“Celebrating yourself means you’re living a life with passion and purpose knowing that you are making the world better. I celebrate myself every day, even on my bad MS days. Celebrating yourself, loving yourself is where healing and success begins,” said Mary Ellen Ciganovich.
Mary Ellen is an educator and consultant at R.E.A.L Health, LLC. She selected the name for her company for what the anagram represents. “Be R.E.A.L. – Really Enthusiastic About Life – because being R.E.A.L. leads you to live your Truth, find your passion, your purpose to make our world just a little bit better!”
She is an inspirational speaker, writer, and author of three books – Healing Words: Life Lessons to Inspire, Taking Responsibility Unleashes True Healing; and Truth Lives, which were released during the pandemic in 2021. In addition to her writing, she is the Executive Producer of the show “Truth of the Day;” Co-host of Cyrus Webb’s Amazon Live show “Words I Choose to Live By” and the Executive Editor of Conversations Live Magazine.
She is seen weekly on social media sharing beautiful life lessons that can be applied in everyone’s daily lives. Mary Ellen is very passionate about conveying spiritual truths to help others transform their lives and live fully as they were divinely created to be. As such, she has been dedicated to posting her Truth of the Day on several social media sites since 2011. All her posts end with Sincerely with love, Mary Ellen Ciganovich.
Mary Ellen believes “Wisdom cannot be taught as wisdom must be learned through your life experiences. Every experience makes you stronger and wiser as you know what you should do, yet more importantly what you should not do.”
Mary Ellen Ciganovich can be found on social media including Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Co-Founder of Celebrate You and CEO of The Bradford Group, LaWanna Bradford explained, “In Celebrate You, we believe that when a woman is able to truly embrace and celebrate herself, she is then able to rise up and make an impact in the lives of her family, her community, the nation, and ultimately the world.”
“During 2021, we celebrated 12 amazing women who dared to face the changes and the challenges and strive to make a difference in the world. These women are unique in their backgrounds, experiences, and professions. However, the one thing they have in common is they live life intentionally and on purpose. They believe in the power of co-creating a life of abundance and impact. These exceptional women are leaders and influencers. They always seek to find ways to encourage, inspire, uplift, and celebrate others,” she said.
Barbara Beckley, Co-Founder, and CEO of The Diamond Factor Experience said, “LaWanna and I found out that by talking about Celebrate You, it was important to reach as many women as possible with our message so that they understand the importance of celebrating themselves and others. This concept continues to resonate and we have more women joining where we now have people who are part of the Celebrate You family from over 20 countries, with our largest presence in the US, UK, Canada, Uganda, and Jamaica.”
The following twelve (12) women were collectively honored for all they did in 2021: January – Jacqueline-Young-Landi, JYL Image LifeStyle; February – Ramona Paulson, Water Color Art by Ramona; March- Mary Ellen Cignovich, R.E.A.L, Inc; April – Dr. Tamara Patzer, Blue Ocean Authority; May – Patricia Rogers, Unity in Services; June – Larcenia White, Breathing Room; July – Sammy Blindell, One Drop Movement; August, Dr. Derashay Zorn, I AM HER International; September – Sonia Jacht, Fitvibe-Wellness; October – Debra L. Morrison, Women Navigating Finances; November – Tracy Oriyomi – WealthWave; and December – Teena V. Ezell, SendOutCards.
Mistress of Ceremonies for the award was Gloria Fleets CEO of VMPC, Inc., and music was performed by the event’s musical director and two-time Emmy-award-winning bassist, Tony Saunders and The Tony Saunders’ Band.
Audra Agen returned as head judge. She is the founder of the international podcast Women in the Arena. Nancy Matthews joined Celebrate You Woman of the Month for September 2020 Woman of the Month and is Co-Founder of the International Women’s Prosperity Network, the sister organization to Celebrate You Women Embracing Wellness. Judge Teresa Wright Johnson is the CEO of TWJME.
In addition, sponsors include Conversations Media Group, Essence of Being, Women in the Arena, and Freedom Travel Diva. Other sponsors are Mistie Layne, The Gem Hunter, Irene Vaksberg, Wendy Watkins, and Anchqord Hope.
“No movement is complete without a champion who helps you to remember the vision and encourages you when the road gets tough, ” said Bradford. “Barbara and I are also blessed to have my parents, SGM (ret) Harlan and Bessie Bradford of Sierra Vista, AZ as our Champions.
“This year we will also recognize our charity of the year – Help Heal Humanity. Help Heal Humanity is an internationally registered charity mindfully designed to provide the world’s most vulnerable youth with access to education, food, support, and love.”
