Chantel Taylor

I would attribute my success to the women in my life - my mom, my grandma, and my aunt. But more than anybody, definitely my grandmother, because that was the person who taught me what strength was. My grandma is the person who essentially raised me. I stayed with my grandmother from the time I was born, from coming home from the hospital, until the day she passed. She passed away at a grateful age, but she was my best friend. I could tell her any and everything. It was always a judgment-free zone, but she always looked out for us. She treated her grandkids like they were her kids. She taught me how to be strong, how to look out for people, how to care for people. She would always say, even if people treat you wrong, that doesn't mean that you treat them wrong. They treat you nasty, don't treat you good, you don't have to do the same thing to them. I always hear those words and the things that she would say to me, so I could definitely say that I am the woman that I am today because of her. Her name was Minnie Taylor, and I love her to pieces.

The best career advice I've received is that if you're always educating yourself and you're always being proactive in what it is that you want to do or what you're passionate to do, it would never feel like work. And being able to keep yourself first - remembering that you can't necessarily help someone else out if you don't help yourself first. It's kind of like when you're on the plane, you know, making sure that your mask and everything and life jacket is on before you suit someone else, because what help are you to anyone else if you don't help yourself? Something that stuck with me the most, always, is if the mind is not right, the rest of the body can't follow. Your head has to be in order for the rest of the body to follow, so always making sure that you take care of yourself. Self-care is so important. It's not just about your skin or being able to do some self-care shopping or whatever. It's about how you take care of yourself internally, how do you take care of yourself with your body, and how do you treat your temple. Even with being a mom, it's just like, how am I going to take care of my kids if I'm not together? They're watching me, you know.

Some advice that I would give to young women that would be interested in my industry would be just to learn. Literally soak in all the knowledge that you possibly can. Try different things, because you never know what you like until you try it. And just be patient with yourself. Sometimes I don't even know how I learned some of the information that I have, and I'm like, how did that happen? Because sometimes I find myself being so overwhelmed, and you just gotta bring yourself back to level one. You just have to ground yourself. So I would definitely say be open to learn, being open to listen, because in order to be a good leader, you have to be a good follower. And give yourself grace and patience - that is the biggest thing. Because you're going to get to wherever it is that you're supposed to be, but you gotta take things step by step. I think I have gotten, in the past, and still do now, a little ahead of myself, and it's like, calm down, girl. Like, you got it. Like, one thing at a time. Write it out, check it off as it gets accomplished, and keep pushing. You never know what you may be pulled into, you never know what opportunity will present itself, and you never know what you may like.

The opportunities in my field right now include becoming a mentor - we are definitely accepting applications for women to sign up and become mentors, ages 18 and up. We're also looking for women to join our board as we have a couple of positions open. For myself, the opportunities are for growth. I'm always optimistic for great things to happen. You never know who's watching, who's paying attention, you never know what room you may walk into. It's not always about what you know, but sometimes it's about who you know. I know that one day, because of the feeling that I get, it's like a vision - it's so vivid for me that WISE and Motherly Touch would be just the biggest that they can ever be. And it's not for an applause, it's not for recognition, but to actually be impactful and to help women, and find other like-minded women that want to be a part of this. I think there's a lot of opportunity out there for me to be able to work with other like-minded women, and for them to be a part of either WISE, the program, or to be one day, hopefully I get this wellness studio that I'm wanting for maternal health. So I think there's a lot of opportunity out there for other women to be a part, and then a lot of opportunity for me to learn and be around like-minded women that want to impact and want to grow.

Some of the values that I value most are having peace - having that calmness within myself and within my life, and within people, teaching them that. Determination has always been a value of mine, to be determined, because if I'm determined to go or do whatever it is that I'm trying to do, I know that I can achieve it. Spirituality is really important to me. I am a firm believer in Christ, because without God, I don't see how I would have been able to make it as far as I have made it. And the fact that He chose me - I mean, it's a thousand and one women in the world that are moms, but He chose me to be a mom, and He chose me to give His kids to me on earth to take care of them, to grow them, to nourish them, and so I don't take that lightly at all. But also, being able to be strong - be strong for myself, be strong for my kids, and remember that they're always watching me.