Uber has been doing an amazing job recently of focusing conversation and awareness on women's empowerment. They have asked me to share what it means to be an empowered woman. I couldn't be more excited about a campaign goal and message.

When I thought about what makes me feel empowered I had to think back to moments when I have felt powerless and why I felt that way. Times I felt powerless have been when I didn't feel heard, understood or felt ignorant.

And I think the origin of that powerlessness is in my childhood. I was told a lot that I was stupid and was ignored a lot. The way I would react to those things would be through yelling, talking back, or be over-dramatizing and exaggerating things to get my parents to listen. I think many times adults can do the same thing, but as I grew and realized that behavior wasn't effective at all, and, rather, backfired, I started channeling my frustration into music and writing. Ultimately, it was a focus on communication in college and in my career that has made me feel more empowered than ever.

For me, what makes me feel empowered is having a voice in people’s lives as an influencer and giving other people voices to tell their stories as a content creator and account manager at an influencer agency. Communicating messages that are important to me and important to others breathes life into me. It’s like my Wheaties for this super power I have developed through hours of practice and years of learning. It has been what has spurred me on to become a leader in the influencer space, Pinterest marketing, social media strategy and content production. By day I’m an agency badass and by night I’m a storyteller of my life through imagery and writing on social media. It has been that way for over ten years, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This past week, I flew to San Francisco, Fresno and San Diego for work. I spent my days in SF at Pinterest headquarters where I was a speaker for their first creator’s conference, In the Making. It was an amazing time helping people learn how to effectively partner with the brands they love to fuel their businesses. I also got to spend time with my peers and fellow creatives and learn from them.

I then flew to Fresno and San Diego to produce a short video all about the farmers that devote their lives to organic farming of peaches and supplying the world with the tasty fruit for Ralphs. I produced the team, ran the art direction and messaging and styled some of the content. It was an epic week of empowerment and empowering others.