Education Is Key

School Is Back In Session Stay F.R.E.E. like the Summer

by Michelle DeMarcia Davis I hope you enjoyed your summer. Now that school is back in session, we are back to our regularly scheduled program. If you are a student, parent/guardian, teacher, etc…and don’t already do your affirmations, “remember your why ” and set S.M.A.R.T goals in your daily routine, they are an awesome addition. These exercises will provide clarity for a positive, purposeful mindset getting you to the school year finish line.

What’s an affirmation? An affirmation is: a. The action or process of affirming something or being affirmed. b. Emotional support or encouragement.

My favorite affirmations are Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol; against such things there is no law.”

I simply place “I am” in front of each fruit. I am… I am love. I am joy. I am peace. I am patience. I am kindness. I am goodness. I am faithfulness. I am gentleness. I am self-control.

I was blessed to speak at a seminar, with the theme “Free ‘22.” I spoke about how I stay positive and it helped me come up with what to write now, “my why”. The answer is, I keep my life as simple as possible! I use all that I’ ve gained to L.I.V.E. Remember your “why” of why you are going to school to improve your education and grow. It will all be worth it. “Success is when preparation meets opportunity ” . You are being prepared for many great purposes.

I love a good acronym; so, I started to think… What does F.R.E.E mean to me? My definition of F.R.E.E is to FORGIVE; REVIVE; EDIFY; EMPOWER: Forgive: myself and others. Revive: (I originally selected Realistic; because people tend to think positive people are not realistic but went with Revive because it means “restore to life or consciousness. Regain life, consciousness, or strength. ” Give new strength or energy to. Edify: instruct or improve (someone) morally or intellectually. Empower: give (someone) the authority or power to do something. School is a great place to practice being F.R.E.E. If you don’t get it right the first time, be patient with yourself and hopefully you will the next time.

A part of being smart is setting goals and accomplishing them. So, I advise everyone to create S.M.A.R.T. Goals for your school year and life.

Let’s break down exactly what a smart goal is: Specific: State a clear, concrete goal. Example: I want to weigh 145lbs. Measurable: Establish how you will measure the goal’s progress and completion. Example: I will know that I achieved my goal because the scale will read 145lb when I step on it. Attainable: Make sure your goal is something you can realistically achieve. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Take small steps. Example: I will lose 2- lbs per week. Relevant: Know how your goal fits into the big picture. There’s no point in setting goals that someone else wants for your life. Identify your God-given desires through prayer/meditation and work to get closer to those. Example: 14lbs is the proper BMI for my height and health. Time-bound: Set an end date. Example: I will accomplish my goal by November 1, 2022. This is great because I will be able to give an update by our November/December release.

Last, but certainly not least, avoid distractions. Keep your eye on the prize and stay focused. It is way easier said than done. Remember a distraction is a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else. Once you set your S.M.A.R.T. goals you can achieve in the short term and long term. All of these are a major part of personal development education that help me remain successful while enjoying my journey. I hope sharing them will help you along yours. Transitioning can be a challenge. Each day is a new day to restart and be excited to see your progress. Once you start you are closer to reaching your goal than you were before you started. If you haven’t gotten closer to your goal or reached it; pause, reflect and focus, knowing accomplishing it will make this one of your best years yet!

Fun Monthly Education Facts:

Why is September the start of the academic year?

The academic year begins in September only because of the Education Act of 1880, which decreed that all children aged between five and 10 years old had to attend school. September was chosen because the harvest had been mostly collected by then.

What is National Economic Education Month?

October is officially National Economic Education Month! The observance promotes the importance of teaching economics in our schools.

Cover Story

Celebrating Five Years of Business Bliss

By Karen McConnell-Jones

Starting your own business is a very exciting time in one’s life. The excitement, the joy, the thrill of it all, can give you such a “Business Bliss. ” The ability to see your purpose come to fruition, truly highlights a monumental moment in one’s life. It deserves and calls for celebration. Whether it’s the grand opening and all the milestones along the way, we know it is an honor to be able to celebrate all the fulfilled purposes that God has allowed us to achieve.

Vision & Purpose Community Magazine is thrilled to be featuring such an accomplishment as this. Angela Lewis, congratulations for five years of business bliss with two of the five years being sustained during the COVID-19 Pandemic which is a blessing within itself and deserves to be recognized.

Mrs. Angela Lewis is a woman that is living her best life. She can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, but there is no doubt that God and family are her first priority. Business and community are what drives Angela to use her gifts and skillset to make a difference in people's lives. By providing services and resources to her clients she helps them to achieve expansional branding and sustainable growth, while using a portion of her business proceeds to give back to the community and her non-profit organization.

Angela Lewis is the love child of Diane Mann and Reginald Newkirk. She was born exactly five days after her mother's birthday and exactly five days before her father's birthday in the fall of 1980 in Wilmington, NC. She currently resides in Prince George's County, Maryland. Angela is a wife and homeschool mother of two. She is the Owner/Operator of Savvy Designs, “We Are NOT Just Graphics. ” Angela started working almost immediately out of high school in the medical field and eventually worked her way from being a Medical Administrator to a Medical Assistant for six prolific Orthopedic Surgeons. Angela did this until she had to make the hard decision to stay at home. Being independent didn’t allow her to just sit at home even though she had that option. Instead, she worked multiple jobs on the weekends and at night. This made her schedule much easier to work with sales, marketing, and promotions for Verizon. She was one of the TOP six sales reps on the East Coast and was vetted after only two years of working with the company. Also, she worked security during the graveyard shift at Murray ’s Grocery Corp., and provided private home healthcare services for people of all ages who had autism.

When asked, who were your influencers growing up? Angela replied, “God, my grandmother who knows everyone and she taught me to hustle and gave me my first jobs (yes plural) at the age of eight, my mother who is an Artist taught me determination and drive. She ingrained in me that nothing beats a failure but a try. Her twin showed me networking and that presenting yourself well was a vital key to success, as she knows everyone.

Let’s Meet

It was their tenacity and dedication to the families that conveyed that no matter how life treats you, God has control and one must keep moving forward. My cousin showed me the value of persuasion in every situation, and as an adult my grandfather who I believed to be cheap but instead he showed me that you should always be strategic with your resources. Pastor Ron Carpenter, Zig Ziglar, Grant Cardone, Bob Proctor, Brandon and Natalie Dawson, and John C. Maxwell are also influencers to me outside of my family. ”

Angela goes on to say “I have been blessed with many gifts and I honor God by operating in all of them as I ensure they remain a part of who I am. I am a born teacher; I love to see the light come on for children and struggling adults who thought they were alone. I use what I learned as a tutor and while being a homeschooling parent every day. Those two opportunities help my clients feel at ease. I am an equipper; meaning I love to arm my clients with confidence and skills that ensure they feel and live in that empowerment. I am a consultant, not a coach (though I am certified). I use my teaching ability, thirst for learning, passion for always wanting to help to provide behavioral analysis for companies ensuring stronger hiring practices, product placement, and retention of employees resulting in the creation of phenomenal work environments. The bulk of my clients are underdogs, not tech savvy, or in their opinion not educated enough because they didn’t finish school or were not good students. This kind of mentality is something that I am familiar with as I also experienced it with homeschool students/teachers/school staff, but I ensure they understand I am there to instill in them that they can improve relationships, empower themselves and other students/employees/staff, and remain encouraged while keeping everyone engaged. I make sure they know I am not there to rush them, I am there for them. Some of my clients refer to my primary method as a “Hand Holding Process” and to some degree they are correct because I am determined, dedicated and move with a personable touch in the best interest for my client. So, yes, this indeed makes me a Connector/Master Networker, I get energized in rooms that are full of solutions whether it be for myself or my clients. I enjoy using my mental rolodex to advocate and/or connect my clients/potential clients with the best people that will help them solve their problems efficiently and effectively. I am an Artist in my own right and I use my marketing prowess to create marketing and advertising designs which create a megaphone for my clients to reach their target(ed) audience.”

The Five Year Business Journey

In May of 2017 after conducting quite a bit of research and attracting the right people on her journey, Angela followed her heart, mind, and spirit, which showed her what she needed to do. Homeschooling taught her the meaning of patience, kindness, and grace. It also rekindled her thirst for knowledge. She began to dream again; about the life she always wanted for her family and again she prayed. “Father please show me the gifts and talents you've given me so that I can help others, help my family be financially free, AND so I can help pay for classes as homeschooling is not cheap especially on one income.

The question was asked, how does it feel to be celebrating five years in business? “To be truly honest, I didn’t realize it had been five years until someone asked. I am truly thankful and extremely blessed as there are businesses who have more employees than I, better location, more profitable, etc. and they did not survive COVID. This gave me further validation about what I am purposed to do in this world. I even said a few years ago that I wanted to be internationally known, have my designs and work ethic to be known globally, have a fluid office with a creative all over the world and I am doing just that. My prayers have manifested, but there is still much work that needs to be done. To me entrepreneurship means owning and operating a solution-based business that provides a product/service while also having multiple benefit services. It means serving the community by providing career opportunities, creating an economy, and always having a solution for a problem. Every time we open our clients’ eyes to the bigger picture, where they can possibly go, and when they can see it too, it is a beautiful thing. Since day one Savvy Designs has given a minimum of 10% of its annual profits to those who are homeless, Veterans, and the Shelter for Abused Women and Children. We team up with local restaurant/business owners and hold annual food and clothes drives for the homeless. Throughout the years, we have given away survival bags that contain multiple beneficial items e.g., clothing (shirts, socks, hats, etc.) sewing kits, toiletries, bottled water and non-perishable food to those in need and living on the street corners.”

Less than five seconds later she opened her phone and saw a "random" post on Facebook by Unique Walker (Owner of Kingdom Chics) about starting a t-shirt business with little to no money called "TShirt University. " She then thought “oh my gosh the answer to my prayers.” Upon reading further she saw that it was, FREE! Which was no coincidence as that was her budget! The call started in an hour! While waiting, she continued to scroll further down to discover a graphics class taught by Damien Drakes (Co-Owner of J&D Design Studio), so she signed up for this class as well. Angela then realized that she needed to take the classes simultaneously. She said “no problem” and got it done. The plan was to create a small clothing company and sell shirts to her homeschool audience. She settled on the name of her business “Homeschool Savvy. ” Well, she quickly learned that nothing God does is small. Initially, she sold 3-5 t-shirts but then Angela started getting requests for random things like logos, websites, rugs, flags, cups and other collateral materials during the first week of learning her craft. Of course, she said yes, she can provide these services! Angela prayed and she figured it out! This was the start of her journey towards personal, professional and financial growth, resulting in the birth of Savvy Designs.

The Matters of the Heart for Angela

Family, Business, and Community, these are the pillars of Angela’s personal and professional life. God first always, family because they are gifts that you don’t have to have, and community as we were sent here to serve and who better to serve than those around us. “How you do anything is how you do everything so if you are not giving 100% to what you are doing (at the time whether personal or professional) you are dropping the ball. So, give whatever you are doing at the time all of your attention as doing anything less is not genuine.”

I am an Artist in my own right and I use my marketing prowess to create marketing and advertising designs which create a megaphone for my clients to reach their target(ed) audience. ” - Angela

Angela recounts as a child, in every home she ever lived, her mother would perfectly freehand cut the alphabet out of those blank books and construction paper and neatly tape them to the wall. Her mother would sing, teach, and make a bubble of life where there was no color, race, hate or envy as we are all God's children. This was reinforced during the summers when she stayed with her Great-Grandmother and Grandmother. Angela learned the hustle game from watching and spending a lot of time with the "established" adults in her family. As stated earlier she got her first job at eight working with Grandmother (Grams), at 5:00AM they would be at her job in Crystal City after taking the bus and train. Then there was bible study and choir rehearsal with the Gospel Echoes, then back to church for sunrise services breakfast prep, wedding receptions, Sunday School, which her Grams taught. Angela helped with prepping the night before and helped prepare the pass out literature for the students. In between these things her grandmother had a side hustle in catering and guess who was her sidekick. Angela learned so much about cleanliness, organization, the importance of being on time, meaning 15-30 minutes early, decorating, the lessons of folding silverware is forever embedded in her brain so is the lesson of hard work, determination, and hustle.

After watching most of the women in her family, including her mother, go from being married to divorced, single parents, this led Angela to believe that she could truly only depend on God and herself. So, if she was to get married, he'd have to be a strong person to accept her need for standing on her own two feet. In Angela's early twenties, she decided that dating was not for her because she is a no shade of gray person. “Either it is or it isn't there, and very few times when it was. I recall getting on my knees and praying for my husband, even down to his eyelashes and boy did God deliver.

He is definitely the Yin to her Yang and one of the few people in the world to tell her NO and she listens. Shortly thereafter they brought forth two children. She and her husband were not pleased with the after effects of the school environment, Angela prayed again and asked God for a solution. Homeschooling taught her the meaning of patience, kindness, grace and rekindled her thirst for learning.

Angela likes to pray and meditate daily, she does yoga, exercise, seeks guidance weekly from her mentors, accountability partners, and coaches. When Angela has a moment to sit down and relax, she watches shows that provide information to help her family, herself, and/or her clients to grow. Angela’s personal and professional purpose is to help people find clarity so they can give value to others. The vision for her personal and professional life is one in the same as she wants to equip at least one million people with life-changing information which will help them grow personally, professionally and financially. Therefore, ending generational poverty, creating vast opportunities to live an abundant life and ensure we have the foundation, motivation, and knowledge to pay it forward by teaching the community to do the same.

Angela’s final words,

“ everything needs rain and sunshine to grow. When you fall; fall forward and when you dream; dream bigger. If it is small, it is not God! The sky is not the limit it’ s simply a destination.”

Savvy Designs is a marketing and advertising agency that provides brand support to small business owners and start-ups. We have a fluid office of eclectic creatives that will ensure you thrive in any/all environments. We design and develop the proverbial megaphone that will ensure you reach your target audience. We do this by creating a unique image and signature that is customized to ensure your success in whatever world you can imagine, i.e. commercial advertising design.