In a world full of yoga pants, I am high waist flares…trendy, dynamic, and not designed for everyone.
My name is Kendra Blessing Bissig. A quirky name to fill the quirky pants…ammaright?! My unusual middle name contributes to my personal story in a big way. While I always joke that my parents were hippies (the hairy barefoot kind), my name was given three months after the suicide of Ken, my dad’s brother. My parents struggled with infertility for nearly 11 years when I was conceived. Not only was the conception a blessing, but the birth of a second child helped to mend my parent’s broken hearts. I’ve spent a great deal of my lifetime advocating for depression and mental illness, as well as, suicide prevention. I suffer with depression and anxiety myself, so the cause is near and dear to my heart. Further inspiring my outreach to the mentally ill was the relationship I had with my Uncle Pat, who lived with Schizophrenia for more than four decades before his passing in 2016. His spirit is always with me, and is in large part why I’ll be fighting to end the stigma until I am good and gone.
I have been in love with my college sweetheart, Mike for 15 years. We met at Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity at Michigan State University and married four years later. We have two daughters, Penny (5) and Ruby (2.5), and a 9 year old yellow lab, Lola. We moved to my husband’s native Grosse Pointe after spending several years in Washington, DC, where I was a Wedding and Special Event Designer. I started as a 23 year old Sales Manager for a florist. Within a year, I was signing non-disclosure agreements for high profile clients. My events ranged from quaint barn weddings in the Maryland countryside, to Fox News soirees and a UAE royal wedding. It was the most stressful job I ever held…until I became a mom!
Mike has been with the Department of Defense for 13 years and currently works at the Detroit Arsenal. I decided to leave the event industry when Penny turned one. The transition from career woman to SAHM turned my world upside-down, and I was undecided as to growing our family. But since I am a glutton for punishment, I made the hasty decision to get pregnant again as soon as possible. Enter Ruby James. She is spunky and fierce and fills my love tank to the brim. My heart was full, but I longed for more professionally.
During my full time SAHM tenure, I joined the Grosse Pointe Moms Club. I started as a Social Coordinator, and moved into a Board seat as Vice President. Most recently, I was the President from 2016-2017. Upon finishing my board term, I was encouraged by family and friends to pursue my most time consuming hobby and obsession- wardrobe styling and shopping- as a business. In September 2017, I launched The Blonde Mom. I wanted to offer something unlike anything I’d seen before in fashion locally: an affordable hourly service to assist in putting outfits together from current closets, personal shopping to add reasonably priced items, and professional photograph styling. Nothing has brought me more joy than seeing my clients glowing with confidence because of what they’re wearing. As mothers, we are teaching our children to love themselves, but we often put ourselves last. My approach to styling is grounded in momma empathy. I want to make all moms feel sexy and powerful regardless of how many derrieres they had to wipe or legos they had to clean that day. I hope to share some fun fashion tips and tricks with our community during my DMB involvement.
Finally, I am a quintessential Cancerian; I am creative, loyal, emotional, and moody. I value transparency, meaningful conversations, and respectful debate. When I am not wrangling my children or scrolling the interweb for closet eye candy, I enjoy many things that don’t include my new found passion as the Blonde Mom. I could live on Cabernet Franc and sushi. If I had unlimited income, I’d throw fancy parties every weekend. I unwind by making flower arrangements, Netflix binging, and planning surprises for my husband. I LOVE memes- there are over 200 saved on my phone. I believe that laughter is the best medicine, and when done frequently enough, can fool you into thinking you have bangin’ abs. Since I loathe exercise, I will choose laughter time and time again. After all, muffin tops aren’t a good look in high waist flares.
