Turning her pain into her passion, Celina Monique aims to inspire young girls to speak to their inner queen with positive and uplifting words of motivation with her book, Note to Self: Affirmations to Young Queens.
Reflecting on her adolescence and insecurities she’s faced, she is teaching young women that the words we speak have power. Describing it as doing her due diligence, she aims to leave behind a legacy and be the woman that she needed when she was younger.
Growing up, she dealt with self esteem issues and made it a mission to build herself up and become a woman that she could be proud of.
After experiencing a life altering experience while celebrating with friends in Houston, Celina chose to use that experience to fuel her next venture in life: writing a book and encouraging the next generation of powerful women.
Leading by example, Celina incorporates affirmations in her daily life and shared words that get her through the days.
“I am enough” because of the stigma society has placed on women.
“Women have been made to feel they must be surrounded by others in order to live an abundant life; Or the black woman’s success is left solely up to her ability to be married and have kids, despite having a flourishing career and doing well financially, and I’m not going for that.”
Like most young women, the author shared that she gets caught up in comparisons when scrolling on social media and takes to the affirmation,“I’m out here living my best life and sprinkling black girl magic like confetti.”
She wants girls to know that just because someone may seem to be moving faster than you in life, they are no better than you and life is to be treated as a marathon not a sprint.
Knowing the power that words hold and how we can ultimately become what we speak, Celina shared the advice she would give to her younger self, “I would’ve encouraged myself to chase my dreams sooner, we see the youth today and they’re popping.”
She references young girls like Marley Dias and Kheris Rogers. “My mind wasn’t on business, I focused so heavily on extracurricular activities and my grades, and I didn’t really have the type of people I needed around me.” Knowing the things she missed out on, Celina shared that she would have spoken positive words about being involved with business, investments, and learning more about stock markets.
Giving advice to young girls that want to step out and pursue their passions, “Just do it. It’s always better to do something and realize it’s not for you than to wonder “What if?”. Knowing that you can improve next time or realize that it’s not for you and that it’s not something that will make you happy. Do your research, write on a topic you’re passionate about. Just start.”
Affirmations for Young Queens is the first book from Celina but certainly won’t be the last. The author is now working on a book of affirmations to encourage young boys and will be writing a book to openly talk about her near death experience.
When she isn’t working on her next book, she’s making a difference as a school social worker or continuing to impact young women with her non profit, ROQ (Raising our queens).
