The BOSS Network Blog

Stephanie Lewis is a certified mindfulness meditation and qigong instructor, national board-certified health & wellness coach (NBC-HWC), and attorney. She works with professionals in a variety of fields to skillfully manage stress and release the barriers to performing and achieving personal and professional goals. ******************************************************* We often talk about mindfulness in the context of a sitting or moving meditation.  But mindfulness is a practice ultimately meant to be weaved into your day to day life. Give some thought to some choice times throughout the day when you can work mindfulness into your daily life apart from a sitting or moving meditation. Here are some ideas to get you started. Start your day with mindfulness.  I actually try to meditate even before I get out of bed. Doesn’t happen every morning but it’s a centering way to start the day.  A body scan first thing in the morning is a great way to integrate mindfulness from...

Cathleen Trigg-Jones is an Emmy award-winning journalist, actress, producer and social entrepreneur, and motivational coach. She is the founder of iWoman TV, a multi-media production company & streaming network based in New York City that empowers & uplifts women through the creation & distribution of original content created through the lens of multicultural women. What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or career? For the first decade of my career, as a television journalist and reporter, I was restricted to the stories that mainstream media decided were okay to be told. Those stories didn’t typically represent who I am as a black professional woman, or the other amazing, powerful women and Black people I saw around me. After leaving my position as an evening news anchor, I launched my own media and entertainment companies to break away from the restrictive world of mainstream media and focus on the stories that matter m...

Stephanie Lewis  is a certified mindfulness meditation and qigong instructor, national board-certified health & wellness coach (NBC-HWC), and attorney.   She works with professionals in a variety of fields to skillfully manage stress and release the barriers to performing and achieving personal and professional goals. ******************************************************* Is the sound of your alarm in the mornings worse to you than nails on a chalkboard? Do you dread the thought of sunbeams through your window? Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you can’t create a morning routine. In fact, a good morning routine will make you more productive during the day! Here are my ten tips for creating a morning routine for success! 1. Prepare for your morning the night before. Maybe take your bath or shower the night before. Prepare what you are going to wear and eat. If your kids are young have as much prepared as you can for them as well. 2. If you use an alarm, change it ...

Courtney Gavin is a wife, mother, and business start-up expert. Over a span of 10 years, Courtney and her husband Jamison created several businesses such as real estate, software, and e-commerce. One of their businesses was acquired by a Fortune 200 company. Courtney knows firsthand what it takes to win in business. In 2017, Courtney founded Xelda Company, a woman-owned business that provides janitorial services and supplies. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys volunteering at church, cycling, and blogging. Courtney has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology & Microbiology from the University of Central Florida. Courtney currently resides in Florida with her husband and two kids. What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or career? My biggest obstacle, in the beginning, was my fear of the unknown. The fear would become so great that I would be afraid to take the next step. I had to give myself permission to fail and I just s...

La’Dayshia Hunt is the owner of Divinity Remedy, a Health & Wellness business that is helping people find natural alternatives to healing. She hopes to show women and men of color that being mindful doesn’t mean you have to water down who you are in this community. You can still be unapologetically black! What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or career? My biggest obstacles were marketing during covid and getting potential customers to understand that our herbal teas can help with health and still taste good! People hear tea and automatically assume it’s gross. (I was once one of those people before I started my business.) What inspired you to break into your industry? During covid, a lot of people could go to the stores and if they did a lot of products for immunity, vitamins, etc were being snatched off the shelf. So at this point in my life, I was already making herbal teas for myself and a friend in the Boss Network convinced...

The journey to becoming the business owner of Sincerely, Tied. has been a very rewarding and purposeful one. Immediately after deciding to change careers and become a wedding planner, knowing almost nothing about the industry, I became engaged. So here I was a “professional” wedding planner and DIY Bride at once. There were times when I felt more DIY Bride than a professional planner. But every experience I had on being both shaped me to be the best possible founder of my business. As I attempted to DIY my wedding, I started with a $15,000 budget and ended up spending over $30,000. We were shocked to find that the simple yet elegant wedding that we wanted would cost so much. I found it almost impossible to find vendors within my budget, a florist that didn’t cost a fortune, and rental items that didn’t seem way overpriced. It was very frustrating for me as a Bride but so much more eye-opening for me as a planner. Though most industries are money driven- I mean how else would people mak...

Getting a good night of sleep is important and switching up your habits can make it easier. Set a consistent routine, cut out common disruptors, eat well, try melatonin and create an ideal sleep environment. If you still find yourself struggling, don’t be afraid to reach out to your doctor. Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things we can do for our health. It’s when our bodies get a chance to heal, and our minds get a chance to rest and process everything that happened during the day. Without rest, our bodies and minds can’t perform at their best, leaving us likely to make mistakes, feel unwell, and become irritable quickly. But getting that rest isn’t always easy, especially as we get older. It becomes more difficult to settle down at night and it can seem impossible to stay asleep until morning. And now that the weather is changing, those sleep rhythms could be even more disrupted. However, it's possible to make some changes and get a handle on your sleep schedule. ...

Josie Santiago is a Wellness and Leadership Coach, Facilitator, and Yoga Instructor. She is  the owner of Akili Well. Her mission is to inspire us to reshape our relationship with wellness. She inspires others to work through new paradigms, center well-being, and move through  the world with compassion. Join her Wellness for the Working Woman Coaching Group. What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your  business or career? My biggest challenge was overcoming the fear of financial instability. I know many people who  have started businesses and stopped because they didn’t have the financial resources or social  capital to sustain themselves. I had to get over many fears of not being financially stable to start  this business. It’s still uncertain at times, but by receiving the grant from Sage foundation and  BOSS Network I was reminded of the possibilities. What inspired you to break into your industry? I never imag...

Tamecia Shaheed is a Tax Strategist who helps business owners maximize savings and grow their profits. She affirms that business owners need to proactively plan throughout the year to maximize tax savings. She works with her clients to implement strategies to use the tax code to their benefit legally and ethically. ****************************************** What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or career? The biggest obstacle I've faced in the beginning process of starting my business was building a team. I started my business as a solopreneur, but my goal was always to build my business with the hope of growing into a much larger company. I initially began working with remote freelance workers and virtual assistants using services such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Time Etc to delegate work. It was originally difficult to carve out a budget to hire regular hourly staff to work in the office. I decided to begin networking at local coll...

Summer is in full swing! And while we all love to soak up the sun and spend lazy afternoons by the pool, it’s also more important than ever to stay hydrated and take care of yourself as the temperatures rise. Here are a few of our favorite tips to make sure you’re taking in enough water as the weather heats up! Tip #1: Drink Plenty of Water Throughout the Day There’s no single formula that dictates how much water we need every day. The amount you need will vary depending on your age, how much you exercise, the temperature, and other factors. But most healthcare experts agree that the key to staying  hydrated  is the same for everyone – drink water throughout the day. Have a glass or two when you get up, after you exercise, when you eat and when you go to bed. Your body can only absorb so much water at a time, so chugging 8 glasses of water after dinner won’t be as beneficial as sipping it throughout the day. Tip #2: Choose Hydrating Foods and Beverages Not all your hydration n...

Stephanie Lewis is a certified mindfulness meditation and qigong instructor, national board-certified health & wellness coach (NBC-HWC), and attorney.   She works with professionals in a variety of fields to skillfully manage stress and release the barriers to performing and achieving personal and professional goals. ******************************************************** Do you feel like your responsibilities are crowding out what’s most important to you? Here are a few quick tips on setting boundaries that may work for you. Determine Your Values, Priorities, and Goals You have so many choices about how you can spend your time that making progress means weighing your choices. The most effective way is against your values, priorities, and goals so that whatever you choose is more likely to make a big difference in your life. For instance, if you want to transition to a healthier lifestyle and be physically fit, you’ll make the time for movement on certain days during the...