MMIA Magazine - Million Moms In Action Magazine October/November 2014 | Page 13

exclusive
interview

THE 21st

CENTURY
WOMAN
“I believe it is our
responsibility as moms to
live our authentic truth
to be the great example
for our children.”

Chereace Richards
Founder of 21st Century Woman
Bowie, MD
Chereace Richards is an Entrepreneur, Philantrophist, and published Author of the book Faith, Focus,
Action: The Journey to Becoming Who You Are.
Chereace Richards
Twitter & IG: @chereace
October/November 2014

MMIA What’s the one thing you wish
you knew when you started out?
CHEREACE That inward growth and
development was very necessary for
me to obtain the success I wanted so
bad. I thought it was going to be easy
and that everyone would support me
in the beginning, but that was not the
case and I had to learn to be okay with
this reality. Once I accepted that I had
to work on me first and that my circle
of friends was going to change, my
life changed forever. It was then that
I became ready and willing to begin
the work. I was open and willing to
surrender to the process. My journey
to the top of my company required me
to mentally transform. My Master’s
Degree and good government job did
not prepare me for a road towards entrepreneurial success. Although, I was
initially skeptical and resistant to the
process, I quickly embraced the work
of becoming more so that I could have
more and do more. My old ways of
being and thinking would not serve
me as I sought to grow in this new domain. When my thinking changed, my
life changed.
MMIA How do you balance the roles
of entrepreneur and mom?
CHEREACE By scheduling and prioritizing everything. My roles as wife,
mom, daughter, friend, coach, ministry leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, speaker, and author keep me going all the time; so, I cannot afford to
waste time. My coach taught me that
all of my important activities must get
recorded in my calendar. So I schedule
my personal “me” time, family time,
professional and ministry meetings,
and meetings with my husband to re-

view and sync our calendars. My electronic calendar keeps me committed
and on task. I also stay committed to
the results I want to create at the end
of the week. Mentally, this keeps me
action focused toward my big goals
versus task driven, which can be draining, and put me in overwhelm. I have
learned that my personal time was
critical for my overall health and vitality. I exercise between 4 - 6 days per
week and have quiet time daily to refresh, renew, and commune with God
so that I operate according to His plan
and not mine
MMIA How do your children feel
about mommy being an entrepreneur?
CHEREACE I have two boys, aged 8
and 13, and they love mommy being
available for them physically and emotionally. I get to attend all of their field
trips, be the class mom, volunteer frequently at their school, and pick them
up at the end of the school day. They love
having both mom and dad home. And,
they love traveling with us to really cool
places. They both want to be business
owners, they think big, and find ways to
become young entrepreneurs by selling
their belongings for cash.
MMIA What are your views on moms
b