Local Mother Finds Her Voice and Passion with Little Voice Big Matter Blog

Perhaps you recognize the woman featured in my latest blog article. Carly Berger Nguyen and her husband Khoa Nguyen were featured in a Sold by Sharon Stories segment a few years ago. I treasure them as clients and enjoy following this Cranford, NJ family’s journey and adventures! Carly’s new blog, Little Voice Big Matter, sparked my interest a few months ago and I’ve really enjoyed reading her posts that strongly resonate with being a woman, mother, and finding peace, calm and purpose through life’s crazy ups and downs. 

Whether we liked it or not, the pandemic forced us to stay at home with a lot of free time on our hands. Carly used this time to do some necessary reflection on where her life was headed and what truly matters. Motivational podcasts and books taught her about mindset growth, and she realized that her own transformation could help other mothers do the same. Little Voice Big Matter focuses on self-care and self-reflection through inspirational posts that pull from Carly’s own life experiences as well as resources that helped guide her along the way. 

A Motivational Blog for Women and Mothers Emerges During the Pandemic 

Are you seeking to find more PURPOSE, JOY, & CALM within your day?

Does your negative MINDSET hold you back from realizing your potential and CREATING THE LIFE YOU WANT?

Have you LOST YOURSELF in motherhood and you struggle to figure out who you are outside of BEING A MOM?

Perhaps you have UNFULFILLED DREAMS, but you’re lacking the tools, resources, and CONFIDENCE to go after them

If any of the above strikes a chord with you, then please keep reading about Little Voice Big Matter and subscribe and share with other women who could benefit from the best “little” blog around! It’s all about community, lifting each other up, and passing along some good advice! 

What motivated you to pursue your career?

Well, that’s just the thing.  I was never that motivated to pursue my past career. I struggled with figuring out what my passions were and what I wanted to do with my life. For example, I entered college at the University of Maryland undecided on my major. When it came time to select one, I chose marketing for lack of a better idea. Due to the fact that I knew the business school at UMD was highly regarded and marketing sounded like an easier choice than finance. Finance involved too much math from my perspective. So, marketing it was!

Tell us a little bit about where your career path took you…

I got a job right out of college at a web consulting startup doing client relations. The company went out of business a few months after I started there and I found myself without a job, needing to pay rent on the Manhattan apartment I lived in. So, I got a temp job at Maidenform (a women’s underwear and sleepwear manufacturer). My boss liked me and offered me a permanent position in International Marketing, and thus began my career in the fashion industry of NYC. I later moved into the product development and design side of the business, which is what I did throughout my 20’s and 30’s.

How did you end up in Cranford and what do you love about living in this town?

I eventually moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn with my husband, Khoa. We were living in a 2- bedroom apartment and after our second child was born, we knew we needed more space. Being a Jersey girl at heart, I convinced him to move to New Jersey!  

My childhood best friend had been living in Cranford, NJ for many years at that point and convinced me that we should look here. I remember her telling me that everyone who lives in Cranford LOVES their town and I have found that to be so true! After looking in Cranford one time, I knew it was where I wanted us to move and I’m so glad we did. I am now someone who LOVES her town as well!  

What do you enjoy doing when you get a little bit of “me” time?

I really enjoy spending time outside, so I love to take a walk around my neighborhood while listening to one of my favorite podcasts or riding my bike. I also enjoy reading a good book on my front porch.  

Rewind to 2020…What happened in your life that helped you to pause and reset?

I think for a lot of people, being in “lockdown” has allowed us to take a breather and assess what truly matters to us in life.  For me, not having the distractions of work, social life, places to be, all of the outside noise, allowed me to connect with myself in a way I had never really done before. With more time at home, I started to embrace all the things that brought me joy like writing, exercising, and spending time outdoors. I realized that only I had the power to create happiness in my life and I could create it from within.  

I have truly felt a significant shift in my mindset and how I view things in the time since early 2020.  A lot of that has to do with the “pause on life” that happened and just having the space to start prioritizing myself more and my personal growth during the last 2 years.

How was your career affected by the pandemic?

When Governor Murphy closed down the state of New Jersey in March 2020, the company I was working for laid off everyone. This was the best thing that could have happened in my career because it forced me to reevaluate my choices. I realized that I had been working for close to 20 years in a career that I had never found exciting or fulfilling, which was likely half of my working years. I did not want to spend the next 20 years doing the same. Honestly, if the pandemic had not happened, I probably would have done just that and that would’ve been a shame. I am so much happier now!

What particular podcast inspired you or changed the way you thought about work and where your life was headed?

There are so many podcasts that I love…. it’s hard to pick just one! The first podcast I started listening to was called “The Mindset Mentor”. It is all about how to make shifts in your mindset to create more positivity in your life overall. There is a focus on business as well, but it’s generally about how the way we think controls everything in our lives and how we can learn to cultivate a more positive mindset so that we do not hold ourselves back. This idea really resonates with me!

What was the spark behind “Little Voice Big Matter”?

I’ve always loved writing and I wanted to create some sort of online business. I just wasn’t sure what it would be, but I decided I’d create a lifestyle blog for moms as a starting point and see where it led.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t even exactly sure what I would write about! 

When I attended a free course on how to start a blog the instructor talked about the mindset needed to be successful. When I heard that, everything came together. I felt such a deep connection to the mindset discussion that I knew I needed to learn everything I could about it. I became obsessed with books and podcasts on mindset and the way this impacts all aspects of your life.

It changed my perspective so profoundly that I knew this is what I would write about on my blog. If I could learn to manage my mindset in order to find more purpose, joy, and confidence, and thus create a more fulfilling life for myself, then I could help others do the same!  This is my mission with Little Voice Big Matter.

How did you get Little Voice Big Matter off the ground?

I taught myself how to build a website as a first step and launched it in October 2021. I don’t know if I’d say it’s “off the ground” just yet!

Growing readership and traffic on a blog is a slow process and takes a lot of patience, consistency, and hard work. There is so much that goes into the backend of it that you need to understand and do in order to be successful. 

I have learned so much since I launched, and I challenge myself to continue to learn new things every day.  There is still so much to learn and so much that I want to do with it!  Look for some exciting, new things to come in the near future!

What was your first article and why was it so important?

My first article was called “How Understanding Growth vs Fixed Mindset Can Transform Your Life” and it was so important because it gave the reader some important background on the person I was before and the impetus for the Little Voice Big Matter blog.  

What is your mission statement?

To help you live life as the best version of yourself with more positivity, purpose, joy, and confidence every day

What does Little Voice Big Matter mean to you?

It means that you should trust your inner voice to guide you. Pay attention to that little voice inside because what it’s telling you matters in a big way. I had been ignoring my own little voice for too long…

Why do you feel your blog is so pertinent right now?

For a few different reasons.

First, I think a lot of people have reevaluated the direction of their lives in the last 2 years.  One of my goals with the blog is to provide inspiration for others to start going after what they want and to gain confidence to seek out their own personal joy and what makes them feel alive.  

Also, these past couple of years have been challenging for many, but especially for mothers, many who had to become full-time childcare providers and educators during the pandemic.   I talk a lot about self-care on my site and how self-care is not selfish. You cannot take care of your loved ones if you are not taking care of yourself first and foremost and I provide tips and resources on how to practice self-care and prioritize your well-being.

Related to this point is that I think a lot of us moms get so consumed with the demands of motherhood, especially recently given the shifts in schooling and childcare that we’ve experienced, that we lose touch with our sense of self. My blog focuses on helping women reconnect with their unique qualities and interests and rediscover who they are outside of being “a mom”.

Who is the target reader for Little Voice Big Matter?

My target reader is women, mainly mothers because I write a lot about things that have to do with motherhood, but it’s really for anyone who is looking for inspiration and guidance to start living their life more fully.

Through my website and weekly emails, I share my blog posts, product recommendations, workbooks, and other tools and resources that can help the reader to cultivate a more positive mindset and live their life with more purpose, joy, and confidence.

If you could pick one article that someone should read first, what would it be?

I link to my first post mentioned above (“How Understanding Growth vs Fixed Mindset Can Transform Your Life” ) from my About Page because I want the reader to connect with me and I think it helps the reader get to know me better.

However, my post called “How to Glow Up Mentally” is a good one to start with because I see it as a compilation or roundup of many of my other posts. It kind of pulls together a whole bunch of the topics I talk about on my site and links to many related articles.

What life experiences are you pulling from to write your articles?

I pull a lot from my experience as a young woman trying to find her place in this world, as well as a young mother trying to navigate the balance between self, career, and motherhood. Now, as a little bit older (and wiser), I feel like I have finally figured some things out and I want to help other women who are struggling with similar challenges in their own journeys.

What is your personal definition of “mindset growth”?

It starts with understanding that you are separate from your mind and that your relationship with your mind is something that you can control. I think true “mindset growth” comes when you learn how to understand, evaluate, cultivate, and strengthen that relationship. Then, you become able to more successfully and happily navigate life and all of its challenges.

What have you learned by reaching out to others through Little Voice Big Matter?

That others can be super supportive and encouraging. Case in point – I really appreciate the support of my community and the opportunity to be featured on 365CranfordWestfieldNJ!

Tell us about the benefits of being a subscribed reader!

• When readers subscribe to my website, they will get my free journaling guide, which includes step-by-step instructions on how to create your own journaling routine, the daily journaling template that I personally use, + 50 journal prompts to get started.   Also, whenever I create a new resource or tool like this, I will send it directly to my email list.
  
• Readers receive my weekly blog posts directly in their inbox, so they don’t have to worry about finding me on Facebook or Instagram.  
  
• Lastly, my subscribers will hear from me directly with any news I have to share including new updates to my site (many in the works now!), advice, product recommendations, workbooks, and other tools and resources that I’m loving and want to share with them.

Where do you see yourself and Little Voice Big Matter a year from now?

Hopefully I will have a large and dedicated readership and I’ll still be doing what I love- always finding new ways to grow.

How do you hope to expand your purpose/mission for the blog?

I am planning on offering coaching services down the road that will complement the content on my blog and further expand how I can help others who want to find more fulfillment in life.

Connect with Carly!

If my message resonates with you, please follow me on social media and subscribe to my email list to receive all my updates directly in your inbox!

You can also follow Carly and her blog on Facebook and Instagram