Category: News

A lot of Americans have misconceptions about human trafficking. Many believe it’s a third-world problem, or that it’s about kidnapping people or that it couldn’t happen to them or anyone they know.

That is inaccurate.

The fact is it happens every day in America. It involves an entire process beyond kidnapping that could easily happen to anyone regardless of socioeconomic status.

And there’s one expert who knows this – Kara Smith.

But she’s not just sitting on the sidelines hoping the problem will improve on its own; she’s on the frontlines of the epidemic because she understands how devastating the problem is.

“A lot of women think that human trafficking can’t happen to them, can’t happen to their children and their daughters. But… it is happening primarily here in the United States,” Kara said.  

Kara explains that trafficking often begins online. Any young female can go on social media and publicly post about herself and her troubles and gain the attention of a trafficker. And that’s how simple it begins.

“A trafficker is not going to just come out and tell you ‘Hey, I want to sell you’. They’re going to learn who you are, learn what your vulnerabilities are and then become your best friend or your boyfriend,” Kara said.

She continued, “Then they’re going to manipulate you and then slowly groom you into thinking that selling yourself is an acceptable way of life.”

Kara works with a non-profit organization known as DeliverFund. The organization investigates trafficking networks and works with law enforcement to go after those involved. She is driven by the fact that she has children of her own and the thought of them becoming trafficked is troubling enough.

Now she wants to be part of the solution to help the victims and their families.

Kara invites you to help in the fight against trafficking by donating to their cause to help end the trafficking epidemic.

To learn more about DeliverFund or to donate, visit their website at www.DeliverFund.org. And follow her on Instagram.

Have you read these other posts?

Learn about Gianna Kramer. she makes flooring a total female experience.

Also check out Renee Mattos, she’s a jack of all trades and wants women everywhere to know you can be, too.

Who is Trudy Jacobson? Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.

In 2009, Gianna saw a business opportunity and, without hesitation, went after it. She knew for a long time that the home improvement industry is a very male dominated business and she wanted to change that.

So she did.

Gianna started LGK Flooring but wanted more than just selling and installing flooring. She wanted to make it an experience for the women of households.

“My husband and I both started LG Kramer flooring. He focuses on the Certified Master installation, and I focus on the customer experience,” Gianna said.

As the face of the company, Gianna recognized early on that, despite most home renovation decisions being a family decision, the women of the households are the primary driving factors when it comes to design and installation. And she wanted to capitalize on that and created “an adventure.”

“Since 2009, most of our staff are women that are trying to guide our clients into this flooring adventure. What we have found as a company, the decision maker is actually the woman.”

As Gianna dug more into the flooring industry, she also noticed that- since home improvements are male dominated- the contractors would impose their ideas on what was the right direction.

“With our company, we wanted it to be ‘what is your dream?’, ‘what are you trying to accomplish?’, ‘what is your lifestyle?’ We really wanted to bring that to each one of our customers by offering a female kind of experience,” Gianna said.

Gianna has found her niche in life by helping empower other women while running a thriving business. It is because of these factors that she feels she hit a sweet spot in life.

But it didn’t happen by accident. She applied some of her life lessons along the way.

“I grew up with the mentality that you can get much more done if you have a team and a dream. My constant thought process is, find people that you like and are on the same path as you, and anything is possible,” Gianna said.

You can find out more about Gianna and her business by visiting www.LGKramerflooring.com

Who is Trudy Jacobson?Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.

Renee knew from a very early age that doing make-up wasn’t just a way to look better- it was a creative outlet. And like any artist, Renee wanted to follow her passion and continue to improve her craft.

After high school, Renee enrolled in beauty school and quickly landed her first job after graduating. As she fine-tuned her craft, she eventually pursued a specialty area. 

“I started doing acrylic nails. But then I started doing make-up for body builders and fitness competitors,” Renee said.

And to this day she continues the unique craft of make-up artistry. But she readily admits that doing make-up for fitness competitors and brides is fun, but not her favorite. 

“My favorite kind of make-up is the ‘craziest shit’ possible. Things like glamour, editorial photo shoots, Halloween… say no more,” she said. 

“I start getting Halloween bookings every Halloween for the next year. And the crazier the better. If you want to be a zombie, Cleopatra, an alien… that’s what I want to do.”

But she didn’t stop there. She found another activity that she excelled at and, like her art, is displayed for the world to see.

Modeling. 

Modeling is not just a gift that only certain people have. It takes dedication and hard work to excel at that, too. And now she found a way to incorporate both make-up artistry and modeling in her daily life. 

“I realized that not only do I want to be the person behind the camera doing the hair and make-up, I kind of wanted to be the person in front of the camera,” Renee said.

As a young adult, Renee discovered how fitness and exercise will directly affect her ability to be a successful model. 

With a friend as a professional photographer by her side, the two went to work. Renee has since grown a large social media following for her modeling photos and found a way to monetize them. 

One of her strategies for success is to always pursue what feels right, regardless of what other people may think or say. And that’s the message she wants to share with other women. 

“It’s all about feeling better about you. It’s just about that person in the mirror. Just do you and everybody else’s opinion does not matter,” Renee said. 

Her lasting words are a testament to her commitment to improve herself in way possible- sound advice for anyone. 

To follow Renee Mattos on social media, visit her Instagram @mindful_mattos

Who is Trudy Jacobson?Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.

Being successful is no easy feat. Most people go into a career or project with high hopes and simply expect to succeed. What they later realize is how difficult things can get and how much work it truly takes to be successful. 

But there are those few gifted individuals who seem to be hugely successful at whatever endeavor they take on- no matter the odds. 

Jules Price is one of those people. She is a true jack of all trades and everything she touches turns to gold. 

But it’s not about luck. Several years ago, Jules was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Instead of letting the condition run her life, she decided to take on life on her own terms. This conviction fueled her desire to succeed at everything she chose to do. 

Jules has professional roots in the New York City marketing industry where she has helped countless organizations and people build their brand. While she was in New York, she got involved in the arts.

Using her influence and connections, Jules landed on Broadway and performed in various musicals and operettas- which is no easy feat. New York is home to one of the world’s most dynamic cultural arts scenes. She then spread her wings even further and toured internationally as the role of ‘Maria’ in the highly popular musical The Sound of Music. 

But everything changed for Jules when she moved to Florida. She unexpectedly received a greeting card from a person she once spoke to but never met. That’s when she realized she had a real knack for connecting with, influencing, and helping people.

“It’s humbling to be able to non-judgmentally and with kindness be able to let someone know what it is that I see if I think it’s going to be something that will help them,” Jules said.

She now helps other women learn how to influence others and control their own destinies. This passion led her to write a second book in 2019, Don’t Eat the Scraps, a humorous look into dating and relationship advice for women. 

She authored her first book in 2010, Secrets in the SOC Drawer, which was written to help businesses build relationships. 

Jules is still in the relationship marketing industry and is committed to helping women everywhere. Whatever project she decides to pick up next, you can bet she will excel at it- and so can you.

For more about Jules Price, visit her website by clicking HERE.

Who is Trudy Jacobson?

Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals. 

Karen spent years in the corporate sector working in the music and medical industry. Her position required her to constantly travel from one part of the country to the next. It was in these quiet moments in traveling where she began to reflect on her path in life- but felt unfulfilled and off balance.

With no business ownership experience but full of ambition and motivation, she decided to start a business. In 2018, she went all in, left her career behind, and opened Sirius Day Spa. 

What started off as a scary endeavor turned into a successful business. Karen was well on her way to a better life balance and true happiness. 

But then everything changed in a short amount of time in 2020.

“We’re in the service business, you touch people and when covid happened, no one could have ever predicted what had occurred. So, we were forced to shut down. I was worried at the time- ‘was that the end of my dream?’ But it turned out to be just the beginning,” Karen said.

Instead of giving up and going back to a 9 to 5, Karen doubled- down on her business venture and started to acquire more equipment to add to her spa even though they could not fully operate under the covid restrictions. 

But by using her newfound business savvy and her gut instincts, she pushed on through. And the result was tremendous. 

“When we opened, it was literally floodgates. It was just wonderful. People couldn’t wait to be looking gorgeous again and feeling great,” Karen said. 

One of the reasons Karen fell in love with business ownership is because of her base clientele. A large majority of her clients are women. She relates to them because she understands their challenges. By running a spa, she is in a professional position to help women and loves seeing them do well and be happy. 

“I like that aspect of it. It’s less rigid and more giving. We are all about community,” Karen said. 

In addition to empowering and supporting her clients, she helps the local community as well. Karen and her organization belong to several philanthropic groups. She periodically hosts fundraising events and turns the money raised to support local non-profit organizations. 

“Some examples include Big Cat Habitat and the Circus Arts Conservatory. And we’re members of Sisterhood for Good that provides grants yearly to local non-profits,” Karen said. 

With her professional and personal experience in the corporate sector and now from business ownership, her message to women everywhere is that you can do it, too.

“There are resources there, you can do it, don’t give up. And there is support all around you. That’s another benefit of being a woman- there’s so many women in business support groups that people will lift you up,” Karen said. 

A very uplifting message.

To learn more about Karen and Sirius Day Spa go to https://www.siriusdayspas.com/

Who is Trudy Jacobson?

Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.

Amy grew up with a childhood dream of one day becoming a veterinarian- just about every child wants that. But the difference was Amy actually followed through with her childhood dream and entered the veterinarian field. 

However, it wasn’t exactly what she expected, and she never developed a passion for it. 

That’s when she discovered something completely different that changed her life forever. 

“I ended up riding along with the fire department, loved it, and started in that career,” Amy said.  

It appeared Amy had a bug for public service all along. She grew up in a law enforcement family with both her parents and sister all in law enforcement. Unfortunately, her father was killed in the line of duty, which may be why she wanted to follow through in his footsteps of public service as a fire fighter. 

But she didn’t stop there. She was so passionate about the first responder profession, that her and her husband started a niche training company. 

She explains how it all started. “He did a lot of SWAT training and tactical medicine with the military, so I started training with him. We recognized there was a big gap between what was being provided for military members and what was being provided for law enforcement as far as medical care and training.”

Amy’s company provides very realistic training scenarios involving active-shooter and officer involved shooting incidents. They have a team of people who act as victims of an active shooter, blood make-up and all, and re-create a scene as detailed and as accurate as possible. 

“It’s dynamic and tactical. We believe a lot in practice like you play so everything is loud noises and scenario based to do a positive stress environment for the officers,” Amy said. 

Amy and her husband’s training program is well known among the military and law enforcement community. They have traveled as far as Japan to help train others and are willing to go anywhere so they can help people learn and improve their tactical skills. 

But it isn’t an easy journey. Amy still encounters judgment by virtue of her gender. But once she begins training and teaching others, all those judgments quickly go away. 

It’s that same strength that can help women everywhere. Her message to any woman considering starting a business is:

“Just do it. If you have a passion for something and you see there’s a gap in whatever that is, then you need to go for it.”

And Amy continues to go for it.

You can check out her training company by visiting www.floridatems.com

Who is Trudy Jacobson?

Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals. 

Very few people understand the challenges, difficulties and stress associated with the military and law enforcement profession. 

Trina is not one of them.

As a civilian training instructor for law enforcement, she understands the nature of those professions and the negative long-term effects it can have on the officer or servicemember.

Those in law enforcement are constantly vigilant. They routinely scan an environment to assess potential threats and are continuously on the lookout. This happens both on and off duty because the vigilance is not a switch that can be turned on and off at will.

This troubling dynamic is a large part of the reason Trina started a yoga business that is designed specifically for law enforcement, military and first responders. She also knows firsthand that many of organizations simply don’t have the resources to help their people.

Trina also understands what they go through, and she breaks down some of the science to this unhealthy balance. 

“We have our sympathetic nervous system which most people have heard of as fight, flight, or freeze. And then we have the parasympathetic nervous system, which is more of that rest, digest, restore. They’re [first responders] always in that sympathetic nervous division because of the nature of the job,” she said.

Trina offers yoga as an opportunity to counter the imbalance of what that line of work can do to a person. 

“Yoga and other mindfulness practices has been so instrumental for first responders because it taps into that parasympathetic nervous system,” Trina said.

Another part of her success with the first responder community is that she doesn’t participate with any agency directly. She wants to avoid any apprehension an officer may have from practicing yoga with their peers.

Trina runs a successful business because of her niche clientele and how beneficial her programs are. 

And she wants you to know you, too, can run a successful business and provides critical advice when choosing a business.  

“Know your why. The why can’t be ‘well because I want to make money’. It’s got to go deeper than that,” Trina said. 

Once you find your why, you’re well on your way. 

For more about Trina and her Yoga, visit www.zenwarrioryoga.com

Who is Trudy Jacobson?

Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals. 

Dana and her husband Sal decided to enter the business world by opening a coffee shop. But for Dana, it was more than just the coffee; it was also about service. 

Dana and her family were raised by people who committed themselves to the service of others. Even her husband served in the United States military as a Navy Seal. 

So, it was important for her to enter a business that recreates the feeling of service to others- Battle Ground Coffee Company.

“[We] decided we needed a space where we could invite everybody to have an open conversation, a place where people can come out and hang out. So, when the idea of Battle Grounds Coffee came to life, it was built on that foundation of service to our community, to our customers, to the coffee we serve and to our country to continue that service, that mission- focus on what we could bring to that community,” Dana said.

As many women who entered the small business world know, it wasn’t always a smooth ride. There dedication and business savvy were tested with the onset of the covid pandemic. 

They were forced to close the shop temporarily while restrictions were in place. Dana took a fulltime position at a local hospital in yet another extension of service to community.

Once she was able to reopen the coffee shop, she faced new challenges related to re-opening the business. What started out as a difficult challenge turned into a blessing in disguise. 

“When we were ready to reopen, there were a lot of challenges… a lot of unknowns, a lot of changes and getting used to these changes. The silver lining to covid was it gave business owners the ability to change their direction, their style,” she said.

Dana’s experience with business ownership has been challenging but also very rewarding. Now she wants to encourage all women out there who are considering starting a business to go for it. 

She made no false promises that it will be easy but assures women it’s worth it and that they can do it successfully.

“You have the confidence to do it, you know you do, or you wouldn’t be asking yourself ‘should I open this business.’ Just take that leap.” Dana said.

Very inspiring words.

Check out Dana’s coffee company at https://battlecoffee.com/

Who is Trudy Jacobson?

Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.