My life.....

I am so glad to finally be back here on blogspot and to post on all the wonderful events that have transpired in just the last month alone. I jumped some hurdles and I can actually say I am quite proud that... yes I came out alive LOL.

In the last month I...

*Published Tiara Magazine
*the following week I ended my summer semester of college with good grades
*the following week I celebrated my HUGE fashion show for the LOLC
*and today I am happy to say I made it through Fashion Week as the Director in Libertyville for Improv Playhouse with great praise. :)
*And in between all of this I made time for filming the Tiara Talk Show and making other special appearances as Miss Glen Ellyn as well as mentoring those in times of need. Below I will share highlights of each accomplishment.
But first some thanks.....
Now I am turning my efforts inward to get ready for the Miss Illinois Competition. Special thanks to Jojo Sayson, Dr Tom, Alan P, Ashley Hatfield, Jason Browning, Toni Hasset, Theresa Robles, and the many others who have been instrumental on my road to success. And always thank you to God for keeping me grounded and steady as I forge forward trying to make a difference. I have to say I have been extremely blessed and I am grateful for these blessings. Without God's help I would not have been able to accomplish all that I have. And these accomplishments could not have been possible without the help of so many others who have and still believe in me and my mission. Thank you....

Now highlights :)

MENTORING
I receive at least 3-4 texts, fb messages, chat messages, emails, or phone calls every week from people who know someone that is depressed and want to know exactly what to do. I am grateful the message is getting out there and people are asking me for help. Theresa is a friend of mine who has her own salon. Therefore I mentor a lot of her clients on health and also suicide prevention. This isn't the first time Theresa has sent someone my way and I am thankful for the opportunities. Together we have had major success stories. This time I received a text from one of Theresa's clients that her little sister is cutting and she doesnt know what to do. I had her call me and used my QPR training as I do in all of these cases to mentor her and lead her in the right direction. She had no idea how to approach her sister or how to help her. The alarming truth is that most people don't know what to do when someone is depressed or cutting or even when there is a substance abuse. In this case her sister was 15 years old and she expressed in their Indian culture cutting just doesn't happen. I explained to her that cutting is a serious sign of depression and needs to be taken seriously. I explained some of the signs of depression and she started to recall things she hadn't before. For instance her sister has been wearing long sleeves even during the summer for the past year and she never shows her arms. She also recalls how her sister usually doesn't smile. And when she found the marks on her arm her sister mumbled things like its just I can't handle school and this won't happen again. The truth is that most people don't know the signs and symptoms of depression. With depression and substance abuse being the 2 causes of suicide we must know what to look for and I shared my training with her. I will be following up next week.

FASHION SHOW for LOLC
I worked tirelessly the past few months to make this event happen and we had over 350 attendees!!! Thank you to my team members that assisted me with this incredible show. Electrify Your Future 2010 Fashion Show was a success because of you! I was able to share the Live Out Loud Charity Seminar with the audience and the models looked FABULOUS walking down the runway. I was also booked for other speaking engagements due to this event. We had great reviews and everyone can't wait for the next one. The crowd oooood and ahhhhhhd for the little girls and boy we had in the show and for Kathy who is 70 years of age. In the Tiara Magazine fashion shows we have all ages, sizes, ethnicities, and heights walking the runway. We had two mandatory rehearsals and I shared the LOLC seminar with all of our staff and models so they are equipped with the knowledge to save lives. It turns out many of the models themselves suffer from low self esteem and even depression. It is the greatest feeling in the world to help these women become more confident and just happy. Kathy expressed that her dream of walking the runway finally came true. For many that night it was their dream come true as well. I love orchestrating these shows. I did this for Ryan. I miss him and this is the least I can do. We celebrate life at LOLC and I ask that you join us. http://www.liveoutloudcharity.org/
Here is the first half to our runway show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEXoZGDJtWA


FASHION WEEK
Two day's later I traveld to Antioch, IL to stay closer to my week long job. I was hired as Director of Fashion Week in Libertyville, IL for Improv Playhouse. I was given free reign on what I wanted to teach to the girls. I used this opportunity to mentor the girls and we covered several things including self esteem, walking the runway, health, fitness, beauty, and more. We truly bonded. I had 8 students and their ages were 10-13. It was a fabulous age range and I really miss the girls. It's only been 1 day!!! All week we worked hard to make our Fashion Showcase a success. Front stage we created walks and speeches but the day of the show I worked back stage to help the girls stay calm and focused before they went on stage. It was so cute to watch them and I can't express how proud I was when every single girl performed her speech and runway walk perfectly. All of our hardwork paid off!! They all want to return next year and the owner of Improv Playhouse, David, has mentioned us doing this again perhaps every quarter. When I receive pics from our final showcase I will post them here. At the end we said a big thank you to Improv Playhouse and we had a hugging session on stage! lol it was so cute :)

FILMING TIARA TALK SHOW
The past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to film Mrs. International 2010, Miss International 2009, Teen International 2009, Miss International 2010, and Teen International 2010. I have a great relationship with Denise from their PR firm. This organization is classy and professional. I really enjoyed watching the Mrs. International finals. I couldn't watch the Miss & Teen finals due to the Electrify Your Future 2010 Fashion Show. I purposely had the originial date set to July 31st but I had to change the date to comply with the venue. It all worked out in the end :) The International system is a platform based pageant the really emphasizes hard work and integrity. The interviews will appear on http://www.tiaratalkshow.com/ I was fortunate to meet the brains behind the International system. The director is beautiful and she was in fact a Mrs International in the 90's. I hope to make it to the International stage one day!