Main Street Moms on the Move ~ December 2015

Jennifer Coulombe

Show up. Be awesome. Go home.

That’s the motto for Jennifer Coulombe, in work and in life. As a busy wife and mother of two boys, Dylan (7) and Logan (5), full-time Dean at Forsyth Technical Community College, Group Exercise Instructor and Professional Dancer and Dance Instructor, she balances multiple priorities by “compartmentalizing” her energies into the matter at hand.

What does this motto of “Show up. Be awesome. Go home.” Mean to Jennifer? “When I’m engaged with someone or something, I want to be fully present. And when I’m done, I’m done. I can leave it, go home, and recover, physically and mentally, to come back and ‘be awesome’ again.”

Jennifer bases her philosophy on the book “The Power of Full Engagement” which uses the analogy of a marathon versus a sprint. “Life is not a steady state marathon for me. Drudging through at a steady, but submax level just doesn’t seem to follow my rhythms. Instead, my life is a series of sprints. I go hard in work and play, then I rest and recover hard. ” Rest and recovery for Jennifer includes a number of activities, including teaching BodyFLOW, BodyPUMP, BodyCOMBAT, dancing, spending time with her friends and family, and writing. She also loves a good couch day.

Jennifer believes that if you aren’t purposefully taking care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally, you can’t take care of anyone else. She also believes that its vital to set an example to our children that self-care is important. “You can’t pour from an empty cup!” says Jennifer. “The only way we can truly meet our potential is to place a priority on ourselves.”

Cristin Whiting

Cristin spent her 20’s and 30’s exploring and living in one big U.S. city after the other. She bounced from NYC to Chicago to Boston to San Francisco. In 2002, her travels brought her to Winston Salem.

Cristin loves being a mom to her two children Julia (13) and Colin (11). Though the tween-early teen years have their own mix of joys and challenges, this stage in parenting has been her favorite. Part of what makes the challenging times easier is calling on the other moms she admires with, “You seem to have navigated this pretty well. How did you do it?”

She and her children enjoy camping together in their back yard with their dog, singing on road trips short and long, bowling, roller skating, cooking, and going to family night at a comedy club.

In addition to parenting, Cristin gets a lot of fulfillment and purpose from her work. She is the founder of Road to Bliss, a wholeness center on Reynolda Road. At Road to Bliss, Cristin offers psychotherapy and yoga classes. Her style of psychotherapy melds practical Western psychological approaches with contemporary applications of yogic teachings, Judeo-Christianity and other spiritual traditions to enhance clients’ experience of emotional and spiritual vitality and wellness.

While psychotherapy is an effective tool for healing, Cristin believes that our bodies are invaluable sources of information about and avenues for emotional and spiritual recovery. Because of that she offers private and small-group yoga classes taught with the intention of grounding students in their bodies while awakening an experience of peace, vitality and connection.

Cristin considers herself lucky to be able to mostly work her office hours around her children’s schedule. Because of that she knocks off work mid-afternoon, at which time, you can find her in the pick up line at her children’s’ school.

Leslie Wright

The Wright Legacy:

We all know the Wright Brothers from our history books, but there is another Wright flying high these past few years, meet Leslie M.Wright(31), who resides in Greensboro, NC originally from Landover, MD. A mom, business woman, consultant and teacher. Her works spans from the U.S to Canada as an event planner, with Partiez By Leslie Event Planning Company and she consults on business cultivation through social media with numerous regional projects.

She recently began her new venture in January of 2015 with LeslieM Brands, a hub for her own design work and housing other home decor brands much like Wal-Mart! When she isn’t touring and helping women start their own businesses she is a substitute teacher, speaking or writing. Her first e-book, “So You Think You Can Plan” sold tons of copies the first day it was marketed on Facebook where she does 98% of her business. She has a 5 year old son, Jayden Jackson, who dreams to follow in mom’s footsteps and own a sports store and will begin his business ventures in 2016. “Business ownership is taught in my home,” she says.

Her new mantra for this year is “I’m not perfect, I’m purposed.” Her Christian faith and strong support from family and friends rebounds off each word when she speaks to groups with her Ladies Night In events. Her goal is to leave a legacy behind so that her son can enjoy his time continuing her work and being a job creator versus a job seeker. It looks like the Wright name still soars high! Want more information about Leslie? Email: Partiezbyleslie@gmail.com, Bookings:(336)937-0189