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Single Moms United
Encouraging and motivating single mothers, reminding them of their strength and determination. They can succeed as a single parent as long as they remain focused.
Its not about how you arrived at the TITLE, but, what you do with it!
Single Moms United
Empowering Single Moms: Turning the Impossible into Achievable with Mentorship and Personal Growth
Imagine being told that traveling the world for free as a single mom is just a fantasy. Well, it isn't! Join me on Single Moms United as I share my personal journey of defying societal expectations and turning the "impossible" into tangible achievements. From earning a degree and owning a home to supporting my children's education, this episode is bursting with stories designed to inspire single moms to break through limitations. Discover how understanding your personality can be a game-changer in determining your learning path, whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, and learn how to seize new opportunities without waiting for a helping hand.
Mentorship is another powerful tool in the arsenal of success, and I'm here to explain why it matters so much. Having mentors from varied backgrounds, including elderly and male role models, has been instrumental in guiding me through life's multifaceted challenges. This episode unravels the importance of mentors who provide candid feedback and encourage a mindset of endless possibilities. Additionally, I encourage each listener to embrace the role of a mentor themselves, to pass on wisdom and support to others navigating similar journeys. It's about starting each day anew, embracing the fresh possibilities that lie ahead, and harnessing both mentorship and personal experience to thrive.
https://singlemomsunitedpodcast.com/
It's not how you arrived at the title, but what you do with it.
Hey ladies, welcome to the Single Moms United podcast. If this is your first time joining, welcome If you are a repeat listener. Thank you for your loyalty. This podcast is all about encouraging you and motivating you, single mom, and inviting critical thinking with your parenting. Now, it's not a one-size-fits-all, but hopefully you can say, hmm, let me think about that, how can I incorporate that into my parenting? Oh, I never thought about that. That makes good sense, right? So in the past few weeks I've been talking about or extracting words from the letter I as a theme as we round out this year related to parenting. So this week's word is impossible.
Speaker 1:You know, society has said and wants to provide the label on us we're lazy, we have undisciplined kids because they don't come from a two-parent household. They've also said that we're kind of loose and easy as it relates to possibly sleeping with any and every man that comes along. So and we lack ambition. That's what society has put a label on us and it's not fair. Most of us, right, were raised in good households. I come from a two-parent household, like many of you. I mentioned this maybe two episodes ago of why I'm a single parent. So if you want more details, you got to go back to that episode. Okay, and it'll give you some information around my decision.
Speaker 1:However, I'm not going to spend a lot of time here. Look, I'm already done, got off the highway. Let me get back on. As a single mom we think about, or because we're labeled everything's impossible. Listen, I can't get a degree, I can't have a mortgage, I can't have a six-figure income, I can't, I can't, I can't. And that's all because society has planted that seed on us that we can't produce, that we can't be anything positive because we're single moms. And that's just not true. And I know, ladies, you're feeling it right now. You're feeling overwhelmed, like, oh my gosh, how do I get to tomorrow, or how do I even get through today? Guess what? I know exactly how you feel. Been there, done that. Thanks be to God, I was able to circumvent negative thoughts and being able to produce and get beyond that, that stigma of what society says, that single moms are who we are right.
Speaker 1:So I'm just going to talk to you about a few things that I've been able to accomplish, and again, not on my own. It's because I serve a good God and he just watched out over me over these years of raising my kids. So I want to encourage you, and that's what this podcast is all about. All right, first of all, I need you to turn that frown, that wrinkled forehead. I need you to straighten that up and smile, because I have some good news for you. I have some good news for you. I have some good news for you.
Speaker 1:You know, if you want your degree, you can get it. I'm going to talk to you a little bit about that. If you don't want to continue to be a renter the rest of your life, you can achieve that too. And if you even want your child to graduate from college, if you want them to have their degree, you can do that. How do we get there?
Speaker 1:One of the things that I thought I would never experience, and that is I was able to travel this country and this world for free. I hear you what? How you travel for free. That's a good question and I have a good answer. Well, I worked for a company I was able to grow in, I was able to do some job shadowing, and, as I was job shadowing and learning, I was able to get promoted to different positions and, as a result of that, I ended up getting a company card and with that company card and learning the inside and out of the business, I was able to travel for free because they paid for it. But one thing you have to have the desire to do, moms and I know you're going to say I don't know when I'm going to find the time, but actually it's going to be even easier for you now than it was for me back then. But start learning.
Speaker 1:When I started this podcast two years ago, I had no idea I would have over 6,000 people downloading my podcast. I'm just out here trying to encourage single moms. That that's it. So if six people download out, I would have been happy, but 6,000 and I'm like wow, what's happening here? I'm a one woman show. Most podcasts have production staff that owns particular responsibilities to producing the podcast. I don't have that and, matter of fact, I'm self-taught for over 6,000 people to be listening and hopefully I'm making a difference because some of you keep coming back. I'm thankful for that and that's why I opened this podcast with the welcome and the thank you, because you don't have to Again, ladies. You have to want to learn. That's what I did when it came to this podcast. Nobody said, hey, come over here and go over there and do this.
Speaker 1:I sought it out on my own, so you got to have that ability, that determination to say you know what. I'm just no longer comfortable with just doing day-to-day stuff. I want to learn something new, right? I also talked about uncovering who you are as it relates to your personality, because that's going to drive your learning experience. If you are an introvert, like I am, then you might want to pursue IT opportunities, but if you're an extrovert, then you might want to be one of those folks that do a TED Talk that's out in front of people, or do videos. But you have to learn this. We have to stop waiting for somebody to come in our lives to make a difference. Okay, and I'm going to talk a little bit about that in a moment, but that's how I was able to go across this world, this country, for free because of my ability of wanting to learn, and not only learn it, but apply it Right. Yes, my kids are still there. Lie it right. Yes, my kids are still there. So you have to find work-life balance. Kids go to bed. That's your opportunity, mom, if it's nothing but taking an hour out of your day to learn something.
Speaker 1:Now talk about degrees. If you want your college degree, you can have it. How do I know I have my degree? Matter of fact, I have two. Does it make me better than anyone else? Absolutely not. It just means I went through the process but I don't have any student loan debt. Why don't I have any student loan debt? Well, the company I work for they provided tuition reimbursement, so basically they paid for everything as long as I brought in a C or better, and I'm proud to say I was a 4.0. I'm happy to say but again, you have to want this, ladies, and in my situation as a single mom, I had to practice the hybrid piece of study.
Speaker 1:Some days I did go in class, in a classroom, and then some days I did online. Now, in class actually worked a little better for me because I was able to ask questions and, remember, I'm an overthinker. I needed the opportunity to ask questions, specific questions that work better for me. But that's just me. Everybody's different. You can do this too, ladies. So when you're going out and you're looking for a job, then you're going to want to look for those opportunities. Or one of the questions should be do you have tuition reimbursement? And then what do they cover? You don't want to go to a company and all they support is business degrees when you want to do health care. So you have to do your research there. But you can have it if you want it. How do I know? I just told you I have not one, but two degrees, and it took hard work, it took sacrifice, it took discipline to achieve these goals, and so for that I'm grateful.
Speaker 1:Now you say, hey, I want a large bank account. You can have that too. Watch this, I hear you Really. How do I get that? Now, be careful. Be careful, because the more money, the more issues you may encounter. Right, I'm all about peace.
Speaker 1:When you get your income tax check in February, march, or whenever you file your taxes, you take a portion of that money and you invest it. Invest it in stock, find you a company does investments, or talk to someone that does investing, and once you find that good investment firm, you take a good small piece, a chunk of your income tax return and, instead of going out and buying stuff you don't need, invest that money. And then guess what? Watch it grow. And then next year it's like, wow, where'd all this money come from All because you took the time to invest it. Oh my gosh, I never expected to have a savings account this large. All because you took the ownership and decided you know what, I'm not going to go out and buy this flat screen TV, or buy this or buy that Things that I want versus I need. It's just that simple.
Speaker 1:Now you may also say you know what? I'm tired of renting. Oh my goodness, heaven forbid that the landlords change and the other one does this and that, and you may be on public assistance and you know, the area you live in just may not be that desirable, but you have to accept it because of where you are in life. And it's okay. It's okay, I promise you it's okay. But if you want to, I'm no longer going to be a renter. I want a mortgage. I want to know what it means to have a mortgage. And again, that's also an investment, because now you're establishing equity in the home. Now, how do you do that? Well, I just told you, if you take some of your income tax return and invest it, then now you're building up some cash that you can take out later for your down payment.
Speaker 1:And then, secondly, part two is you want to get a copy of your credit report. See what's out there, know your credit score. Many organizations out there. Just make sure you do a Better Business Bureau research before you do investment and understand who these companies are. A lot of fraud is occurring these days and fake websites and so forth. So definitely go to the Better Business Bureau, get an assessment on these companies before you invest, before you get with a credit monitoring agency.
Speaker 1:You want to know your credit score. You want to invest. So, nick, guess what you already on your way? Mom Didn't know it was that simple. It really is just that simple. Now you just have to be disciplined. Once you invest that money, leave it in there, don't touch it. Work on your credit score. You know you may have to apply for a store credit card to help build your credit. Or if you have a family member you trust and they trust you, you can ask them if you can be added as an authorized user on their account. Their payment history will start reporting on your credit report. Didn't know that, did you?
Speaker 1:All of these things are achievable, remember, because when I opened this segment, we talked about impossible Right, and when we think about impossible, it's unachievable. But I'm here to tell you there's a lot of possibilities out there that allows us to get to where we need to be. How do I know, ladies? I promise you, I'm not sitting on the sideline looking and telling you what I've seen. I'm telling you what I've experienced, yeah, what I've experienced and what I'm experiencing. So, if I can do it, oh my goodness, I know you can, all right. So let me wrap it up, all right.
Speaker 1:Something else that you need in life as you get away from the word of impossible and transition to all of your possibilities, you need a mentor or mentors Excuse me With the S mentors. Why is that important? You need someone to encourage you, mom. Why is that important? You need someone to encourage you, mom. You need someone to be honest with you. You need someone to look at things from a different perspective. That's why I'm doing this podcast, because of things that I've experienced, and that's why I encourage you to tell another single mom. All because you're looking at it differently, right? You're taking the information, you're processing it, and you're processing it in such a way it is taking you to another level. Find you some mentors Now.
Speaker 1:I'm thankful that I've had quite a few mentors over my life's journey. Now, my kid's grandfather was a mentor to me. My father died when I was young. I didn't have that senior male encouragement. My kid's grandfather, he, was there. He was always there to give me some form of encouragement and also correct me when he thought I was doing wrong or going down the wrong path. I also had a mother from my church. She was 90 plus years old and she was instrumental with providing wisdom of where she came from and also provided encouragement.
Speaker 1:You know, I don't recommend you identify a mentor in your age group. Sometimes there are hidden agendas. I'm just going to be honest with you. But you definitely want to have at least a male role model, an elderly male role model, right, and then that ensures should ensure that we stay focused and I'll leave that there when you're trying to go and what you're trying to achieve.
Speaker 1:It's important to get a male's perspective on things, ladies. They're going to educate you on how some men think right and you need that, especially for you, young ladies, that you know what I need to be back in a relationship. Well, that's not always a good thing. This is how we got where we are of the so-called relationship. So we definitely want to take that opportunity and get a male role model or male mentor. And it could be your father, and that's OK, right, and it's probably safer facts, right. But if you don't have a father in your life, a strong male figure in your life, they're out there and I just ask God to send you one, and he will. How do I know? Because my kid's grandma. I would have never thought he would have played such a significant role in my life that he did.
Speaker 1:You definitely want to have some mentors in your life and they each play a different role with how they encourage you. That's the thing, right? So it's not a one size fits all and, as a single mom, we need that encouragement, we need that motivation, because days do get hard. Now here's one more mentor I would recommend, as I finish out this episode Now that you've acquired your mentors, mom, you turn the tables and you be a mentor. Yeah, because there's other young girls coming behind you thinking, oh yeah, I can do this on my own. And then find out oh, my God, nobody told me why am I going through this? And you've already been there, just like I'm paying it forward to you. Now you pay it forward. Yes, that's what this is all about forward. Yes, that's what this is all about. That's why this podcast is called Single Moms United, because we need to work together and encourage one another. We can get through this. How do I know? So I've been on this journey a while.
Speaker 1:It hasn't been easy, so I'm not even going to sit up here and in front like, yes, it's been great, I promise you. I've had my lights turned off, I've had my car repossessed. I haven't been able. I wasn't able to buy new clothes for myself, feeding them and choosing not to feed myself, and all the sacrifices I made and when they needed stuff and I thought I could get this for me. Well, I couldn't, because I needed to shell out those funds to make sure that they had. And no regret. No regret because I'm a mom now. And once I made that decision to become a mom, then guess what? Yeah, forget my government name. My new name is mom, and so I have to be that example. I have to be the one to make sure my kids are represented well and to teach them Again. There is no perfect mom, so don't beat yourself up, ladies. Don't do that. You can still be a good mom.
Speaker 1:It's a new day. For a reason, yesterday's gone. All of those things that you did yesterday or you felt just didn't go right. What's a new day? It's a new beginning, it's a new mindset, and the Bible says new mercies. And I'll take it. I'm starting off fresh. It's a new day and I'm so happy that I'm able to start fresh. Anyway, all right, ladies. So again we started off this podcast with talking about impossible. As you leave, you should be like hmm, impossible, what? Right Now, it's all about possibilities and looking at those, about possibilities and looking at those, how to incorporate those possibilities into your life. So again, you should be thinking. You should automatically be thinking what's next? How do I get there? Hopefully, the examples I provided you. This is the start, and let me start talking to some more people and let me get what they think about it. Ladies, have a wonderful day, have a marvelous week. You can do this, I promise you. I'm not talking about what I heard. I've experienced it myself. Take care, ladies. Bye-bye.
