TDR Brands International spotlights Power Moms who show inner strength and courage, while simultaneously loving and nurturing family, during the pursuit of their dreams.
Meet Power Mom Bess Blanco
If God gave you the dream, and you are scared - remember that He brought you to it, HE WILL bring you through it!
Tierra Destiny Reid: Please give us a brief recap of your career.
Bess Blanco: I've done so many things over the years, this one is always so hard to do! Let's just say my FAVORITE job ever was managing a group home for a group of adult disabled people. I learned SO MUCH from them about finding joy, appreciating life and the true meaning of LOVE! I also learned serious people management skills which is serving me well these days! Another impactful "career" of mine was the decade I spent successfully maneuvering the direct sales world with Mary Kay. I LOVED the way I could determine my own success, and I grew to the top 2% of the company, working as a Senior Sales Director and growing others into directors, too! Drove the free car, wore the diamonds I earned, but mostly, just learned VALUABLE management, leadership and communication skills I now use in the company I've built from the ground up now.
These days, I am the CEO of my company, FRESH Start for Health, and I've never been more tired and stressed, but blissfully happy and fulfilled in a job! Leading a team of FRESH Start Coaches, we are a movement of health and hope, and we are changing lives and building legacy together as a team! LOVE working with this group of servant-heart givers and leaders!
TDR: Tell us about your children.
BB: Jovanni is 17, he's a senior in high school - he's quirky, strong, funny and loves to play classical guitar, lifeguard in summer and wears flip flops year round. Isabella is 14 and our responsible girl. Rule follower, high achiever, serious (sometimes too much!) she's the oldest sister and my biggest helper. Giana (GiGi) is 11, self-motivated, a nurturer, funny. She is currently my office buddy as she is doing 6th grade from home, digitally. AnaSophia (Sophi) is the "baby of the family" and in 2nd grade, almost 8. She's everybody's friend, smart as a whip and doesn't meet a stranger. She's *slightly* boy-crazy and has a keen sense of fashion - Sophi-style fashion that is!
TDR: How are you juggling your passion with the responsibilities of parenthood?
BB: Well, I don't always know how I am doing it! LOL And, truthfully, I am not always doing it well! But at the end of the day, I wouldn't change this crazy day-to-day we live in, and my kids tell me they wouldn't either. (and I know that because sometimes I threaten to be a working-outside-the-home mom, and they freak out on me! LOL) They love having me here and even on the rough ones, I do too.
TDR: What are some of your struggles and how do you work to overcome them?
BB: TIME. When to use it here, when to apply it there. Seems like EVERYONE needs a piece of me, hell, even I NEED A PIECE OF ME sometimes! LOL Seriously, there is NOT enough time in the day and I struggle with prioritizing it sometimes. The BEST way I have found to combat the issue of "not enough time" is to do everything in my day ON PURPOSE (ie: exercise, naps, cooking, writing, emails, family time, worship, etc.) EVERYTHING I do is on purpose and this helps me. Also, to PLAN. I plan nightly for the next day. I plan weekly for the coming week. I plan monthly for the goals to break down into weekly tasks...etc. Oh and I CANNOT forget to mention I have a POWERFUL team in my kids, hubby and "inner circle" of support. They are also planners and purposeful people, SO it makes the rest of all this work!
TDR: What are 2 resources you use to help you stay motivated?
BB: TedX Talks - NEVER get tired of listening to these! Fuels my fire!
Chats/communication with my "inner support team" (my "dream team" I call them!) – when I'm down, frustrated or losing focus, I call on one or more of them. Sometimes, it's just me and Jesus chatting away. Other times, it's a person. I need my peeps. I don't ever pretend I have done, or could do, this alone!
TDR: What is your favorite way to pause?
BB: After a long day? HOT as I can handle it epsom salt and lavendar oil baths! Ooooh, with a delicious glass of red moscato! YES! FAVE WAY. My "daily pause" is my 6 a.m. coffee and Jesus time on the back porch. Usually watching the early sunrise, or the buzzing hummingbird as it feasts on my trumpet vines and jasmine.
TDR: What has been the scariest moment or crossroad in your journey?
BB: When I lost my business partner late last year. I didn't think I would make it or keep going. I had leaned on her so much for 3 years (she's a BEAUTIFUL person full of skills and big belief in me and our vision!) I spent the first 6 months of this year healing from the loss and what felt like a business-divorce, realizing I COULD do this, learning all the hands-on stuff (mostly on my own) that I had not yet had to do, and praying through the next breath as I did!!!
TDR: What would be your greatest advice to other "Power Moms" wanting to pursue their dreams?
BB: If God gave you the dream, and you are scared - remember that He brought you to it, HE WILL bring you through it! Trust God, hold the hands of your very own personal dream team or inner circle, AND JUMP!!! You've got this!
TDR: What word best describes the legacy you want to leave for your children and why?
BB: That I NEVER GAVE UP. I want commitment to be my legacy. I mean, because of what I do, sure, I want them to be healthy and whole! I want them to pursue their God-given dreams! I want SO MUCH for them. But I want them to cling to their dreams and NEVER GIVE UP. It's a shaky, changing, scary world out there, but I want them to feel the fear and do it anyway!
TDR: How can others collaborate and support your mission?
BB: Oh this is FUN! The mission at FRESH Start IS ALL ABOUT OTHERS! We are ALL about TEAM! There are several ways they can collaborate with us! There are precious peeps sharing our message through community groups where they present the FRESH Start message through using the workbook, and there are health coaches and community leaders sharing our message through their own businesses across the US! (We are in 15 states now!) Just check us out at www.freshstartforhealth.org and there is a tab called "Get Involved" there!
Connect with Bess:
Facbook - https://www.facebook.com/bess.blanco
Instagram - @coach_bess
Periscope - @coachbess