How it all started

I used to be in the corporate world. I worked my way up and like many of you, felt torn much of the time. I felt guilty about being at work when my little girl was at home and I felt guilty about being at home when I needed to be at work. Yes, I can say I worked around and amidst hypocrisy, gender bias, and discrimination. I made less, worked more and became one of the only female executives. Yes I made it…except I was making someone else’s dream come true with no self-fulfillment of my own to show for it.

My childhood couldn’t end fast enough. My heart and soul were aged and mature but my body reminded me I was just a little girl. My parents divorced when I was 10 and I became an adult overnight helping to raise my two-year old little brother. Extremely shy yet responsible, I fit in nowhere except in the presence of '“old people” who seemed to have life all figured out. Sexually abused by a step-father at 14 and betrayed by my first male employer who I mistakenly thought had my best interests at heart at 16, I became someone…but not who I wanted to be.

But it was who I needed to be to get here.

After leaving the corporate world I became an Entrepreneur and I decided that maybe there were other women who needed the kind of support I wish I had had. We all have a purpose and we all deserve a life of self-fulfillment but we give up on dreams or desires because we are told we can’t or we convince ourselves that it isn’t practical or doable. What we are really saying in those moments is we aren’t worthy. But we are! Maybe you’ve noticed, but women can be really hard on one another and even harder on ourselves when we aren’t really paying attention.

Several years ago I accidentally painted a piece of art for my own wall because I couldn’t find anything I liked. I wanted something contemporary yet timeless, something sophisticated yet cool. Something original yet under $1,000. I couldn’t find it so I created it. Then I accidently sold it and a business was born. I like to think of myself as the ‘Kate Spade’ of the art world. I love to provide gorgeous, unique, custom and original artwork without the pricing of what it would cost in a gallery affordable to about 6% of the population. I want people to enjoy my art and be able to buy it without compromising food or electricity for the quarter.

There are people who have tried to convince me that I need to pick one lane. I should choose coaching / advising as my primary focus or my art. I can’t do both. I shouldn’t do both. I can’t excel at both. It makes no sense to do both. Hmmmm….I know no woman who only does one thing. I know no man who only does one thing, and I can’t relate to people who put limitations on that which they do not know. I think it makes sense to combine my artwork with More Than Just Advice because they both evoke beauty, purpose and invites the recipient to get out of it whatever they are meant to! It makes perfect sense to me.

Philosophy

I shared just a little bit of my story, and everyone has one. Sometimes we feel defined by our past. Sometimes the weight of our insecurities get the best of us. Sometimes we aren’t supported or empowered by the people that should support us the most. Sometimes we beat ourselves up because of mistakes or the characteristics we feel we lack.

We are all unique but we really all want are the same things. It is how we manifest it into the world that makes us different. We want to give and receive love. We want to matter and contribute. We want to have certain things that make us feel secure, acknowledged and successful. We all want to feel inspired, empowered and special. At More Than Just Advice, you are treated with respect. You are acknowledged as an individual, but regardless of how different we may seem, we seek to find what connects us.