You might see that quote go around that says, "Empowered women empower women." I feel like that is my life.

I have been so blessed to be around so many amazing women growing up:

My mom—awesome, working mom who raised confident daughters.

My grandmother, who, in her fifties, decided, "Hey, you know what? I want to go change my career," and went and got a degree in nursing and became an RN in her fifties because it's never too late to start

My great-grandmother, who owned a boarding house—she was a work-at-home mom. She had a boarding house and would take people in and raised her many, many children at the same time.

I think all of these positive female role models means I seek out other women who are encouraging.

I think that women get this false stereotype that we're catty and competitive and petty. And, yes, those mean girls exist. But I think that, for every mean girl, there's also that nerdy girl in the corner saying "come sit with me."

One of the reasons I wanted to blog about my debt free journey and becoming my own boss is because I want to encourage women; to encourage moms.

My focus is to encourage and inspire women with their money, with their business, in motherhood, in marriage, in friendships. To inspire them to go out and do something that's going to positively impact their future.

For those of you who don't know, before I became a mom I was a news reporter. I was really fortunate the first time I ever worked in a newsroom to be in a newsroom full of women. It was full of women who were really encouraging and thoughtful. Most of us are still friends to this day.

I still seek out female community. I'm so blessed to have found and created a community of women, some older than me; some of them are younger than me. Some of them have kids; some of them don't. We're all in different seasons of our lives.

And they come through for me. When I had a miscarriage in 2016, they were there. When my pregnancy in 2017 took an unexpected turn, they were there. And when my sweet baby boy was born, they were there, brining me meals and giving me kind encouragement.

And they were there for me again. A few weeks ago I found myself all of a sudden struggling to nurse. After 7 months I was hit with supply issues. I asked a few friends what to do and I was not only given nonjudgmental advice, they even brought me a few supplies I needed. (And everything has returned to normal and I can continue to nurse my baby.)

This community of women didn't fall in my lap, I had to go looking for it. And not only did I find it right where I lived, I've also found it online. Through this blog and YouTube I've met so many amazing women who are all walking through different seasons of their lives.

The community exists you just have to find it. It's hard to put yourself out there, to make new friends as an adult, but it's worth the effort. But remember the responsibility falls to you. If you walk in a room and no one talks to you, it can be so discouraging. Often you have to be the person to break through the barrier and start a conversation. And that can be difficult, but it's worth it.

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