by desing | Faith & Purpose
It’s that time of the year where we are all celebrating what we’re thankful for, enjoying time with loved ones and making room for just one more slice of that delectable sweet potato pie. My mouth waters just thinking about it!
I know that you are busy, working hard, balancing life and work, becoming better and stronger. I trust that you have been doing all that you can to succeed in achieving your life’s goals because I know that I have been doing the same. Nevertheless, I noticed that I’ve been so caught up into realizing my goals according to my plans (which is still a good thing), that I forget to take some time to live and reflect on the accomplishments of my life.
There’s this quote that I read the other day and it said “In between achieving your goals, take the time to live!” I knew I was meant to read that.
Life can move pretty quickly. We are already getting ready to close out 2014 and the next thing that you know we will be preparing our grills for summer barbeque fun. Sometimes we can get so caught up into moving on to the “next thing’ that we forget to celebrate the last five things we achieved. We keep going and going, forgetting to stop to reflect on the journey or we may even get so caught up into our own “stuff” that we forget to check for others in our lives.
Have you ever been there before?
Well, this is what I want you to do. I want you (and I’m talking to me first here) to take the next few days to create a list of all the good you’ve accomplished this year, all the goals you have crossed off your list and all the great things that have happened to you this year. Once you have your list written down, I want you to make the promise to yourself that in between achieving all your new goals that you will live, laugh, love and enjoy life.
The next thing I want you to do is to take the time to reach out to a friend or loved one that you have not had the time to “check in” with. Instead of a text, try giving them a call to have a genuine conversation. The people in our lives want to know that they matter, let’s show them that they do this holiday season.
There are so many things that we can be thankful for in our lives which includes celebrating how far you have come and acknowledging those who have helped you get there. Take the time to acknowledge your accomplishments and continue to LIVE as you work on whatever is next!
Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life.
If you’re a student of success like I am, then you have probably heard more times than once about the power of our thoughts and how they directly influence our moods, decisions, and ultimate success story.
Our lives are also composed by our choices.
Which leads me to say that if our minds control our choices then our thoughts are perhaps one the most powerful weapons that we possess. A weapon that we may take for granted and not understand it’s full power.
I heard someone once say that “We are our thoughts.” If that were true, what do you think your thoughts would say about you.
Changing the way we think is something that takes a lifetime to ultimately achieve because it’s not as simple as we may think – no pun intended.
Instead of giving you my spiel on the power of positive thinking, I want you to analyze your thoughts of the day and find out what are your dominating thoughts. It’s one thing to have one positive thought and think “job well done,” but it’s another to have dominating thoughts that are rooted in fear, guilt, anxiety, worry, insecurity or negativity.
Dominating thoughts are not necessarily the thoughts that you have about yourself; it can be thoughts of others or your thoughts of the world. We are constantly hit with images, content, news and more about all things negative from diseases to crisis around the world to the latest publicity ploy from (insert celebrity name here) to news of crime and more crime to news of daily injustices. We cannot be naïve enough to believe that all these images that we are exposed and that we choose to expose ourselves to are not affecting our thought life.
In this day of social media, it seems like the “news” is non-stop and everyone is giving their opinion whether it was asked of them or not. You cannot read this and think that what you see does not end up influencing you because it does – perhaps not in a major way but all negativity needs is one seed planted and all it will take is another negative circumstance to water it after another to harvest into a negative thought life.
I personally noticed this in myself years ago and purposefully stopped reading certain blogs, watching the news at night and refused to continue viewing programs of what has now become “ratchet TV.” I noticed that everything I was watching or reading was taking a toll on my spirit because instead of thinking hope, I thought injustice or instead of thinking of love, I thought of judgment.
Now I am not telling you to stop enjoying whatever makes you happy. However, pay attention to what you’re watching, what you’re thinking, what you’re listening to and what you’re reading. Is it uplifting you? Is it empowering you? Is it motivating you? Is it challenging you? Are you learning? Is it having a negative effect on your thought life? What are these images doing for you?
Have a filter on what you choose to allow yourself to watch, hear or read. You’d be surprised as to how these things can influence your thought life which can in turn effect your decisions which will ultimately impact your destiny.
You have the power to control what you think – pay attention to those dominating thoughts of yours and if they’re rooted in any negativity then I want you to do some digging and determine what planted seed has harvest in your mind. Once you’ve figured it out, do what you need to get rid of the seed and all the weeds that have grown with it.
Remember this final note, how you hear is colored by the condition of your heart.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
What’s the ONE thing that we are all going to have to deal with in life?
Facing life’s challenges.
As much as I would prefer life to be “challenge free,” it’s safe to conclude that that notion is a fictitious dream. Who hasn’t had to overcome some sort of challenge, loss, upset, hard time or disappointment in life?
We all have and I firmly believe that we only grow and become better as we face life’s giants.
A few days ago, I was watching the movie “Evan Almighty” where actor Morgan Freeman plays the role of God who summons a new age Noah to build an arc in order to save his family. I watched for comedic relief, not really expecting to learn anything profound but then when I least expected it, Morgan Freeman’s character (God) share priceless pearls of wisdom.
“When you pray for faith, do you think God injects the faith in you or does He give you an opportunity to have faith? When you pray for patience, do you think God gives you patience or He gives you an opportunity to be patient?”
I paused and immediately reflected on my current challenges. I thought to myself, “Maria, what are your challenges really trying to teach you? Faith, patience, trusting God?” As you know, everything I write about is mostly influenced by some personal circumstance or wisdom that I am learning on my journey which I choose to share in hopes of empowering you. No different this week.
The minute I started to see my challenges as an opportunity to strengthen my trust in God, my patience and my faith, I was able to let go of trying to figure everything out – which is still a daily challenge. I have prayed for God to strengthen my faith and I am certain that several of my current challenges are an opportunity for me to use my faith. They say that you will not know what faith really is until it’s all that you have. If faith is all you have left, then I suggest that you use it.
So what about you? What challenges are you facing that are really an opportunity?
Is that co-worker you continuously bump heads with a challenge or an opportunity to grow in compassion or leadership skills? Is the challenge of growing your business to the next level with limited resources a challenge or is it an opportunity for you to learn patience? Is the challenge of finding the ideal partner in life really a challenge or an opportunity for you to take some time to do some personal development to become better? Is the challenge of losing your job really a challenge or an opportunity to trust that God will take care of you?
If you do pray, pay attention to your prayers. Perhaps your prayers are being answered in a way that you did not expect. If you’ve prayed for courage, strength or a forgiving heart then maybe your challenge is really an opportunity to exude courage, strength or forgiveness.
Take some time this week to analyze your challenges and see the opportunity in each challenge you are currently facing. I want you to take a piece a paper, write down the challenge on top and then under it focus on the opportunity. Once you discover the opportunity, make a commitment to focus on the opportunity in the circumstance and not the circumstance itself.
I know it isn’t easy! I’ve been repeating “It’s an opportunity to have faith and trust God” for the past week now because I am so tempted to complain, worry and do something to fix it. Nevertheless, I’ve asked God to strengthened my faith and trust me when I say that He’s given me an opportunity to use it all year!
Now, which of your challenges is really an opportunity?
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
Isn’t it fascinating to have “a ha” moments when you weren’t even looking?
So over the weekend I had the pleasure to speak on a panel, discussing entrepreneurship, at the YES Conference at Barnard College in New York City. The organization focuses on the empowerment of girls who are entrepreneurs or are aspiring entrepreneurs.
Our panel was a unique component of the conference where myself and other accomplished women discussed the “ins and outs” of entrepreneurship with the parents of the hopeful entrepreneurs. I absolutely loved hearing all the words of wisdom shared and the excitement of the parents.
After the panel was over, a parent of one of the girls comes up to me asking for advice in a particular area; of course I agreed to share as much information as I could. What happened next surprised me.
She proceeds to say something along the lines of, “I see all of you accomplished women on the panel and how you guys have it all together and I wish I could be like that.” Immediately, I told her not to believe the hype. We are all on our own journey and NO ONE is perfect. I couldn’t speak for the other panelists, but I told her that I was not where I ultimately want to be either, however, I understand that I am on my journey and so is she.
This got me to thinking.
How many of us look at other accomplished women and wish that we had what they have? How many of us look at all the women doing fantastic things on social media, hoping that we simply had a taste of their success?
I wanted to hug that woman at the conference and let her know of all the challenges I have overcome, prayed over and am still battling daily. We are often mislead to believe that no one else has it as hard as we do, or that someone else’s life is more desirable, or that someone else has it all together.
LIES!
Behind every accomplished woman that you see is one heck of a story. You do not know what she has had to triumph over to get where she is today and you also NEVER know what challenges someone is currently dealing with. In addition, you may be comparing your chapter 3 to someone else’s chapter 25.
We have to learn to accept our journey as our own and embrace all of it – the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. I am convinced that every last experience we go through and every challenge we face is placed in our lives to challenge, provoke, grow and perfect us into becoming who we need to be in order to do what we have been called to do.
Each one of us is dealt a hand but you have the power living on the inside of you to play the hand you were dealt so that you can win. Stop looking at other people’s hands and focus on the hand you were dealt.
I am here to tell you that you NEVER know what someone is really going through and if you did you may be glad that you do not have their life. I can admit that I have been that person and still have those moments where I am tempted to compare so it’s an ongoing process to change the way we think.
There are several women whom I have admired from afar and when I finally met these “empowered” women, I realized that many of them were wearing all sorts of masks and putting on a façade of empowerment – in actuality some of them were not as empowered as I thought.
This was a huge eye opener for me.
So I leave you with this: embrace your individual journey, stop comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle, you never know what someone else has had to go through or is still going through to get where they are, and what you may think is “successful” may be an intricately crafted pretense.
Take the time to live and embrace your legacy 🙂
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
If you’re anything like me, you like to hold people in your life to a standard that you would follow. I start many of my sentences with “I would have done it like this…” and I have realized that although I mean well, I am only setting myself up for disappointment when I want people to operate the way I would.
Do you ever find yourself doing the same thing?
Well, I must admit that it’s taking me at least a decade to get to this point and I am still learning how to do this right here –
Accepting people for who they are and who they are NOT.
Holding people to an expectation to respond differently, react differently, act differently than they normally would, can not only be frustrating but taxing on our emotions. Disappointment happens after what we expected to happen failed to occur. I had this “a ha” moment where I realized that I am only hurting myself every time I expect (insert family member, friend, loved one, co-worker or boss here) to act differently than before.
“Why do I keep doing this to myself?” I thought.
I would become infuriated with people in my life after they consistently disappointed me with their actions, reactions or lack thereof. Let me clear that most of the time it’s a family member or loved one so it’s not as simple to sever the relationship. That’s when I came to this conclusion –
“Maria, you cannot change them but you can change yourself and your expectation of them.”
Too often we like to hold people to standards that they may never meet because that isn’t who they are. We are asking someone to be someone who they are not. We can either accept it and deal with them accordingly or we can continue to allow them to steal our peace every time they fail to meet the mark.
I know it’s not easy as we want people (particularly our loved ones) to be the perfect mother, father, brother, sister, cousin or niece, but in order for us to have peace with others we must learn to let go of the façade which we have created in our minds. We have to learn to deal with people the way they are, not the way that we hope they’ll be.
This does not mean that I am telling to allow continuous irresponsible, hurtful or disrespectful behavior in your life. I want you to learn to accept people in your life for who they are and who they are NOT so that you can live in peace, instead of allowing someone else’s behavior to stress you.
You have a legacy to achieve, a purpose to live out and a promising future to work towards. The last thing you need is to keep giving that person permission to anger you.
Refuse to allow someone’s junk to frustrate your joy. Remember that hurt people, hurt people and those hurt people can be in our families, circle of friends or in our workplace. We cannot save them from their hurt, we cannot make them change and we cannot control who they are. We can only control ourselves and how we choose to respond to them.
So who is it in your life that you need to accept for who they are? Or better yet, who is it in your life that you need to accept for who they are not?
I’m doing it and I must say it feels good to FINALLY get it. You can too!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
Isn’t it so much easier to complain and talk about all of the things that are going wrong? I’m noticing that in many of the conversations that I am having and listening to, everyone seems to be focused on how hard things or how things are not going the way one anticipated. It’s almost as if we are focused on surviving and we forget to focus on progressing.
Our conversations consist of what’s missing, what we’re working towards, what could be better instead of what we have, what’s right and how far we have come. I think it’s time that we change the conversation.
Is it possible to be happy along the journey while trying to achieve whatever the goal is? Absolutely! However, we keep saying things like “I’ll be happy when…” Why can’t we be happy now? In our conversations with our girlfriends, we complain about work, life, men and all things in between but what if we changed the conversation to focus on everything that is going right? I think we’d have plenty more happy women walking around. Don’t you?
I know that normally I can go on and on as we know I can talk. This time, I want to keep things simple. I want you to make the choice right now to change the conversation you are having. Maybe it’s not you who has the change the conversation, perhaps it’s the people around you. If that is the case, then I want you to be the catalyst that encourages others to change their conversation. Challenge others around you to change their conversation.
The next time you want to complain about what your husband did or did not do, how about you change the conversation to what he is doing right? The next time you want to complain about the market and how challenging it is for you to find your perfect home on your budget, try to change the conversation to focus on something else that is going well. Perhaps you landed a promotion, met your fitness goals or have been asked to serve in a leadership position at your church. Heck, maybe you even got a great deal on some new shoes!
Changing the conversation not only keeps us focused on what’s right, it sparks an attitude of gratitude while training our minds to remain positive. The quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our thinking. I’m not telling you to hold everything inside but I am encouraging you to choose the “theme” of your conversations. I promise that when you do, you will see the change in your perspective and a growth within yourself. Not everything “bad” that happens to you requires a 2.5 hour conversation which only makes things worse. What you make room for in your life (both good or bad), you empower to grow. Remember that!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
As I continue to live in my purpose and embrace this extraordinary journey of success, nothing thrills me more than to be able to share nuggets of wisdom that I am learning with you. Every time I am in a “valley” or in a “dry season,” I am starting to understand that I am going through that valley to learn and mature not only for myself but for others.
With maturity, comes a further level of understanding that one can only appreciate until after a lesson is learned. In all transparency, this year has been quite the test of faith for me but in the midst of it all, I have learned to find my joy and peace within myself which was something that I know I could not do a year ago.
I want to share with you the most valuable lesson that I have learned this year thus far. I have learned that when we really let go of our major concerns and stop trying to figure out how “it” will happen, get taken care of or get paid for – then that is when I believe God comes in and does what only He can do. I kid you not when I say that my greatest achievements in life have come when I was not looking, when I let go or when I was not worried about it. It happened as I went about my life, minding my business free from worry.
It’s a magical thing that happens when we let go. Let go of our fears, let go of our worries, let go of people, let go of pain, let go of figuring out how to make it happen and make a conscious decision to trust God while continuing to put our best foot forward. What I have embraced is this very fact: grace will take you where hustling can’t.
If you only knew how God has been proving Himself faithful even in my life’s storms. All I have to say is “Wow!” Furthermore, I see that every perceived “set back” is something that God has allowed or something that He has put in my life only to make me sharper, wiser, more faithful and more confident in my journey. I now know for a FACT that my steps are being ordered – even when circumstances may not make much sense to me.
Isn’t that what faith really is in the first place?
Today, I encourage you to let it all go. Whether your concern is about your business, financial situation, family or next step in life, I want you to just let it go. Now, I’m not saying to live life aimlessly and not have a plan or goals. What I am saying is to focus on what you can do and let go of what you cannot do. You are not in control of the seasons, God is. As much as I would love to have summer start all over again, it’s just not that time of year. What I can do is adjust to the season that I am in and prepare for the next one. And you never know, there may be an opportunity on the horizon that may take me to a place where the weather is lovely all year round. I am choosing to live in expectancy of great things, but I am letting go of how it will all happen.
I promise you that when you let go, do your best and trust your process you will begin to see the magic begin to unveil on its own. If there were tulips growing in your garden, you wouldn’t stare at them all day every day waiting for the moment in which they sprout open right? You would water them, nurture the soil and go back to your life. But you know that eventually, those beautiful flowers are going to blossom. Same goes for you. Just water and nurture your soil, go back to living your life and trust that your blossoming moment will come to pass.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
How many times have we heard things like, “Don’t take it personally” or “Keep your feelings out of it” when on our career path? It is said that women are naturally more emotional and relationship-oriented, which I wholeheartedly agree with as I have no shame in admitting that I am exactly that and being so does not make me any less of a woman because I have learned to manage my emotions. And trust me when I say that I am still learning and like everyone else, I have my moments.
Nonetheless, I have been thinking about how sometimes I would often confuse controlling my emotions with allowing my emotions to build up as a result of not wanting to confront anyone. Oftentimes we may confuse communicating how we feel with being powerless and vulnerable which is totally not the case. In my journey of womanhood, the most crucial component to my growth as a woman has been the ability to effectively identify and communicate how I feel to whomever I need to at the moment.
Like most of us, I grew up in an environment where telling someone how you really felt was considered giving away your power. Thus, I would walk around with all this built up emotion which would usually erupt in a flaring temper where I would act out, break down, shut down and the cycle would inevitably repeat the next time I exploded. As I grew older (and with the help of my best friend), I recognized that that sort of behavior was highly dysfunctional and I had to learn to communicate with others more effectively or else I would never be able to keep long-lasting, healthy relationships.
Consequently, I started doing just that and, boy did my life change! However, I made this mistake of thinking that because I changed; everyone around me would also change. Haaaaa!!! Funny right? I would see others doing exactly what I would do and I would try to encourage them to communicate, to articulate what it is that they are really feeling to have others understand their viewpoint in the best way possible. I would notice things like passive aggressive behavior along with simply not confronting others or not holding others in their lives accountable for their actions. Eventually I realized that it would be up to them to change so I have learned to wash my hands of people who are committed to misunderstanding. I try to lead by example and so should you.
What’s my point?
If you are one of those people who has trouble confronting others or expressing how you truly feel then I want you to start to think of ways to change that. Part of the essence of being a woman, is being able to appropriately deal with confrontation and articulately communicate your standpoint in any and every circumstance. The first place you can begin is to get to the root of what you are feeling and identify what it is that you are experiencing. For example, anger is a secondary emotion that is rooted in pain. The next time you are angry, try to identify what or who it is that has hurt you.
We have to learn to be clear on our communication with others and be able to confront others while holding them accountable for their actions. This does not mean a yelling match or hurting others out of your hurt because I need us to all become better communicators – especially in our jobs and in our homes. If someone at your job has done something to offend you or is taking advantage of you then say something to them clearly and calmly. If someone in your life has done something to hurt you then tell them – do not tell every other person but the person you have the issue with. We cannot continue to walk around acting like nothing ever bothers us because that’s just an explosion waiting to happen – I used to be a walking volcano so I know!
Now don’t begin to allow your emotions to rule over you but there are instances in your life where your emotions are valid and you have every right to express yourself. If you have a great idea that you want to share at your next team meeting, then say it! We have to understand that we have power in our voices and we have to use them correctly. Speak your mind while saying it simply and simply saying it. This is not your excuse to be rude or nasty but this is a call for us to speak up when it’s time to speak up! There is a difference between controlling your emotions and just sweeping them under the rug. Be confident enough in you to stand up for yourself with class, grace and dignity. You are indeed worth it!
I pray that this was able to help someone today. Remember to say it simply and simply say it 🙂
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose, Tools
Secrets – we have all had them at one point or another. Lately, I have been looking at the hidden power that secrets can have in our lives and how harmful they can be to ourselves, our family, our self-esteem or our relationships if we allow our secrets to have power over us.
What you don’t know can hurt you. If there were special secrets about what it takes to truly become successful while attaining and obtaining wealth and you are not in on that secret – then guess what? Not knowing those secrets are going to have an adverse effect on your level of financial success. Or better yet – if you have had an indiscretion in your relationship and the other party does not know – guess what? Him or her not knowing that truth about one’s deceit is essentially him or her loving a lie because you are not intentionally unveiling who you are. Love speaks truth. It’s better to bruise a heart with the truth than to break one with a lie.
I wonder how much different this world would be if we honored our truths and took back the power of being held hostage to our secrets. It’s like we equate sharing our truth to being “weak” – but I believe it take strength to quit from hiding behind our masks of “perfection” and release the power from our secrets. What you hold in secret, will indeed have power over you.
In many of our upbringings, we are taught that “what happens in this house stays in this house.” This idea ignites a notion that secrets are shameful and we must put on the frontage of things always being fine in spite of how ugly things really are. We put on this mask of pretense and perfection because in actuality what we are dealing with is a major culprit called “fear.”
FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real
We fear the judgment, rejection and ridicule from others. We fear being vulnerable and having others draw all sorts of judgments and conclusions over our lives. And once when we are judged or rejected, it leads to pain. No one likes pain. So in order to avoid it all and not face the fear of rejection, we put on our masks, hold onto our secrets, grab the guilt, shame and fear and go about living day to day not recognizing how doing so is actually detrimental and not helpful.
So if you have any secrets that you’re locking away in fear of rejection, judgment or ridicule, I want you to take back your power. That very thing that you are holding in secret could be the very thing that God can use to help inspire others. God has the power to turn your mess into a message. Trust me when I say this because I used to fear sharing my past about a teenage suicidal attempt, struggling with low-self worth and an abusive relationship. You do not know how many chains of fear are broken when I am transparent with my audience and honor my truth. The key is that I have learned that I have to be willing to go first and in me doing so; I am a first-hand witness of the wave of transparency, honesty and fearlessness occurring around me.
Plenty of times our adversary will try to use our past or our secrets to hold us in hostage to the fear, shame and guilt. The lies tell us that if we honor our truths, then we are weak and no one will love us. Or better yet we will lose the respect of loved ones. Well this is what I have to say to that. The only love that you can count on day after day is the love of God. God loved the world so much (that means EVERYONE) that He came down in human form as a servant, died on a cross and was resurrected so that we can have eternal life and have the privilege to call on the name of Jesus Christ. No matter what you do, God loves you UNCONDITIONALLY and I don’t care what you’ve been led to believe but God loves you no matter what you have done, are doing or will do. His love is unconditional. The love we get from our parents, supporters, family, friends and significant others can change but the love you have from Almighty God is unconditional and unchanging. God’s love is the same yesterday, today and forever. Thus, if you honor your truth and you lose the love of a loved one, then know that God’s grace is sufficient. His love is more than enough! And if someone dismisses you because you chose courage to no longer live in hostage to your secrets then maybe it’s best that they go.
Why would you want to be around someone who will not love you for you, all of you? When someone shows you who they are, believe them. Sometimes it’s best to love from afar; people come into your life for reasons, seasons or a lifetime. Many of times people come into our lives to teach us something, so learn the value in the lesson and embrace the promises of your future.
Finally, I want you to know that although honoring your truth may not be easy it will be worth it. I am not telling you to spill your guts to every other person you meet but I am telling you to no longer live in hostage to your secrets. Secrets do not only affect yourself but they also affect everyone around you. Whatever is built on a lie is subject to fail and you were created to win! I want you to learn from your past, acknowledge the beautiful opportunity of the present and look forward to all the promises of your future. It’s time for you to become the above average person that you were meant to be. I am on the same journey with you.
Keep shining and always embrace your legacy.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
About The Author:
As the “the midwife to your legacy”, social entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker, executive producer, and women’s leadership advocate– Maria I. Melendez has embraced her mission of empowering others to live life purposefully. After leaving her high-profile career in the music business to pursue her purpose of empowering others to live life in purpose and define their legacy, Maria has proven that she is the essence of living in purpose in order to inspire others to follow suit. She uses her personal story of overcoming challenge to discover and now live in her God-given purpose to help others birth their own gifts and vision by coaching, motivating and educating her audience through a 4-part process of ultimately Embracing Your Legacy.
![“The Love Your Legacy Summit” in Honor of #DayOfTheGirl! (EVENT RECAP)]()
by desing | Events, Our Legacy
The Love Your Legacy Summit kicked off on October 11th and it was a true success! The room was filled with energy, empowerment, tears of joy and kick-ass women who wanted to empower our girls to live in purpose, pursue their education and embrace their legacy! We achieved our goal of honoring our girls and raising awareness for girls rights and education everywhere!
Event features included:
- Skechers donating (20) pairs of brand-new sneakers for the girls!
- The “I Embrace My Beauty” Corner provided by Nail Lounge where the girls received free manicures!
- TD Bank opening free checking and savings accounts for the girls with an extra $25 in their accounts!
- Empowered speakers holding workshops on: Defeating Fear, Pursuing Your Dreams, Relationships 101 and Knowing Who You Are
- “Share Your Legacy” Mentorship Circle where esteemed women served as “mentors for the day” while mixing and mingling with the girls
- Jamba Juice providing free smoothies!
- A gifting suite with goodies from ESSENCE, Skechers, Dwana Smallwood Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn Children’s Museum and others!
View Pictures Below:
[slideshow id=11]
This was our second annual International Day of the Girl conference where we created a transformational and empowering event in honor of our girls for honoring their education while evoking feminine confidence to boldly live in purpose and define their legacy. We had exciting guest speakers who are acclaimed women in their respective industries and special components of empowerment such as “Share Your Legacy” Mentorship Circles where students gained access to mix and mingle with a plethora of esteemed professional women who are embracing their legacy. We even had an “I Embrace My Beauty” corner where our students received free manicures! Words cannot express our gratitude of how AMAZING it went, until next year!
#LoveYourLegacySummit #DayOfTheGirl
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
OUR FABULOUS GUEST SPEAKERS:
Maria I. Melendez: Founder, Embrace Her Legacy
Charreah K. Jackson: Relationships Editor, ESSENCE
Cordelia Abrokwah: Founder, Catalyst Empowerment Group
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
