We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ernsie-bianca Nicanor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ernsie-Bianca below.
Ernsie-Bianca , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I’ve liked fashion and art from since I can remember, so I’ve always wanted to get into something that had to do with clothing. I wanted to allow myself to be vulnerable about my ADHD diagnosis while bringing more awareness to our world’s mental health crisis. I wanted to do this while acknowledging my son because, without him and his unwavering support, I would not have gotten to this point. Hi Cain 👋🏾
Ernsie-Bianca , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
First I’d like to say, this is a story of perseverance. In 2023 I was diagnosed with ADHD. I did not know much about it before that. I’ve always had big dreams. After struggling for practically my whole life, socially, emotionally, financially and physically, I got to a point where I thought this may be my story forever and I may never be able to fulfill anything I dreamed of. With the stigma surrounding mental health and me growing up in a very “strong” family, the thought of admitting my struggles caused me to mask and go through it oftentimes alone. Most if not all parents say that their children saved them. My son saved me. My son is my why. He is why I get up early, he is why I give 100 percent to everything I do. I do it to make him proud of me and to provide him with the best life I possibly can. Cain has made me fall in love with myself again. He has taught me so much in the 14 years I’ve had with him so far. So to my first son, with your love and belief in me, ADHD will never keep me down. I make shirts about mental health to bring awareness and to face it. I still believe as a collective we have not done enough to understand and bring awareness to this major issue in our society. Mental Health is Health
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I’ve had this dream of having something like this for many years before Cain was born and of course before my diagnosis. I had hundreds of rough drafts that were drafted in my mind and stayed in my mind. I remember once I had this very tacky website that took all of me to throw together and it had every type of error. I showed it to a few of my family and friends and immediately thought why? After becoming a mom and watching him achieve goal after goal, I felt I owed it to my son to face the question of what was happening to me. After my diagnosis it all made sense and I was able to give myself that love that Cain was giving me all along. I’ve been taking it day by day ever since. Slowly but surely I’ve been achieving my goals. Although I’m the parent, it feels so good to say To my first son Cain, my biggest supporter, look what I did
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that even if 1000 people tell you that you cannot, it doesn’t mean that you cannot. All you need is one person even if the person is yourself to believe in you, and you can. My person is my son. Day after day he shows his faith in me and leans on me eyes closed. His belief in me made me believe. He has succeeded in the highest levels of his life so far. Today I’m glad to say that I’ve joined him in believing that I can
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ToMyFirstSon.com
- Instagram: tomyfirstson
