As a mommy, lifestyle blogger, and influential podcaster, Cimone A. Holt knew she wanted to change how people perceived family dynamics and co-parenting. In her weekly podcast, Break The Narrative, Cimone speaks on improving the way women care for themselves and also creating a positive environment for improving the negative co-parenting stigma in our communities. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Cimone for many years, so it was nice to catch up on her journey about being a leader and a positive influence for others. We chatted about the inspiration behind starting Break The Narrative and nailing down marketing strategies in her brand to reach more people who need to hear these stories the most.
What did you want to be as a child?
What is your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur/brander?
CH: “My favorite thing about being a brander is the freedom that I have to use my own personal experience to help other people. Being able to empower people who feel like I have in the past makes me feel like I’m living in my purpose. Everything that I’ve been through has helped me grow, and I love giving people even the smallest amount of hope for the future because there were times in my life where that wasn’t available to me. Specifically, when it comes to working through failed relationships and still being able to co-parent and reinvent those relationship while building lifelong friendships.”
What’s the first thing you do every morning to start your day on the right foot?
CH: “The first thing that I do to start my day is say “Thank You”. Starting my day with gratitude sets a positive tone and allows me to make the things that I’m grateful for the highlight of my day no matter what’s going on.”
What is success to you?
CH: “Success to me means being able to do things that genuinely make me happy, and impacting the lives of others and making memories. Material things come and go, but when I leave this earth, I’ll be happy knowing that I lived my life for me and my children and not the approval of other people.”
What does it take to be a great leader and a person of positive influence?
In order to be a great leader and positive influence you have to be genuine, relatable and persistent. People have to see a part of themselves within you to connect but that means nothing without putting in the work to reach as many people as possible. “
Has learning a mistake ever led you to success?
CH: “I can’t think of a time when a mistake ever led to success. I never thought to look at things that I consider to be mistakes in that light. Maybe because I stopped looking at things that didn’t go my way or the way I hoped as a mistake. I tend to have a very “what’s meant to be will be” mentality about things. True mistakes tend to give me ridiculous anxiety in professional settings. I always swear I’m getting fired. SMH.”
What’s the best advice for someone who feels they haven’t found their purpose yet?
CH: “I know what it feels like to be lost or like you’ll never really figure out what makes you happy or knowing what path you were born to follow. I would tell someone who is trying to figure out what their passion and purpose really is to learn how to silence the noise. Stop listening to everyone else or doing what you feel like you’re “supposed” to and listen. Listen to your heart and where you find peace and bliss because that’s where your purpose lives. The key is understanding that everything you’re going through is creating substance and you’ll learn to appreciate the struggles. It’s okay to get down and be frustrated but keep pushing. And don’t forget to surround yourself with people who will encourage you and support you while you try to figure it out.”
What is your biggest goal this year?
CH: “This year I really wanted to focus on my own personal growth. So far, it’s been an amazing journey and I’m very proud of myself for getting out of my way. Actively working to better myself everyday fuels everything else in my life. If I really want to be my best self, I have to do things that challenge me and force me to reach beyond my fears. It’s difficult and some days, I don’t make the cut but I’m seeing progress. My biggest goal this year was to stop letting fear stop me from reaching my full potential. I wanted to speak up and actually execute the ideas that come up and I’m happy to say that I’m doing it.”
What are you passionate about and what keep you going?
CH: “ I’m passionate about improving the way women care for themselves and improving the family dynamic and environment for those who co-parent. I’ve launched my blog that primarily focuses on the importance of self-care and also ways to effectively co-parent in the world we live in. These topics are both very important to me. I really began to understand how important it was to take time to for myself when my anxiety got out of control. When it comes to co-parenting, it’s been a huge part of my life in the last 8 years and people would always be amazed at the ease in which we communicate and support one another. It started to blow my mind because people really viewed my situation as “weird”. It made me want to get the conversation started about what we can do to change this norm. In addition to the blog, I started a podcast centered around improving the negative co-parenting stigma in our communities. It’s called Break The Narrative and it’s available on most platforms including iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify & Anchor.Fm every Monday. The next part of my goal is to nail down my branding and marketing strategies to make sure I can achieve the biggest goal of all and reach the people who need to hear these stories the most.”
About Cimone A. Holt
I’m an almost 29 year old energy enthusiast with 2 kids, ages 9 and 4. I’m so grateful for them because they have really forced me to grow in so many ways. I’ve always been a creative of sorts without really realizing it. As a kid, I would always write stories, songs and poems , but fear and insecurity always made me stop or hide the fact that I enjoyed these things. I was born and raised in California until I was 15 when we moved to Louisiana for a short time to ultimately landing in Metro Atlanta. I graduated high school and spent my first year of college at Spelman. That was by far the best and worst experience of my life because I had the literal time of my life while I was there but it really broke my spirit when I had to leave. Finances caused complications ultimately led to my withdrawal from the school of my dreams. After that I married, had a daughter and moved to Washington state. Family is important and being that far away was difficult so I moved back to Atlanta with my mom, divorced and attended cosmetology school and graduated in 2013. The next few years I suffered from depression triggered by feelings like I was wasting my life doing nothing and I would never reach my full potential because I was living to please everyone else. When my son was born in 2014 it only got worse until I finally decided to take the time to figure out what really mattered to me. Fast forward to now, I’ve changed career fields (I still love the beauty industry though!) and started working on building my own brand and focusing more attention on my passion projects. An insurance agent by day and podcaster and blogger by night! I love to read, and I plan on tackling my love of music in some way.
Blog: TheCiWord.com
BreakTheNarrative.com
IG: @YouCiiiME, @BreakTheNarrativePodcast
Twitter: @CiiiME
Facebook: Cimone Anique Holt/ The Ci Word
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