Giving Back

When I started this amazing journey of entrepreneurship it was always because — above all else — I wanted to make a difference in the world.  

I have seen how through my working of helping women entrepreneurs gain massive clarity on their message and story and ultimately their purpose in their work that they then have the confidence and courage to get out there and share it.  This has had a ripple effect of positive impact because for every woman I empower with her voice she is able to touch hundreds and thousands of lives.

This helped me to see that one of the best ways I can make a difference in the world is through creating an army of change-makers who are out there spreading their message and touch lives all around the world.

But there was still a deep desire to do more, to really give back in a tangible way to those in 3rd world countries.

It all started when my kids were just 9,7 and 4 and I gave them $2 and a challenge to turn that $2 into more through their own creative ideas and then give back to charity using their talents and skills.

As we discussed what they most wanted to do to give back they settled on building a school in Kenya, Africa with Free the Children. Well, this seemed like a massive endeavour and one I thought they would be working on until they were graduated but we set the goal and started sharing the message.

Well, in just 1 year to the day, these 3 boys — through their magic shows, talent shows, bottle drives, speaking opportunities and lemonade stands — raised $11,000.00; more than enough to build that school.

This set the stage for my desire to build more schools around the world because I truly believe that education is power and if we give more of these children an education they have the chance to break that cycle of poverty and most of all to take action on their dreams and desires, too.

One of the most rewarding moments of my career was when I had reached 6 figures in my business in just 9 months and the school in Nicaragua was almost complete and ready to be opened. 

I had the means to take our family on the trip of a lifetime to see firsthand the school we helped build and to volunteer and give back to the local community. This was a trip that changed all of our lives.

We were able to bring school supplies and soccer balls to give to the local children.

We were also invited to release baby sea turtles out into the waters and adopted a few sea turtle nests, this was such a beautiful way to give back. 

We also bought groceries for and then cooked a healthy meal for over 200 kids who live in a garbage dump and this meal was the only healthy meal they’d had in a long time. This broke my heart but also was such a beautiful experience.

Then came the time to see the school we had helped to build. It was an amazing feeling to see firsthand the contribution you had made, and to realize the difference it would make for all those families for years to come.

This has become one of my biggest WHY’s for business: to be able to have the means to give back on an even bigger scale than before.

Since the first year in my business I have been able to fund a Women’s Empowerment Project in Ecuador to help women there receive business training, confidence and public speaking training and support in starting and running their own business to provide for their families. I have contributed over $20,000 in tithing for projects of great worth around the world.

At Shine Live we were able to give a donation to help build a secondary school in Haiti through Love Takes Root and had one of the founders of the organization speak and share the story of how this beautiful organization started just from a simple trip to Haiti after the earthquake. I hope to one day travel there to see this school.

From my most recent launch of Centre Stage, I collaborated with Natalie MacNeil of She Takes on the World and Mom 2 Mom Africa to support the secondary school in Tanzania. I chose to give $100 from every person who signed up to work with me to this school building effort. I was able to donate $5,000 to help build this school, and will be travelling there for its grand opening.

This is a dream of mine, to take my kids to Africa where their school was built so many years ago.

So now I have helped build a school in Kenya, Nicaragua, Haiti and Tanzania and I plan on continuing to give back to a variety of good causes, I donate 10% of everything we earn plus more to causes I believe in and believe I have had such great success in my business because of my dedication in giving back.