Women’s Empowerment/Motivational Speaker and Visionary Consultant, Shelley Meche’tte (Vampran) is a wife, mother, business woman, writer and actress. She is also the Founder and Coordinator of The PowHERful Woman; a non-profit organization designed to empower, inspire and educate women from all walks of life, encouraging them to discover and live their lives…on PURPOSE! Shelley pours into women, reminding them of the fact that they are POWERFUL…valuable and unique; with MORE to offer than just their physical appearance.
Over the years, Shelley has positively influenced Single Parents through her previous Support Group WRAP (Willing, Ready and Prepared), provided healthy Co-parenting guidelines to former couples who have had children during their relationship, counseled Married Women and couples, those who are (or will become) Blended-Families, taught educational and personal development courses, and Founded a Youth non-profit.
A California native, Shelley attended Cal State University Northridge where she studied Psychology and Theater Arts. Extreme attention to detail and her administrative abilities afforded her the opportunity to share her proficiencies with the likes of such companies as Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Saban Entertainment.
Shelly’s Responses:
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Today, I see a woman, who although still has flaws…is a woman of ambition, talent and deserving of life’s best. This was not always the case though. Years ago, a question like this would’ve brought me to tears, because it would have made me think of everything I felt I wasn’t…the fact that I didn’t really like me and the difficulty in pretending.
Thankfully, I know who I am now…I know what I have to offer and am always willing to walk away from those who feel differently. Does that mean that I feel one hundred every day? Of course not. But what it does mean is that, I’m OK, even on the “not so good” days, because I still know that I’m WORTHY!
What do you do for a living? I am a Life Speaker and Women’s Change Agent. I am also an aspiring Producer, because dreams never expire.
How do you think self-love plays a role in success? You must have self-love and confidence to go after the success that you want. When you don’t believe in yourself or love yourself, you don’t stand up for or believe in yourself. You don’t give value to who you are. Lack of value means the acceptance of any type of behavior or mistreatment towards you.
Loving you means taking all parts of you, the flaws, fragile areas and all, but understanding that “incidents” do not have to define you if you do not allow them to. Loving you means putting yourself in a position of self-respect, which are both needed for a health self-relationship and life success.
How do you think as women, can we work together to lift each other? We can begin by ending the “mean girl” and “clique” syndrome. Stop disliking our fellow woman because she has something that we may not. We were all created differently and the sooner we learn to embrace who we are in every area of our lives the better we will all be.
Stop competing against your fellow woman. We all have vulnerabilities. We all have scars. Let’s stop trying to injure one another with competition. Instead, let’s connect our gifts and talents to create a better environment and world for ourselves and the next generation.
And one of the best ways for us as women to lift each other up is to stop being the “other woman”. Don’t partake in the downfall of your fellow woman’s relationship. Stay out of what she is trying to heal. Don’t become another point of pain for her. Value your fellow woman enough to never harm her…by harming her intimate relationship.
Let’s protect each other’s heart, soothe one another insecurities with encouragement and commit to not intentionally causing each other pain. That is how we work together and lift each other.
Have you had any adversities that you’ve had to overcome in order to achieve success? I had to overcome the fear of success. As crazy as it sounds, I used to literally fear the “unknown” that came with succeeding. I always knew how to dream. I always knew how to plan and work for success. And I think I became comfortable in that. As much as I wanted to reach the GREATER goal, (in my head), the “greater goal” meant that I had nothing else to strive for.
Although I didn’t know it at the time, but having all of my needs met and not having to “want” for anything was a scary concept. I had never seen a life that did not include struggle…making ends meet…having to choose between needs. I had become dysfunctionally comfortable with the struggle.
I had to reprogram my mind and understand that struggling did not make me a financial martyr, just a stressed woman. Success was for me too! I was created with purpose just like everyone else and I deserved to be just as successful as anyone else who puts in the work.
What has been your greatest accomplishment to date? I would have to say…my children. They are my legacies. They are who I pour my heart into. Things come and go; as do the excitement over new accomplishments. But the joy of my children and the blessing of being able to watch them grow into loving, respectable people…that is joy that will never diminish.
What inspires you to keep growing? The slow death of remaining the same. I want to always enjoy experiencing life on new levels. That could be personal, professional, untapped gifts, whatever. Life is meant to be lived. Growing is apart of life’s process and even during the painful times…I never want growth to cease.
