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Fashion...we all have our own view of what it is. Each of us has a style, a look and trends that we like and others we don’t care for too much. But are we all represented in the giant world of fashion? No...unfortunately we are not. That’s in part why I was thrilled to meet Ellen Mason of A Fashionating Life. Not only do I love a good pun, I also love seeing women make spaces for themselves and expanding the representation that we see at large. You see Ellen is a 40+ year old mama to two boys ages 10 and 17, a creative soul and a fashionista. She realized that women in her age group were heavily underrepresented in the fashion industry, specifically the influencer space. It’s not like we suddenly stop wearing clothes or caring how we look and feel so why aren’t there more women 40+ being showcased in the hottest trends, or setting trends themselves? To me that answer was easy. Our society teaches us that youth is where beauty is and the fashion industry is directly related to the beauty industry.  But that’s all changing thanks to Ellen and her business partner. They are standing up and saying ENOUGH! Enough under representation of middle aged women. It’s time that women over 40 feel fashionable and empowered to strut their stuff just like they did in their 20s.
So you’re probably thinking...why would Alena this 29 year old care about 40 year old women and fashion? Well one day I’m going to be 40, God willing, and I don’t want to be stuck feeling like I cannot still be cute and feel good about the clothing that I’m wearing just because of age. So I celebrate what A Fashionating Life stands for and is working to change.
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 I had literally 0 intentions of making an article about myself for Mompreneur Mondays. But my computer and zoom had other plans. Originally I had an amazing mama in the health industry lined up for a feature but due to a technical issue regarding the recording of her interview, I had to make a last minute decision.
Mompreneur Mondays is very important to me and the last thing that I wanted was to drop the ball on the series on the 3rd episode, all because a recording wasn’t saved. So after scrambling to figure out what to do I realized “Hey genius, you’re a mompreneur too! Just interview yourself!”. And yes that is literally how I talk to myself when I finally come to a realization, that’s actually quite simple, and then I laugh at myself. Anyways, that’s how this particular feature came to be. My name is Alena Michell and I am a Mompreneur. I own Mom Coach Wife and the subsidiary brand The Balanced Mom. My mission is to empower women who have children to embrace that they are more than just a mom. This mission comes from my own personal experience. I found that I was loosing myself in motherhood and that I really just wasn’t happy. My lack of happiness was definitely spilling over into my two closest relationships. That with my husband and daughter. Now I wasn’t a bad wife or mother, even looking back on those days I know that. But I also wasn’t giving them my best because I was exhausted, lost and frustrated. The frustration, was 100% my own fault. I kept making excuses that I couldn’t go to the gym, because I’m a mom and who would watch my daughter (granted I hadn’t asked anyone). I couldn’t manage my blog or create a youtube channel because I didn’t have enough time, yet I had time to binge watch Netflix, which I still do from time to time. Essentially I was full of excuses. And those excuses were only hurting me and suppressing my ambitions. I knew I wanted to make a change but I was fighting what I already knew I needed to do which was to create some structure in my life. After reading The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, I had a lot more hope. Immediately after finishing the book, I started to reflect on my days and saw so much wasted time. No wonder I didn’t feel like I had time, and like nothing was really getting done!  Do you have boundaries?
How loose are they? For me boundaries were the hardest part of creating balance. I was accustomed to saying yes, and constantly bending for other people, while making little to no time for myself. Among other things, setting boundaries and saying no to what didn’t serve me anymore freed up so much additional time, I never knew I had. So when I met with Mercedes of Three's A Charm Custom Designs and we talked about boundaries I could totally relate. Mercedes is a single mom to 3 amazing children. Parker, age 9, Ayden, age 6 and Kylan age 1. That didn’t stop her from creating her custom design business after receiving a sub par rolling tray that she realized was a complete waste of her hard earned money. In fact, her children are the inspiration behind the business name and the logo's colors. Knowing what it took to create these custom gifts and create a higher quality, Mercedes set off to work. In the midst of a pandemic, with two of her kids home for virtual learning and a 1 year old to manage she leveraged co-parenting to make her business idea a reality. Starting in March 2020, just as COVID was rearing its ugly head throughout the world, she purchased the tools and materials needed. One machine that went unused until August. 3’s A Charm creates a variety of custom gifts. From these adorable Santa Claus footprints I personally fell in love with during the holiday season to cups, blankets, pillows and so much more. If you can dream it, Mercedes can customize it. One of her first products was in honor of our essential workers. Being that they were out and about while we stayed safely quarantined at home. Mercedes created custom travel mugs for them to take with them on the go. She didn’t stop there, she continued to test her creativity with sublimation, and other customization skills.  At the end of 2020 I had the pleasure of beginning to meet and chat with several mompreneurs in preparation for a segment called Mompreneur Mondays, coming to the blog, Youtube and Instagram. Every Monday you will meet one of these amazing mamas and be encouraged by their journey in business and in motherhood. Today is the first day of that segment and I’m happy to introduce you to one of the Boss Moms I had the opportunity to chat with,The owner of Dynamic Legacy Apparel, Nisha. We had an amazing conversation and she dropped some gems for the mothers out there looking to start their own business. You can watch our conversation on my Youtube Channel.
The bubbly mom of one is a humble yet confident serial entrepreneur. In addition to her clothing apparel Nisha is also a travel agent and in the process of expanding the Dynamic Legacy name. All the while, working full time in corporate America. |
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Alena Michelle
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