Today I am answering questions posed to me by fellow blogger Stan of Stan the Woman. I appreciate her taking an interest in me and my blog. I hope this will give you further insight into who I am and why I chose to focus on single motherhood.

10 Things to Know About Me

• Why did you start your blog?

I started this blog to uplift single mothers. At the end of the day, we are simply mothers. The word “single” just tells you that we are the head of our households raising a family. That’s all. I have always believed that women shouldn’t base the fullness and happiness of their lives on their marital status. There is so much life to live and we only get one. My prayer is this website speaks to all mothers, no matter what stage they are in their lives. They may be struggling financially. They may be the happiest they’ve ever been. They may be working a minimum wage job. They may be career women. Whatever the case may be, this website is meant to be uplifting and inspirational. By providing helpful information in the blog posts and showcasing inspirational women who are single moms, I hope to show that living a great, struggle-free life is possible. We all have our paths to take to get there but if we keep pressing toward the mark…we will get there. Believe that!

• How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Well I knew that I wanted to include my first name as part of the blog. I also wanted to incorporate the Vision, Inspiration, Purpose (VIP) tagline that the Lord had given to me one early morning as I lay in bed. Thankfully, I had a wonderful session with a blog coach who pulled the two together for me. I believe I found her blog on Pinterest. I am constantly researching ways of building my blog and business so I always find wonderfully smart people to follow. She was offering 15 minute consultations at no cost and I signed up for one. I later also paid for an hour long session with her. She’s great! On the first call, she suggested natashapvip . com but I didn’t want to include the “p” so I just dropped that and this website was born.

• What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?

I would advise my younger self to slow down and immerse myself in my journey. Often, I was ready for one thing to end so I could complete the next thing. I tried to fly through college. I took as many classes as I could each semester. I had goals and I wanted to see them through – quickly. Ha! I can laugh at myself now about that but I really needed to have stopped to smell the roses more. Later I would slow down because God slowed me down. Things stopped going my way – the way I planned them to go. I began to experience trials and tribulations, and those were some rough experiences. I’m talking everything from heartbreak to being flat broke to almost experiencing a state of depression. I recall one time laying in bed with the covers over my head in my dark bedroom in the middle of the day. My best friend sensed that something was wrong and sent me a text. I was like wow! How did she know? Thankfully my daughter who was probably somewhere around age 2-4 at that time (she’s 12 now) was with my Mom. I don’t think there was one thing that contributed to my feelings of depression but a combination of things. Those things caused me to not have control and upset that things weren’t going well. At the time I wondered what in the world did I do to deserve that. Today I know it was for a higher purpose. It was to be able to help other women and be able to speak from first hand experience on this very website. I am grateful for my journey.

• Who is your inspiration?

My mother is my inspiration because she raised 3 kids with little financial help other than her own hard work. She survived breast cancer twice – first being diagnosed at the young age of 28. Now that I’m older, I can better understand what she had to go through and why she had to make some of the decisions she made. Every time I think about her being only 35 years old when I graduated from high school it amazes me. It amazes me because she was a young woman with 3 kids trying to find herself as a woman. I can imagine that being difficult in that even though a woman needs to work to understand who she is and where she’s going, she also has to raise children who she hopes will become competent, productive people in this world. So she’s responsible for her own well-being and happiness plus the well-being of 3 young people. And please know, women/mothers deserve to have a personal life and happiness. We don’t have to run ragged all day, every day behind our children. I believe that and you need to believe it to so you won’t feel guilty when you need to make alone time for yourself. Do not allow others to dictate how to live your life or make you feel less deserving. If mothers aren’t happy, how are they expected to raise happy, healthy children?! Read that again.

• Name 3 of your favorite things to use right now?

(1) This website you’re visiting is one of my favorites. Simply put – I love it. I hope you love it too!

(2) I love my bed. I paid “good” money for it so I could sleep every night like I’m in a luxury hotel. Rest is important and what you sleep on matters. Don’t skimp on a quality mattress and quality sheets. Make a savings plan and buy these items without any guilt. I know people who have horrible mattresses but waste money every day. Think about that. I’ve often heard that what we spend our money on says a lot about us and how we feel about ourselves. What are you spending your money on? Is it adding quality to your life?

(3) It so hard to choose 3 but my third favorite thing is a hot cup of coffee. I admit that coffee serves as a comfort for me throughout the day as I work. Without thinking, I reach for it to take a sip and all seems right…LOL! I began drinking coffee regularly maybe 3 years ago. I don’t know why or what prompted me to other than McDonald’s offering it for $1 at the time. Now, I usually make my own at home unless I want my favorite Hazel Nut coffee from Panera Bread.

• What is the most delicious food you have ever eaten?

Salad with all of the veggies you can add! Some may say I need to spread my wings. Ha! But I’ve eaten so many different types of foods. I have eaten at all levels of restaurants but salad is my favorite. My cousin Samerica may laugh at this because she often asks me if I’m still eating salad and plain potato chips. I love a fresh salad morning, noon, and night. It doesn’t matter. While pregnant, I often ate salads for breakfast. I never had morning sickness either. The older I get, the more I enjoy lighter foods rather than heavy foods. Other than salad, seafood is another favorite food of mine. Any type of seafood really.

• Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

In 5 years I will be 42 years old. I will be preparing for my daughter’s senior year and sending her off to college. This I cannot believe. It’s crazy but I already feel some type of way about this. I don’t want my baby to leave me…LOL! Hopefully, I will be too busy to cry. I plan to have a thriving business. I believe the depth of it will shock even me but I’m ready. I will be helping single parents through my non-profit foundation by providing scholarships to complete their education and providing emergency financial assistance. I believe this will change the course of their lives because it will enable them to better provide for their families and recover more quickly from unexpected money troubles. I will be healthy, happy, and enjoying life with everything in me.

• What are 3 words that describe you and why?

Three words to describe me are resilient, straight-forward, and analytical. I am resilient because I can take a huge hit and defeat it. Most things do not bother me. I brush them right off my shoulder. That didn’t happen overnight. As Iyanla Vanzant would say, I did my work.

I am straight-forward because I hate to beat around the bush. I believe we should say exactly what we mean so there is no confusion on anyone’s part. For instance, if your friend is making bad decisions – tell her. Don’t be an enabler. Don’t coddle anyone. You’re not helping her at all doing that. Another example is to tell your partner your expectations. Don’t expect anyone to read your mind. It will seem weird at first to be direct because most people lie or manipulate usually for no reason at all other than that’s just second nature to them. Be different and watch people become shocked. LOL!

Sometimes I over-analyze things. I still need to work on that. It can be good because it helps you to make better decisions. It can be bad in that it causes you to procrastinate. Take notice when you’re doing that so you can begin to make changes. We are all a work-in-progress. But we have to keep going and not become stuck.

• Where would you take your dream vacation?

My dream vacation would be to visit Santorini, Greece. Whenever I see pictures of this place, my mind wonders. LOL! Search for it and you’ll see what I mean! Of course I need to visit South Africa and research other places on the continent of Africa to visit. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose South Africa without a second thought.

• What is your favorite post you’ve written thus far ? (Leave a link!)

For now, my favorite post is my very first one because it was the introduction to this website – Introducing Natasha VIP: A Place for Single Mothers. Please check it out and see what I have in store!

Well there you have it: 10 things to know about me!

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