The life I live today is a reflection of the incredible people who have empowered me to expand my goals and create a successful life for me and my daughter. My faith, coupled with their outpouring of love and support, gives me the strength and confidence to go after my dreams.
Over the years, I have consulted financial advisors and taken classes to ensure that I was setting myself up for success. But six years ago, all of that planning went out the window when I gave birth to my daughter, Nina. Due to financial strain, I had to put my birth and other birthing support on my credit card. Since then, I have been trying to pay off my debt, but have struggled with creating the right savings plan that was conducive to my lifestyle.
My friend Rocsana informed me of a program she had participated in called WANDA. As a single mother of two children, she sang the program’s praises and how it helped her, saying she believed it would be a great program for me as well. WANDA felt like the perfect solution to my problem, and today, I am so thankful for her recommendation.
Through WANDA, I have not only found a community of women who are also single moms and experiencing similar things in their life and career, but I have created meaningful friendships that I know will last a lifetime.
Being in this program has been such a blessing to me and my daughter. Outside of learning about financial planning, I connected with a mom who shared life-altering resources for my daughter, who is on the autism spectrum. Getting to connect with other moms who have children that are similar to mine has made this experience even more meaningful.
This program is also teaching me how to balance paying off my debt and manage my credit, so that I can start building my business. In 2024, I started my own business, Nina’s Home Bakery, making allergy-friendly desserts for friends and family.
I had always thought my life was supposed to be behind a desk assisting other people, building other people’s dreams, and managing their businesses. But now I feel empowered to not only be a woman business owner, but a single mom business owner. The skills that I’ve learned through WANDA, like retirement planning and budgeting, not only help me support this dream, but allow me to build it up and expand it to something even greater.
In the next couple of years, I hope to continue sharing love and appreciation through selling my desserts and catering events, as I did most recently at WANDA’s Community Celebration.
If you are a single mom and facing financial difficulties, or you just want to enhance your skills and knowledge regarding finances, resume writing, or budgeting, WANDA is the program for you. For me, it was an absolute blessing. I have not only gained knowledge about managing my finances, but I have also gained a loving support system.