Columbia’s newest women organization is a little group appropriately named The Manifestation of a Modern Day Queen. The royal group celebrated their second event, a social soiree, “Where Queens meet Queens, Saturday July 19th at 6:00 pm. The evening began with a wonderful dinner provided the catering services of Bubbles & Bottles event services. The delicious dinner was followed by an amazing spoken word performance by Queen Francine Tamakloe. Keynote speaker, Shantal Chan-Friday delivered a powerful presentation about what it means to be a Modern Day Queen and how the young women in the audience could come into their full queen status. Shantal is a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and most certainly delivered a wealth of information. She posed a question to the 20 somethings in the crowd, Who am I in my 20’s? Who am I really? The first question is often asked in a job interview is, Tell me about yourself and most of us readily describe our education background and our work experience but that says little about us as an individual. We were then faced with the question, what is it that makes me who I am? When posed with these questions, I was really perplexed. I then thought if I don’t know who I am fully, then who do I want to be and what do I want to work on?
Step 1 in defining Queenhood is to decide who you are. Create a vision board and decide who you want to be based on what you love and the kind of person you want to be.
Step 2, get your financial affairs in order. As a community we often misuse our funds so bad that our family have little while we’re here and even less when we are gone. Shantal gave tips on how to really save money. One way to save money is to make a budget and stick to it. The second step is to divide your paycheck in half and live off half and save the other. As a culture we have to stop living paycheck to paycheck. We can live on less and live better by practicing efficient efforts to save money.
Step 3 to being a Modern day Queen is to set goals and have a plan to achieve them. We have all the resources available to make our dreams come true. Black women often sacrifice their dreams for those around them. A Modern Day Queen takes steps to achieve her dreams starting today.
Step 4. Take steps to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit. When it comes to health, we often think about our weight and our diet. A healthy body means more than being slim, it means our body is fit through exercise and taking in the right nutrients. Our mental health is also of dire importance. Black women are often called crazy and angry and if we are having issues there is no shame in talking to a professional about our feelings. Spirituality is another important aspect of health. We all need a center and balance. Take advantage of prayer and rely on God.
Step 5. Do what you love! To live a life without happiness is to live a life full of emptiness. Whatever it is that you love, do it continuously and proudly!
The evening then broke up into empowerment sessions on the topics, All degrees of Me, Financial Security, Goals Never Looked so Good, Healthy 101: Class is now in session, Passion Mixed with inspiration and Why are you a Modern Day Queen? The event was spectacular, educational, empowering and uplifting, I can’t wait for the next. I hope to see you there!
I am a Modern Day Queen because I do what I love everyday and I use my talents to empower and uplift my sistahs!! Why are you a Modern Day Queen?