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      News & Press — female service members

      Let Go And LIVE

      Let Go And LIVE

      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.

      Finding HOPE on Memorial Day

      Finding HOPE on Memorial Day

      HOPE is what fills life with promise and light. It fills our souls on days that feel dark, knowing that brighter ones are just around the corner. Much of this HOPE we carry as women comes from being part of a community that is larger than us. Here, at Maja Arnold, we represent a community of inspiring women.

      Women like Shellie Willis, a veteran and advocate to military communities across the country. Shellie's heart shines through in all she does, as she provides HOPE to our female veterans, as she shifts the needle in their lives by providing them with life-changing skills and resources. 

      After 24 years of service in the US Army, Shellie retired a Master Sergeant and shares that starting a new career as a civilian was absolutely daunting for her. She believes that very few veterans have HOPE during their transition out of the military and land their "dream career," start a business, or even decide to continue their education immediately afterwards. 

      Over the last six and half years of working in workforce development with a focus on veteran’s initiatives, she has found that most really don’t have a clue without being given a strong sense of direction and purpose as to what that next move should be. Shellie also discovered that service women didn’t realize they were a highly underrepresented demographic within a demographic.   

      As women, she says they identified with where they served, whether it be as a Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Marine or Coast Guardsmen, and that their voices and identities were aborted by those roles. She realized immediately after retirement that women spend much of their time serving and suppressing at the same time.

      So, Shellie decided to create a movement and community of HOPE that continues to educate and empower our service women to and through transition, for however long it takes by building a community of connectors in life coaching, lifestyle, branding, health and wellness, financial readiness and more. Service women need to be reminded they are women and that they are amazing, she says. Long after their military service they can define themselves and be empowered to shift into their next phase of life.

      Redefining You Foundation is a community for transitioning service women, women veterans, and military spouses providing them HOPE through access to local, regional and national resources. Being redefined means shifting your thinking and lifestyle to the next phase in life by creating a blueprint that requires activation and accountability, says Shellie.

      For the work Shellie has done to support our women veterans she received the Female Founder Alliance Champion Award in 2019 and currently serves as the Ms. Veteran America 2020 2nd Runner Up. 

      To learn more about Redefining You Foundation click HERE.

      We at Maja Arnold would like to wish a very Happy Memorial Day to our service members, veterans, and their families. To those whose loved one gave the ultimate sacrifice, they will never be forgotten. And to Shellie, thank you for brightening the way by filling our female veterans with HOPE.

       Photo credits: Abby Laguido, founder of Pixel Parlour

       

      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.