Why Every Struggle You Overcome Is A Gift

My family’s fate weighed heavily on my shoulders. Everything I knew - my identity, my values, my ideals for the future - crashed down around me.

I was working three jobs and charging my credit cards just to keep food on the table for my daughter and I.

I wanted a way out, I wanted something - anything - to hold onto. I wanted to catch my breath because I was suffocating from the disaster that was my life.

Related Content: What to do When You Can’t Hide Your Struggle Anymore

Then, I got an acceptance letter to the Master's degree of my choice. 

But there was a big part of me that was afraid of my good fortune.

Now, I was in a position to study with some of the best and brightest professors in the country. The other students in my cohort had already done work with some amazing companies. Many of them were coming straight from college and were 5 years younger than me.

I couldn't escape the feeling that I wouldn't fit in.

I wouldn't be smart enough.

At my age (which I thought was soooo old) I should have a great career already, right?

And I had a few more struggles than the average college student.

Related Content: 3 Tips to Keep You Going When You Feel Like Giving Up

I AM A PARENT

I had my daughter at 19. Here is what that means:

• I don’t have many friends that are my age who have kids.

• I’m usually the youngest parent in the room at school functions.

• I often need help from family and friends

I grew up hearing that having a child when you are a teenager is a kiss of death. In my head, I was already a “statistic” and would very likely struggle to make something out of my life.

And I struggled without a doubt.

My daughter accompanied me through my early twenties and going forward. Together we went on a journey of self-discovery. From undergraduate school to graduate school and from unemployable babysitter to gainfully employed data analyst.

I DIDN’T HAVE A BACKGROUND IN MATH

When I entered my graduate program, I learned that the degree I was seeking had way more math than I was anticipating. The professors would zoom through advanced statistics concepts and excel formulas so fast it that made my head spin.

I was lost. And it was obvious.

So I started to make friends with fellow students who breezed through class.

I NEVER HAD A FANCY JOB

I met several students in grad school who were much younger than I was, and they would boast about working for Fortune 500 companies and their fancy job titles. I, on the other hand, was a babysitter, a waitress and a freelancer. #awkward

When people would ask me “what do you do?“ I would instantly shrink on the inside and immediately froze up while trying to squeak out a job title that didn’t make me sound like a #loser.

I went to grad school so paranoid that no employer would ever want me because my competition was so much smarter and so much more marketable than I was.

So….. I worked harder. I showed up early to career services and stayed late. I did extra mock interviews and got my presentation polished to perfection by working with several on-campus recruiters. I volunteered for consulting programs and I did additional research projects.

Related Content: How to Make sure Grad School is Worth your Time & Money

Looking back, I realize that everything I was able to accomplish was because of my weaknesses:

1. As a young parent, my daughter helped keep me focused and grounded through school.

2. Not understanding math (and being honest about it) helped me build connections with other people who had different strengths - and it helped me learn what my strengths were.

3. The fact that I didn’t have a fancy job motivated me to work hard in grad school to ultimately land my dream job.

The things that I thought were my downfalls, were actually the things that lead me to success.

Every personal struggle that I had imagined would make me different in a negative way…..ended up doing the opposite.

My past made me a stronger advocate for myself, resilient in the face of tragedy, calm when everything came crashing down, and a very quick learner.

Without the struggles that I overcame, I would never have built the mental tools necessary to overcome extreme difficulty. I wouldn't be typing this from my desk at my dream company. I wouldn't have a message to share with the world. I wouldn’t have a road map to my personal success to inspire you. 

So, if you’re struggling today, or if you can remember a difficulty that you went through, take some time to appreciate that gift today.

Because the price that you paid to learn those lessons and build that resilience, will pay dividends for the rest of your life.

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

Struggling To Get Out Of Debt? Try Minimalism

I recently shared my super painful debt story on the Chain of Wealth Podcast. This interview inspired me to create a new series: Rise From Rock Bottom. This series tells every story from my failure years - and how I overcame each one.

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Growing up, my parents had a lot of stuff.

We had three cars, including a Mercedes Benz and Cadillac Escalade. I distinctly remember having a TV in each room with a stack of DVDs about as tall as my 4-foot 10-year-old body (and about four of me wide). My stepdad never left the house with out his signature chain and watch.

I just knew we were rich. How else could we afford all this stuff?

I always imagined my future would be the same: I'd have so many lavish things (the best TVs, movie collection, elaborate entertainment centers, etc.) that friends and family would always want to come to my house for social gatherings.

ALWAYS.

As an adult, I felt like I'd won at life when I got my first car: a new(ish) convertible mustang. She was my baby. Before the car note was paid off on her, I upgraded her to a Mercedes Benz truck. I was 24 and drowning in debt, but in my head I was #winning. 

I had a beautiful apartment in the best neighborhood (because my daughter just had to go to THE BEST schools). I "invested" in phones, cameras and computers.

I mean, I had to keep up with our way of life, right? 

Then, I found out about minimalism and I felt like a complete idiot. 

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is the alignment of your spending with your values. This requires that you get crystal clear on what things you want in life and then consciously take things that do not align with your values out of your life.

You might think that minimalism means you can’t have nice things. In reality, you can have anything you want. The key to minimalism is only bringing things into your life that you have a strong feeling about. Things that align with your purpose and your passions.

Why Did I Start Minimizing My Life?

I didn’t intend to become a minimalist. In fact, I intended to be quite the opposite. I planned to have many lavish things.

However, there came a moment, somewhere between the fancy car and the nice apartment that I realized I couldn’t afford my lifestyle. I was constantly working just trying to keep up with all of the bills that this life required.

I was becoming tired, depressed and slightly suicidal just thinking about how much I had to work just to pay bills.

I couldn’t afford anything outside of my bills. No self care. No family vacations. No pie.

That’s when I decided I needed to get rid of my bills. Getting rid of my bills meant that I needed to get rid of my stuff.

I never wanted to get rid of my stuff.

I felt like I was losing. I was a failure because I couldn’t figure out how to afford the lifestyle that I wanted without selling my soul to work.

I minimized because I wanted my life back.

Let me break down what I saw before Minimalism (B.M.):

Fancy Car! = Travel in Style
Nice Apartment! = Best Education & Schools
Computers & iPads! = Newest and Fanciest Gadgets & Tools

I was successful even though I had to work three jobs just to live paycheck to paycheck and barely afford all of my things.

I was successful because my daughter could attend a nice school. I could drive around in a nice car. I could look like a success to others.

Here's what that looked like after Minimalism (A.M.)

I decided I’d only keep things in my life that I absolutely needed to survive. I took a look at everything I had in terms of how much it was costing me every month.

At a deeper level, I started to ask how much I’d have to work to be able to afford each one.

FANCY CAR

• Monthly car payment: $650 / month

• Car insurance: $250 / month

• Weekly gas tank re-fill: $80 ($240 / month)

• Quarterly maintenance: $900 (This is variable, but $900 was like the standard at the benz store. For example, replacing the windshield wipers cost me $250. I'll estimate $300 / month to make the math easy here.)

FANCY APARTMENT

• Rent: $1600 / month

• Utilities: $100 / month

• Internet: $70 / month

MONTHLY OVERHEAD

My monthly overhead is the minimum amount of money I would have to make before I broke even.

That means, if I want to save any money, I would have to make at least that much money - and then I'd need to make more to be able to save anything. 

Note: This does not include any credit card bills, groceries or any entertainment. #facepalm

 

Overhead = Fancy Car Bills + Fancy Apartment Bills

($650+$250+$240+$300)+($1600+$100+$70)=$3,210

Minimalism and Debt

With this much overhead each month, I couldn't get out of debt, no matter how hard I worked! I kept thinking I needed to work more, work harder and increase my skills so I could make more money. 

In my head, I was living a normal life. Everyone wants cars and their own space... why can't I seem to afford... the basics?

Once I started to minimize my life, I noticed that I no longer need as much money to survive.

I did a voluntary repossession on my car and then no longer needed to pay a car note, car insurance or maintenance. I moved in with my mother and no longer needed to pay high rent every month.

Almost immediately, I stopped working three jobs and eventually got down to just one freelance client.

Because I didn’t need money to cover my excessive overhead, I could now pursue my Master’s Degree that I had been wanting to find time (and money) for. I could focus on finding a job that fit my personality and values. I could spend my time networking and making the right connections in order to help me move forward.

Related Content: How to Guarantee Grad School is Worth Your Time and Money

Freeing myself of the things allowed me to reduce my monthly debts and gain the freedom to choose how I wanted to spend my time. (Because for the first time, I had free time!)

Minimalism gave me my first taste of freedom… and I was never going back.

How To Minimize Your Life

DEFINE YOUR VALUES

The key to minimalism is defining what’s important to properly make decisions that align with what fills your soul and makes you happy.

In my life, I had to realize that my car and apartment weren’t making me happy. They were just taking up my time and energy.

RE-EVALUATE THE THINGS YOU ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR LIFE

Take a look at all of the things you currently have in your life and ask yourself whether each thing truly brings you joy or serves a practical purpose. If an item doesn’t do either of those things, then see if it’s possible to remove it from your life.

When I moved back in with my parents, I decided I’d only take things with me that aligned with my core identity. I got rid of a ton of things:

• Arts and crafts materials that I hadn’t used in years

• Books I never planned to read again (Ex. College Textbooks)

• Wine glass sets I wouldn’t need at my parent’s house since I wouldn’t be entertaining there

• Promotional items from a failed startup

• Clothes in the back of my closet that I never wore

I started to equate getting rid of things with freedom. My stuff would no longer weigh me down or hold me back.

BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU BRING INTO YOUR LIFE

Once you’ve purged all of the things that you don’t want in your life, your next job is to ensure you don’t over-complicate your life going forward by bringing in things you don’t need.

One of my favorite sayings is “If it’s not a HELL YES, it’s a HELL NO.”

That means if you’re not super excited and enthusiastic about something, than feel confident in saying no to bringing it into your life. This is true for friends, associates, colleagues, opportunities as well as material items.

Only bring things into your life that align with your values and what YOU want out of your life.

Minimalism allowed me to reduce the amount I was spending on things that I didn’t care about, and to start spending my money on the things that mattered the most. It gave me freedom. It gave me choices. And I’m forever grateful.

Do you have any examples of how minimalism improved your life? What’s the next step you are going to take?

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

---

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

What To Do When You Can't Hide Your Struggle Anymore

 I recently shared my super painful debt story on Chain of Wealth Podcast. That interview inspired me to create this series. Rise From Rock Bottom tells every story from my failure years - and how I overcame them.

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At the age of 23, I had a Mercedes Benz truck. My primary source of income was my babysitting job. (I know, don't judge.) 

I had a boyfriend who insisted I trade in my convertible (that I loved) for this truck, which he’d “help out” with. (read: he’d pay the bill) I didn’t know how much that truck cost until we broke up and I received the first bill.

All in, the car cost me nearly a GRAND per month.

That’s without any maintenance factored in. I went to get new brakes once and it cost me $850. Replacing the windshield wipers cost me $125. #FacePalm

I struggled to keep making my car payments. I took on additional jobs as a freelancer at night and a waitress on the weekends.

My life turned into a never-ending hamster wheel of making money, paying off debt, using credit cards to feed myself, and then making more money to pay the credit cards off.… Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

It wasn’t long before I maxed out all three of my credit cards and had nothing left to hold me afloat.

So I did the unthinkable… 

I called up my car loan company and requested a voluntary repossession of my car. 

My credit would tank but I had to take the hit because the bills were tanking my life. 

Give your self permission to fall apart

I gave back my car and bought a very cheap 1993 hooptie with a trunk that didn’t close all the way. The lid, held down by a bungee cord, would wobble up and down as I drove. #definitelynotabenz

Each time I sat in the car, which smelled like rust and old age, I would start crying thinking to myself “I used to ride around in style. I used to love my beautiful car. And look at my life now.” 

I'm a freakin' loser. 

Before downgrading my car, I could easily lie to myself. I convinced myself I’d figure out my financial problems quickly and easily. I’m a smart girl, nothing would hold me back.

I finally faced my truth sitting in my hooptie: I was struggling. I was in pain. I was suffering - alone. That change is here and I can’t outrun it. I have to deal with it.

Yes, that was the first moment I fell apart. (And there were many more moments to follow.)

Don't try to hold everything in. Be honest with yourself - your life sucks. It's okay to let that pain out and cry if you need to.

Give your family a chance to support you

My friends and family knew I was struggling with big life changes and finding my way. But I’d put on my "I'm a big girl, I’ll figure this out" smile.

It was a very convincing facade.

On the inside I was panicking, wondering how I could’ve shoveled myself so deep in a hole, how I could be so stupid, how I could put myself in this position.

Pulling up in my busted up car was the first visible indication anyone had that my life wasn’t as peachy keen as I pretended. I couldn’t hide the fact that I was struggling anymore.

The beautiful gift in not being able to hide your pain is finally being able to talk about it.

Once you’re able to speak your truth, your friends and family have the opportunity to support you… and it may surprise you just how much love and support you receive during your darkest time.

Accept Your Life As It Is

After about a month of driving that car, I completely forgot that I once was a luxury car owner.

I started to own the fact that I was now the owner of this crappy car that took me from point A to point B. Over time, this became my new normal. 

Accept where your life is right now and that it was YOUR life decisions that got you here. This acceptance allows you to stop lamenting on the past, brings you into the present, and allows you to start preparing for your future.

Start To Laugh At Everything. 

There were several times where the cord that held my trunk closed would break and I’d have to pull over to re-tie it. The first time it snapped, I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and cried until I mustered up enough energy to get out of the car.

I thought to myself “look at me…this is what my life has come to.”

After a while, I’d built a unique skill for driving just slow enough over bumps and dips in the road so those rope-snapping moments became less frequent.

When the rope would break on occasion, I’d giggle to myself and say "Of course the rope broke in the middle of the highway... why wouldn't it?"

Laughing can make all of your hard moments… bearable.

Remember your story is not finished

When you hit a life rut, it can feel like there's no way you're going to get out of this.

When I was obviously on the boarder of breaking down and couldn't take my life any longer I had a friend who would tell me "If you're going through hell, just keep going." 

It wasn't very helpful for him to say that. I was hoping for something like "your brighter days are ahead" but there's really no way to tell when those brighter days will come.

Some days you just have to keep going.

As long as you don’t give up on yourself… as long as you’re still our here breathing… your story still has a chance at a happy ending.

Find The Tiniest Thing To Be Grateful For

Even though I was riding around in a hideous car that was forest green with a trunk that didn’t close, I no longer had to pay $1000 a month to maintain my car. I would never again have to worry about fixing breaks for $850 or windshield wipers for $125. 

Because I had reduced my spending by so much simply get getting rid of one large monthly expense, I was able to stop working as hard as I was.

Slowly, I started to regain my sanity, feel like myself and rebuild my life.

I was grateful for that opportunity… and my tribulation became my testimony.

xoxo

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

---

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

How To Guarantee Grad School Is Worth Your Time & Money

I recently shared my super painful debt story on Chain of Wealth Podcast. This interview inspired me to create this series: Rise From Rock Bottom. It tells every story from my failure years - and how I overcame each one. 

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After college, I struggled (probably more than most people) to find a job.

In fact, after achieving straight A's through college, I was rejected from every medical school I applied for, fired from my first job in a doctor’s office after only two weeks, and was swiftly sent an "unfortunately we don’t think you’re a good fit” email from every company I sent a resume to.

I decided to go to grad school to give myself a second chance at "getting it right" because I was drowning in my own depression, inundated in my growing insecurity and suffocating in my steadily increasing credit card debt.

Why Go Back To School At All?

I'm often asked how in the world (after my first trial at higher education was such a huge fail) could I go back to school and take on more student debt to get yet another piece of paper. 

Yes, I know. It doesn't seem to make sense.

There was no guarantee that the degree would get me an interview, much less a job.

Why was I so willing to take that chance? 

Because I wasn’t taking a chance at all. 

The first time I went to school because that was expected of me. The second time I went to school with a clear head, a clear motive, a focused outcome and a hell of a lot of research. 

In this post, I'm going to walk you through every step of my decision-making journey, and show you exactly how I decided on which industry to pursue, which Master's Program would be worth my money and how I planned to make ever dollar of my student loan debt worth it. 

The Research

I choose to go to business school to get a degree in marketing analytics after A LOT of research.

A few months prior to enrolling, I had stumbled upon an article about how big the data industry was growing. Exponentially. Which basically means the need in the industry for analysts was going from 1 Million, to 10 Million, to 100 Million very quickly. But there were not enough experienced people in the industry to fill all the jobs that were rapidly being created.

Then, I researched the salaries in that industry and learned they started off at $75K+ at entry level. 

That piqued my interest (a lot!) and I decided to do more digging before making a commitment.

Here's the research I went through before officially deciding to go back to school:

 

The Industry

I looked for an industry that was growing rapidly and undergoing a lot of innovation. 

Competition for Jobs

Your competition would be the other people fighting for the same jobs that you're applying for. Are there tons of people fighting for these jobs? Or are the jobs fighting for people?

Entry Level Salary

Will it be enough to cover your student loans? Will that salary make the time you spent in school worthwhile? How long would it take you to pay off your loans? Could you live a decent lifestyle while still paying off your loans?

 

The School’s Career Services & Employment Rate

When I left undergrad, I realized getting a job wasn't a cake walk like I thought it would be. To help with my post-college job search, I called up my school’s career services office. I told them that I was a recent grad who was struggling to get a job. The career services worker pulled google up and gave me a link to a job event in DC because they didn't have any school job fairs on campus. 

I could’ve done that from the comfort of my own home.

I decided right then and there that I would never attend a school that didn’t have an amazing career services office, with a great reputation and recruiters from top companies who visited the school frequently.

When looking for the school you'll be going to, ask yourself:

• Is the name recognizable?

• Do big name companies fight to come here?

• How frequent are the job fairs? Which companies attend?

• Do they have an active career services office?

Alumni Recommendations

Graduate school can cost A LOT of money. Many people have to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt in order to afford an education.

Talk to alumni about their experiences. (Alumni will tell you whether their school did anything for them or not! I NEVER talk about where I went to undergrad. If someone happens to ask me about the school on their own, I tell them to RUN!)

 

The Program & Opportunities

The program you ultimately choose will be a huge decision point. Make sure that the coursework is comprehensive and covers all of the basic knowledge you'll need to start working right away after graduation.

Look to make sure that classes are taught by professors who also have working or consulting experience with large companies that you'd be interested in working for.  

Additionally, look through the website to find different hands-on opportunities that exist there.

Is there a way that you can gain experience while in school to show that you're proactive? Some school also offer opportunities to provide research or write your own white paper. These are great opportunities to show how your hard work can make an impact on a company. Look for a school that has a lot of these opportunities available to you. 

The Graduating Class Employment Rate

How many graduates get jobs when they leave?

With all of those things working in my favor, I was confident that a Marketing Analytics Master's Degree was the right investment for me. 

The Money

I chose an accelerated 9-month program which gave me two advantages: 

1. The accelerated program cost less than the other program options. (It was $40K.)

2. I would be out of the workforce for a shorter period of time.

I then turned my focus to other opportunities that I had to either save money or make more money:

• I moved in with my Mother to reduce my financial burden.

• I worked on campus in exchange for a stipend, which I applied to my student loans.

• I worked as a freelancer while in school for a few hours a week.

I used my freelance money to pay my phone bill, transportation costs and for networking happy hours. Any additional freelance income was applied to my student loans. By the time I graduated, I only owed $25K on my loans. 

Side note: Networking is very important, especially if you're trying to switch industries. I ultimately landed my job because I clicked with someone at a networking event who helped me get an interview.

The Jobs

Before I graduated, I had over 10 in-person interviews lined up with top companies. (I had zero interviews before that... and they definitely were not with top companies.)

My first offer out of grad school was $75K. I lost that offer because of my bad credit.

My second offer was $65K and I was too afraid to negotiate any higher. I probably could've pushed for $70K, but I didn't want to call any attention to myself after losing my first offer.

Side note: No matter how afraid you are, you should at the very least ask for a raise, especially as a woman. The worst that can happen is that the recruiter says no and then you’re no worse off than what you were initially offered.

The Debt Payoff Strategy

I've been working for officially 2 years now.

I had $42K in loans when I started my job. $17K of that came from my undergrad that I was never able to pay off because I never made enough money. The remaining $25K came from grad school. In the first six months, I paid off my consumer debt and was ready to tackle my student loans. 

I had a 2-bedroom apartment with a $1600/month rent bill, which made it difficult to pay off my student loan debt. I took an opportunity to let my friend's grandfather who was visiting from Africa live with me for 6 months. He paid $500 in rent, which I put directly to my student loans. 

Once he moved out, I decided to use more drastic measures. I lowered my expenses by getting rid of anything I didn't need to survive: 

• I sold my car (which meant no more gas, car maintenance or car insurance payments).

• I moved in with an Aunt who charged me less than half of what I previously was paying for rent, and I didn't have to pay for internet or utilities.

• I only allowed myself $150 of “fun money” to spend from each paycheck - everything else went towards my loans.

It's been 17 months so far, and I've already paid off $18K in student loans! 

I plan on paying off the remainder by the end of the year. I also have accumulated over $19K in savings and investments - while paying off my debt. I am currently $5K away from a positive net worth. (I started off with -$38K net worth in January of last year so this is HUGE!)

Related: How This 28-year-old Increased Her Net Worth By $20,984 in 13 months

Going back to school is a difficult decision because it's a large investment that can eat up your time and money (and possibly put you deeper into debt). However, if you do your research and make a solid plan, you can put yourself in a position to positively change your life forever. 

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!