Empowering Women

If you haven’t read my Letter from the Editor in the latest issue of yoU Mag, I talk about what joy of living means to me. We all have different answers, and I wanted to challenge each and every one of you to fully explore what that picture looks like to yoU.

I’m working on a blog called “The Pain of Progress”, so please stay tuned. I want you to know I put deep thought and purpose into the articles I write, and that’s why you won’t ever get bombarded with constant blogs and emails in your inbox.

I want to share with you what really fulfilled me this past weekend. When I asked you to really reach into the depths of your soul and ask yourself, “Okay what are the things that would truly bring me joy and happiness?” I took the challenge on too. I got asked to speak in front of a group of young women about empowerment and my magazine. The Society of Young Professionals Salt Lake City is a wonderful organization, which is focused on connecting transplants and local professionals. I was honored for the opportunity to speak at their first ever VISION BOARD PARTY! We had a blast sipping on mimosas, other refreshments and desserts. Speaking to the women really helped fuel my desire even more to empower women. The feedback was fulfilling. I share this because there are so many things we “HAVE TO DO” in this life right? But are we making room for the things that really fulfill us? And shouldn’t we spend most of our days doing things that fulfill us? Absolutely.

That’s why I made the jump from employee to entrepreneur. When being an employee no longer served my growth, I decided to take on something different, something much bigger than myself and I truly believe empowering women is much bigger than myself. It’s going to take A LOT OF WOMEN to make this so-called movement happen. Each of us play a critical role in the ripple effect of empowerment.

Besides sharing pictures from the recent event I was a speaker at, I wanted to give you a snapshot of my speech in case you missed it.

Here are some of the things I discussed, which will be familiar topics because I often times blog about them.

I shared my story, and in case you missed the Rules of Success Podcast. I was recently a guest on where I was the most candid yet about why I left news, check it out HERE.

I talked to women about the FEAR I felt as I detached myself from a decade long career in television news. I may look brave to you, but we’re all human and we all share the same feelings of self- doubt. We’re all scared of the unknown. I’m not superhuman to those emotions. I talked about the books I read to keep me going mentally. I told them about how I listened to motivational videos everyday to remind myself that if I weather this made up fearful storm, the sunshine would be waiting on the other side. Then we played this awesome exercise that I picked up from a motivational speaker at a women’s conference in Las Vegas this year. I chose the most fearful person (or the one who appeared that way) in the room and asked her to come talk in front of everyone. I handed her an envelope and told her she had two choices: give the envelope away (she didn’t know what was inside) or choose to open it and DO WHAT IS SAYS. She took on the challenge and discovered she had to share the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. She told her story and everyone laughed along. The second envelope contained an important message: if we push past our fears there is always a reward. Her reward was a gift card! That was really exciting for her. The point or the moral of the exercise was that if you live outside your comfort zone, if you push past some of the things that hold you back, you will ALWAYS be rewarded. If you are allowing fear to control your life, you are missing out my friend.

Since we were at a vision board party, I talked about the importance having a grand vision for your life. Most of the women there had heard of what a “vision board” is but only a couple, like 2! had ever actually put together a personal vision board. It is important that we physically picture our life in front of us. That’s what the vision board is for. It’s a great reminder of the things (not just materialstic) we desire.

I hope this inspires you to gather up some old magazines, scissors, a glue stick and markers so you can create your own vision board. I would love to SEE THEM! Please share them below if you already have one in your home, and remember you can have your own vision board party with friends too. What a fun way to spend an afternoon with each other!

Until next time…XOX