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Nilaja Montgomery, 2021 Woman of Influence by Colorado Springs Business Journal, is a relationship manager, connecter, and an all-round get-stuff-done kind of gal who says her biggest professional accomplishment is negotiating a 6-figure salary. But her greatest overall accomplishment in life was giving birth to her son, Justice.

"Being a mother has been my greatest lesson, my greatest gift and my greatest challenge," says Nilaja. "But I'm so happy I chose this path." 

As a self-made woman with an MBA, Nilaja says her guiding star as an adolescent was rising above where she grew up. "I grew up in Gary, Indiana," she says. "My high school's graduation rate at the time was about 75 percent, so every one in four students dropped out. So I aimed to be in the top 20 percent of my class."

Nilaja went on to serve as a medical officer in the Army, serving two deployments to the middle east, and is now writing her memoir to share her experiences with others. She feels called to give a voice to women in the military community, especially those struggling with PTSD. Her goal is to normalize these conversations to raise awareness of service member and veteran mental health needs.

Today, she continues to give herself permission to embrace her boldness and lives life according to her own rules. After losing close friends overseas, Nilaja knows the value of living in the moment and be grateful for it. These values are ones she hopes to pass down as her legacy to her son. 

"Start," she says. "Try it. Try it on. Press the button. Do it. With your knees shaking, your breath short and your heart pounding, do it anyway. The world's most inspiring people are those living out their passions and going in the direction that feels good to their souls. They are those who encourage others and live in a constant state of courage. They are those who are relentless and never give up, no matter how hard life hits."

"LIVE speaks to me most," Nilaja says of Maja Arnold's necklaces. "As a veteran, living the life I want and envision are the most important ideas to me. Watching my son figure life out and figuring out life along with my son and my life partner are amazing journeys that I get to navigate. This life is grande and beautiful!"

May is a month that we continue to honor all mothers. Their beautiful and unparalleled bond of love truly makes the world go round.

If you would like to be featured in Maja Arnold's "WOMEN UPLIFTING WOMEN" blog, please contact us at kristin@elisely.com for an editorial inquiry. This blog was created to inspire, uplift and empower women globally to step through adversity to LIVE a KIND & HAPPY life full of HOPE, FAITH & GOD.

After losing her Army Green Beret husband in combat, 2018 Military Spouse of the Year Krista Simpson Anderson found strength and courage to continue raising her two boys by leaning into her faith in GOD and her community.

The weekend she was notified that he had been badly injured from an IED attack, she still showed up to the small spouse group that had hosted by the spouse of her husband's commander. She knew if ever there had been a time she needed to be there, it was then. And those women continued to show up for her.

Today, her mission is to “find a need and fill it.” And so her nonprofit, The Unquiet Professional (TUP), was born out of both gratitude and grief after the death of SSG Michael H. Simpson. Krista says that the support she received from her community inspired her to do more. She now serves surviving families, veterans, and their families by providing healthy and empowering opportunities to heal from the wounds of war.

She shares that her biggest highlight and success over the last eight years has been impacting thousands of lives through TUP’s focus on mental health, empowerment, and strengthening families.

“We have had our ups and downs, but we have always been able to make a difference in the lives of others, while trusting ‘we are where we are meant to be,’” she says. “I am so proud of the incredible individuals who work so hard to help me carry on Mike’s legacy. I could never do it alone, and I have never had to.”

Krista has since remarried another Green Beret, and believes it is important to offer support to other spouses who have remarried because their journey is one that is unique.

“I am proud of these individuals who have lost their loved ones and had the courage to move forward,” she says. “I know the ray of emotions and challenges that come along with that decision can be difficult. But I also know what a gift it is.”

Through her most challenging days, Krista has found that her desire to use the life GOD has chosen for her to make a difference for others is what continues to drive her. Every day she seeks to be the person for someone else that she needed at the beginning of her journey.

“I want to be there for them through their darkness and continue to be there, encouraging them along the way, when the light does finally begin to peek back in,” says Krista.

Another driving force for Krista is to maintain the legacy of her late husband that she is passing down to her boys. They were so young when he passed, that she and her husband make a daily vigilant effort to keep his presence in their home. Her oldest son expressed to her at age 4 how much he loves that TUP reminds him of his daddy, because he never wants to forget him.

“I get this amazing opportunity to impact the lives of others while sharing Mike’s life with the world, praying that I can also show my kids what a gift it is to serve others,” she says.

If you would like to be featured in Maja Arnold's "WOMEN UPLIFTING WOMEN" blog, please contact us at kristin@elisely.com for an editorial inquiry. This blog was created to inspire, uplift and empower women globally to step through adversity to LIVE a KIND & HAPPY life full of HOPE, FAITH & GOD.

Feeling as though we aren’t good enough… for one reason or another… is a struggle common to the female journey. And in those weak moments, it feels impossible to believe that the only person holding us back is ourselves.

But what if we’re wrong? What if we are enough… simply because we just are? What if the power to LIVE the life of our dreams is already within us?

Teen author Kelen Tamurian says she has wasted many years on striving for perfection. But there was always something she felt that she could have done better. There was always something to criticize. She just never felt good enough. Not her grades – even though she is an honor student – not her ability to play the sports she loved, and not her body.

“We LIVE in a society where more is better, and perfection is the object we are told to obtain,” says Kelen. “I compared every inch of myself to what I thought I should look like, act like, and be like. I spewed words of hatred towards my body that carried me through everyday life, and I ridiculed myself for missing that one point on my math test because I thought I should’ve been able to get that perfect score. I thought I needed it to be smart, worthy, and valuable.”

And so, Kelen wrote SIMPLY Not ENOUGH, a fictional novella that encapsulates the journey of a teenage girl who learns to accept that she is good enough, simply because she is.

Kelen says through writing her book, she too began to tell herself that her worth did not depend on any outward appearance or trait that she possesses. Her worth depends simply on the fact that she exists, that she has a heart that beats to LIVE the life she chooses and is open to giving and receiving love. She recognized that she is enough, simply because she is. No questions asked.

“My role as a teen author and teen mental health advocate has completely changed my life, for the better,” says Kelen. “As I was gearing up to write my novella, I realized that women feel this need to shrink themselves to fit into society, a tight pair of jeans, or that standards that others have set for them. I recognized that it was time to stand up and stand out.”

Our journeys to self-love and self-acceptance begins in our thinking, because how we think about ourselves dictates our realities and our relationship with ourselves, says Kelen. It determines the life we LIVE.

For this reason, Kelen started a movement called “Simply Enough,” geared towards empowering young women to show up as their highest selves by understanding the value of their presence and the importance of their worth. Through sharing personal experiences, exploring the topics of Kelen’s book, SIMPLY Not ENOUGH, and building a community of women that lift each other up and support each other in times of need, “Simply Enough” strives to change the way young women show up in the world.

“Simply Enough” provides its members with the tools they need to fully begin to accept themselves as they are through meditation, journaling, body-acceptance, and body-neutrality. They learn how to connect to their inner wisdom and how to heal their past traumas, and most importantly they learn to respect their personal journey without judgment for what it looks like compared to the community members around them.

This high school community has over 40 members based in Washington, and is growing every day. Kelen’s vision is to take her community global.

“I feel that in order to heal and truly come to a place of acceptance for the self, you have to be open to choosing to LIVE your life differently,” says Kelen. “You have to be willing to incorporate new positive habits into your life that will foster change in your thinking about yourself.”

Kelen says her generation struggles with negative social media impacts, which creates a toxic place of comparison that can further contribute to feelings of not feeling good enough. And so, Kelen plans to continue advocating for teen mental health and spreading her messages of self-love and self-acceptance through her Instagram page.

“You have the power to determine your own reality, you have the power to believe in yourself,” she says. “But it will not always be as easy as just deciding that you are good enough. You will have to consciously and continuously work to change your thinking, your habits, and your relationship with yourself, as well as your mind and body. This may sound scary and overwhelming, but it is also exciting and invigorating to know that you are the creator of your own destiny. You are the one who gets to decide how you want to show up in the world and that is a pretty special thing if you let it be.”

Kelen is now a high school senior. Through her continued hard work, she recently received the College of William and Mary Leadership Award and is a finalist for the RevolutionHer Youth Community Vision Award. Through her school, she has also received the English Department Award twice, Jesuit Grad at Grad requirement honor, and is co-president of its National Honor Society chapter.

If you would like to be featured in Maja Arnold's "WOMEN UPLIFTING WOMEN" blog, please contact us at kristin@elisely.com for an editorial inquiry. This blog was created to inspire, uplift and empower women globally to step through adversity to LIVE a KIND & HAPPY life full of HOPE, FAITH & GOD.

There's an old saying that goes something like, "you never know what it's like to watch your heart walk around on its own two little feet, until you become a mother."

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