moms

She Did That! – Mini Messages

July 1, 2014 by cam

Not too long ago, I was watching an episode of Bethenny. My favorite part of the show was the “Bethenny in your Business” segment (sorry to see the show go). In the segment she interviews women who have started their own businesses. The women are typically at a crossroads with the business. It’s their passion but they don’t know how (financially) they can continue. Bethenny offers great advice and assistance that these women likely wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. There are always nuggets in there for me to jot down and apply to my business.

As I was watching the “Bethenny in your Business” segment, one mom, stood out to me. It was something about Stacey Tibbitt’s story that got my attention. It all started with her leaving notes in her kids lunches. That later turned into a business of napkins with cute drawings and illustrations.

After sharing her story with Bethenny, she was given an e-commerce site, branding advice and a new name for her company: Mini-Messages. I decided to reach out to her and ash her to share some of her story with my readers. I think that if we see other mamas doing something that they are passionate about, we’ll know that our finding and following our own passions is totally possible.

Camesha Gosha: Tell me about your passion.

Stacey Tibbitt: My passion would have to be my children and my business. Everything I do, I do for my three girls. It is why I started my business in the first place. My business is like a fourth child. I am responsible for its growth, it takes a lot of my time and I love it.

CG: How did you discover your passion?

ST: I discovered my passion when my first daughter was born. I knew right then and there that being a mom was the best thing in the whole world. When I started mini messages I knew it as something that I was born to do. I didn’t even have to think about it and no matter what obstacles I face I won’t give up on it.

CG: Why is it important to you?

ST: Being a mom is the greatest job I have ever had. Being a mompreneur is something that I never knew I wanted to be but enjoy every minute of it. Being successful at this business helps me to set a good example for my children, never give up on your dreams. You have to work hard if you really want something in life and never back down from a challenge.

CG: As a mom, were there challenges in pursuing your passion?

ST: Yes, there were several.

CG: Tell me about them.

ST: I faced several challenges. I didn’t know a thing about starting or running a business. I have had to learn every step of the way, and I am still learning. I didn’t have any money but what I did have was people that believed in me and wanted to help me financially. I knew nothing about marketing. I had to learn and again with the help of others I was able to get the word out.

CG: How did you overcome your challenges/obstacles?

ST: I overcame some of the obstacles by the help of others and of course, persistence. If I didn’t know something I asked or I found a way to learn about it. It takes a village to start/run a business and I would not be successful without the help of those around me.

CG: What do you think it does for your children to see you go after what you want?

ST: I think it sets a great example for my children. As I stated before they are taught many valuable lessons. First, never give up on your dreams. Second, you have to fight sometimes for what you want in life. And that if you do work hard you can be successful.

CG: What would be your advice to other moms who are on the fence about pursuing something they are passionate about?

ST: My advice would be to go for it. But they do have to know that it won’t be an easy ride. They have to be willing to work hard and not take no for an answer. If you love what you do then don’t let anyone stop you from doing it.

CG: : You wouldn’t be caught dead, where?

ST: That is a tough one??? I guess it would have to be some place where someone is excluded just because of who they are. If someone is not welcomed, then I won’t go there.

CG: Most hated chore on the household chore list?

ST: Cleaning the bathrooms!

CG: Name one thing you’re really good at.

ST: Being a mom.

CG: Name one thing you think you really suck at.

ST: Singing.

CG: If you could have a super power, what would it be?

ST: Be like I dream of Jeannie…if I wanted something done I would just have to fold my arms and blink and it would be done.

At last check, Stacey was auditioning for Shark Tank to take her business even further. You can find Mini Messages here, Twitter + Facebook!

So tell me, how did you discover your passion?

Overwhelm? Totally Conquered!

June 17, 2014 by cam

Overwhelmed. I was totally feeling the pressure recently at my son’s end of year school picnic.

I started thinking about all that had to be done. I thought of all the things that could throw the plan off. I was totally talking myself into a “worst case scenario” situation.

I knew I needed to make sure my daughter had her nap. She can be iffy on those. If she missed the nap, I’d be at this picnic with a hyper four year old and a cranky baby. I also knew that I needed to order the pizzas for the picnic while she slept. Once we picked up my son, we needed to pick up the food and haul it back to the park with blankets, chairs, toys and stroller in tow.

Two kids. One mama. Three hour picnic. I totally allowed it to drown me in overwhelm.

All the stuff on my list didn’t seem nearly as bad when I put it in perspective and took one thing at a time. So, here’s what actually happened:

I woke up knowing I had a full day ahead of me. The day started with me getting the kids ready, packing lunches and getting my son to school. Next, was my daughters art class. While she napped after class, I ordered pizzas for our contribution to the picnic. We got my son from school and headed to pick up the pizza. Then, my excited kiddies and I were off to the park. And you know what happened next? We had fun! We played games, we hung out with my son’s friends, ate lots of food, swung at pinatas and everything else the picnic had to offer.

At the end of the day, I had worked myself up for no reason it all.

Have you ever done that? Have you had something to do that was so simple but you make it bigger than it ever needs to be? Sometimes we build up so much anxiety over the smallest of things.

The best way to combat that for me I’ve found is to break things down. Just give yourself some order and do one thing at a time. When taking the whole of anything in one chunk it could be too much. It’s like trying to pick up a whole pound cake and chow down. No! We take it one slice at a time. Breaking things down into small manageable tasks works every time. Even when it’s something as simple as a school picnic.

So tell me, how do you deal with overwhelm?

It’s All in How You See it…

June 3, 2014 by cam

**I have to thank you ALL for last week’s post! I shared and you gave it right back. It is a pleasure getting to know you! That has to be my favorite post so far! On to today’s post! 🙂 **

Since the passing of Dr. Maya Angelou, her quotes have been posted everywhere. From Twitter to Facebook, my newsfeed and timeline has been filled with everyone’s favorite quotable from her. Like everyone else, I definitely have my favorites. There are actually too many to list here. I came across this one a couple of days ago. I’m not sure I’d heard anyone mention it before.

It sounds great! I think I immediately re-tweeted, liked it and copied it to encourage myself later. It was just the thing I needed to keep me motivated that everything I wanted was mine. I only needed to ask. Whoot whoot!

I took another look at the quote though. When looking at it again, I saw it differently. I saw the work behind this quote that I didn’t see the first time *tire screech*. The thing is, I took this and ran with at first. It’s easy to just see the surface of it. We ask for what we want and just wait. Boom! That thing I asked for appears. Nice! But I couldn’t stop there. Oh no! I couldn’t let it be pretty and magical. I had to take it a step further. Ugh!

When I looked at it again, the quote had a different meaning. My guess is the the intent of this quote is to remind us to do the work.

This spoke to me so much as a mama! I have a million things I want to do and pursue. It seems like having babies only made that number multiply. This quote is a reminder to me. The life I want, the passion in my belly and the dream I can’t shake – they take work! <– {tweet this} Once I’ve done the work though, it’s as simple as making the request and it’s mine. It’s that whole idea of luck. It’s really preparation and opportunity meeting, right? Not exactly hocus pocus, but still so worth it!

Had you heard this quote before? What passion are you working on?

It took extreme pain but, lesson learned

May 20, 2014 by cam

A week ago, I had two wisdom teeth removed. I had it done on a Friday and figured I’d rest over the weekend and be better by the time my husband went back to work on Monday. Well, it didn’t go as planned. The dentist had to crack my bone to get one of my teeth out and that made my healing torture! I’m still healing.

This experience has taught me that I need to know when to give myself a break. With my jaw throbbing, my teeth feeling like they were shaking in my head, I was still trying to work. At night, I would sit at this laptop frustrated with myself that I couldn’t focus. I wanted so badly to stay on top of the schedule I’d set for myself. Really, I was crazy! It took a friend to remind me to take it easy on myself. I needed to rest. Working was only making me feel worse. I couldn’t be so focused on creating my future and ignoring my present pain.

Sometimes we have to know when to say when. I wasn’t doing that. My body forced me to check myself. I think it’s common among women, especially moms. We push forward hard while downplaying what may be going on with us. I was busy making my kids a priority. I was doing drop-off, pick-up, packing lunches, play dates and mommy and me classes while being in extreme pain. My kids got what they always get from me. I did have a day or two in there where they watched more TV than they should have. I was wiped out and couldn’t do more in that moment. I think that’s the day it started sinking in for me that my balance was thrown off. I forgot about putting the oxygen mask on myself first. I made sure the kids were good but I was struggling. I had nothing left to give when it was time for me to work.

I decided to stop trying. I had to give myself some grace and just shut this computer off. Instead of trying to write posts and finish books and structure marketing plans – I took my sick behind to bed! It’s so simple but it took extreme pain for me to see it. Taking the pressure off of myself to be superwoman was freeing. I so believe in taking a step closer to your dream everyday. I keep that firmly in the front of my mind. So much so, that I have a hard time taking a day off of dream building.

Here’s the deal, my dreams don’t work without me. I’ve learned to do as much dream building as self loving. One without the other doesn’t work.

I’ll be getting back to me soon enough. I’ll just keep this in my back pocket as a lesson learned.

How do you balance taking care of yourself with taking care of everyone else?

I Almost Said No

May 13, 2014 by cam

I almost said no. It was Mother’s Day weekend. It started off easy enough. There were brunch reservations. Mimosas were had. Then my husband asked me what else I wanted to do. I was sleepy. I wanted to stay home and take a much needed nap. Instead, I opted to let him surprise me.

He loaded the kids in the car and promised me I could sleep on the way to wherever we were going. I guess that should have been my first hint. We took a drive. I like to think of it as a mystery drive. We live in the Los Angeles area and we drove up the coast. We cruised around Malibu with the ocean as far as you can see. As we drove further we were surrounded by mountains. There were animals grazing on the side of the mountain, there were rabbits happily hopping along. We eventually drove through Oxnard and saw lots of farm land with markets along the sides of the road. Our kids were getting a kick out of it all. They were really fascinated with the animals. My son wanted to know more about how a farm works. We took some time to take the scenic route and eventually got to the highway entrance. The signs were pointed south back to Los Angeles and north to Ojai. I assumed my husband would head back home. Instead he took the Ojai exit! Our adventure was going to continue!

We checked out the city a bit. After a while we found a family friendly restaurant for dinner. It was great to go take this impromptu trip with the kids. I always love experiencing things through them. One thing is for sure, my son is not a fan of road trips. He hasn’t been on a road trip in about two years. He kept asking my husband when he was going to park the car!

I’m happy I didn’t take that nap. Being open to whatever and having a why not attitude ended up being a wonderful surprise. I’m learning to do that more and more. It’s proving to be a great way to let new experiences happen.

What have you just said yes to lately?

Negotiation : Toddler Style

April 29, 2014 by cam

My daughter is ready to grow up. She’s in a hurry to be a pre -schooler. Whenever I drop her brother off at school, she pulls out the chair at the table by the door and sits down and starts flipping through books. That’s only on the days that she doesn’t just run right in and attempt to join the class for circle time. Her little plan is working. She’s won the hearts of my son’s teachers. They can’t get enough of her. His classmates all know her by name and love to play with her after school. She fits right in with those four year old’s. She’s not even two yet.

Recently, I picked her brother up from school and she ran in the class like she loves to do. I was talking to the teacher and she ran to play with the toys. She immediately fell in love with a stroller they had. She’s wanted one for a while now. I meant to get her one for Christmas but, I totally forgot. When it was time to go, I asked her to put the stroller back and she took off running with it. She was blazing down the sidewalk with the stroller! I got her to get it back in the classroom and had to peel her little fingers off of it, one by one. She crumbled. I felt so bad because I know she loves strollers! She was so mad that she went to the teacher to be consoled – crying her eyes out. My son’s teacher saw just how much my baby girl wanted that stroller and cleaned it off and gave it to her.

She has been glued to that thing ever since. It’s the first thing she wants to play with in the morning and the last thing she plays with before she goes to bed. What can I say? She knows how to get what she wants. Need a little help getting what you want? Take these tips from my daughter.

1 -Ask for what you want

2 – Cozy up to the right people (tears may be required ;))

3 – Don’t go down without a fight

4 – Demand what you want

5 – Once you get it, ENJOY! – You’ve earned it!

Once again, I’ve learned way too much from my kids. They are great reminders for me about living life fully. What do you think of these negotiating tactics? Would this work to get you closer to what you want? Tell me in the comments!

And then I said “Why Not?”

April 22, 2014 by cam

It took becoming a mom for me to greet life with a “why not?”.

My son just does stuff. He thinks it and he does it. He is just completely open to life. The kid has never met a stranger (we’re working on that). He walks into a room full of kids and his response is “hey guys!”. He’s always open to new people and new experiences. I love that about him. I love that I have become more like him. Isn’t it funny that I became more like him? I admire his open approach to life. I know that it’s because everything is new to him. He’s only four and so much of life is a mystery to him. He is not afraid of the mystery though. Instead he welcomes it. Isn’t it awesome how kids make you see things differently?

I have to say that since becoming a mother, I have noticed that I’m far more open as well. Whether that means sharing my experiences or speaking up when opportunities are in front of me. I had one of those moments recently. There was a woman I saw on television. Her missions and goals directly lined up with mine. I saw an opportunity to reach out and I did.

In times past, I would have been to shy to reach out – even on line. The mama version of me has an attitude of “why not?” So, I found an email and reached out. It felt so good to hit “send” on that message. It was yet another reminder for me of my growth. Reaching out to her falls right in line with my mission to inspire and motivate moms to find and follow their passions. It felt right. It would be great if a connection is formed because of my willingness to reach out. Even if it leads to nothing at all, it’s a step for me. It doesn’t matter what happens from here. The success for me is in making the move, taking the step.

And that is how I’ll keep working toward making my dreams come true. Whether they be giant steps or baby steps – the thing is, keep moving! And to think all of this new found boldness started because of a little kid – mine.

How have your kids changed you? What have you said “why not” to lately?

Update 4/23/14 12:57pm PST: The woman I sent the email to responded! You’ll be hearing more about her next month! Excited!

Putting the Pieces Together – Guilt Free

April 15, 2014 by cam

There is a lot I want out of this life. A lot. As I work to put the pieces together, I sometimes give myself a hard time about what I’m able to do. Sure, being a mom of two kids and a wife to my honey makes things all kinds of challenging. The kids require and are totally entitled to my full attention. They’re young (4 and nearly 2) and love their mommy time! I find ways to balance my snuggles with them and my time on this laptop. It’s a dance. What I know though is if mama is happy, my babies will be happy. That keeps me going toward all the things that help my happy.

There are several things in the works but when I can’t get them done as fast as I would like, I tend to be really hard on myself. I’m learning to give myself a break. I can feel good about doing what I can do, when I can do it. It’s no secret that I can’t go after my dreams the same way I could when I was single. That doesn’t mean I can’t go after them though. Honestly, the single version of me had completely different dreams anyway. The single version of me was younger with more energy too! LOL!

I just have to go about my dreams and passions in a different way, at a different pace. I’m cool with that. To get things done, I make a small list for the day.When I say small, I’m talking one or two things to accomplish once the kids go to bed. Once I get those things done, I feel like I’ve been successful. If I do more than what’s on that list – cupcakes for everyone! Whoot whoot! I don’t overcrowd my list with so many things that I make my success seem impossible. I like a challenge, but I’m not a fan of self sabotage!. That’s not fair to me. I always have to be fair to me, right?

That’s how I carve out time for my dream building. How about you? Am I the only one guilty of being WAY too hard on myself?

Dusting off the To-Do List

March 25, 2014 by cam

Spring is FINALLY here! I know so many people have been looking forward to the warmer weather (I’m looking at you east coast). Here in L.A., it’s been Spring-like for a while but I’m still super excited about the change in seasons. Longer days, more time out enjoying the city with the family and the clothes! I’m a sucker for warm weather fashion. There’s something about lighter fabrics, strappy sandals and sundresses. That just may be my idea of heaven.

I see Spring as a bit of a fresh start. It like New Year 2.0. There’s all of this energy and excitement for what’s to come. From the anticipation of Summer to Spring blooms, it’s like we all find something to look forward to again. Even if those New Year’s resolutions are now collecting a bit of dust, Spring gives us the nod to sweep off the dust and start again. Personally, I think we’d all get more done and stick to our resolutions if the new year started in Spring or Summer anyway, right? The grey days of Winter can make it hard to stay committed to anything but comfort food. LOL!

For this faux New Year, I’m going to take the opportunity to finish a guide I’ve been writing. It’s all about taking care of the dreamer’s inside us as mother’s! I’ll keep you posted on that one! Do you make any fresh starts during Spring? How about taking a minute to make some promises to yourself. Let the warmer weather be your motivation to keep them!

Doing Cool Sh*t

August 6, 2013 by cam

Recently, I was strolling around the web. I came across this article and from the title – it had me. It’s “Why You Should Stop Making Excuses and Start Doing Cool Sh*t”. That gets your attention, right? It’s about a book by a woman who details how she pretty much took control of her life by following her passions. As a result, she’s found a way to live a life that’s true to her and make a difference along the way. Cool Sh*t, indeed.

It made me think of my own mission. While I continue to be about making my dreams come true and following my passion, I want to help other moms do that as well. The article didn’t mention whether the author of the book had kids or not. For me, it doesn’t matter, I think her message is universal. I think it is especially important for mothers to find and follow our passions. We tend to put what we want on the back burner or take it off the stove all together! By no means do I think we need to be “me me me Moms” and only focus on our goals. I do think that taking some time to focus on what we want as women makes us better moms. I think it’s even more important to do once we become moms because there are little eyes watching our every move. Why not give them a front row seat to us pursuing our passions?

The author of the book had some pretty big goals. She opened up restaurants in New York and Las Vegas and founded a company with her sister. Everybody’s goal doesn’t have to be a restaurant or a business. I think our passions, like fingerprints, are as unique as we are. {tweet me}

Everybody doesn’t want Beyonce success, some people would rather be in a local chorus. Everyone doesn’t want to be a New York Times Bestselling Author, some want a blog as an outlet for their thoughts. Whatever your passion is and no matter how small you may think it is… it’s a big deal. It’s yours!

What’s your passion? How did you find your passion? Still searching?