I wanted to highlight the top 5 women who have personally impacted my life. Women who have helped inspire, encourage and shape my life. This list is made up of women who fill my soul. Some of them family, others friends and a couple of them I have never met, but they have all made a difference in my life. Although these women specialize in different things and some don't even know each other, they all share certain qualities I believe has contributed to their success:
- Desire to learn - These bombshells are constantly absorbing new knowledge, learning from others through books, articles, podcasts and conferences. They understand they don't have all the answers, so they seek as much knowledge as they can from others.
- Passion for their work - None of these women do what they do for the money, money is nice don't get me wrong, but these women are addicted to their dreams. They are practically obsessed with their craft and do it out of passion and desire to share their experience with others not for the desire of a dollar bill.
- Make the most of their time - You won't find these bombshells binge watching hours of streaming television (well maybe occasionally). They are always moving forward, always figuring out how to be better, refusing to settle for ordinary life. Whether that means working on their craft during lunch breaks or listening to podcasts while stuck between meetings in LA traffic, they are always improving, always pushing forward.
- Failure is not an option - Rejection is a part of life and these ladies are certainly familiar with failure, but it doesn't prevent them from seeking success. Some have experienced failure to book modeling jobs or failure to get in with a publisher, but these "failures" are more like stepping stones not road blocks. No is not an option for these gals.
- Faith Based - Every one of these women believe in God. I don't think that's any coincidence. Their faith in God allows them to trust in His plan and purpose for their life, making the difficult decisions or times of uncertainty that much easier.
1) Ivy Carnegie - Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Model, Actress, Avid Juicer
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| Ivy Carnegie |
This petite gal is capable of *BIG* things. Ivy and I go way back to our high school cheer-leading days in a tiny town of Illinois. Even then I found myself looking up to her, inspired by her positive energy and lust for life.
In 2008 after struggling with Chron's Disease and learning everything she could about nutrition and the healing properties of juice, Ivy began cleansing her body through juicing. She fell in love with the benefits and in 2012 she started her first business venture with her husband, a juice bar inside a local southern California gym (Drinkbar Juicery). Together they worked to absorb as much information as they could about running a business, the healing powers of juice and how to share their passion for juice and nutrition with others.
As their passion for juice grew, so did their need for space. They eventually moved out of the gym and into a much larger space, cyberspace that is. Taking their business 100% online was a huge leap of faith for the couple, but they couldn't be happier with the results. Doing business with integrity has always taken priority over profits, which might be why this couple is so in love with what they do. The business is driven by the desire to help others heal, learn and nourish their bodies. Drinkbar Juicery continues to sell juices online locally (see here) and also operates a store at the Tustin Market (see here).
In addition to running the juice shop online and at the market, Ivy recently launched Aura Avenue with a business partner. This online platform sheds light on the modeling world and encourages women of all shapes and sizes in modeling and social media. During a time when social media puts so much pressure on women to get attention through overexposure, Aura Avenue is a refreshing and positive environment for women to discusses fashion, beauty and nutrition in a healthy way. Oh I almost forgot to mention Ivy is also a model and actress (I told you she was capable of big things).
Through the years Ivy has taught me so many things. I remember she once told me "The right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing." This phrase has continued to encourage me in times of uncertainty throughout my adult life. Ivy lives her life in such a uniquely simple way with 3 priorities: 1) faith 2) health 3) marriage. If any of her business endeavors begin to interfere with any of her 3 priorities, she stops and reassess. She is also a strong believer in creating a positive environment for yourself. You have to surround yourself with positive, motivated people if you too want to be positive and motivated. Whether it's a 65 year old cancer patient or a teenager struggling to find healthy eating patterns, this little lady has impacted so many lives, including mine.
For Ivy, business never stops. She is a self-proclaimed "addict" for her business. Even though she works 7 days a week, 70 hours total, she has a full heart and passion for what she's doing. Ivy is no stranger to the unexpected. Through her experiences in life and business she has learned to appreciate the little (and big) hiccups that happen along the way. To those hiccups she says, "Put your heels on, your lipstick, your smile, and welcome them, they can't be stopped."
3) Jacqueline Landry - Writer/Author
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| Jacqueline Landry |
As a kid, I remember Jacqueline always journaling. She was constantly filling up notebooks with diary entries and short stories. In school she excelled, well in everything, but specifically in writing. I am selfishly grateful for her abilities because I know my son will be told the world's most incredible bedtime stories.
After Jacqueline graduated high school in Illinois, we moved as a family to central Oregon. She began college and worked at a local Starbucks. One day mid-shift she began writing a story on the back of Starbuck's receipt paper. She then continued the story in a notebook, then on a computer and now she has completed an entire book entitled "Operation Christmas." This book is every child's dream written down into a great adventure. No summary can give it justice, but I will try. The main character is a little girl named Della. Curiosity leads Della from a typical shopping mall to a magical elevator that takes her through tunnels and lands her in the North Pole. The North Pole is mid-crisis. Santa and Mrs. Claus have been kidnapped by the evil witch Windorel who is in the midst of revamping the North Pole to meet her own wicked desires. Windorel takes over and demands the elves begin making "fear" instead of the standard Christmas cheer. With no other choice, the elves do as she says. Della meets another kid in the North Pole, Sam. Together Della and Sam work to develop various plans to stop Windorel, rescue Santa and win back the North Pole. The book is full of imagination and such detailed description, it makes you want to live in this fantasy world. After reading it, all I wanted to do was go to the North Pole.
Jacqueline has also written another book, currently without a title, but we refer to it as "The Ghost Book." It's the story of a boy named James who finds himself in an odd situation. A stranger arrives at his house and tells James his parents are traveling for work and won't be home for a while. Of course James finds this very odd. Why would his parents take a trip without telling him? James goes to Portland to stay with his guardian, an eccentric professor. Soon James meets another character, Stella, and they discover they can both see ghosts. The story morphs into an adventurous mystery as Stella and James begin to solve mysteries for ghosts. And as for his parents? Well someday you'll be able to read it yourself and find out.
Recently Jacqueline started a blog called "Why this book works." Her witty banter keeps you amused, while you read about her adventures in writing. She talks about the books she's reading or has read in the past and why they, well...work (hence the title of the blog). It's not your typical surface blog full of staged photos and ridiculous encounters (though it's not uncommon for her to make occasional pop culture references). You have to check it out. I promise it will make you laugh out loud. Seriously, read it here.
While Jacqueline continues to submit her work to publishers, she also continues to write. Rejection is a very harsh reality in the writing world. You can submit your book dozens and dozens of times before ever hearing back from a publisher and when you do it might not be a "Congratulations, here's your $100,000 book advance!" letter. Watching Jacqueline go through this process has left me with even more respect and admiration for her. With every rejection she goes back to her book and finds ways to make it better. Editing and re-editing what I think is already an amazing story. Remember rejection is a stepping stone.
As an adult Jacqueline has taught me many things. As a child she taught me many things too, but sometimes those things caused me to end up with soap on my tongue. She does some things in that I have implemented in my own life. She schedules time to work on writing. Whether it's during her lunch break at work or several hours on the weekend, she plans her writing time. This way it's never forgotten or shoved to the side. She makes it a priority. Another thing Jacqueline is really good at is only doing things that matter to her. Initially in my own life, I did not understand this concept. I find myself always saying "yes" to people and I end up spending a lot of time and money on things that really aren't important to me. Jacqueline has inspired me to set more boundaries in my life, which has allowed me the time and energy to focus on things that matter to me personally instead of leading a "people pleasing" life. As my older sister I will always look up to her and as an author I will always be inspired by her.
3) Aimee Bradley - Entrepreneur, Product Developer for Reef, Stylist
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| Aimee Bradley |
Aimee is my cousin. Born and raised in southern California she has always been my go-to gal for anything fashion. Since we were little, she's always had a knack for playing dress up. I remember living in Colorado and Aimee coming to visit. We would set up a make-shift fashion studio in my bedroom closet. A corded phone to "book" clients and take orders, lots of colored pencils and countless notebooks of what we thought to be the world's most beautiful sketches. As we grew up we became a little more sophisticated, taking our vision to the real world to buy clothes we thought made us look fancy. I spent a few summers with Aimee in California during my high school days and you could often find us at the mall, shopping our hearts out.
Aimee attended college at Cal State San Marcos where she ran cross country and track and graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts in Communication and Media Studies. She got her foot in the door (quite literally) in 2008 when she began working for Cobian Footwear. Cobian is a company based in San Marcos that specializes making footwear in the laid back surf style so many Californians seem to love. Originally, Aimee started out in sales and customer service, but this girl doesn't stay still for long.
After less than 2 years of customer service at Cobian, Aimee was promoted to footwear development and design (for the entire company). HELLO?!?! Does anyone else find that as incredible as I do? She soared in her new role and began taking on a job load that what was probably the equivalent to 5 full-time employees. Not only did she work at developing designs, she soon was traveling the world and visiting manufacturers in Asia to select appropriate textiles for her designs. She worked on major projects including launching a line of footwear for Bethany Hamilton (yes, I am referring to the world famous surfer). Aimee also worked on several marketing campaigns for the company, styling photoshoots for lookbooks and advertisements.
In the midst of her 6 years in design at Cobian, Aimee launched her own styling business called BruXley Style. She works with various photographers, clothing designers, jewelry designers and retailers to develop and style photoshoots. These images are used for websites, lookbooks, advertisements, etc. Her styling has been featured on the Vogue Italia website, various magazines and even in the Neiman Marcus "The Book" Resort 2013.
Aimee was headhunted by Reef (for dang good reason, look at all her experience!) and changed jobs from Cobian to Reef in early 2015. Reef is a casual lifestyle footwear brand that specializes in fabulous sandals for surfer types. Their office is complete with meditation rooms, yoga classes and extra long lunches to allow for employees to surf during their breaks (the ocean, not the web). Aimee currently works as the product materials developer for footwear, though I am sure in no time at all she'll take over multiple departments as it seems to be her way.
With her drive for life, Aimee is in constant motion. She attributes her successes to trusting God has a plan for her life. My favorite thing about her? She is never too busy for anyone. Despite the fact she always seems to be traveling or working or traveling for work, she will always call you on your birthday and always keeps in touch. I adore her.
4) Susie Romans - Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Motivational Speaker, Digital Marketing Consultant, Business Coach
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| Susie Romans |
Originally Susie started out in the corporate world, but quickly found herself unfulfilled (reminds me of my own corporate world experience). She began thinking there had to be another way to make a living. With a baby on the way, she quit her "9-5" and began exploring other avenues (teaching Zumba, freelance writing and blogging). In 2012 only 18 months after starting her blog, she had over 4 million views. She realized she had something to say and literally millions of people wanted to listen. Susie turned her well-viewed blog into a platform to reach out to other women who wanted to make a living working from home.
Susie has developed online training programs, podcasts, videos. She packages her tutorials into course offerings for clients to buy. Susie even has her own online business academy, Sweet Freedom Academy. The most incredible part about the way Susie designed her business? She does it part-time (about 25 hours per week) and makes six figures!!!
Susie has not only created the job of her dreams, but she has been able to helps so many others do the same. This bombshell is always growing her business and sharing her lust for life with women all over the world.
5) Chalene Johnson - Entrepreneur, CEO of Team Johnson, Author, Business Coach, Fitness Celebrity, Motivational Speaker
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| Chalene Johnson |
For my birthday this year, my husband purchased another Chaelene fitness program called ChaLEAN Extreme. This program focuses more on muscle building and strength, but also mixes in some cardio and yoga. The program is comprised of 3 phases each lasting 4 weeks. So far I have been able to keep up with the program even during pregnancy and just finished phase 2 today. All of Chalene's programs offer a modified version of the exercise so it's great for beginners too (or pregnant gals like myself).
Chaelene Johnson is not only a fitness instructor/celebrity, but she also is New York Times Best Selling author. Her book PUSH 30 is a 30 days lifestyle makeover that helps readers create a life they find fulfilling. Chalene is all about writing down your goals (both personal and physical) to hold yourself accountable. I took this advice to heart and wrote down all of my goals for 2016 and posted them on my refrigerator as a daily reminder.
Chalene's positive attitude and drive for being the best version of herself, makes her a highly sought after business coach and motivational speaker. She has two online business academy programs and offers business consulting services. Through her business platform, she shares her experience and expertise with millions of people around the world.
Chaelen's passion for fitness and strive for being the best she can be has inspired me for years to do the same. Her voice echoes in my mind throughout my day. When I start second-guessing something or thinking about taking the easy way, Chalene is there encouraging me to do my best and push forward.
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As we start out in the new year, I hope these women can inspire you to continue to learn, improve and live a passion driven life. What are you doing to make sure you live the life of your dreams???
Be Bold,
Be Brave,
Be Beautiful,
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