by Kiersten Homalon | Mar 16, 2016 | Learn + Grow
The parents in this generation are in a very unique predicament. We are in a world where vaccines, outbreaks, home births, Surgical births, GMO’s, Naturopathic care, birth defects, Organic food, and reclaiming our right to make educated decisions are on the rise. Yes, many of these are contradictions to themselves; like GMO’s and Organic food both being on the rise, but this is the reality of 2016. It is crucial for parents to rise up and educate themselves to make decisions that they know are suitable for their families. In this interesting time, this is really key in handing down the power of doing research and standing up for what is right to the next generation. This is a movement of empowerment, in many realms.
These are some of the many reasons Colleen Chapman founded the Non- Profit Organization O.H.A.N.A. here on the Island of O’ahu. Her whole drive is to create a “Healthy future for our children and community.” O.H.A.N.A. stands for O’ahu Healthy Agricultural Neighborhood Alliance. The group started just recently in September of 2015 and is still ramping up to add members to the group and solidify their role in the community. Colleen knows that they are passionate about four main points:
- Community
- Health
- Awareness
- Education
Colleen really hopes to spread knowledge with this organization to families on O’ahu and inform them about the reality of Environmental threats, GMO’s, agricultural knowledge that every family should possess and the boldness to stand up for the healthiest and best options for our Island! Colleen lived out this mission by her recent submittal of testament for the HB2564. This bill intended to create a vegetative buffer some between GMO’s crops and schools. This is a solution to something that, honestly, I never even knew was a problem! This just goes to show how powerful it is to have women like Colleen Chapman creating Organizations like O.H.A.N.A. to educate the community on topics that everyone will care about if only they were EDUCATED on these topics!
We cannot sit around and be Naive anymore. Colleen really hopes to make the understanding of these bills and legislative issues easy for the public so that they can play their role in effecting positive change for the next generation and our own, by voting, lobbying, and doing their part within their own neighborhoods. If this is something that you are interested in learning more about, or are well versed in these topics and want to join forces with O.H.A.N.A. Then please Get in touch with Colleen!
To connect with Colleen you can find them on their Facebook page! Also if you do not have this as a Local Resource to you Reach out to Colleen to see what some other options might be for you! She is a wonderful Wealth of Knowledge!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1647724872180007/
With Grit,
Kiersten H.
by Kiersten Homalon | Feb 23, 2016 | Learn + Grow
Kathe and Kaja Gibbs are a mother & daughter duo that serve Oahu women and families in the childbearing years as Licensed Midwives. They offer well-woman’s health care, midwifery care for pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and birth photography/videography! They are passionate about empowering women and creating community amongst mothers. Kathe is a longtime Licensed Midwife who provides Women’s Health Care as well as Home Birth/Birth Home Services to Mothers from the coming-of-age years, through pregnancy and birth, and completion of the childbearing years. Kaja is like-minded and a recent graduate and Licensed Midwife, thrilled to join her mom and live the dream of practicing together. When I had the honor of meeting these women, I was met with open arms and bright eyes! They are undeniably passionate about women reclaiming our right to birth at home, and to do so with a powerfully supportive community behind them!
Kathe has been practicing Midwifery for three decades all over the world, allowing for very unique and diverse experiences. These experiences opened Kathe up to powerful doctrines, educational relationships, experiences and vigor for increasing awareness in women about normal physiologic, instinctual, empowering birth and parenting! In her travels, Kathe learned about women’s health, healing, movement, bodywork therapies, homeopathy, naturopathy, and nutrition. Kathe has attended more than 1,600 out-of-hospital births in her years of practice and there is no sign of her wanting to slow down. Actually, I see an intensity in her and in her daughter
Kaja to continue their work to effect even more change in the birthing world!
Kaja moved to Hawaii to embark on a nursing school path in order to become a CNM. During that time, she became pregnant with her daughter and had an amazing, documented home birth with her mother as her Midwife. That experience reaffirmed to her that becoming a Midwife was what she wanted to do. She began her training in California with her mother for two years, and then completed her training in the State of Washington to receive certification as a CPM, and then on to become a Licensed Midwife. Kaja put her certification to work at a local birthing center, as she and her mother cultivated a big move back to Hawaii.
In my interview with the two, I was impressed by the way they complemented one another and their wealth of knowledge! They had imagined partnering together to support women in their birthing experiences, and now they are thrilled that they are in Hawaii doing just that. Kaja recalled memories of “sitting in the corner of the birthing room” when she was old enough to watch her mother assisting laboring mothers. She knew then that was her inspiration to go down the path to be a Midwife herself! It took several years to get where she is now: with much ‘due diligence’ in education, clinical training, and dedication to this work.
Kathe opened up about her history of becoming a midwife as well! She was actually in the FIRST class in the FIRST state to offer Midwifery Licensure! She was licensed in 1981 in Washington state, and after a move back home to California was among the first midwives to become licensed there. Her wonderful career is blossoming into fulfilling a long-held vision: to create a sanctuary for women, a center for women’s
health care and family wellness…a place to go, receive information, support, share… She mentions that women are very open-minded during pregnancy because they are aiming to do their best in birth and beyond. She feels that this then is the time most ‘ripe’/receptive for education and information.
Just exactly what services do Licensed Midwives provide? What are their education and training? Consumers and professionals alike are confused. It has been studied and proven that midwifery care for women out-of-hospital for the low-risk population, is as safe, if not safer, and is definitely more cost-effective, as well as demonstrates improved statistics on a range of maternal/child health matters. Midwifery care has always existed worldwide, and its resurgence into primary care in the U.S. is yielding fantastic statistics! It’s time to for midwifery care here and now.
This realization inspired Kathe to create the film: “Birth – A Full Circle of Seasons in the Childbearing Year”, which showcases Kaja’s photography. It has the intention of opening women up to the possibilities of safe, sacred, family birth in an out-of-hospital setting. It is not a documentary Kathe claims, rather she describes it as “to be experienced through the senses: eyes, ears, heart, mind, spirit! It is a visual landscape of that transformative year”
Kathe and Kaja are located in the Hawaii Kai area in a beautiful space where women come together to begin building community with events, support circles, film showings and receive personalized family-centered health care. These women are stunningly involved in the community, effecting positive change and passionate about working with women and families.
You can meet these powerful women in person, and view a clip of the film at this summer’s Mama Makeke, June 25, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the WAC in Hale’iwa. See you there!
To connect with Kathe and Kaja, please check out their websites:
www.hawaiimidwives.com | www.borntwobirth.com
or email:
Kathe@fullcircle-midwifery.com Kajamadronegibbs@gmail.com
by Torrie Oglesby | Jan 23, 2016 | Learn + Grow
CP Patrick is a dare-devil, a dreamer, a doer, a daughter, a wife, a mother, and a woman that you need to know. She exudes confidence, power, love and womanhood! I met her through her Instagram and immediately knew that this was a woman I wanted to know and be by, in order that her amazingness might rub off on me. After liking all her posts for about a year, I finally decided to reach out to her! Read on to learn more about the spectacular creation that is Author CP Patrick.
- Tell us about your life before becoming a full-time writer?
Before I became a full-time writer, my life was crazy! I worked as a Policy Advisor for the US Department of Energy. Our office was tasked with some of the White House’s top priorities, so it was intense. I would work my full-time job, come home in the evening, and do what I call the family time-dinner-nighttime shuffle. Once everyone was in bed, I would go into my office and write until 2am. Crazy! And not very healthy.
- Quitting your job had to be frightening! What were some liberating parts of it, and what were some hard parts?
Quitting my full-time job was indeed scary because I had worked in the energy sector for the past ten years. Energy policy was very familiar, whereas writing was this new venture. I had so much to learn, especially as an indie author. But I just felt like it was exactly what I supposed to be doing—writing fiction and fantasy about the African diaspora. I had never been happier, so I decided to take the leap. The most liberating part was Waking up and realizing that I had done it. I was following my heart and doing something that I was passionate about, something that gave me so much joy. I kind of felt like a rock star. 🙂 The hardest part was the first two weeks after I left my job—there was no automatic paycheck. It was real. Lol
- What was the breaking point? What made you finally choose your passion over everything else?
Well, the breaking point sort of had this momentum. I published The Truth About Awiti in March 2015. Then it made Amazon’s Best Sellers List in April. By May I had an agent. And throughout there were book clubs and speaking engagements, and with every event I just felt more and more certain this was my destiny. And I was tired. I was really tired working full time and writing. I knew I couldn’t keep going at the same hectic pace. If had to choose one, I knew it would definitely be writing. When I spoke with my husband about it, he actually said, “I knew this was coming.” And then he encouraged me to go for it (because he’s so wonderful. I’m very blessed to have such a supportive spouse).
- What made you so passionate about African-American history, and how in the world did you decide you wanted to mix that with fantasy in your debut novel?
It’s funny because while I have a JD, I also have a BA and MA in African and African-American Studies. Not many people know that because of my career in law and policy. But I have always been passionate about the history and people of the African diaspora. I actually discovered the premise for The Truth About Awiti in graduate school. It was the first time I heard the theory of the spirits of slaves being embodied in the winds of hurricanes. Because I love fiction, fantasy, and folklore, that theory always stuck with me. I decided to write The Truth About Awiti as part of National Novel Writing Month 2014. And here we are!
- Take us through a day in your life. How does it start? What’s in between, and how do you finish your song of the day?
I live the life of a creative—there is no schedule! Just kidding. The mornings and evenings are pretty much the same. I try and wake up before my husband and daughter to have a little “me” time. So that’s 5:30am–6:00am. I recently started the devotional Thirty-One Days of Prayer for the Dreamer and the Doer by Jenn Sprinkle and Kelly Rucker. It’s wonderful. Then it’s time for breakfast and getting my family out the door by 7am. Between 7am–4pm, anything goes—social media, photo shoots, responding to emails, marketing, taking a much-needed nap, meetings/discussions with other authors, and of course, writing and editing. It’s amazing how quickly the time flies by. 4pm–9pm is devoted to dinner, family time, and occasionally, a deadline or two. Then at 9pm I catch up on anything I needed to respond to between 4pm and 9pm. I try really hard to get in bed by 10, but some days it just doesn’t happen. But I can always take a nap the next day if I need to. I’m big on naps. 😉
- Who has been your biggest inspiration in life?
I know it sounds cliché, but my mother. She’s so cute, funny, and amazing. I could just eat her up with a spoon! And elderly women in general. I don’t know how they did it back in the day! With less resources and what not. I remember complaining to my mother one night about how tired I was, and she said, “Umph! Your generation has it so much easier. You don’t even have to cut your own lettuce!” Of course, I went and looked in our refrigerator, and we had bagged salad. I couldn’t stop laughing.
- What has been your biggest struggle in life, and how has it made you who you are today?
I think my biggest struggle has been discovering God’s purpose for my life. I think we hear His voice early on but then something happens where we are discouraged or afraid to pursue the thing He’s placed in us to do. Then, when we finally step into it, it’s this crazy and exciting rollercoaster of blessings and opportunities. Even the disappointments are exciting because you know they are part of His plan. It’s not a coincidence that I have a strong educational background in African and African-American Studies. This was His purpose all along, but perhaps I had to go through the painful and difficult times to understand and appreciate my calling. I’ve finally found it! Writing fiction and fantasy interwoven with the African diaspora experience was placed on my heart a long time ago. And it’s just like in The Alchemist— when you truly want something with all your heart, all the world conspires to help you achieve it.
- What is your advice to all our #GIRLBOSS readers?
My advice for girl bosses is stop thinking so much about what can go wrong. Instead, focus on what can go right. Phenomenal women have blazed a path to greatness so follow their lead. And don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way.
by Kiersten Homalon | Jan 8, 2016 | Learn + Grow
There are artists in the world that are recognizable as soon as you see their work. This same is true for Jamie Swim’s graphically whimsical Hawaiian inspired art. Even more charming than her art, if you could even imagine something more charming, is Jamie herself. Genuinely sincere in her bashfulness at the recent explosion of her art to the mainland and all through out the North Shore. Jamie expressed to me “It doesn’t feel real, I feel so blessed I get to do what I love and get paid for it!” Sitting at the Coffee shop, both of us with little girls in tow we dove into her life experiences that molded her life and her art to happily embrace the spirit of Aloha that she loves so much.
Jamie was born and raised in Arizona, however, Hawaii always called to her. She always would paint foliage and scenery that she imagined Hawaii might be like. She would look at photos and do her best to manifest the beauty she knew called out to her! Then one day she decided to do it. She decided to drop everything and make the move to O’ahu. No job or even place to live, Jamie reminisced, “I just knew if i was gonna do it, I just would have to do it!”. And that she did! She moved to O’ahu stayed with friends and worked at the Sea Life Park as a photographer. “Talk about random” she giggled. Most importantly Jamie expressed to me how much her art begun to flourish once she was here. She became overwhelmed with the beauty of Hawaii and wanted to paint everything in her sight. That was when she begun to establish the style we all so readily recognize now. Her waves became better, because she was able to experience them, the lighting, and the flowers all were a reality for her now, and the love she dreamed of for Hawaii was even better once she was living in the land of Aloha!
Now, Jamie’s work is featured in local businesses, sold in department stores on the mainland and continues to be many peoples choices for gifts and statement pieces for their home. Jamie admitted that she loves doing custom art and manifesting peoples vision with her art! She also is dipping her toes, quite successfully, in marketing posters for companies and special events. She has the ultimate dream to design the major surfing competition’s posters and advertisements! She honors her husband for giving her the gusto to put her art out there, because if it wasn’t for him, she would portably never have gotten the courage to share her beautiful gift that blesses so many!
Jamie is still living on the North Shore and painting in the midst of raising two beautiful girls and being an awesome wife. I treasure women who are convinced that they can be present mothers in their children’s lives as well as still dream big. That is what inspires the next generation. That is what keeps mothers living each day with oomph in their step. Jamie Swim is a wonderful example of a Radiant woman and I look forward to watching more people get to know her art and Jamie herself!
To inquire about purchasing her work or about commissioning Jamie Swim you can check out her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jamieswim/?fref=ts or even call her directly at (808)-673-0743
To you sweet ones, Have Grit,
Kiersten Homalon
by Jasmine Shirley | Jul 18, 2015 | Learn + Grow
Q&A With @SoulStyleBeauty
~Who is Emari/ Soul Style Beauty?
SoulStyleBeauty is my platform name. It’s the name of my blog, YouTube channel and all other social media outlets. I have changed my name so many times! SoulStyleBeauty is what I came up with after 4 years of blogging and I think this is “the one”. As a blogger, you realize that as you grow it causes your content to change and even sometimes your blog name to change. Throughout the years of me blogging I finally came to realize what I truly had a passion for which is faith in Christ, mental hygiene/inner beauty, style and makeup.
~What does Soul Style Beauty represent?
SoulStyleBeauty represents a lot of things starting with my love for Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, before anything else. In addition to speaking about topics regarding spirituality and my walk with god, I love to discuss inner beauty. Character is so important! SoulStyleBeauty represents beauty starting from the inside out. I really want my viewers/readers to know that their outer appearance isn’t their best asset.
~When did Soul Style Beauty come about and when did you decide to present it to the world?
SoulStyleBeauty came about after I drew close to God in March 2014. I used to think about only outer appearance and my own good, totally ignoring inner beauty and individuals around me. Knowing that I was once an individual suffering from insecurities and self-value, I know how it feels and I had to speak up about it. I then decided to change my platform name to SoulStyleBeauty which better represents what I truly stand for.
~Why inspire/branch out via YouTube and social media?
YouTube and social media is extremely important at the moment. I feel that it is a way to reach people/brands from all around the world. I get extremely excited when looking at my demographic reports because I can see exactly where a viewer is in the world and that is truly amazing! That is exactly why I joined social media and YouTube. I want to inspire and serve people all around the world to become better individuals.
~Any inspirations? / What are you inspired by?
I am inspired by everyday life experiences and the issues that we as individuals go through. Truth is, we all have things that we struggle with and we are more relatable than we think we are. Sometimes all it takes is discussing your issues and what you go through. That discussion, that video that post can actually change someone’s life.
~What can we look forward to with Soul Style Beauty?
The next thing to look forward to with Soul Style Beauty is my Ecommerce business and women empowerment groups (online and offline). I would love to give individuals the encouragement they need by creating groups to discuss issues that they may face. I also would like to have my own Ecommerce website selling inspirational products such as books, apparel and items for surfaces in your home/office.
~1-3 Youtubers/ social media pages you could not go without viewing? Why
I have a lot of favorites YouTubers, but the below ladies are my favorites. Whether it’s driving women to Christ, giving women advice on everyday struggles, or even showing women that they can do it all, all of the below women best exemplifies a role model.
- Simply Feli
- BronzeGoddess01
- Shameless Maya
![STRONG, Inc. [Simple Transitions Render Opportunity Necessary For Growth]](https://www.knowyourstrong.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NewLogo.png)
To connect with Colleen you can find them on their Facebook page! Also if you do not have this as a Local Resource to you Reach out to Colleen to see what some other options might be for you! She is a wonderful Wealth of Knowledge! 
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