Each week, we share stories of amazing women making a difference in Birmingham and beyond. In each interview, we love to ask, “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?” These are the words of wisdom that inspire the women who inspire us. We bet they’ll inspire you, too!
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PinJennifer Lyne: “Organization and consolidation will never let you down. Always being organized is a key skill to have in the kitchen. There is the French phrase mise en place, which means putting in place, having everything ready on your station and organized. Consolidating is also an OCD [trait] of mine. If it can be put into a smaller container, then it needs to be consolidated. Working in small kitchens in NYC, you have to be very aware of this because of the limited space you have.” Image: Tasting TBLPinMeg Roebuck: “‘Choose joy. Wake up every morning and choose joy.’ It’s simple, but it affects your whole day and everything you’re doing and who you’re doing it with.” Image: Gina BudnyPinTaneisha Sims-Summers: “‘It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.’ I feel like that applies to every area in life because sometimes we’re so anxious to get to whatever the next level is, and we don’t take the time to be present and enjoy where we are. Every level of life requires something different from you, so look at the things you experience as a part of your life lesson and journey to go to wherever else it is you need to go next.” Image: Jennifer Tietjen PurserPinDr. Sarah Boyce Sawyer: “My favorite quote is, ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.’ Image: Jacob BlankenshipPinAmanda Bailey Leach: “It’s a coin with two sides. The first is to enjoy the moment that you’re in. Savor that moment because before you know it, it will be gone. Relish every single day, no matter what it holds. And on the other side of that, as someone who has struggled with debilitating depression, anxiety, and a horrible journey of infertility, the best thing someone ever told me was, ‘You won’t always feel this way.’ When you’re in those tough moments, your brain tells you it’s never going to change, but I’ve lived enough to know it won’t always feel this way. Hope is coming. Change is coming.” Image: provided
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
PinLindsey Seal: “My life motto is something Pat Summit said: ‘You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you handle it.’” Image: providedPin Betsy Hayes: “Be willing to get out of your comfort zone and learn as much as you can because you never know if that will be something you can use in the future. It also builds you into a better person.” Image: Kristen Joy PhotographyPinMadison Murphy: “Sometimes it’s very easy — especially in the gift box world where there’s so much out there — to try to copy someone else or be what somebody else is. A friend of mine told me to try to be different, and I thought that was good advice. I stand out by being different and doing things well and with all my heart as unto the Lord.” Image: Meghan GrayPinDr. Sabrina Scott: “You have to do the work within to be beneficial to anybody and anything you do in life. I always tell my staff (and myself), ‘Take care of yourself outside of work so you can be the best you can be inside of work.’ If you don’t fill up your vessel, you don’t have anything to give anybody else. Practice self-care — whether that’s your spirituality and faith, relationships, eating right, or exercising. Whatever those things may be, you have to pour into your vessel so you’re able to give this world the best that you can. You can’t do that if you’re always on empty.” Image: KP Studios
PinHaylie McCleney: “One of my family’s mottos is: ‘The best is yet to come.’ My mom repeated that over the course of my softball career and my life. She never made me feel that my purpose was tied to softball. So she would always convey to me, ‘Your best is in front of you. You’re doing great things now but keep going.’ This relentless optimism has pushed me to keep going when things get difficult. The pandemic was difficult. Training for the Olympics was difficult. Training on my own pretty much every day is not easy. But something good is on the other side — better days are always ahead. That’s true on the really good days and the really bad days.” Image: USA SoftballPinHannah Smarr: “Taking good care of yourself is important. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bartender, bagging groceries, or a heart surgeon. You’ve got to take care of yourself because if you don’t, you can’t perform. That’s mental health, and that’s physical health. And maybe that means you take a self-care day, or you need to go to the gym, or you need to eat a pizza by yourself. Whatever that is, it’s fine, but taking care of yourself is a priority.” Kristine Brown:” Remember that people’s minds and thought processes work differently than yours. The biggest growth is the ability to understand that and approach people with empathy — working to gain an understanding of why they made the decisions they made rather than jumping to a conclusion and getting angry or upset.” Image: Elise FerrerPinDr. Virginia Campbell: “If there’s somebody in your life that you have a difference with, try to leave a place to build the bridges back in the future. Remember that everybody else is human, too, and your relationship with them doesn’t have to be totally tied to believing the same thing. Remember that for whatever differences you have with other people; you still have more in common with them.” Image: Dr. Virginia CampbellPinJenny Waltman: “‘Stay behind Jesus and let him receive the glory for your life.’ He’s got such a big, incredible plan for each of our lives; we can’t even fathom it. We don’t even think that big. So, if we can stay behind him, he will take us to places and adventures we would never have dreamed of. He’s showing me a concept called ‘the compounding yes.’ If we say ‘yes’ to what he asks us to do today, then that ‘yes’ builds on the next ‘yes’ and the next ‘yes,’ and when we look back, all of those yeses have accumulated to what we get to call our amazing life.” Image: Grace Klein CommunityPinDanielle Hines: “‘Be present.’ We all have goals, but you can get caught up in achieving the goal and not be present while you are going through it. You look up, and you’re in the middle of success but can’t enjoy it. When I’m present, I can flow, think creatively, and interact better with people. It’s better for my self-care.” Image: providedPinTiffiany Ward: “The best advice I can give someone that has ever been given to me is, ‘Wake up, pray, and hustle.’ That’s something I’ve lived my entire life by. You can say a lot of things, but you’re not going to say you outworked me.” Image: Amber Helms PhotographyPinKathleen Roth: “‘Enjoy what you do; life is too short.’ And my husband always says, ‘Nothing’s worth doing if it’s not worth doing right.’ He is a type-A lawyer and very meticulous. I think that’s rubbed off on me! I am a very detailed person.” Image: provided
We are grateful to all our sponsors:
PinAbra Barnes: “One thing that has taken me far is that my mom always told me, ‘You give the same respect to the garbage man that you give to the President of the United States.’ I don’t care who you are or what walk of life [you’re from]; I’m going to show you the same respect. I think that has helped my business a lot.” Image: D. Jerome SmedleyPinLauren Roberts: “I have a picture of my favorite spot on the Lakeshore Trail in my office. It’s right in the middle, and it shows a line with 1.25 miles written on both sides. It reminds me that there is always more than one way to reach a goal. You just may need to be creative and approach an obstacle from a different angle to figure it out.” Image: Heather Swanner PinJonece Starr Dunigan: “‘Our mistakes are fertile grounds for growth.’ I see that happening over and over again in my life, professionally or personally. It’s a privilege to know me even when I do make mistakes. It doesn’t make me any less loving, kind, and brave. Because I haven’t given up, I feel grateful that despite my dark days, my brightest moments are still shining.” Image: Jonece Starr DuniganPinKendyl Crooks: “I’m not sure if I can consider this the best piece of advice I’ve ever received, but a comment my mom made once has really helped me take healthy risks in my adulthood. She told me once when I was torn between decisions, ‘Nothing you decide is going to be detrimental,’ shares Kendyl, “Obviously, some decisions are detrimental. But when it comes to those should-be simple decisions, remembering that has often helped remove anxiety from decision-making and made it a little easier to take risks, both in this business and in life. I know that whatever decision is made, everything is still going to be okay.” Image: Dimples Flowers
Bailey is the StyleBlueprint Marketing Manager. She loves a good meal and glass of wine with great friends... or a reality TV binge with her cat, Luna.
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