Are you a Woman of Influence?

This past weekend I was fortunate to attend a Woman’s Event at my church, this year is was called “Woman of Influence”, and I feel as though it was the perfect title to the stage in life that I find myself in these days. Although truth be told, we are all in that stage in life no matter our age. During this event they had giveaways and if you won something you were encouraged to whoop and holler in excitement, a 92 year old women won something and she joined in and even gave a little dance. She dressed up in a purple flowery blouse with a purple hat and her joy of life was evident, later I glimpsed her with her walker which was also decked out.  Her personality was vibrant and all I could think about was how she was influencing so many of us in that very moment. WOW!

92 years old and loving life!

I struggle and have struggled as a mom so many times, I wonder if I’ve done anything right this whole time and if I will ever get the motherhood down or if by grace somehow I manage to be a woman of influence – mind you with the right kind of influence. I think back to my son when he was three years old and at the time he didn’t call me “mom” or “mommy” he called me “Yvonne”. As I started to go to church and change my life and my priorities, one day Chris got behind me in the crowd as we exited the church and just like that his voice cut through the crowd and he called out to me “Mommy!” The whole world stood still and my breath was caught. What a change in the influence my life was having on him.

Guest Speaker - Pam Tebow

I was able to attend this event with a couple wonderful ladies I love very much and in the moment you realize the influence they have on your life. Momma Rachel (my best friends mom) and anyone else’s mom if you so need her to be or my daughters other grandmother in my case. Her influence has impacted my life for more than 15 years showing me her unconditional love.

Connie from Momma of Dos, is a woman of influence in the blogging world leading and paving the way for so many bloggers that have followed her footsteps. In so many ways a woman of influence showing me that hard work and consistency pays off – follow your dreams and don’t let someone tell you it can’t be done or that (worse) it’s a waste of time. There is a good chance that she’ll take you up on that offer and show you otherwise.

What kind of influence are you? Do you inspire, encourage and love? Maybe you are a teacher,  protector and nurturer - I hope you are and I hope you realize that years from now you’ll step into the knowledge that you have inspired someone along the way. 

Women of Influence 2016

Weekend Snapshots 6 | Busy Bee

Houston Latina Bloggers ready for Action! 

This crazy Weekend Snapshots is due to family and friends and randomness! I had a great weekend including an awesome opportunity to attend the Business Advancement Conference, crazy time in my kitchen and some much needed time with my family celebrating my brother’s birthday. Lately though I feel as though I could use a clone or three day weekends might be a better idea because a clone would probably be a bad idea, she might be too bossy and she might get more stuff done than I would because she wouldn’t have to do everything I am already doing for her. The whole situation would go south very quickly :)

Saturday first thing Saturday morning I headed off to the Business Advancement Conference as part of the Houston Latina Blogger group! This was exciting for me on a couple of different levels, first of all because I get to represent an amazing and talented group of Latina Bloggers!  We get to network and learn as a group and as a Blogger, I have to admit I’m a bit outside of my comfort zone but with these ladies I really have fun and I feel comfortable knowing my support crew is with me!

Secondly, I have been entertaining the idea of venturing off into the world of being an entrepreneur at the moment more a want-trepreneur. The conference touched on Branding, Networking, Public Relations, marketing and tons more. All topics very relevant to one thing (blogging) or another (opening a small business). Check out a list of our speakers here! 

When I made it home that evening with no major plans in the works for the rest of the day, the bear and I decided to play bakery shop and we made “conchas” (Mexican Sweet Bread) from scratch. I love the kitchen and I can cook like there is no tomorrow, baking is another beast all together. In the end I was thankful that they looked pretty and that my bread was eatable!! Not spot on the texture and taste for a traditional concha but at least I tried!! Round two is coming soon to the kitchen near me.

Sunday was my brother’s birthday! I can’t even sit here now and figure out the way to express how much my brother means to me. The funny thing is the older we get the more I realize how much influence he has had over my life. I realize how thankful I am for him and how through this crazy life and at the end of my crazy day I need him, still.

The end to my weekend and I found myself back in the kitchen, meal prepping for me and my little bear and per usual I was exhausted by the end of the night and I fell asleep trying to watch Snoopy the Movie! Do you think the clone would have been the one in the kitchen or the one on the couch watching a movie with the hubs and little bear…? 

Link into Weekend Snapshots by visiting 3twentysix and Momma of Dos! 

Beautiful Group of Ladies!!

Pretty sure my house smelled like heaven this evening!

Little bit crazy, little bit funny and lotta love to go with him! 

My little helper making her pizza rolls for lunch! 

Pizza rolls ready, now on to egg muffins for my breakfast! 

Bake for 20 min and done! 

CHI en Espanol | Farouk Systems

** This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Farouk Systems and Lopez Marketing. **

Blogger life lately has been so much fun! Recently I joined my fellow Houston Latina Bloggers in a wonderful campaign with Farouk Systems “CHI en Español” and as part of our campaign we were invited to visit the Farouk headquarters! {insert happy dance here}

Why CHI en Español? Farouk Systems has been a major player in Hispanic community for quite some time and let me tell you from the moment you walk to the front desk to the tour through the warehouse you get a sense of this right away.

The Farouk Company provides jobs for about 2000 employees the majority of these employees are Hispanic. We saw many Hispanic ladies and gentlemen driving the forklift through this warehouse, they were in the offices and they are part of the CHI Academy.

I believe in backing up a company or product that I really do use in my crazy daily life and if you are like me at some point in my life I’ve used CHI (Farouk Products).  I remember being a teenager and just gushing over the latest and greatest flat iron CHI had to offer; and hoarding my Biosilk© like you hoard water during a hurricane!! As I’ve grown up I’ve tried different products just like anyone else, about four years ago I went through two different flat irons that died way before I felt they had done their job. So, I bought a new CHI flat iron and I haven’t looked back since. It’s my go to styling tool almost every day… but what if my tour disappointed? I was weary to go through with our tour and come back disappointed.

My very own go to - CHI G2

Disappointed I was not! The most honest thing I can tell you about my feelings after the tour is that they have a customer for life! I may not be famous and my opinion may not be a big deal but as a voice for women and Latina women at that, I was impressed with everything I saw and learned during our tour.

Words that were repeated during our tour – quality, health for your hair in every aspect from designing styling tools to hair products, opportunities for the community, investing in organizations and keeping their customers best interest at the forefront.

Did you know??

·         Farouk decided to not renew their contract with Miss Universe contest when the respect for Latino’s was in question?

·         Farouk has been breaking ground since 1987 being the first company to have an Ammonia free hair color? That’s not all, very soon you will see an even more environmentally focused company.

·         The CHI Academy believes in empowering stylist by not only allowing for someone to aCHIeve their license but also by earning an associate’s degree in the process, so continuing your education is always an option. (You might want to get a business degree to go that beautifully awesome saloon you are dreaming of having one day!)

·         2016 is going to be an awesome year for Farouk (sorry most of its top secret…) but keep on the lookout for new products, new style and more awesomeness!

Picture provided by CHI en Español

At the end of our tour we sat down for lunch with Basim Shami, CEO of Farouk Systems, himself. He answered all the questions we could throw at him, he gave us background information, and expressed his true passion with us about an hour later I was mostly impressed that this amazing man leading a company that is known around the world was still talking to a bunch of crazy Latinas. He was at ease and was ready to share all kinds of information while making us laugh.  He personally continued the tour and you could see how proud he truly is when it comes to the work his employees do at Farouk Systems. It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad I didn’t miss out on this opportunity. I got a pretty cool swag bad of goodies – I’ll fill you in on those soon!