A Vision of...Boards?
About three weeks ago, I grabbed one of my homegirls and we went to the Phenomenally Me Vision Board Event. Honestly folks, I'm glad I did.
I haven't set foot in CT in over ten years, since I transferred out of Post University. Being back on my temporary stomping grounds was kind of cool for the moment. I missed the surroundings, but I won't digress. The vision board event was hosted by Patrina Dixon, an award-winning author, certified financial educator, and money coach. Upon our entrance into the venue, we saw many women sitting at tables filled with magazines, poster boards, stickers, glue, and some other supplies I couldn't even remember. I was starting to feel my inner craftiness come alive. While we were all sorting through magazines and clipping our pictures, there were four awesome speakers sharing words of wisdom on how to tackle the goals we have set for ourselves.
Kelley Herbert, who owns the Styles of Grace Accessories, informed all in attendance that it is possible to run a business while working a full time job. I immediately thought back to when I was a kid and my mother launched her specialty grocery store upstate. I remember the door-to-door canvassing of order forms and flyers, doing promos over the radio and magazines, my personal favorite, making deliveries. All of what my mother did back then reaffirmed what Ms. Herbert told us next, "When you have a business, you can create it to what you want to be."
Dr. Jacqueline Garofano was another woman of peers who created success for herself in the medical field. At just 33-years-old, she holds a Doctorate and is a staff research scientist at UTRC, United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, CT (yes I Googled it, just staying accurate). Despite enduring hardships in her upbringing, she used what she had to get what she wanted. She is grateful to people in her life who told her despite obstacles that she could do it. Holding onto the ones who aspired and inspired her was how she made it to where she is today. She directly told us, "Do whatever it is that brings you joy and don't take no for an answer."
Youth financial literacy coach and author Jatali Bellanton shot straight to the point and I feel like I needed to hear her words also. Not because I felt like I was figuratively stuck in a certain place but I needed to understand something. She stated that her mother was financially irresponsible and decided she didn't want to be like that. I didn't consider myself to be financially irresponsible but it did prompt me to do research on what it meant (as if I don't do enough already). But just the phrase itself, financially irresponsible, does not provide any comfort at all. Another direct quote that I am grateful for, Bellanton has told many who have challenged her womanhood, "You are NOT my storyteller, I am creating my own story."
Yes, my heart dropped and the edges stood up straight on my head because this is another constant battle I've gotten used to fighting as a woman of color, but that's for another post.
Pamela Senatore, a journalist turned manager of the Women's Leadership Council for United Way of Central and Northeastern CT briefly discussed her hardships, such as one of the devastating hurricanes, I believe it was Sandy, relocating her family and her divorce. She said, "We are not victims, even though we may feel like it in this life." Long story short, she went through a lot and I can't even formulate a guess as to how anyone would feel dealing with such life-changing events. But she did what she had to do, with passion, for she also said, "What do you love? Proceed with passion and go for it."
The talks I heard led me to do this. Cutting, thinking, and formulating led me to create this. I purposefully keep it in front of my TV as a positive deterrent and help me stay creative during my writing times. In this day and age where vision boards, bullet journals, and art is evolving with social media, many took to their online profiles and webpages to share their newest ventures. Whether it was starting a business, travelling, saving money, getting married, or gaining mastery over self-care, this event was simply...phenomenal.
I haven't set foot in CT in over ten years, since I transferred out of Post University. Being back on my temporary stomping grounds was kind of cool for the moment. I missed the surroundings, but I won't digress. The vision board event was hosted by Patrina Dixon, an award-winning author, certified financial educator, and money coach. Upon our entrance into the venue, we saw many women sitting at tables filled with magazines, poster boards, stickers, glue, and some other supplies I couldn't even remember. I was starting to feel my inner craftiness come alive. While we were all sorting through magazines and clipping our pictures, there were four awesome speakers sharing words of wisdom on how to tackle the goals we have set for ourselves.
Kelley Herbert, who owns the Styles of Grace Accessories, informed all in attendance that it is possible to run a business while working a full time job. I immediately thought back to when I was a kid and my mother launched her specialty grocery store upstate. I remember the door-to-door canvassing of order forms and flyers, doing promos over the radio and magazines, my personal favorite, making deliveries. All of what my mother did back then reaffirmed what Ms. Herbert told us next, "When you have a business, you can create it to what you want to be."
Dr. Jacqueline Garofano was another woman of peers who created success for herself in the medical field. At just 33-years-old, she holds a Doctorate and is a staff research scientist at UTRC, United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, CT (yes I Googled it, just staying accurate). Despite enduring hardships in her upbringing, she used what she had to get what she wanted. She is grateful to people in her life who told her despite obstacles that she could do it. Holding onto the ones who aspired and inspired her was how she made it to where she is today. She directly told us, "Do whatever it is that brings you joy and don't take no for an answer."
Youth financial literacy coach and author Jatali Bellanton shot straight to the point and I feel like I needed to hear her words also. Not because I felt like I was figuratively stuck in a certain place but I needed to understand something. She stated that her mother was financially irresponsible and decided she didn't want to be like that. I didn't consider myself to be financially irresponsible but it did prompt me to do research on what it meant (as if I don't do enough already). But just the phrase itself, financially irresponsible, does not provide any comfort at all. Another direct quote that I am grateful for, Bellanton has told many who have challenged her womanhood, "You are NOT my storyteller, I am creating my own story."
Yes, my heart dropped and the edges stood up straight on my head because this is another constant battle I've gotten used to fighting as a woman of color, but that's for another post.
Pamela Senatore, a journalist turned manager of the Women's Leadership Council for United Way of Central and Northeastern CT briefly discussed her hardships, such as one of the devastating hurricanes, I believe it was Sandy, relocating her family and her divorce. She said, "We are not victims, even though we may feel like it in this life." Long story short, she went through a lot and I can't even formulate a guess as to how anyone would feel dealing with such life-changing events. But she did what she had to do, with passion, for she also said, "What do you love? Proceed with passion and go for it."
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| Photo courtesy of Miss Rivers |
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