Celebrating My Favorite Women

Today is International Women’s Day, and there’s no better day than today to celebrate all my favorite women! Each and every one of them fill me with love and awe, and all of them are my queens 👑

Mom (@Carolinecarsina)

My mom is the source of everything I am, and I am so grateful for everything she’s done for me. Since I was born, she has done everything in her power to keep me safe and help me grow. I am so thankful for all the summers she spent teaching me math and science, the countless times she brought me to the library, and all hours we spent together making art. She taught me to appreciate the beauty of math, the importance of reading, and the power of art. She passed along her love for photography to me, and she taught me to see the world in new ways when she gave me my first camera in fourth grade (You can see my mom’s photos on her insta @carolinecarsina!) Her work as an environmental engineer taught her to love our earth, and she passed on her deep passion for sustainability and reducing waste to me. She was the OG sustainability queen reusing peanut butter jars as drinking glasses in 2007 before it became a trendy Pinterest thing. When I told her I was no longer buying clothes that are not secondhand for sustainability and ethical reasons, she hopped on board and started shopping at Goodwill herself. Beyond that, she never stops cooking food for me and cutting fruit for me. She inspire me every day, and she is my hero!

Carmen (@carmenyharmony)

Carmen is my original role model. She is 3 1/2 years older than me, and when I was little, she was everything to me. Whatever she did, I wanted to follow. When she ate something, I wanted to eat it too. When she started to learn piano, I wanted to learn piano. For this reason I became nicknamed as “me too!” Carmen is still my role model to this day, and I haven’t stopped following in her footsteps. I followed her to IU studying the same thing she did, and now I am following her to Deloitte in the same field of work. I am her number one minion and she’ll always be my number one mentor. I know I can always count on Carmen to look over my essays, photos, resumes, and emails. I also know I can count on Carmen to love the same musicals, books, and tv shows as me, and she’s always down to talk about them. She is and was my first bff.

Sabrina (@sabrinaendsley)

My little sister Sabrina is fiercely independent and extremely determined, and it’s what I admire most about her. She grew up behind me and Carmen, and she always carved out her own path instead of following what we chose to do. It’s not easy to be the first in our family to do something when you come last, but Sabrina made it happen. She was the first in our family to unabashedly stan One Direction. She was the first to leave Crown Point, and move away to boarding school. She was the first to make herself a dedicated blogger (sabrinaendsley.com) and now she’s going to be the first to move away for an internship! She poured her heart into finding one, and now she’s moving to North Carolina to work at a really cool water solutions company all summer! Sabrina inspires me to be bolder every single day.

Tatiana

Tatiana was my first ever college professor and mentor, and the impact she has had on me is endless. My freshman year, she taught me business communications every Monday and Wednesday at 9:30am, and this is the class I became a businesswoman. Tatiana taught me how to hold myself with dignity and how to speak powerfully. Outside the classroom as a mentor, Tatiana has taught me to be persistent when trying to make your dreams come true. She leads by example, and I see her exemplify this as a business owner of Ethos Cycling here in Bloomington. Tatiana also taught me to see problems in my life or at Kelley, and to go out and start fixing them myself. She taught me that I don’t need to wait around to make things happen, and that I can be the first to send an email or start a new club. It was with her encouragement I helped found and grow The Women’s Network at Kelley. Beyond school, Tatiana is nurturing and supportive of all my creative ventures, and she is the one who put my photography skills to work taking promotional photos for her company and taking her daughter’s senior photos. Tatiana is a powerful business woman and mentor, and I am so grateful to have her in my life.

Mikayla

There’s no one in the world like Mikayla. She is a ballerina businesswoman who is the most disciplined, free-spirited person I’ve ever met. The first time we ever spent time together, we felt like we were able to pour our hearts out each other, so that’s what we did. We told each other all about ourselves, and then held each other and cried under the L in Wicker Park. From that moment on, we were bonded. Mikayla is one of my closest friends, and I am constantly in awe of her. I’m in awe of her ability to bring her leg up to her head in a perfect extension, her freedom to dance in front of anybody anywhere, her creative mind that brings her to sing and write, and her entrepreneurial edge that pushes her to start her own dancewear business. You are always challenging yourself to grow, and I love you so much Mik! There’s no one else I’d rather learn how to pole dance, do WiB together, or make smoothie nice cream with.

Maria, Megan, and Victoria

I met these three girls studying abroad in Paris, and I’m so happy we got to become friends with the beautiful city of Paris as our backdrop. Victoria inspires me with her commitment to learning, traveling, and always being ready to get her picture taken by me. Maria inspires me with her spontaneity, patience, and the deep love she has for her family. Megan’s fiery personality inspires me because she always knows what she does and doesn’t want. Hopefully one day we will all be back in Paris together!

Sally

Sally is the wonderful mother of my boyfriend Clay, and she’s the coolest lady ever. She joined the Peace Corp right out of college, her kids have her last name, and she is always pushing herself to have a career in what she truly loves. She is full of love and encouragement, and she has always included me as part of her family. She always gives me a box full of presents and Christmas and red envelopes at Chinese New Year. I’m just trying to be like Sally when I grow up!

Thank you to these amazing women for giving me love and showing me how to live. There are so many wonderful women in my life, and if you aren’t listed here, know that I am still celebrating you today. Huge shoutout to my two favorite organizations, The Women’s Network and Women in Business, for filling my life with even more inspiring women.

Today’s our day, and happy International Women’s Day!!