism means the support and advocacy for the rights of women to remove barriers and eliminate discrimination because of gender. 

Website: www.ieshacongowatson.com

Instagram: @mzscorpio18

Facebook: Iesha Congo Watson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iesha-congo-watson-021b54131

Woman Wednesday: Lauren M.


Q and A with Lauren M. from Chicago, Illinois, living in Jacksonville, Florida

“Having a solid circle and choosing to not give up is what got me through.”


Q: What are you passionate about?

A: I am passionate about serving others in an excellent way. I’ve been this way since I was a little girl. Today, I happen to do that via legal services as a business attorney. In this role, I help business owners protect and monetize their businesses. Through international business law, I help with setting up entities, mergers and acquisitions, trademarks, contracts, copyrights, and employee law.

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

A: I’ve learned that once you say yes to your purpose, purpose will chase you down!

I want others to know that there are no limits to the things you can achieve and do.

activatedlaw.com

Woman Wednesday: Maria Z.


Q and A with Maria Z. from Bogota, Colombia, living in Palm Beach, Florida

“I believe loving what you do has the biggest impact in life. I try to live every day with purpose.”


Q: What are you passionate about?

A: I’m very passionate about my work. I believe that love is a force that guides us, and I love the human body and the human experience, and I love the magic that there is in how we were designed. The human body is such a simple yet complex system that is fascinating to me. I come from a medical background of 18 years. I went to school for surgical technology and health services administration. After everything changed with COVID, healthcare was never the same, however, people still need healing and I love healthcare so much that I decided to further my skill set and obtain my certification in Manual Lymphatic Drainage, ultrasonic cavitation, radio-frequency therapy, and laser Lipo.

Though I was familiar with the treatments from experience with my first child, the aftermath of my second child and the challenge that I was having to get rid of the “saggy skin,” despite exercising and keeping a healthy lifestyle, was what really pushed me to dive deeper into alternative treatments other than surgery. I also have a fairy hair and children’s entertainment business that is my heart. I started this project in 2020 inspired by my little girl and my friend and mentor who introduced me to fairy hair. Nellarina’s is a project based on magic and love, and I am known as the Fairy Hairmother, or the Queen Fairy as my friends call me [she laughs]. I believe in sparkles, and my inner child has healed tremendously with this project. I love to serve the community and have had the honor to work with foundations like Hands and Feet, which helps children in foster care, and the Palm Beach County Schools as a volunteer for their school events, and I am obsessed! I love to sparkle the kids, and their smiles when they look in the mirror is the best payment I receive!

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

A: If there is something I would like others to learn from my story it’s that only we are responsible for our destiny. Sometimes, we tend to get in our own way because we’re scared of failure, but understanding that there is no failure only lessons to be learned, we realize that we can always start again and do things differently.


I feel like the most valuable tool I have and what has helped me the most has been prayer/meditation. Being able to ask for divine guidance and really taking the time to listen will help you take the steps needed that are in alignment with your true purpose.


Remembering that we all put our pants the same way in the morning keeps me humble and grounded; it allows me to expand from a more authentic and empathic place, and to really take the time to listen to others…sometimes it’s important. To be of service is important. Walking without judgment is growth. Everyone is their own world, and oftentimes, we forget people are fighting battles we don’t know about. Being kind is important. A life of service is a life well-lived.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?

Connect with me:

INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/nellarinasmagicalfairyhair?igsh=MWZyd2NxaTM5bm1ybQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?mibextid=sCpJLy

https://m.facebook.com/nellarinasmagicalfairyhair?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Woman Wednesday: Lisa

*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 Lisa Maslyk, Winnipeg, Manitoba

“I truly wish I had gotten into it when I was younger, but it felt like such a big leap that I wasn’t ready to take at the time. Now that I am in it, I realize that it wasn’t such a big leap at all.”

 

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I was born in England and moved to Canada when I was 10. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My mom and dad were always trying new businesses from full-size kit cars to online t-shirt designing. This is probably where I got my business mind. I ended up going the college route into a steady job but always yearned to do something else. It wasn’t until my kids were old enough and didn’t need me or my time as much that I finally ventured into network marketing and acting. It’s funny because both of these careers have really served each other!

 

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Q: What are you passionate about?

A: [Because of] acting and learning, I am way more comfortable presenting myself online and doing videos. My network marketing business has given me an income stream when I am in between acting jobs. Currently, I have several streams of income online. I have one direct sales company that I have been with since September of 2019. I am with this company because I absolutely love the product, so it made sense to me to sell it. I also am an affiliate for several other companies. 

My main focus for my business development and growth right now would be Pinterest and YouTube. I do like Facebook and Instagram, but feel there are too many restrictions in place, and Pinterest is growing so fast that I think everyone should be there! I am very seriously thinking of putting a course together to help other entrepreneurs understand how to use Pinterest for their business!

 

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Pictured: Me on set, ready for acting! I played a doctor in the 2020 movie, “Rage Can Kill.”

 

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

A: I absolutely love network marketing! I truly wish I had gotten into it when I was younger, but it felt like such a big leap that I wasn’t ready to take at the time. Now that I am in it, I realize that it wasn’t such a big leap at all, in fact, it runs very parallel to the business world that I stepped away from. It’s just that now the earnings and the income go to me instead of the company that I work for!

 

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Q: What does feminism mean to you?

A: To me, feminism is being able to earn the same amount of money as any other person for the job that is being done. I like what I do because the effort I put into it gives me the same rewards out of it. There is no discrimination of any kind.

 

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Thank you for reading!

I’d love to connect with you!

Click here to check out my IMD acting profile.

Click here for my website. 

 

 

Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Comment below! 🙂