Dear Frugal Feministas,
Yay!!! Based on your feedback and email, The Frugal Feminista DreamGirl series is back. (Those new to the Frugal Feminista community, a DreamGirl is a badass woman that lives out her dreams and lives to tell the tale.)
I have the pleasure of introducing you to Christine St. Vil, one of my sistergirl bloggers from Black and Married with Kids and a FLY (First Love Yourself) mom expert & CEO of Moms ‘N Charge™. Christine embodies what hustle, heart, and grace mean. She is a leader by her actions and from day one made me feel comfortable when I emerged on the blogger scene last year. I have learned so much from her and I am glad that she was willing to share her wisdom.
Enjoy,
-K
What do you do and why is it important?
As CEO of Moms N’ Charge, I teach moms how to feel good without feeling guilty. And that means that I teach moms the importance of taking care of their own needs first so that they can be a better mom and wife. It’s possible to your goals and your purpose, while still being a great mom, wife, sister, friend, etc. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
What advice would you give to your 20 year-old self?
Slow down. Do what makes you happy and not what you think will make everyone else around you happy (while deep down you’re unhappy). Speak up for yourself. Believe in yourself. You are beautiful. You are intelligent. You are loved.
What is the best advice (financial, emotional, spiritual, health-related) that you have ever received? Why did that piece of wisdom resonate with you so much?
The best advice came when I was struggling with the decision on whether to leave my corporate job when I was 6.5 months pregnant with my third child. I went to a seminar called “Dare to Live Your Dreams”, and the speaker said: “God will put you in a holy discontent to get you out of certain situations.” And the situation I was in at work was beyond unacceptable (you’ll have to read my upcoming book for the details on that one 🙂 ).
It was at that moment that I realized that God was speaking to me through him. While I was worried about not having a plan together or enough money saved up, God was showing me signs left and right that I didn’t need to have all of the answers. I just needed to have faith and trust in Him. It was the first time I truly understood what it meant to take a leap of faith. I took that leap on March 21, 2011 and haven’t looked back since.
What are you the most proud of as a woman, entrepreneur, scholar, or anything in between?
As a mompreneur and wife, I am definitely most proud of the fact that I get to wake up everyday to a life that I’ve created and designed for myself. I believe my business has made me a better wife and mother. I get to maximize my time with my family, while still building a legacy for my children.
When I think about where I was three years ago, my state of mind was far from where it is now. I wasn’t happy because I wasn’t doing what I loved to do. If someone would’ve told me that public speaking would be a routine part of my profession, I would’ve looked at them like they had three heads. Overcoming my fear of public speaking has been one of the things that I’m most proud of. Realizing that my gift of coaching and training is helping so many other women excites me everyday. To get messages from women who say that they’ve been following my journey from day one and have been inspired by my transformation, makes everything worthwhile.
What is going on in your business/career that EVERYONE should know about now? Is there a product or services that we should ALL know about?
OMG there is so much excitement going on right now but I’ll try to keep it short. LOL
The most exciting thing right now is that I’m preparing for the launch of my first book that I co-authored with my sister, Julian Kiganda. The book is called Whose Shoes Are You Wearing: 12 Steps to Becoming the Woman You Really Want to Be. After having conquered our own personal and professional struggles to finally walk in our purpose, we’re giving you our most powerful insights to move you along your own path to uncovering your God-given purpose. We take on a slightly different approach as we talk about how culture (East African) has played a major role in finding our way to our purpose. We’ll be sharing updates and info on the official launch and pre-order sales on our Facebook page. The book officially launches in May.
In addition to this excitement, I’m also putting the final touches on my breakout session that I’ll be teaching at the 6th (and final) Get RADICAL Women’s Conference which takes place March 21-23 just outside of Washington, DC. This is such a pivotal moment in my business because when I attended this same conference two years ago, I didn’t have a business. But I immediately put on my vision board that I wanted to come back and teach a breakout session. This conference is an experience and has played a huge role in my own transformation.
Lastly, I’ll be teaching live online courses starting next month for the RADICAL Success Institute. The two courses I’ll be teaching are Blogging 101 and Social Media 101. My business and platform has really been built using these two things. So these courses are geared towards entrepreneurs who want to learn how to build their business and create a powerful brand using these two platforms.
What makes you a DreamGirl?
Wow, this is a great question. I’m a DreamGirl because I first learned how to dream again. By learning the importance of maintaining my self-care and doing the things that make me happy, I was able to discover what my dreams were so I could put a plan in place to make them a reality. I’m a DreamGirl because I’ve taken my dreams from paper to something tangible, and I’m teaching other women (and my own mini DreamGirls) to do the same.
How do you handle setbacks? What skills, support, or personality trait do you rely on the most to help you overcome adversity?
Oh man, this wasn’t always easy and it still isn’t. But what I’ve learned is the importance of having the right people in your corner. Being clear on your goals is key because it reminds you why you’re doing what you’re doing. When I have setbacks, I always have to go back to my goals and make sure that I’m doing what I can that is in alignment. It’s imperative to me to have people to keep me accountable. It’s great to have cheerleaders in your corner, but you also need to have those that will put you in check when they see you trying to back away from pushing through the setbacks and adversity.
Finally, in my Oprah voice, what are three things that you know for sure?
Christine St.Vil is a FLY mom expert & CEO of Moms ‘N Charge™. A happy wife to an amazing hubby of 8 years, and homeschooling mother of three, she teaches moms how to FLY (First Love Yourself). She uses her corporate background to work with women who are ready to start a new business, accelerate their career growth & design a life they love. She’s on a mission to help moms to battle the mom guilt epidemic, so they can begin to put themselves first on their never-ending list of priorities. Sign up at MomsNCharge.com for her FREE audio: The Truth About Mom Guilt: 3 Tips to Getting Over it so You Can FLY (First Love Yourself)
Join 10,000 women who have downloaded the FREE excerpt of my best-selling book, Heal Your Relationship With Money.
