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TABLE OF

CONTENTS

IN EVERY ISSUE

16 20 21 22 23 24 26 28

THE EMBRACE MOMENT ASHLEY THOMAS INSPIRES COUCH TIME WITH SONJA EVENT SMALL BUSINESS LOANS SONJA LOWE, THE EMBRACE COACH AVID IN THE CITY EDITORS PICK AVID BUSINESS DIRECTORY ROSES AND THORNS KELLY RICHARDSON, SUNFLOWER NET WORK MARKETING 10 BUSINESS TOOLS FOR SUCCESS READ, LEAD, SUCCEED

EDITORâ€™S PICK TOP FOOD SPOTS

READ, LEAD, SUCCEED

BOOKS YOU SHOULD BE READING

LET TER FROM EDITOR FINDING ME

THE EMBRACE MOMENT EMBRACING MOMENTS

F O L LO W U S

8 10 12 15

FACEBOOK @AVIDMAGAZINE INSTAGRAM @THEAVIDMAGAZINE_ T WIT TER @AVID_MAGAZINE WEBSITE WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM

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About Us:

AVID magazine is a business magazine that provides a platform for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals. All stories featured are geared to uplift and provide support for other entrepreneurs.

Our Mantra: Networking one business at a time.

TALK TO US AVID Magazine welcomes your comments and suggestions. Please email info@theavidmagazine.com, and connect with us on social media. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and grammar, and to publish at our discretion. All submitted copies and materials become the property of AVID Magazine. We do not guarantee the publication of unsolicited materials. For features or publication requests, please email info@theavidmagazine.com.

Last Issue: May 2019

AVID MAGAZINE (ISSN 2574-5263) Is A Digital Business Magazine That Is Published Quarterly Only! For Questions Or Advertising Opportunities Please Email Info@Theavidmagazine.com. Issue Month Is May 2018. Copyright 2018 By AVID Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction Of This Magazine, In Whole, Or In Part, Is Prohibited Unless Authorized By The Publisher. The Advertising Space Provided In AVID Magazine Is Purchased And Paid For By The Advertiser. None Of The Products Or Services are Necessarily Endorsed By AVID Magazine.

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Finding me Everything that happens in life; happens for a reason. This project has been on my heart since a little girl. In the midst of starting AVID Magazine life happened. I kept putting it off and second guessing myself. Everything else in life became more important than AVID. It seemed as though everything and everyone else’s problems, dreams and projects became mine. But in everything there is a lesson. “Build your own dreams; or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” -Farrah gray I admit most of it was me; we can become our own worst enemy because the pressure of being gifted is very hard. Sometimes I just want to blend. But blending in is not in ME; I AM extraordinary. Steve Harvey said it best; “If you don’t jump; you will never soar.” In all of the challenges that we face there is a lesson. Here are somethings I learned during my challengres. 1. Make decisions out of faith and not fear. 2. Don’t hold grudges! Forgive and move on. 3. Never forget why you started. 4. There is growth in your trials and tribulations. 5. Stay humble. 6. Ask “What I am supposed to learn during,” instead of “Why is this happening to me?” 7. Learn from your mistakes.

8. No one has ever became successful without the help of other people. Lastly, success comes with a price that all of the money in the world could never afford. The price is not monetary; the price is the struggle. Honestly, the struggle is real! Struggle makes you hungry and fearless because you don’t want to be in that state longer than you need to be. In your struggle it is important that you find your purpose. “The purpose of life is to find your gift; the meaning of it is to give it away.” Picasso. Remember to always be Ambitious, rious, Inspiring and Determined! Be

VictoAVID!

Twitter: @avid_magazine Instagram: @nancy_theavidmag

Nancy Jackson

Live Your Dream I’m Ashley N. Thomas - an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and author. I specialize in restoration and revitalization of youth and young adult women who, like myself, have experienced traumatic life events such as teen pregnancy, while oﬀering tactical guidance of how families can navigate their paths toward success.

Everybody had a story before they were great. Before they were somebody worth writing or talking about. I will be the person believing in our girls so they understand that they can do any and everything they want in life; that they too can live their dream despite their circumstances. Will you join me in supporting this movement and believe in these young mothers and their dreams with me? Donations can be made via PayPal.me/AshleyThomasInspires or https://www.ashley-thomas.com/liveyour-dream-campaign

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WE PROMOTE

Since being contracted with Spring ISD the past two years, I’ve been determined to leave teen moms better than I found them. This Career-Focused makeover movement was laid on my heart to uplift and empower our young mothers to move forward and progress even when it seems impossible.

e Promote, Wednesday’s, is our social media weekly campaign. Every Wednesday we advertise nine diﬀerent businesses. We oﬀer information about their product or service along with contact information. To get featured on We Promote Wednesday’s send an email to info@ theavidmagazine.com. Please include your logo (if you have one), basic business information, social media names, and your contact information.

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The Embrace M

by Sonja Lowe, The Embrace Coach

You desire to be an entrepreneur. Y ou are ready to be your own boss, schedule your own office hours, take off when you feel like it and name your salary. You have this idea that you feel is the perfect idea. It is the perfect fit for you. You are excited and ready, right? As we all know things do not always turn out the way we hoped. No one told you about the correct way to file paperwork, the longer hours and more sleepless nights, how to handle when you have hit a record number of “Thank you, but I’m not interested” answers and month after month your accounts payable and accounts receivable don’t add up. As an entrepreneur for 15 years, I totally understand. I experienced every one of these and at times my motivation, passion and drive began to fade. I had to find some nuggets to pull me through.

When this happens you must stay grounded. Here are a few tips to help you on your journey.

Remember the reason you said “yes” to entrepreneurship and if you must quit, do so only for the time it takes you to blink your eyes.

See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil. “You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”- Patrick Ness

“You must have the right prescription to see your why and keep it in focus.” -Sonja Lowe, The Embrace Coach

What are you watching, speaking or listening to on a daily basis? Are you feeding your mind with positivity? The old saying...see, speak, hear no evil should really be taken to heart. In our society today, we are surrounded by so much negativity and pure evil. Every day we must intentionally remove the evil and negative information from around us.

When no one believes or supports your vision, it is very easy to get discouraged and have the desire to quit.You must remind yourself constantly of your “why”.

To stay encouraged on a daily basis, make sure you intake more positive stimuli than you intake negative. Find some daily dose of inspiration to watch, read, or listen to. Speak daily words of affirmation.

Your why must stay in focus.

Your eyes may get blurry at times as you walk this journey, but take the time to put some drops of clear eyes in each eye so you can re-focus and have clear vision again. Imagine a target. When your eyes are focused on the center dot, your “why”, everything else around the target will become blurry.

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Moment Write them down and speak them aloud daily. This is a great way to push out the negative chatter. Just as we make time to schedule other important appointments on our calendars, make an appointment with yourself to feed yourself daily whether it is reading, speaking or listening to positive content that encourages you and feeds your mind.

Surround yourself with people who are for you. “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey Who are your 7 closest friends? Do they understand anything about being an entrepreneur? Do they support your vision? Can you vent to them without them having and giving their opinion? Having a small accountability group promotes your growth. Make sure they are positive, supportive, encouraging and motivating. Motivation feeds on motivation. If people are for you they will lift you to be the best you possible.

Photo Credit: Choice 1 Media Group

Treat your dream as a puzzle. Instead of looking at the entire puzzle, break down your puzzle into small pieces. Although it may seem like the puzzle will take a long time to complete it, take it one piece at a time. As each piece begins to fit, just keep moving forward. You will have moments when you want to stop because no pieces seem to fit. I encourage you to repeat the nuggets above and keep moving forward. Even if you only find one piece to fit in the overall puzzle, it is still progress. The only way to go backwards is to stop forward progress. Slow progress in forward motion is still progress in the right direction. Embrace Entrepreneurship,You are worth it! Sonja Lowe, The Embrace Coach www.sonjalowe.com

Only move forward “If you crawl, walk, run or fall moving forward, then progress takes care of itself.” - Sonja Lowe, The Embrace Coach

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