Oh January, I crave you all year long.
I love a fresh start, and January is it. Every. Single. Year. The minute Christmas is over I am ready to count down to the New Year. And here it is.
I have resolutions for business. Resolutions for my health. Resolutions for my spirit. And resolutions for my family (I should tell them about these).
One resolution for 2021, and for life, is to really embrace sisterhood. When I say “sisterhood” I need you to understand that this includes anyone who identifies as female, wants a membership, and can try not to be a jerk. Those are the requirements in the hood.
And the action plan is this:
1. Support MORE women. Openly and without reservation, throw support at women like politicians throw insults at each other. Even if they’re competition, even if we disagree on the how or why.
2. Don’t hate. Celebrate success of women around me even if I am grinch colored with envy. Her story is hers, and mine is mine. Breathe.
3. Make room for friends. Create a space for women around me to learn and grow. Be a resource. Give to other women in the community like things have been given to me.
I don’t know why this sisterhood has escaped me for so long. I have had amazing examples, and I am going to share some with you.
First, I learned how to lead a pack. From the ultimate and supreme leader, Kelly Vieira. My first boss as a college graduate, she lead a department full of women so harmoniously and beautifully I think she could have done it in her sleep. In that office FULL OF WOMEN there was a peace from the way she lead us that I haven’t seen since she stepped out of that office for the last time. Watching her in action made me want to be just like her, and I still aspire to lead the way Kelly taught me- with strength and kindness, and an open mind, and full of grace. Kelly demonstrates #1 in the action plan.
Second. My friend Kristin Dawson fitmomandmakeup is a personal trainer, and advocate for celebrating a woman’s beauty but more than that she is a glowing river of beauty shining from the inside. Kristin loves with something bigger than her heart somehow, and I so admire that. I have worked out with Kristin so I know that she doesn’t actually do magic, but being just being in the room with her will somehow make you want to do and be better. She embodies the idea of celebrating each other, and raising up sisters. Kristin especially demonstrates # 2 in the action plan.
And third, this is it I promise. My friend and now Dietitian Abby Johnson was an intern and a friend of a friend. When I got her on my service I took her to the NICU. The NICU is a special place, especially the NICU we were in, and one just never knows what might happen there. On that particular day, we met a new mom who was in pretty rough shape. Her infant had just received a diagnosis that was life altering and it was not good news. We showed up to help her pump, and she screamed at me like I had physically assaulted her. The insults she threw at me still stick years later. That’s right, in front of my intern. Well, that was a learning experience. And now Abby is her own boss at Harmony Nutrition and is a model business woman and expert Nutritionist. With employees. And she is a community leader, having started a networking group of professionals Atlanta Health and Wellness Network of Greater Atlanta, which runs seamlessly, even during this pandemic. She has personally introduced me to colleagues that have changed the way that I do business. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty or initiative. I am proud of Abby’s success, and I know how hard she has worked to get there on her own. Abby demonstrates #3 in the action plan.
So there you have it- this is what I base the sisterhood on. Those women that I admire and the ones who demonstrate how to work and live and be in the hood. I encourage you to support them- and each other. And drop a comment and let me know how we can support you!
Now excuse me while I go practice what I preach and resolve to do more and better for myself, my daughter, and my sisters.
Peace, my friends,
Nicki
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