What makes my empowerment so true to me...

 If you're wondering what makes me such an expert on Self Esteem and Empowerment, well first things first, I'm not an expert. Unless you happen to believe that life experience and passion to the subject makes you an expert, and then maybe I am an expert...you decide. You have that power! 

I was born in the late sixties to a very French catholic mother. She was a lovely woman but she sent mixed messages. She said that she had changed her name when she was younger because it was Isabelle. Her friends shortened it, as kids will do, and called her "Belle". My mother was appalled and struggled with the thought that this name would surely mark her in the eyes of God with a sign of vanity. For this, she would burn. 

My mother never wore make-up, except for classic red lipstick. This always meant she was going out. This was confusing, vanity is a sin but blood red lipstick is a classic look. 

One day, for no conceivable reason, I looked in the mirror. I stared and stared and wondered. I wondered what makes someone pretty? Was I pretty? I decided in that short moment that I liked what I saw enough that this would never be a problem for me. At thirteen, this was my first sign of rebellion. 

I questioned things from then on I needed to know why? Without the Internet and social media to turn to as a resource, I read.  I read what I could, about the subjects that interested me. I've taken personal development classes and my ultimate interest in self-esteem and empowerment came from my children.

I have three very independent, confidant and self-thinking individuals of whom I am very proud. My most substantial struggle has come from helping my daughter with her diagnosis of Early Onset Childhood Bipolar and ADHD, anxiety, ODD, and OCD at the tender age of ten. She is our second child and our first daughter. My husband and I have been together for a long time and will be married for 25 years in Septemeber-11.

(That’s another story)

Owning and managing my own business was where I accumulated knowledge of this subject and translated it into leadership skills. By managing people, and my home was an amazing, learning platform from which this wisdom grew.

Please don’t think that I woke up one day, read a book, or watched an e-learning doc and became an expert. Throughout the development of this conversation you will come to understand the knowledge base that drives me to share my experiences to empower you.