Why Me?

We all go through trials in life and I certainly haven’t had a shortage of them. It seems one trial I have had to endure time and time again is unemployment. As an accountant, one would think there wouldn’t be a shortage of open positions. Maybe it’s the fact that even though I have twenty-five years of work experience, I don’t have a degree. I mean, who has time for college when you’re a single parent, working full-time, hauling your child(ren) around to cheer and tumbling, helping them with homework, going to school functions, taking them to the mall, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning the house…..you get it! There’s no time for relaxing let alone college. The last time I was laid off, I decided to go back to school to become an Esthetician. I had been taking care of my daughter on my own for seven years, so I never had much time to take care of myself. I have a huge interest in skincare and thought I could start a new career, own my own business, teach others to take care of their skin and start taking care of myself at the same time. Once I was licensed, I was gung-ho about finding work. Almost immediately after I passed my exams, the Great Crash of 2008 happened. I needed immediate income so I could provide for my family and starting a business just wasn’t in the cards. My dreams were crushed, and the business was put on hold. I always had Accounting as a backup career so sure enough I found employment but low and behold I was laid off again. 

The creation of Mixed Essentials started about four years ago. Unemployed during the holidays, I began searching for homemade gift ideas on Pinterest. God had to be steering me in the right direction because I came across some soap recipes, and it hit me! I was going to make soap, lotion and bath bombs. The intention was that I would be able to provide products that were pure and natural and were good for your skin. Aside from the lotion, that didn’t turn out at all, everyone loved what they got for Christmas. After the New Year, I decided to take a soap making class. I became a vendor at local farmer’s markets and city street fairs. I had product in a couple of my customer’s stores. I was in Heaven!! I was up all times of the night coming up with new recipes and playing with colors and scents. I was having a blast educating people on why they should use all natural products.

Needless to say, life took another turn. My husband relapsed and my daughter was experiencing major mental health problems. I almost lost everything. After a couple of years I realized that I had given up on my goals. I had lost myself and completely lacked self-care and I wasn’t going to live that way any longer. I put my crown back on, straightened it and began to take my life back. I vowed that I would never let myself go again.

As I learned to work through the issues my family was going through, my life became less chaotic. I started setting boundaries and doing things for myself. I started working on my business again. I changed the name of the business, re-branded my products and came up with a new logo and purpose. I took time to reflect on the ups and downs, the hurdles and the accomplishments I experienced in my past and decided that my business is going to promote self-care. Therefore, ME! (Mixed Essentials) represents my journey and the goal is to help others so they don’t have to go through the same things I did.

So, maybe you are a single parent or a stay at home parent who never has enough time for themselves. Maybe you are a working parent who is constantly on the go. Maybe you’re not a parent at all. Maybe you are just trying to conquer the world. Either way, it is so important to make self-care a priority. Please, take time for yourself and adopt the ME! slogan, “Got Me Time?” Stop making excuses and take a couple of seconds to apply a soothing lip balm or rub a moisturizing lotion on your skin, or even take 30 minutes in a bath with a relaxing bath bomb. Whatever it is just do it and I promise you will start to feel so much better.