“When you are making new moves, be careful who you are sharing your thoughts with.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I’m passionate about IT; I love everything related to technology. I never knew that one day I would be my own CEO. I am an introvert, and I didn’t enjoy going out every day to work. I am now an entrepreneur working from home. I do graphic designs and digital marketing. I’m also learning new things like WordPress development and Adobe’s programs.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I was born in a lovely family, thanks to God. They trusted me and always supported me on my journey. When I left my job to pursue my dreams, they supported me like never before because they know who I am and that I will reach my goals.
Being a Caribbean girl, I love beaches, seafood, and spiced food. Haïti is a wonderful country, even if we have some political issues. I keep enjoying the positive sides of the country.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Trust no one! When you are making new moves, be careful who you are sharing your thoughts with.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: For me, feminism means a lot of things. I don’t know if I can qualify myself as a feminist, but I always support women, especially young women who’re trying to pursue their dreams because we live in a world where women are not allowed to speak.
“I don’t want to be known for what I look like, and I don’t want to be treated any differently just because I am a woman.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: There are a lot of things I am passionate about. One is my job. I started my career as a correctional officer in a large metropolitan jail in Minnesota. While I loved the setting and population, I decided to leave to pursue higher education and a career in psychology. Thereafter, I earned a master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology, and I worked in several state and federal prisons throughout my training. Now, I work as a forensic psychologist. I complete competency, criminal responsibility, civil commitment, patterned sex offender, and risk assessment evaluations. My work consists of reviewing police discovery (e.g., crime scene photographs, video and audio recordings, legal documents) and other records, interviewing defendants, administering and interpreting psychological tests, writing a report, and then testifying in court as an expert witness. Recently, I started a private practice, through which I also provide supervision, serve as a business consultant, and review research proposals. Given that my work can be mentally and emotionally draining, I maintain balance with activities I am passionate about. Specifically, I always need to have both physical and creative outlets. For example, I train in boxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) and I have another business as a freelance makeup artist. Other things I am passionate about are cooking, traveling, salsa dancing, and gardening.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: My parents started a business planning performing tours for high school music groups when I was three years old. My father brought my sister and me on the road with him and taught us about the business from an early age. This has hugely impacted my life, as I am now a business owner myself. The business also allowed us to travel as a family. By the time I was 18 years old, I had visited all 50 states and dozens of countries. Aside from travel, however, my parents made sure we were exposed to other cultures, customs, and languages. We had very close friends from Nigeria and three exchange students (they were from Mexico, Argentina, and Poland). I, too, studied abroad twice, spending a semester each in Mexico and Spain. I also backpacked around Europe for one month. I feel so fortunate to have had these opportunities. Travel has taught me independence and confidence. I have gained a new perspective in life and appreciation for what I have. I also learned the value of speaking another language. My goal is to always have traveled to at least as many countries as I am years old. Another significant and related aspect of my childhood was cooking. My father loves to cook and he shared his love of it with me. It was something we often did together. He cooked two new dishes each week, and often, we tried foods from all over the world. Cooking for friends and family brings people together and is an act of caring and giving. It was also way I could connect with my Italian heritage and explore other cultures.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: I hold several important lessons with me. One is to be humble, ask questions, and always be open to feedback. At the same time, however, know your worth, believe in yourself, and walk the world with confidence. Despite holding a doctorate in clinical psychology and being considered an expert witness in court, it took me a long time to feel confident. I always assumed there were so many other, more experienced clinicians than I. Likewise, it has always been hard for me to ask for the compensation I deserve. Nevertheless, you have to be your own best advocate. Second, as an introvert, I hated the idea of networking. It felt so disingenuous. Inevitably, however, most career opportunities arise via word of mouth. Also, it doesn’t have to be inauthentic. Form friendships, reach out, ask questions, and make an effort to stay in touch. Third, it really is a small world. This is especially true in my field. There are only two state agencies that employ forensic psychologists, so we all know one another. This is also the case throughout the country. Therefore, it’s so important to comport yourself professionally and never burn any bridges.
Your reputation matters. Fourth, I have learned I must always find balance. I have taken on a lot of endeavors and am always busy. I work full-time, own two companies, have several side gigs and contracts, develop professional presentations, write manuscripts for publication, and am seeking board certification. I also dedicate my time to several hobbies and need to set time aside for my family, my friends, and myself. This is a constant juggle and I am often overwhelmed and exhausted. It’s important for me to stay in tune with those feelings, self-care, and prioritize so I don’t get burned out. Lastly, I am always pushing myself to do things that scare me or that I don’t believe I can accomplish. Whenever I have doubts, I want to prove to myself that I am capable of achieving what I set out to do, even if it’s hard. As a result, I have earned a doctorate, started two businesses, run an ultra marathon, gone skydiving, and gone scuba diving in narrow cave passages, among other things. It is my perseverance in the face of self-doubt that I am most proud of.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: When I was younger, I hated dresses, the color pink, and anything else I perceived to be “girly.” I felt that the only way I could establish myself on equal footing with the boys and find acceptance was to reject my feminine side. As an adult, I have always worked in male-dominated environments and participated in male-dominant sports (e.g., hockey, mountain biking, boxing, BJJ). This led to a lot of inaccurate assumptions, unwanted attention, and unfair treatment. Being told I couldn’t do something because I was a woman was also a frequent occurrence. An ex-boyfriend once told me I couldn’t be a forensic psychologist, and my uncle told me girls don’t play hockey or box. Unfortunately for them, I like to challenge people’s assumptions and prove them wrong, so I did all three. As a correctional officer, my male co-workers didn’t think I was capable of performing my job as well as they were. I was dismissed as just filling a quota and I was the subject of sexual harassment. When I resigned from my position, they admitted they made bets about how long it would take before I cried and quit. Despite making a significant effort to dress professionally and conservatively while working in prisons, my physical appearance was the topic of conversation. People were always surprised when I told them where I worked, as if I didn’t fit the mold. I once had a female supervisor suggest I wasn’t even like the other female correctional officers because I didn’t play hockey (I did). Similarly, on the mats, men did everything they could to prevent being beat by a woman or they were patronizing. I don’t want to be known for what I look like, and I don’t want to be treated any differently just because I am a woman. Therefore, I am particularly interested in paving the way for other women working in correctional environments or joining male-dominated sports. My goal is to help women garner respect, rather than be patronized or objectified. I make it a point to try to address these issues whenever they come to my attention. I want to challenge people’s assumptions, or at the very least, advocate for what I believe in. I also want women to be able to both embrace their femininity and find success and respect in male-dominated arenas. As cliché as it is, I had to learn to accept myself, rather than trying to prove my worth or and what people expect of me. Who I am is a quiet, unassuming makeup artist who is trained in mixed martial arts and interviews murderers for a living.
Q and A with Maja from Croatia, living in Paris, France
“I learned to trust my inner guidance; whenever I followed it, it led me to amazing places and opportunities I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about inspiring people to follow their heart and live their best life! I teach meditation, breathwork, energetic alignment, and law of attraction [in order] to manifest a life of your own design that is aligned with your purpose. I’ve been living this way for a really long time, and I honestly couldn’t imagine my life in any other way.
Take a completely FREE meditation class with Maja by clicking here.
Ever since I broke through my fear of visibility as a teenage girl, I have been able to tap into my passions and share my gifts with the world. I’ve been pursuing my passion for music and singing for a long time and teaching others to free their voice, which led me to coaching and healing work. I’ve had my first spiritual awakening in my late teens and living in a spiritual way has truly helped me manifest amazing things from magical opportunities, performing in front of thousands of people, having my on radio show on national radio, traveling to amazing places, my life in Portugal and to today in Paris! I believe it’s all about energy and what you emit into the world. When you are aligned with your heart’s desire, everything flows effortlessly. In the past year or so, I have decided to expand my visibility so I started my podcast and YouTube channel, published several meditations on Insight Timer, I’ve been featured on many summits, blogs, and have done many guest-speaking gigs. I feel like that’s a better use of my energy, as I am able to help more people, so this where I’m heading next.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up in a socialist country, and I have been through many hardships, [including] war, which affected me deeply and turned me into apatriot and a hippie. Ever since that moment, I stand for peace, love, compassion, and kindness towards all beings. I believe we all deserve to be loved and there is plenty of abundance for everyone. That is what everyone really wants: to be loved and accepted, and I like to help people find that love and peace within. Happy people=happy world, and that’s the kind of world I want to live in. I realized that if we work on ourselves and become better people, we are able to influence our inner circle and possibly more if we’re willing. One person can make a difference, and we all matter.
There was one activity in particular that helped me break through my fears quite a bit, and that is improv theatre! By making a fool of myself in front of other people many times, I realized I can do anything. It gave me a confidence boost I needed and honestly, without it, I wouldn’t be able to do anything I loved…as everything I do involved interacting with people. I also learned that by facing my fear over and over again, I get better at what I do and am able to handle it much easier.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Anything is possible if you believe it is. I was surrounded with nonbelievers who tried to put me in a box many times (some still do!). I learned to trust my inner guidance; whenever I followed it, it led me to amazing places and opportunities I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. A big part of my success is faith, trusting in Divine timing and that I’m being guided all the time. I observe, listen, and act when inspired. It just works! It’s not always easy, as our mind and doubt interferes, but if you learn to be in the present moment and tap into your intuitive guidance, it becomes easy. I have manifested things many thought were impossible or unrealistic, just because I believed. Many told me that my example inspired them to do the same and pursue their dreams. That, to me, is worth the effort.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: I have been supporting women for many years now and believe that, if women support each other, we can do amazing things! We have a long way to go to get equal rights, but we are doing the work and I feel more and more women are stepping into their power and owning it. This is what is needed to take our place in the world, which is why I am very passionate about helping women tap into their inner power. We are much more powerful than we think, yet we have been lead to believe we are the “weaker sex.” I’d like to contribute to changing that perspective and doing whatever I can to inspire women to be their own superheroes.
“I think if I started training just to get abs, I would have stopped after 2 weeks.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I’m passionate about self improvement. My motto in life is, “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” This has been so evident in my life since I decided to take my health and fitness seriously. As I started exercising, I saw myself getting stronger and fitter, and when I would reach a new personal best on an exercise, I would ask myself, “What else am I capable of?” This made me want to take risks and try new things in other areas of my life, including my career and relationships. I got out of a toxic relationship and made so many new friends. I also made the leap to become self-employed as a personal trainer helping other women and showing them what can happen when you decide to improve your health and fitness.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I moved a lot when I was young, moving between my mum in Zimbabwe and my dad in Scotland. I finally settled in Aberdeen, Scotland, at the age of 8. I went to school there and did a year of civil and structural engineering at Aberdeen University, but I realized it wasn’t the course for me, so I dropped out and, shortly after, moved to Manchester where I launched a fashion App, but sadly, [I] couldn’t get funding to grow the business, so I got a job. At this time, I was in a bad relationship and wasn’t happy with my career either so I started reading about personal development.
I just wanted to feel better about myself, so I decided I would do something every day that would make me proud of myself. I knew that if I wanted to stay consistent with it, I needed to make it so easy for myself so that I couldn’t make excuses. So, I started running for just 10 minutes a day. Fast forward 6 months later, I was doing 30 minutes plus a day with some rest days here and there. I then made a decision to join the gym, and 5 years later, I’ve never looked back and never will! Health and fitness is part of my life; it made me a better person.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: I think one thing that made me stick to exercising regularly and ultimately transforming my whole life is that I focused on something deeper than the physical. I think if I started training just to get abs, I would have stopped after 2 weeks. I just want to help other women realize what limitless potential lies within them only if they dedicate to improving themselves: physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: To me, feminism means equality for all people regardless of gender, sexuality, or background. It means women supporting one another and empowering each other in an effort to achieve this goal of equality together.
“Success is not about money. It’s about fulfilling the little things that make you YOU.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I love to learn new things every day, but what I am most passionate about is creativity. I am Cha Consul, and I graduated in visual communication arts from a small province in the Philippines. I graduated in 2019, and I worked in corporate companies as a graphic artist but never felt satisfied with it. As young as 20 years old, I knew the career path I’d been taking was not for me. So, I started a part-time job as a freelancer while working on my 9–5 job.
I slowly felt I that was in the right place, and before I knew it, my little studio called Risseia was born! Now, I work as a freelance book illustrator and brand designer for female entrepreneurs. I am now working on a children’s book illustration project that will be released this 2020 worldwide!
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up in a very traditional and cultured family. My parents are religious and strict, but despite that, they were hard-working. I never really got that trait though. I used to be a slacker when I was in high school. I never got to be a top student and almost failed in every college application. I love making art though. It was like my sanctuary even when I was a little girl. My parents wanted me to be an architect, yet the only thing I achieved during that time was disappointing them.
When I luckily passed one college application, I took an art course instead of the one they wanted me to take. I was planning to shift on architecture after one year, but I guess the artist in me got in the way. I continued being an art student and I grew fond of it. I loved how art made me motivated to learn. Before long, I was acing all of my subjects! I was one of the top students in class without realizing it, and slowly, I am finding what I am truly capable of.
I graduated last year in 2019 and started working on a famous cosmetic brand as a graphic artist. While I was really having fun with it, living in a third-world country became hard. My salary was minimum wage and I had to travel 6 hours a day to get to my work. It was a crazy experience and I realized it wasn’t worth it. I decided to resign in less than a month knowing of the situation. In between those days, I kept thinking of what could happen if I become a freelancer instead. Well, my anxious self discouraged me.
Fast forward, I successfully worked at another company, but I decided to become a part-time freelancer. I never realized how exciting it was to work for other brands and challenge myself to execute a great design! I worked secretly on my freelancing projects when my boss wasn’t around. My mother wasn’t also supportive of the idea of me working as a full-time freelancer, so I knew I had to prove something to her.
It was the pandemic when my career changed its course miraculously. Despite the horrible events happening, it helped me become stronger and made me more self-reliant! My current company wouldn’t let me work from home, so I decided to try freelancing as a temporary ‘full-time’ job. It was then when I realized the vast opportunities waiting for me outside my day job, I worked harder and made my mom realize that this path is helping me release my true potential. Before I knew it, I took the biggest risk and resigned again to become my own boss. To be honest, my partner Jupert, was the one who really inspired me to take this risk. He was so supportive, and I’m glad I could rely on him every day.
Now, my parents are the proudest, and I realized that all the things that happened were all there for a reason. I am blessed with all these projects I am handling right now and I can’t wait to learn more in the next coming years! I believe that when you want something, you just have to trust yourself and the process!
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Some people might not support you right away, even your loved ones might not support you, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up. We tend to feel discouraged when someone disagrees with us. Honestly, not everyone should matter to you. Analyze those people who are valuable to you and focus on them instead. It’s okay to prove yourself to others who are important to you, but know that you should prioritize how to prove yourself wrong. Anyway, our greatest enemy is ourselves.
It won’t be an easy process, but if you believe in yourself enough, your true potential will automatically shine! Trust your process, and as long as you love what you are doing, that is enough reason for you to keep going. So, quit that job you hate, start doing what you love, risk for freedom, risk for happiness…risk for yourself.
Q:What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism for me is about fighting for equal rights. Most people think that Feminism is just about us fighting on how women are more superior to men, but I think we need to voice out what the true meaning of this advocacy is. It’s not about who is better or who is more valuable; it’s about learning to respect each other’s potential and lifting each other up no matter who you are!
Q: Is there anything else you would like the readers to know?
A: I’d like to use this platform to simply encourage anyone out there who is struggling with their careers. I know a lot of people who aren’t happy with what they are doing right now. I hope you find the strength to finally choose what you really love to do. For once, don’t think about the money and don’t think about what others might think; just think about how content you will become if you love the path you are taking. I believe that money will run after you when you are doing what you love. I hope you get excited to wake up one day because the dream you’ve always wanted to do is already happening. Success is not about money. It’s about fulfilling the little things that make you YOU.
I am Charisse Consul, a 22 year old Filipina illustrator and designer who is the founder of Risseia Studio. I chose this career for myself and to help others fulfill their dream career with my skills & services. I hope this interview inspired you. Talk to you again soon!
The Woman Wednesday Blog 