Spring 2020
2020
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK
5 TIPS TO ENVISION THE BEST VERSION OF YOU
DAYNA BOLDEN INSPIRING WOMEN TO LIVE BOLDLY SIMONA GRACE HELPING MORE MOMS GET INTO OFFICE
KATE CROCCO TEACHING WOMEN TO THINK LIKE A BOSS
ENVISION HER BOLD
e u ss I e l b u Do
WHEN BEAUTIFUL SKIN IS ALL YOU NEED www.mixiavenue.com
CONTENTS
06 MEET ESÉ AZÉNABOR Esé Azénabor’s love for fashion began when she was a little girl in Nigeria, Africa. From bridal to couture evening wear, Azénabor is one of the most sought after designers across the globe.
12 CREATE A NEW BUSINESS IN 5 EASY STEPS If you have been dreaming about your own business, it’s the best time to start one. Start the journey toward your dream with these 5 steps.
24 2020: DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK The COVID-19 pandemic has put the world on pause. What we will be like once this is all over is up to us.
26 MEET DAYNA
58 MAKING FAMILY MEALTIME SUCCESSFUL Here are a few tips for parents to make family mealtime successful on most days of the week. CEOMOM | 3
Photo Credit: Emmanuel Oyeleke
ESÉ AZÉNABOR: THE INTERSECTION OF ART, FASHION AND CULTURE
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sé Azénabor’s love for fashion began when she was a little girl in Nigeria, Africa. Inspired by her best friend’s mom, she learned how to sew and design dresses at an early age. Influenced by art and her culture, Azénabor’s designs are impeccable, intricate, elegant and breathtaking. You know an Esé Azénabor design when you see it. It was no easy feat transitioning from a career in accounting to being one of the most sought after couture bridal and haute evening wear designers in the world, but Azénabor proved that her love for fashion was more than a hobby. In November 2019, she debuted her Paradise Collection which was inspired by her beautiful daughter, Elah. With more than eight collections, Azénabor is showing no signs of slowing down. One of her latest projects is a collection of Covid-19 protective masks which benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Trammell Crow Hancock's 2020 LLS Man of the Year campaign. CEOMOM Magazine spoke to Azénabor about her latest collection, Paradise, her design process, and the challenges of adding motherhood to her demanding career. Who is Esé Azénabor? She is a woman, a founder and the designer of Esé Azénabor. She is a mom. She’s a wife. She’s fabulous. You are a self taught designer? What sparked your love for couture fashion? I have been a designer since I was eight. I would make clothes for friends and family members and myself. It is something I always loved to do. It started with my neighbor back in Nigeria; her daughter was my best friend. During the Christmas holidays my friend would wear the nicest gowns and beaded shoes, all handmade by her mom. My sister and I spent a lot of time at her house. To us, she was a magician. She would create the most amazing gowns. I didn't understand what she was doing at the time, but I was fascinated. She would give me samples and I would take them back to my house and create something for my dolls.
My love for designing dresses grew as I got older. My family wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer so I swept my love for fashion under the rug. I went to the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada for accounting. I later moved to Texas to get my master’s degree at Southern Methodist University. Being on my own for the first time allowed me to venture out and try the fashion thing again. My friends loved my designs and encouraged me to make dresses for clients. I initially thought it would just be a hobby and I would keep my real job. I created my first collection in 2012 and the reception was amazing. I put my master’s on hold to see where this fashion thing would take me. I spent a lot of money on this collection without having the clientele. At first, I didn't know the Dallas fashion scene. I didn't know who my client was. I finally found my client in 2016 when one of my brides wore a dress from my beaded collection. Now, we have brides from Australia, Africa and all parts of Europe, including London. I’ve been extremely blessed. God is awesome. Describe the Esé Azénabor woman. She is bold. She is not a wallflower. She understands art. She understands passion and creativity. She loves to travel and she is very international. She is a strong, hard working woman. She is a businesswoman and a philanthropist. Walk us through your design process? How has becoming a mother impacted your design process? We are predominately custom based. A client comes into the showroom and we sit with them to understand what she is all about, what she likes and doesn’t like, where she is going, and the occasion for the garment. We start with the material. Our materials are handmade in our showroom or in different parts of the world such as Turkey, Brazil and Paris. It starts with the sketch and the muslin which is a mockup of the dress. With every custom piece, we make sure the initial measurements are right. Once the mockup is done, we transfer it to the actual material. My client then comes back for a fitting to make sure everything is as she wants it.
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Photo Credit: Meshali Mitchell
Kate Crocco EMPOWERING WOMEN TO THINK LIKE A BOSS Kate Crocco believes that being a boss starts with your mindset. Believing that you can be whatever you are called to be starts with a mindshift that translates into action. Crocco works to help ambitious female leaders uncover what’s been holding them back, dispel the lies they have believed about themselves, and step into an authentic CEO mindset. Crocco shared with us what it means to think like a boss, both as a woman and a mother, and why faith plays a role in how she sees herself. Who is Kate Crocco? I am a mama to two sweet little girls. My oldest daughter turned three in April. The past three years have flown by. My youngest daughter is about 18 months. They're both sweet beautiful, little girls. I love being a mom to my daughters. I'm also a wife and a business owner, and I'm living a life that looks different from what I envisioned as a younger version of myself, as a college and graduate student. Although it’s quite different from what I imagined, I'm grateful for how it turned out. Tell us about your roles as a psychotherapist and Confidence and Mindset Coach. What does your work entail? As a confidence and mindset coach I am able to use my skills as a psychotherapist to niche down and work with women entrepreneurs on all of the lies, fears and insecurities that come with owning a business. This business was born with me starting my psychotherapy practice in 2014, and going through all sorts of lies and
beliefs myself. I believed that I wasn't qualified to be a business owner, because I didn't have a business degree or I was too young to start a business. I believed that people wouldn't take me seriously. I told myself that I wasn't brave or confident enough. I needed to unpack those lies and identify them for what they were. Eventually, I overcame them. I then realized how normal they were. Going into business, you think it is all about setting up the different systems, having the skills and even the equipment to run a business. What we don't understand is that it's about our mindset. If we aren't sold on ourselves, no one else is going to purchase our products or services. I always say, “Your business is as healthy as you are internally.” If you are struggling internally, your business is not going to do well or it's not going to do the best that it can do. As a confidence and mindset coach, I work with women to debunk the same lies that I told myself. No matter where you are in business, self doubt and believing lies are going to come back. The more you grow, the more you're going to struggle with them in some way, yet the faster you are going to be able to overcome them, because you've been through it before. You have that memory, you have the evidence that you have already moved past it before, so you can move past it even faster now. When I started my business in 2014, I worried about simple things like having a conversation or setting boundaries with clients. Those thoughts would snowball into something bigger and bigger. Today, I may struggle with the same thoughts or insecurities, but I have the experience and skills to overcome them faster. I now know that harping on this thing for a week or several weeks doesn't change the situation. If anything, it makes the
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Betting on Me One of the challenges I was facing was having to choose between my job and my passion. I was always going to choose my passion. My blog opportunities were becoming more demanding. I would have a photo shoot in Atlanta or an event in another city. I was having to constantly call off work. That became a challenge, because obviously my company wanted me to be present. I also hadn’t disclosed that I had a blog, because it was just a side gig at the time. Once it started to grow and take on a life of its own, I had to tell them that I was a blogger. More and more, my corporate job was getting in the way. I knew I had to bet on myself, and that’s when I decided to take the leap. Here we are, and I love it. Your mission is to inspire women to boldly execute their dreams. What are your top three tips to go from dreamer to doer? My number one tip would be to believe in yourself. When I talk to women they are scared, which I get. I was there. I sat at my desk, and I was scared to make that leap. But I feel like you just have to go, you have to be willing to bet on yourself. You have to be willing to leap and go after whatever that goal is. It doesn't necessarily have to be entrepreneurship. You just have to be willing to bet on yourself to either go for that promotion and tell your boss, “This is why I deserve this promotion.” Or, jump out and start that new business venture. Whatever it is, you have to be bold. My second tip is to surround yourself with other women who are doing great things. You are the sum of those who surround you. If you are around people who are constantly pushing and motivating you, you're going to want to do better. They're going to be able to help you and assist you. My tribe of women are amazing, and my tribe consists of my mom. I'm very close to my mom and my sister. They are my close inner tribe because I can tell them anything, and they are going to give me the straight up no matter what. They are not going to hold back. I also have my husband who is my best friend. My tribe also includes a group of women that I have within my career circle. I've met so many bloggers and other business women who are doing amazing things and have helped me. Surround yourself with people who are going to push you, motivate you, and ultimately assist you to get where you have to go. My last thing is to have faith. I have God; I wouldn't be anywhere without him. Praying and having faith in him has definitely gotten me to this position.
You have grown a beauty and lifestyle brand that is as empowering as it is impeccable. What do you envision for the Dayna Bolden Brand in 2020? Where do you see the brand in five years? I have so many amazing things that I want to do. I feel like this is my year to level up with my brand. As much as I love being an influencer, and I'm going to always naturally be an influencer, I don't want that to be my end all. I am already in the process of starting other businesses. I made the leap and started Bolden Creative Media which is the parent company to my blogger brand. I am also creating a legacy for my children. My daughter and I are working on a children's book line that's going to come out this year. In addition to expanding my brand, I’ve been doing creative directing, and producing national campaigns for beauty brands. I love collaborating with other creatives such as photographers and videographers to create a visual that brings a brand vision to life. For the past two years, I’ve been working on a skin care line. I’m super into beauty and skin so why not have my own. That is scheduled to launch this year. In five years, I want to be a huge business mogul mom who gives back to those living in poverty, and creates opportunities for women in my community. Finish this sentence. Envision me _____________. Envision me going after my dreams. I'm succeeding and inspiring you to do it, too. You’ve said that ‘passion’ is your favorite word and it is evident in everything you do. How has being a mom impacted the way you pursue passion? My babies inspire me every single day. Everything that I'm doing and working to build is because I want to set them up to be in a good position when I leave this earth. I am passionate about showing them that they can be whatever they want to be. I don't ever want to put them in a box and say, “Oh, you have to go to college or you have to be a doctor.” I want them to see that they can do whatever they want, and be happy and successful in their chosen field. My kids inspire me, and I am so blessed to be a mom and to have the best of both worlds with a little girl and a little boy. I love being able to be the best mom for them. To learn more about Dayna Bolden, visit her at https://www.daynabolden.com/.
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5
Tips to Envision the Best Version of You
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1. Acknowledge she exists.
It’s hard to realize or see something that you don’t believe exists. This acknowledgment is not about what you can be, it’s about who you are NOW. Celebrate everything you bring to the table and everything you are now. It doesn’t mean growth isn’t needed, but there’s something powerful and freeing about embracing your own worth and beauty. You are the best version of you. Now, just live her out.