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Meet our featured beauty with brains Charlotte Noel, an entrepreneur based in Belgium. Here is her story.

“I’m 28 years old, started my first company at age 25. Studied International Business Management in Toulouse (France), Barcelona and Berlin. When I was backpacking in Guatemala in 2012, I experienced the impact of Sustainable Tourism for the first time. It planted a seed in my head but it wasn’t until a rather well known Tourism company approached me to work together that I started TravelRebel. TravelRebel is the leading platform in Sustainable Tourism from Belgium.

Because I grew up in an entrepreneurial environment and was encouraged by my education to go for it, I didn’t really have the glass ceiling to chase my dreams. But I am aware so many women and girls do experience the glass ceiling. I want to encourage everyone to go after their dreams with TravelRebel. And because we have a large reach (1,6million/monthly), I try to spread the message of women empowerment on a frequent basis.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

I believe everyone that has a certain influence should take the responsibility to promote women empowerment. The projects I did were in Senegal (Education for all especially girls).

Interview with Plan International – TravelRebel’s Charlotte talks about the importance of education, gender equality, and her recent trip to Senegal

And in Kenya about women groups and helping them to be more independent:

ADVENTURE IN KENYA WITH A.S. ADVENTURE & SOLID: Part I

Here is an interview with her. 1. What are your goals in life? Have you achieved them?

My goals are to grow my entrepreneurial skills, find a good balance between a thriving career and a future family. I am able to work from anywhere at anytime. Which gives me so much freedom and I truly hope I can keep it this way.

I started my first company at age 25. Even though I always knew I wanted to start my own company, I expected to only start after 35 years old.

2. What does a typical day in your life look like?

There is no typical day to be honest. Most people underestimate how intense a content creation trip or press trip is. Some trips you wake up at 5AM and go to bed at 1 or 2 AM 🙂

I sometimes only slept 1.5 hours a night as I still had to do my emails at night + beating a jetlag.

I am lucky I can work from anywhere in the world. But I wasn’t taking much holidays/days off. Now with corona, I try to take it slower some days and give my head some rest, try to go for long walks, think about where I want to go with TravelRebel.

3. What does women empowerment mean to you?

Lifting up others, showing women how strong and inspiring they are, helping causes that strive for a kind and more empowered world, supporting women in business. I am using my channels and reach to spread the important message.

4. Are there any memorable or special experiences which you would like to share with us?

I went to Kenya to visit several women’s groups. They welcomed me in such a heartwarming way, I will never ever forget this. You see the impact of social entrepreneurship when you get the chance to meet the real people/smiles behind a social company. The impact it has on so many families, helping women earn their own money and become more independent, sending their kids to school to get a chance for a better future.

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Meet our featured beauty with brains Viola Ng, an event hostess and blogger based in Malaysia.

Viola is a person who likes to imagine and let her thoughts run free. She lives according to her two hashtags #bereal and #blessed. Viola loves life and living in the moment. She likes to blog and write things down in her diary as she believes magic comes out of writing. She is the mother of a beautiful girl and is happily married. She loves Disney. Her goal is to inspire and bring the best out of people. She hosts all kinds of events.

Here is an interview with her.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself – what you do, your hobbies and etc

Hi, I am Viola. I am working at a developer firm. On my free time, I pursue my passion as a freelance write or blogger. I always had passion in hosting and events and therefore, this remains a part of my list of “Dreams come true”. I am glad that I get to do things that I love. 

2. What does a typical day in you life look like?

As our country is undergoing “Movement Control Order” due to Covid-19, I pretty much enjoy my Mom duties. 45 days have passed by and I just don’t feel it. Having a baby makes you forget that time exists. Without MCO, my daily life would be going to work, meeting clients, completing tasks, figuring out my life and what to do next, rushing back home to take care of my baby. It is as typical as any other days. Disney is part of our life. On special occasions, we would do something magical. 

3. Do you find it hard to balance family and work? If so, how do you overcome it? 

Like any other person, I am a wife/mom with great sense of ceremony. Be it birthdays or any festive celebrations, I want to implement this in my own family. My husband is a sales person so his working time is fixed. We can’t both work and leave our child at home. Since my time is flexible as my job scope allows me to travel in and out of office so I take the larger portion in spending time with my child. I try not to arrange any jobs during weekends. But as a host, most of my events are held during weekends. So this is the time when I will weigh out which is important for me. Maybe if I work this weekend, I’ll make sure I don’t work the next coming weekend. I will also make sure I arrange any upcoming jobs at least 1 or 2 months in advance so that I can advise my family to help to care for my baby. 

4. Who or what inspires you? 

BOOKS! Ernest Hemingway quoted “There is no friend as loyal as a book” I have to agree with that. Sometimes characters in books are the ones that bring out the best version of me. I spent a lot of time reading because I am an only child. Books became my best friend. I would ponder over a story that I have read and try to imagine life. 

Feel free to check out her website

http://Vpowermommy.com

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Meet our featured beauty with brains Lyn Abernathy, a published author based in Georgia, USA.

“I am a writer. I am a poet, a freelance writer, and a novelist. My debut novel, ‘After the Dash’ was just published this month! It is available now on Amazon and through all major booksellers. I have been an entrepreneur, a virtual assistant, an HR consultant, a bookkeeper, and more in order to pay the bills.

I also have a blog on my website, http://www.LyndaAbernathy.com. The main thing, though, is how I have pushed and persevered to make my dream of being a novelist come true. I have been mocked, rejected, ostracised and even fired for having too much passion, but I don’t see the point in a life without it. I have held second and even third jobs in writing while working full-time. I have been dedicated to this dream, and it is finally a reality!

I am a Georgia girl, born and bred, though I have lived in the midwest for a few years. I am addicted to coffee and taking pictures of my dogs. I love to travel. I take a lot of pictures.” – Lyn

Here is an interview with her.

1. Can you tell us more about your book – your experience in writing it, how much research went into it etc

After the Dash is the culmination of years of work and life. I started writing it in 2015, after a particularly rough period in my life. The year before had held grief, heartbreak, health issues, financial problems, loss of friendships, and a whirlwind of other negatives. It tore me completely down. However, it was that flat view of devastation that ultimately brought me back to myself. Only after everything else, all the distractions and noise, had been taken away could I clearly see who I was, who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to do with my life. I spent three years writing the book, as I was working full-time and would step away from it for weeks at a time. Then, because the novel is cross-genre and not easily defined (much like me, and I would wager much like you), it took several months to find my publisher. The release of After the Dash in April of this year was a lifelong dream come true for me.

2. Did you always want to be an author from childhood? Any specific reason or inspiration?

I always was an author, though I didn’t always know that’s what I wanted to do. What I mean by that is I was writing as soon as I learned to read. I would write happy little poems about dogs or sunshine and illustrate them with my crayons when I had only just learned to write. I’ve written poetry my entire life. It’s a way of journaling, a release, for me. I actually have a book of poetry on Amazon. I always wrote short stories. Once, when I was a teen, my brother made fun of me and called me a nerd because I had taped together 6 pages of notebook paper, filled with an entire family tree. I was going to write a series about them, and I had fleshed out each character, their relation in the family, his or her backstory, etc. But I didn’t refer to myself as a “writer,” and if you asked me what I wanted to do for a career, I would answer with “archaeologist” or “Olympic swimmer.” It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize my talents, my passions, and my purpose were as clear as day if I just paid attention.

3. What is your advice to women who want to become published authors but find it hard to gain foothold in the industry?

Be authentic and be tenacious. You absolutely must believe in yourself first and be your own advocate. The market is flooded with writers, and it is incredibly difficult to get attention in the industry. Keep trying, anyway. I read somewhere that J.K. Rowling was rejected over 200 times for publication. The industry doesn’t always know what real readers want. Just keep letting your light shine until just that right person or publisher or agent recognizes what you know you’re worth. And now, you can publish your own self if you so desire! Go straight to your audience without any hassle. Whatever way you choose to go, believe in yourself, have a thick skin, and never, ever give up.

4. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

Well, I’m a dreamer. I want to say I will be writing from my messy desk, a cup of coffee in hand, some cool techy gadget that has replaced laptops documenting my words, as I look out of my broad windows to a rocky shoreline, surrounded by my various published works. My RV will be parked outside, ready to roll off on another adventure, to see somewhere new. Realistically, I will likely be doing something similar to what I am now: hustling with a day job (or two), writing, traveling when time and income permit, and living my life as authentically as I can.

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Meet our featured beauty with brains Chitra Cynthia Nathan, a relationship counsellor based in Sydney, Australia. She is the owner of 3R Counselling (http://www.3rcounselling.com.au) and works from her heart.

Here is an interview with her.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, your hobbies, dreams, passions etc.

My name is Cynthia Nathan, I’m an Indian, Malaysian. I’ve been married for the last 22 years to my husband Ravi and we have 2 teenagers, Rani 18 and Rajan 16.

We migrated to Australia 12 years ago but we remain very close and connected to our family and friends back in KL. We have a lovely community of friends and neighbors here in Sydney too and we feel very blessed and thankful for it all.

2. You run a counselling service. Can you share some basic tips on maintaining a healthy relationship?

I am a qualified Relationship Counselor and a Marriage and Relationship Educator. I opened my private practice 3R Counselling which stands for Relationship ,Responsibility & Reality (of marriage) in 2017 after facing a job redundancy, which at that time left me a little lost and hopeless but as they say ‘every cloud has a silver lining’, the rest is history!

In my past jobs I had worked with couples and their children facing separation and divorce. It was very painful, sad and difficult to witness families shatter, their struggles with custody battles and then single parenting etc.

I often worked with helping the children voice their pain and helping the parents come to a new understanding of co-parenting despite their divorce & new living arrangements. It was sad and difficult to comprehend most times. The recent stats in Australia show that 1 in 3 couples end up in divorce.

It then became a true passion of mine to help couples prepare for and to build a strong foundation for their journey into marriage and to hopefully try to prevent these things from happening in the long run. After all, when we know better we can all do better. I feel that Pre Marriage Education is a great prevention method especially since the course itself has been researched for over 40 years on thousands of couples around the world.

Also with DV being on the rise in our country, I believe that the Pre Marriage Education Course, Bringing Baby Home Program and Relationship Couple Check Up’s that I offer will help prevent violence from happening in families. These courses are all cleverly targeted at helping couples thrive at different stages of their relationship by providing them with the skills and tools to overcome such struggles and challenges that are inevitable to all families.

Some great tips on maintaining a healthy relationship with your spouse is to never forget to be each other’s best friend, to make time intentionally to connect with and talk to each other daily with a date night or 2 per month and to always uphold our vows and commitment to marriage with each other.

3. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

In 10 years from now, I see myself training other counsellours and professionals to run these wonderful programs that I offer in strengthening both couple and family lives. I see my small private practice growing and thriving in helping couples from all walks of life to achieve the best they can for their marriage and beyond.

4. How do you define happiness and what makes you truly happy?

Happiness for me is defined by the lives I can help touch and bring some intended change into. When someone feels touched by my work, words or sincere gestures, I feel true happiness in my heart and I thank God for the opportunity to have crossed paths with them. Happiness to me is ultimately to lead a life in service to others.

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“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

There is no one ideal body type. Every woman is built differently and everyone’s beauty is unique. The gorgeous Kirsty Barrett, who confidently embraces her curves, is a positive role model for young girls. We love these candid shots of her from our ‘Midsummer Dream’ photoshoot.

The aim of our fashion photoshoots is to empower and uplift women through fashion and make them feel confident about themselves. Another purpose is to provide a platform for women business owners like designers, makeup artists, photographers etc to showcase their talents, skills and products.

Model: Kirsty Barrett

Photoshoot Organised By:

Sakhi Magazine
http://sakhi.online

Empowered Beauties With Brains
https://www.facebook.com/empoweredbeautieswithbrains/

Supported By:

The Woven Threads
https://thewoventhreads.com

Artantana Handmade
https://www.facebook.com/artantanahandmade/

Light Antana Photography
Www.instagram.com/light_antana

Starstruck Photography
Www.instagram.com/starstruckphotographyaus

Laura Jane Photography
https://laurajanephotography.com.au

Leza Makeup Artistry
Www.instagram.com/Leza.artistry

Mystical Elegance
https://www.facebook.com/mysticalelegance/

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Meet our featured beauty with brains Shannon Miriah, a law enforcement officer based in Colorado, USA.

She is 31 years old, lives in southwest Colorado and has been in law enforcement for about 2.5 years, 6ish including dispatching. Hostage negotiator, possibly SWAT team in the nearish future. She enjoys baking, music, working out, reading, hunting, fishing. She feels she can be “one of the guys” but also enjoy being a girl.

Here is an interview with her.

1. What are your hobbies, dreams and aspirations?

I have many different hobbies. I enjoy running and for the most part lifting weights. I like riding horses, although I am very novice! Fishing, hunting (also novice on this one). I love to read and enjoy knitting.

My dreams include living on a nice piece of land in SW Colorado, where I can have a garden and some animals (I want goats so bad!). I also hope to travel. I would love to go to Ireland, Italy, England, Spain… everywhere!

I aspire to be the best I can be in my field and to keep learning. I also aspire to be the best human I can be. I want to improve upon myself, and hope to be able to help people going through difficult times, by sharing difficult times I have been through.

2. What does a typical day in your life look like?

Honestly, my days vary so much it’s difficult to say what a “typical” day is. I work night shift, so a typical work day is me waking up around 3 pm, drinking a cup or two of coffee, getting in some sort of workout, then showering and heading off to work. Days off, I wake up mid-morning, drink coffee, and catch up on house work.

3. What does women empowerment mean to you?

I believe I take a pretty different view of women empowerment than a lot of people. In a way, I believe women have concentrated in giving so much “equality” to women, that we have negatively tilted the scales. I do take great pride in being a strong, independent woman and being able to be “one of the guys.” I also enjoy being able to take “advantage” of different aspects of being a woman.

Because I am a woman, if I choose to have a child and breastfeed, my place of employment has to accommodate me. Because I am a woman, people tend to think twice about fighting with me, and I’m able to talk people down better than most men. I don’t want to be treated equally to men.

I can be strong, and stand up for myself, but when needed, I can let the man handle the job. I can shoot a gun, kill an animal, change out a light fixture. But I can also ask my man to do it for me.

Women empowerment to me, means being proud of every aspect of being a woman, and not complaining about being treated “different.” We ARE different, and it’s a beautiful thing!

4. Have you faced any gender based obstacles in your personal and professional lives?

Not as many as you may think. I have actually found the opposite, that being a woman in a man-dominated field has worked to my advantage. It’s often appreciated to be a more “sensitive” individual. However, my guys also know I can take care of myself and won’t take crap from anyone.

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Meet our featured beauty with brains Chandni Ravi, an immensely brave and a very inspirational lady who has battled many obstacles in life including cancer but have never let anything dampen her spirits and positivity. She recently shared an experience with us with some advice which we feel is truly invaluable.

Here is what she shared:

“I have friends from every culture ranging from 5 to 90+. I find it is a great way to be connected and to really keep me in perspective and grounded.

I have a friend who has turned 90 recently. We became friends around 15 years ago in Sydney. We bonded and she would open up to me time to time. I met her while she stayed with her children, to witness her being shifted to an old age home in Sydney CBD.

I would still visit her regularly and she would tell me nuances of life and experiences. Each time I visit her, I would have an eye-opener and most of the time I would come out with a heavy heart. Each time we go there, we would wonder what would be our fate when we get to that age.

She would say, Chintu (my nick name), remember you only live life once.

1. When you have children, in a frantic rush to nurture your children, you forget your partner and you move on. Once the kids have left home , the gap is too far and readjusting with your partner becomes tough. You become 2 different individuals with nothing in common.

Prioritise the people in your life. Your partner first, then children, then your extended family.

2. Have a good savings account for you and your partner. Never disclose the amount to your children. They will have 1001 needs and it is unfair to say you wont help them.
3. Never sell all your properties and move in with your children. If there is a fall out, or you want to take a break, you have nowhere to go.
4. Visit your home country as much as you can. As you grow older, the people you love pass on and the next time you go, you only see their photos. Never postpone visits.
5. Have your own circle of friends. It is hard to be friends with your children’s friends and their parents.
6. Avoid the habit of giving free advice. Open your mouth only when you are asked for an opinion, else kids stop telling you anything and start finding you a nuisance.
7. Just because you looked after your children sincerely or too sincerely, it doesn’t mean they will. Cease expectation. You just did your duty.
8. Remember that you cant reprimand your kids their whole lives. They only listen while they stay with you. If you continue your style, they will say many a thing you don’t wish to hear.
9. Schedule your own set of activities and hobbies so you don’t have to depend and get disappointed.
10. Visit your parents and siblings as much as you can. Call them regularly. When they pass on, the void becomes unbearable. As you get older, you will get illness, deafness etc and everything becomes an effort. You really don’t know what tomorrow has in store for you.
11. When your children are with you, take it easy. Build good memories, as it is memories which will get you going in later life. Make sure you take them for funerals as they will get an idea, today or some day, your turn will come.

I would always feel sad when I met her as the advice was real. In my last meet with her, we were sitting on the lounge. She was happy to see me as she said it gave her a chance to talk in Malayalam, which had become a rare luxury for her.

Suddenly she showed an old lady in a wheelchair dozing away. She told me “See that lady? She is 105 years old and demented. Her son was in another aged care and has passed away. No-one has visited her for months. Thankfully she isn’t aware.

Is that a blessing in disguise?

Love

Chandni Ravi.”

https://www.chandniravi.com

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Meet our featured beauty with brains, Needa Imran Shaikh, a successful businesswoman and professional based in Sydney, Australia. She is the owner of the popular restaurant Indian Curry Club.
(https://www.facebook.com/indiancurryclubsydney/)

Here is an interview with her.

1. Tell us about yourself – what you do, your hobbies, aspirations etc.

I am Needa Imran Shaikh, a Corporate Employee and the Director of Indian Curry Club.

I have been working in the corporate field for more than 10 years and love my work in every way.

Since childhood me and my family have always been food lovers and have tried different varieties of cuisine around the globe. I also hold qualification in Hospitality Management before pursuing Business Management in University. My skills and my passion of cooking lead me to enter the exciting world of food business with a huge support from my family.

My husband and my brother plays a huge part in this business, they provide me with a lot of support and guidance and we together work as a team.

Being an Entrepreneur is a roller coaster ride each day but when we see our customers enjoying our food that’s where our hard work pays off at the same time we are also grateful to have an amazing team of qualified staffs and also our qualified Chefs are renowned for their combination of ingredients and for their creative style of presentation.

In my spare time I like reading with a big cup of black tea and travelling is my other interest.

2. You are the owner of a restaurant. Who or what inspired you?

My parents are my inspiration. My mom is a passionate cook and I have learnt a lot from her she is my absolute strength.

My dad is a person who never stopped believing in me. He has been supportive in every decision I took from studying Hospitality Management to Business Management and my dad strongly believes in women power.

Today I feel blessed to implement both skills in my daily life and make my parents proud in every possible way I can.

My husband is my mentor, a person who I can go to anytime for advice or counselling. He has a very strategic approach to life and always encouraged me in every part of our life journey.
�Basically, my family is my inspiration.

3. What is your advice to women who want to start their own business but not sure how to?

The most important piece of advice I can give to fellow future female entrepreneurs is to have confidence, take a step-by-step approach, learn to embrace rejection, keep a goal in your mind and move quickly with your ideas. Far too often, females are held back by their fear of failure, especially as it compares to their male counterparts. That mentality can be extremely debilitating.

As women, our brains often tell us we need to have a perfect business plan or product before we ask for help or engage mentors, but the truth of this is our fears have more credibility in our heads than they do in reality.

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It is said that beauty is not in the face, beauty is a light in the heart. Meredith’s inner beauty radiates on her face in these stunning captures, part of our ‘Midsummer Dream’ photoshoot.

The aim of the photoshoot was to empower women through fashion by boosting their self-confidence and to provide a platform for the businesses involved to showcase their talents and products.

Model: Meredith Sheehy
Www.instagram.com/Meredith.mae

Photoshoot Organised By:

Sakhi Magazine
http://sakhi.online

Empowered Beauties With Brains
https://www.facebook.com/empoweredbeautieswithbrains/

Supported By:

The Woven Threads
https://thewoventhreads.com

Artantana Handmade
https://www.facebook.com/artantanahandmade/

Light Antana Photography
Www.instagram.com/light_antana

Starstruck Photography
Www.instagram.com/starstruckphotographyaus

Laura Jane Photography
https://laurajanephotography.com.au

Leza Makeup Artistry
Www.instagram.com/Leza.artistry

Mystical Elegance
https://www.facebook.com/mysticalelegance/