International Women’s Month
The Image Of Magazine would like to thank Jacqueline Penhos for her contributions for this years International Women’s Month 2021. With all the trials of the pandemic we as a nation have faced over the past year, internationally there have been just many struggles that we all share. Some of the struggles women in general have to face and overcome, were heightened in 2020. We would like to take this month to open up a platform for women to share their thoughts during International Women’s Month.
Thank you Ms. Penhos for bringing this forum to TIOM. Tommy Jennings – Publisher The Image Of Magazine
A Woman’s March…by Stacy Dyson
“I wanted to go…but life got in the way…and I had to work”
We march everyday/
We march to work/ to school/ back home again
March the 1,001 steps between kitchen and kisses goodnight and homework and men and mama and daddy and church and the club/
We march everyday/
Singing and crying and holding hands and healing hearts/we raise our voices to the sky/to our Lord/
To shout /
To praise /
To ask questions/
To make answers/to make a way/
We march/we make a change/we change/
Everything.
As an international Woman of color I am honored to write a piece that focuses on the movers, shakers and all around amazing Women in San Diego who make history every day. March marks the month that we celebrate Women, International Women’s Day (March 8th) and Women Entrepreneurs. Talk about a month worth celebrating in its own right. CELEBRATING HER! Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture, and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987. Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society.
It is my honor to feature a group of loving, conscious, giving, dedicated, badass women who make history daily by their contributions to the city of San Diego. There are many Women that are making their mark to make the world a better place, I invite you to meet a group of Divas who are doing their best to make positive contributions while living their dreams. Many are Small Business Owners, and as a Business Owner myself I invite you to Support, Like, Follow, and Shop their page if you have a need that fits. I can attest for every one of them, their class, culture and quality stand above the rest! As we celebrate Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day and Women’s Small Business, help me ENCOURAGE, EMPOWER and CELEBRATE HER!
A year ago today (3/13/2020) the world changed as we knew it, who would have known that my life would be turned upside down as well. I lost my job, my relationship and I almost lost myself. I once read a quote, that said, “When your neighbor loses their job it’s a recession, when you lose your own job, it’s a depression.” I couldn’t agree more. As a strong, independent, free thinking woman I never allowed a career or partner to define me. However, when we love our job and the person we are sharing our life with, we can be blindsided when loss unexpectedly happens. The first question is always, why did this happen to me? How? As a Mental Health Counselor and Teacher I am supposed to know the signs, see the red flags, know how to cope and most important how to “feel it, shake it off and move on”, I am here to tell you that even the folks who are “trained” b forget procedure and are subject to what I like to call, the Game of Life.
You may be wondering why I am sharing such personal details in a story that is all about highlighting, celebrating and edifying WOMEN. Please allow me to go into more detail. The loss of income, that sustain all of your basic needs is enough to make anyone lose their mind (temporarily), add the stress of a relationship gone wrong that was planned to go on forever and one can have mental turmoil. How does one continue, how do we let it go and rise above? In my case I am eternally grateful for my Faith in God, Resilience from my Mother and personal Motivation to never ever lose hope as long as I am breathing. Writing is one of my biggest passions and a powerful platform to inspire, encourage and share stories to remind others that they are not alone! No matter what hardship or loss you experienced during the past year, if you are reading this, you have survived one of the most traumatic times during the history of this country and our world. You have made it another day, you are RESILIENT! As the daughter of immigrants, an immigrant woman who is a lover of all things equality I have learned to find my voice. During my personal growth I have embraced Self-Care, Awareness and most important of all Self-love. 2020 was one of the most difficult years we have experienced, being a Woman during this time was especially hard if you had children, took care of an elderly parent, lost a job, relationship or simply had a life happen. We are resilient, we keep going, WE GOT THIS! It is my honor to write about a group of Women who not only believe in Paying it Forward, their actions match their words.
Many are Small Business Owners, and as a Business Owner myself I invite you to Support, Like, Follow and Shop their page if you have a need that fits. I can attest for every one of them, their class, culture and quality stand above the rest! As we celebrate Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day and Women’s Small Business, help me ENCOURAGE, EMPOWER and CELEBRATE HER!
ANTOINETT LOVE RANSOM
FREELANCE HOLLYWOOD CORRESPONDANT
Antoinette Love Ransom is a creative, warm, and energetic mother of two with a background in theatre, event production, marketing, business, and insurance. She is an experienced Publicist, Brand Influencer and Hollywood Correspondent, who has also been a successful fashion designer and stylist. She had her own production company, “Exhibit Ambush” (www.ambushevents.com). Most remember her from the “Tyra Banks Show” and others from attending her creative Ambush events. She’s currently the face of DianneO Cosmetics (www.dianneo.com).
In March 2020 Antoinette started shooting for her reality show, but production was put on hold due to the pandemic. They will resume production in the fall of 2021. This reality show documents the lives of 5 minority women going through some dramatic transition in life in their late 30’s early 40’s. The overall premise of the show is to inspire other women to become creative entrepreneurs and business owners. This is a real unedited show that truly shares stories of challenges and life changing triumph; that you normally would not see in any other reality shows.The pandemic has hindered movement in some projects, but Antoinette still finds the time to challenge herself with other creative projects. She just jumped on board as a publicist for a new baseball TVseries coming out called, “On Deck” (www.ondeckseries.com), featuring Padres superstar Fernando Tatis, Jr. In addition to that, she is working hard to try and produce projects with Bob Marley’s nephew, Charles Mattocks. His new docuseries is called, “Reversed” (www.reversedyourhealth.com). She is super excited about both TV projects because this might be the big break she needs to become a producer.
If that’s not enough to keep her busy, she challenged herself to lose 20 pounds and posed for Playboy Australia January 2021. She puts no limits on herself. The odds were against her in the beginning, but she got a personal trainer, ate clean and healthy to make it happen.
She quotes, “When you want something bad enough and put in the hard work it will happen!!”
Carla Rodriguez. Tailor, Wedding Dress Designer, Writer
@TailorLove
Carla Daniela is the owner of Tailor Love and she believes that If you can imagine it, we can make it. She has over 20 years of experience at Tailor Love and we offer professional tailoring, sewing, and designing of clothes. She listens to her clients visions to make them look and feel great
Carla was born in Azores, Portugal, early in life she started trading toys for fabrics, that would be left from Grandma Albertina’s sewing and Carla would transform them into specialty gowns, ball gowns, evening gowns and two-piece dresses. Carla’s taste for fashion design and tailoring would grow through the years, and so would her knowledge by graduating in fashion and textile design. Carla loves sharing ideas and working with other seamstresses, and tailors in the United States and Portugal.
Carla had the dream of opening her own atelier where she could create and help clients visions come to life, and gowns and garments be customized and unique. In 2020 she is now celebrating 10 years of her vision at Tailor Love with happy clients and making them look their best.”
Selam Teklu Real Estate Agent
Selam Teklu a single mother of two young boys. Born in East Africa a place called Eritrea. Moved to the states in 1989. Grew up in San Diego, CA. Currently reside in Phoenix, Arizona. A Licensed Real Estate Agent and an owner of a brand called Ade Power, which is a women empowerment brand. My passion is to help others avoid the hardship that I endured by hosting rooms on Clubhouse about Narcissism and Diabtes. I have a Facebook group where women hold one another accountable by posting daily workout and healthy eating routines as well as writing encouraging words for each other in order to keep us motivated
Stacey Dyson – Stacy Dyson is a Black female poet who explores, illustrates, and illuminates the history, self-image, philosophy, life and times of the Black woman. Ms Dyson has done one-woman shows and workshops in Oklahoma, South Dakota, New Mexico, Massachusetts, California, Nebraska, and all over Colorado. Based in San Diego, she has published six chapbooks and released five spoken word CDs. Her play FANNIE’S GIRLS: A 4-1-1 IN 5-PART ATTITUDE is a Colorado Women’s Playwriting Festival winner. Former Poet Laureate for Imagination Celebration (Colorado Springs) and the CEO/leadpoet of women’s writing and performance groups DragonsWing(Colorado) and Page to Stage:Women’s Voices (San Diego), she was also a 2009 Nominee for Poet Laureate for the State of Colorado. A featured performer for venues all over San Diego, she has also been a TEDx speaker. Her newest collections of poetry, FOLLOW ME ON THIS and LOVELY AND SUFFERING, are due to be released this April. Future projects include a new play tentatively titled AUGUST 5000, and a new online women’s writing and performance group called FIRESCRIBE
