Nominated Again!

I just want to send out a special thank you to the anonymous person that nominated me for the 2008 - 2009 Who's Who of International Entrepreneurs. Who knows if I will get it, but it certainly is an honour!

Beautiful Inspirations: Follow up

As a follow up to my Cheyne Middle School visit, it seems that things have gone quite well. I was tagged on facebook by these young ladies - which I beleive to be a mertibale mention factor. If a bunch of 13 year olds ladies tagging you on facebook does not indicate hip factor - i don't know what does.

In my super laid back fashion I threw up the peace sign like the gangster that I am. A bonus was that the Brampton Gaurdian wrote about my visit.

You can check out the article by clicking here: http://www.northpeel.com/lifestyle/article/47893

Advice: Responding to Clueless101

Dear Clueless101,

I hope that you revisit my blog and know that I did read your comment and that is why I writing to you here.

Life in middle school and high school are certainly not easy at all - and I am glad that you can relate to my story because that means that I can relate to you! Ironically I have really dry skin too!!!! In fact I'm itching away at my face as we speak - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH it is is driving me bananas! In fact I have always suffered with my skin, because I have a skin condition called eczema. At the conference Nicole spoke about her experience with eczema, which is always really hard to deal with.

The reality about the girls that are making your life difficult at school, is that those are girls who do not love themselves...they are so aware of their own insecurities and imperfections that they do not want other people to notice - so the easiest way for them to prevent that is to draw attention to someone else.

Right off the bat, I can let you know that none of the guest speakers would think these girls are cool at all. In fact these are people whose lives are so boring and suck so badly, that they spend their time talking about others. It's harsh to say - but its true! As the saying goes "Great minds discuss ideas, small minds discuss people." The reality is, is that many people that are bullies have a lot of personal problems in their lives. These girls probably have problems in their families, perhaps are being called names themselves - and this is their way of lashing out.

The first thing to establish is - do you have a group of friends? Real friends? Ones that you are certain that you can trust? If you do, this is a great tool that will be able to help combat these bullies. IF you do not - than we need to work on establishing you a group of friends that you can trust.

The second thing is to talk to your parents. Let them know what is happening. Immediately they will probably want to jump in and go to the school, and of course I am sure that you want to avoid that, but it is very important that your parents know what is going on in your life, so that they are also prepared. Sometimes parents forget what it is like to be a kid - and forget how tough growing up can be. I would suggest approaching them and asking if you can talk to them privately about something very important to you - but that it is very important to you that they respect that you would like their help to figure out how to handle it yourself, rather than them intervening and trying to fix it for you.

Secondly, you need to speak about it with a teacher at school that you trust. Speaking about bullying means that you do not tolerate it - and at your school they are trying their best to look at ways that they can make this situation better -but they can only help if they know what is going on!

Lastly, taking care of your health will also help with your skin. Drink lots of water and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

My experience at Cheyne Middle School

Move and be moved. Inspire and be inspired. Take the challenge and step forward. Rise to the occasion. Be responsible and own your actions both postive and negative. This was my message to the young women at Cheyne Middle School.

When I was first offered the opportunity to speak at the "Dove Girls Conference", and Cheyne Middle School, I realized that this was not about my company. I know that I could have used this as a platform to recruit young women, or entice them into the world of modelling - and of course solicit for my roster.

However, to me this was not the purpose of going there to speak. I am honestly a believer that people will believe in my company if they believe in me. They will support my company if they support me. If the public knows where the head of the organization stands on any topic, if they can physically see that I am making a difference - or at least attempting to make a difference with the young women of the day; than they will be able to be comfortable in knowing that we need to prides ourselves on building up and not others tearing down.

In the same way that those young women were learning from me both yesterday and today, I was learning from them. I was able to see that the world that I remember to be grade 7 & 8, is not the world that we are living in today. I was also able to prove that being in a position of power is definitely one that you can use to make a difference, and I can only hope that the young women of the school really felt, and heard my words. It is so important that young women learn to love and respect themselves - this is by far more important than trying to fit in with other people. If you cannot love yourself, you will not be able to love others.

For any of the fierce ladies at Cheyne that happens upon this blog - peace and love - and I hope that you find your path in life. Know that all of the guest speakers at your school over the last 2 days were there because we really care about the well being of your future, and want to show you that women pull together, we are so much stronger than when we are tearing one another apart (Shout outs: to Nicole and Lisa who were also guest speakers). May you be a source of inspiration to others in your life, and leave those that tear you down behind!

One love.

See all of the FMM students on Monday for my guest speaking appearance there!

Beautiful Inspirations

I am always up for guest speaking - especially when we are speaking of young girls and women who have the wrong perception of what it means to be beautiful.

This week I've been asked to be a guest speaker at the Dove Conference taking place in Brampton, which is aimed at girls in Grades 7 & 8, assisting them with self-esteem and body image - among other things.

I do see the dichotomy and paradigm conflicts of which I am faced with. How can I possibly be an advocate or role model, when my company perpetuates the idea of beauty that young women strive to mimick.

My response is really quite simple...the name of my company is the first part of understanding where I stand on this issue. ES Team Productions. often times people make the mistake of pronouncing the first two letters independantly as in "E" and then "S"; however, those two letters are supposed to be pronounced together, and phonectically making the "S" sound. Those two letters represent the first name of my mother "Elizabeth", and the second letter my name. We are a mother/daughter "team" that promote self "esteam" in women.

If women coming to me are looking for us to fill a void that they are missing. We cannot do that - there is no way that we can help someone with the psychological battle they are fighting with themselves - and if seeking to become part of a modelling agency or joining a pageant makes one think that this will assist their insecurities, here is where they make a very serious error. These types of activities exacerbate these insecurities, since in essence you are competing for positions in castings or for a title. The reality is, is that most women that join our pageant system are usually strong, indpendant, and confident women who are seeking to challenge themselves, network, and meet other like-minded individuals.

Because Latin culture and people are so diverse, there really is no one set definition of what constitutues beauty. Latin beauty invloves the celebration of curves, and width because we understand that bodies differ based on ethnicity and sheer DNA. Our winners reflect this - light skinned, dark skinned, tall, short, in between, different countries. Each one of these women have their own insecurities and vices that they fight within themselves - and should you take a moment and speak with them, it is easy to find out that what they value more than anything...is their education.

The unfortunate part of the general public that gets caught up with ideals in magazines and billboards, is that they often forget that for many people they are looking at - THIS IS A JOB. If you were a doctor you would be expected to perfect your skill, if you were a lawyer you would be expected to be the best at knowing the laws, if you are a model - you are expected to be the best physical self you that you can be.

I hope that I can translate to these young women, that loving themself is by far more the best thing that they can do for themselves. I hope that they know that I am a strong and independant business owner - not because I placed value in they way I looked, but placed value in how I felt - and that making other feel good about themselves and highlighting that was the premise of starting a business that was "by women, for women".

All it takes is one person in a position of power and influence to cater and influence a young mind. Mothers, we can only do so much - the rest remains with you - what messages are you sending you daughters? You are their number one influence, and I can only hope that my message tomorrow to these troubled teens affects at least one life.