Woman Wednesday: Helen

 


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For more information about me:
Helen Edwards, International Author & Entrepreneur
Book Available on Amazon & Barnes N Nobles

Connect with me! I’d love to chat with you! 

Comment below!

Woman Wednesday: Topaz

Q and A with Topaz, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

“…push past the fear and do it anyway.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I’m passionate about serving others, specifically women entrepreneurs who are looking to have a more fulfilled life. I want to support others’ life purpose and create balance and ease.

I spent over 16 years as a coach in various ways. I started out as a personal fitness coach and moved into an education role with the University of California Irvine. I taught leadership development courses at the ropes course for UCI and later became a corporate team building coach.

I spend every morning exercising, meditating, and sitting with my feelings. I love anything with water, so I live 15 minutes from the ocean. I am an avid paddle-boarder, and I love to surf.

I am currently working on my new life coaching business. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life and I can’t wait to support as many women as possible.


Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up in a mountain town, population of 100. My house that I lived in did not have running water or electricity!

I learned how to do whatever it took to make “it” happen, this carried on through my adult life and career.

I think one of the most valuable quotes a past mentor told me when I said I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t even cope was, “When your cup starts to overflow, get a bigger cup.” This was a whole new perspective I had never thought before, and allowed me to take a birdseye view of my life. I realize that everything I want is possible.


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

A: I want everyone to know two things: First is that you need to put your oxygen mask on first! This is so important to know that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.

Second is that you will get triggered by fear, and it’s okay to feel those triggers and to push past the fear and do it anyway.


Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: Growing up, I was afraid of other women. I was afraid of rejection and not fitting in. It’s only recently that I discovered how incredible women are and embraced the power of the divine feminine.

So, to me, feminism is fully welcoming my fellow sisters with encouragement. I want us all to empower each other to grow and be stronger and love and support each other.


Thank you for reading! Connect with me here:

Website

I’d love to connect with you! 🙂

Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Woman Wednesday: Kelly

Q and A with Kelly from Toronto, Canada

One thing I’ve learned is this: You cannot control what happens in your life, but you can control how you react to it. I think if I continued to sulk and think negatively, nothing significantly positive would’ve happened in my life. Changing my perspective and immersing myself in hope and positive thinking only resulted in positive changes in my life.”   

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Q: What are you passionate about?

A: It would be exceptionally hard to pinpoint one thing I am passionate about because I am passionate about everything I do. I currently work as a communications coordinator for a company that promotes financial stability in underdeveloped countries.

Luckily, I found this position by accident, and I am proud to say that I am a part of a project that helps those in need in someway somehow. One of my passions is definitely helping others.

Aside from my full-time job, I am the founder of the subscription box business “Petite Princess Box,” and I have to say building, creating, and executing my own ideas and seeing it all come to life is one thing I will always be passionate about. I think I have always been an entrepreneur at heart.

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Pictured: One of Kelly’s customers enjoying her Petite Princess Box! 

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

A: A year ago, I lost my dad suddenly from a heart attack. I had such a stable life and everything was going great for me. I just got into my master’s program, had a growing business, and my family was happy and healthy, and then my world just changed dramatically with his death.

You can say I had to grow up quick. I had my hands fully immersed in everything after his death. I guess you can say I became the “new man” in the house. After his death, I lost a lot of motivation. He passed away two weeks before my master’s program would begin, and I could barely focus.

I felt like the quality in my work was slowly diminishing. I also stopped focusing on my subscription box business, and I could see it literally sinking. I ended up picking myself up and telling myself that I have to really immerse myself in positive thinking and to focus on finishing the goals my father wanted me to complete. And so I did that, and a year later, my whole life has changed (for the better).

I graduated with my degree, found a close and loyal tribe of friends and loved ones, got my very first “big girl” job, and rebranded my entire subscription box business, and it is growing very quickly.

 

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One thing I’ve learned is this: You cannot control what happens in your life, but you can control how you react to it. I think if I continued to sulk and think negatively, nothing significantly positive would’ve happened in my life. Changing my perspective and immersing myself in hope and positive thinking only resulted in positive changes in my life.

Q: What were your younger years like? 

A: My childhood was nothing but great! We lived a pretty modest life in the suburbs. I grew up with my parents who immigrated from Palestine and my younger sister. My parents have always been supportive and always pushed us to be our best.

Growing up, I struggled in school—all the way up to my high school years. I was never able to maintain exceptionally good grades and as many tutors as I had to assist me in my studies, there was still this struggle I had in obtaining a single “A” on my report card. Before starting my last year of high school, I told my guidance counselor that I wanted to get into university after I graduate. She told me that based on my grades from my previous years, attending a university would not be a realistic goal unless I managed to maintain an 80% average in my final year.

I remember going home to tell my parents how angry I was at the lack of encouragement my guidance counselor had for me, and I promised myself and my parents that I would work hard enough to get accepted into a university program. In my last year of high school, I ended up maintaining an 87% average and got accepted into the highest ranked university in Canada.

Fast forward to my last year of university—I had maintained a substantial GPA and ended up getting accepted into a very competitive program for a master’s degree in communications. You can say that these experiences in school really impacted my life to where I am today. If you were to ask me if I’m still upset that my guidance counsellor for discouraging me, I would say no. If she didn’t discourage me, I wouldn’t have pushed myself as hard as I did to prove her wrong and prove myself right.

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Pictured: One of Kelly’s customers enjoying her Petite Princess Box!
 

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Connect with me! I’d love to chat with you! 

Business Links:

www.petiteprincessbox.com

instagram.com/petiteprincessbox

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petiteprincessbox/

Kelly would love to hear from you! Comment below!  

Woman Wednesday: Stephanie

Q and A with Stephanie, Washington, U.S.

“I always find myself coaching and connecting with truly exceptional people–people who have challenged society’s expectations of them, have risen to the call they hear deep within, and are committed to creating their own story.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I’m passionate about self confidence and self trust…that each woman can have a safe and supportive space inside her own head. A big part of my work is helping my clients discover and release the expectations that were placed on them by society that no longer serves their dreams and goals. I believe very strongly that this foundation must be laid first, before goal setting and accountability come into play. That’s why my coaching offer starts with self talk before going on to clarity, accountability, and self-coaching, which are the other pillars of my program. By the end of my 12-week program, my clients get to experience that supportive space in their heads, know what they actually want out of life, and are moving toward that next big goal, and finally have the self-coaching skills to independently get themselves through the places that they get stuck mentally or emotionally. It all has to start with changing the inner dialogue to create the internal confidence and framework for success. To find out more about my coaching offer, or to connect with a community on your growth journey join my Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/createyourpower. This is the only way to to experience a coaching call for free as well.


Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I had a very interesting childhood to say the least. Until I was nine, I grew up on a farm, homeschooled. I spent my days frolicking in the fields with the goats and making mud pies. Suddenly, our family moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, half way across the world, to a city of 2 million people. That was hard, but reentry to the United States was equally hard, as we didn’t move back “home,” but instead moved to a small village in Alaska. This left me with the experience of being an ‘outsider’ in multiple different life circumstances. It was messy, but I became an observer of the cultural framework that many people see as ‘the only way,’ and I stood apart from it, noticing the beauty as well as the pain that the particular framework brings with it. At the same time, I had to learn to see my own biases for what they were and continually grow to a more expansive understanding of the world around me. These experiences laid the foundation for the coaching work I do today–standing outside a person’s experience, observing it, but also empathizing with it.


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

A: If there was one thing I’d love for people to learn from my story, it would be to notice that the assumptions you have that might sound like fact may actually be just one way of seeing the world. For example, maybe you learned that if a person is late, it’s because they don’t respect your time. Ask yourself, “What if I actually had something really beautiful to learn about time from someone who is perpetually late? What if they are honoring me in a way I never even considered?” Before I began my career in life coaching, I was a Salvation Army Officer, which gave me the opportunity to manage a local service for social services and spiritual development. This included leading the teams that provided weekly community meals, funding assistance, youth and women’s programs, day camps, and assistance for the unhoused. What I loved about being in leadership was the one-on-one connections and the opportunity to hear people’s stories and walk with them in their journeys. In the same day, I might find myself walking alongside an unhoused single mother, as well as the CEO of a company or a representative of local government. Every person’s story is sacred, and I always find myself coaching and connecting with truly exceptional people–people who have challenged society’s expectations of them, have risen to the call they hear deep within, and are committed to creating their own story. If this is you, I’d LOVE to hear your story. Email me at stephanigalindocoaching@gmail.com.


Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: For me, pragmatic feminism can be seen in how I raise my boys–to recognize injustice, to embrace the nurturing side of themselves, and to understand consent. As they get older, I will continue to learn new ways to teach equity, so that they can be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

Also, I’m a boy mama, and my boys are currently seven and four years old. I have raised them with a deep acceptance of emotions and a value for gentleness.


Thank you for reading! Connect with me here:

Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/createyourpower

Email me at stephanigalindocoaching@gmail.com

I’d love to connect with you! 🙂

Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Woman Wednesday: Topaz

Q and A with Topaz, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

“When your cup starts to overflow, get a bigger cup.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I’m passionate about serving others, specifically women entrepreneurs who are looking to have a more fulfilled life. I want to support others’ life purpose and create balance and ease. I spent over 16 years as a coach in various ways. I started out as a personal fitness coach and moved into an education role with the University of California Irvine. I taught leadership development courses at the ropes course for UCI and later became a corporate team building coach. I spend every morning exercising, meditating, and sitting with my feelings. I love anything with water, so I live 15 minutes from the ocean. I am an avid paddle-boarder, and I love to surf. I am currently working on my new life coaching business. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life and I can’t wait to support as many women as possible.


Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I grew up in a mountain town, population of 100. My house that I lived in did not have running water or electricity! I learned how to do whatever it took to make “it” happen, this carried on through my adult life and career. I think one of the most valuable quotes a past mentor told me when I said I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t even cope was, “When your cup starts to overflow, get a bigger cup.” This was a whole new perspective I had never thought before, and allowed me to take a birdseye view of my life. I realize that everything I want is possible.


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

A: I want everyone to know two things: First is that you need to put your oxygen mask on first! This is so important to know that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.
Second is that you will get triggered by fear, and it’s okay to feel those triggers and to push past the fear and do it anyway.


Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: Growing up, I was afraid of other women. I was afraid of rejection and not fitting in. It’s only recently that I discovered how incredible women are and embraced the power of the divine feminine. So, to me, feminism is fully welcoming my fellow sisters with encouragement. I want us all to empower each other to grow and be stronger and love and support each other.


Thank you for reading! Connect with me here:

Website

My schedule link to book a complementary 30 minute call: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21479123&appointmentType=19218580

My August 20th workshop link: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21479123&appointmentType=25276636

I’d love to connect with you! 🙂

Thoughts, questions, or comments?