With a special place in her heart for women, Brandy Mills has a mission to empower women as well as support those in business through her two companies — Brandy Mills Consulting and Woman Strong. 

Following a career in healthcare, working in leadership, and working with women and children in the community, Mills founded Brandy Mills Consulting with a focus on leadership, business growth and development, and professional and personal development. Woman Strong began as philanthropy with a mission to meet women where they are, empowering, uplifting, and inspiring individuals to transform their self-views of their abilities, where they can add value, and what they can achieve in order to have the greatest impact on their purpose.

Acknowledging and honoring those who helped her along her path, Mills works to facilitate connections and resources, no matter the current phase of a woman’s journey. Understanding that reaching business goals is often about “who you know,” Mills helps to bridge gaps and provide support.

“To be where we are right now, someone had to open up their hearts and minds to us to give us the opportunity,” Mills said. “Woman Strong is about offering access to the opportunity for whatever you need. I want to be present for others because people were there for me, because no one can really do it alone.”

In addition to connecting people to others in the community, Mills prioritizes connecting people to themselves. Looking at individuals’ inner dreams, visions, and goals, Woman Strong helps women bring those to the forefront and use them to incrementally tackle tasks.

“It has to start with you when you’re trying to achieve anything,” Mills said. “It’s how you perceive you, because that reflects on how you look at the world and the possibility of you reaching your goals. ‘You first’ is always the goal, because you can’t separate yourself from your business.”

With the popularity of social media as well as societal pressures, it can be difficult for some to maintain their own trajectory. People often find others who have already reached goals similar to their own and begin measuring their own success against someone else’s, rather than acknowledging that everyone’s path, situation, and approach is different.

“If we’re following the trajectory of others, it can actually slow us down,” Mills said. “If we’re taking in pieces of information and pulling out the ones that can meet me where I am, it’s much more helpful. By helping people to develop what they already have within them, people can excel on their own path.”

As women are often more open and transparent when it comes to asking for help, Mills said most coaching clients tend to be female. Societal expectations of men often lead to less personal development or business coaching work because they feel it appears less masculine or less dominant. While this is not always the case, it is the majority, so the way coaches and mentors show up for the women seeking assistance is exceedingly important.

“We’re out here creating jobs and creating businesses, and there’s still a mindset of ‘this is not a woman’s place’,” Mills said. “Women are reaching a point of allowing people to have that opinion, but going ahead and undertaking their business journey anyway. This is not about the feminine being above the masculine; it’s about walking in your power with what works for you in this season, regardless of what anyone else believes.”

From Mills’ Woman Strong mission, she has created a Face It So You Can Fix It journal, aligning with the need for women to remind themselves that they are indeed strong. Prompts around rejection, doubt, and insecurity, with scenarios for personal reflection, can help an individual work through challenges by first identifying what is keeping them in a ‘stuck’ feeling, and then developing a solution.

“When I hear women describe situations of feeling robotic and responding in a way they think the world wants them to respond instead of walking in their truth, I’m not afraid to tell them that’s not their truth,” Mills said. “I help women determine if they are coming from a place of wanting to reach a goal because that is expected of them, or if they really have the passion to do that. That’s because I can’t keep up with who I’m not, and I’m not going to coach in a way that I’m not. We shouldn't have to work from something we’re not.”

When women are able to tune into their authentic selves and align their businesses in the same way, they are often able to analyze the bigger picture and make decisions that best support their overall success. By thinking strategically rather than focusing on a hunger for clients, women are able to determine the best plan for their business model.

“When women can do this, they often feel an entire mindset shift,” Mills said. “They’re not unleashing a new version of themselves; it is always already there. Connecting with yourself and your emotional and relational intelligence really moves the needle forward, because it’s all about having a healthy level of self awareness. Support in this way is beyond learning a skill or a task, it’s a holistic approach to their whole picture. Know who you are and take action, then move forward from there.”