In Her Shoes
I want to tell you about a woman today. A Mami. A passionate entrepreneur who made life changes because she wanted to spend more time with her kids. Sound familiar? It is Hispanic Heritage Month and I think that Lucelis Torres will more than qualify to be my Hero in Heels. She is the owner & director of Orlando Montessori Bilingual Academy. You ever meet someone and know there's something special about them? Some energy that connects you to them? That's how I've felt about Lucelis.
And so when the opportunity came to work with her and help her continue to expand on her dreams, I damn near killed myself running for it. I was all in already. And then I heard the story of how she began her business. And part of me wanted to weep because it's beautiful. It's a story many of us are going through, struggling through, praying through.
Her story gave me courage to continue on my path. I am able to see myself 16 years from now with the frog princess by my side as her daughters are by hers. Living out her passion for both her children and the children that walk in through those doors every day, hungry for knowledge. It's as if I'm looking through a time machine at my future. As if all of the pins on my Vision Board are standing in front of me. Perseverance, not giving up, having faith, staying positive, etc.
It has been a ROUGH week for me. I have had to overcome challenges that I never saw coming. I'm working on 2.5 hours of sleep. But I made a promise to this woman that I would help her grow her dream and so today, her new website went live and I am probably happier today than I was when Mamihood Media launched.
This time reminded me of what I'm most passionate about: helping others. It taught me lessons: to listen to my gut even if it goes against the status quo (what is it that Maya says? When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time? Why do I have such a hard time learning that?). It has given me confidence in my abilities. And though I was certainly let down during this project, I refuse to let that color my outlook. If everything is a lesson then I will take my lesson, give it thanks and keep moving.
In the few stories she has shared with me, I see Lucelis has done the same. And so I think I'll just follow in her shoes.
