My name is Sarah Moshman and I’m a reality tv producer and documentary filmmaker passionate about female empowerment! I have one question for you – how many film crews have you seen that are made up of all women?

That’s the basis of an exciting new docu-series project I created with my super cool business partner and bestie Dana Michelle Cook called “The Empowerment Project.” Our plan is to travel across the US this fall with an all lady crew and interview 10 inspirational women in a variety of career fields to create positive role models and motivate women and girls of all ages to after their ambitions. We are using an amazing site called Kickstarter to make our dream come true. Kickstarter is a site where people fund and follow creative projects, and people set fundraising goals to make their dream a reality. We are trying to raise $25,000 in 60 days, but we only have less than 2 weeks left! I know it sounds like a lot of money, but traveling across the US for a month with a crew takes a lot of resources and we want to make this series as amazing as we know it can be!

We want to ask questions of our subjects like: How did you get to where you are in your career? What struggles did you face along the way? What advice can you share with other women that want to be in the same spot? And what is your take on feminism today? We are going to make a 10 part docu-series to be shown on the web that spotlights these incredible women. Our first interview subject is Sundance Best Director Winner Jill Soloway and in our Kickstarter video she talks about how she thinks it’s easy for women to direct movies and how to follow your inner impulse. Her close friend and long time collaborator is Jane Lynch, and Jane is also featured in our first webisode of “The Empowerment Project” which is available to people who donate to our cause.

This project is very close to my heart and is the culmination of a lot of hard work. I want to inspire and empower women to go after their dreams whatever they may be. I often ask myself this question and I think other women should do the same: What would you do if you weren’t afraid? If I wasn’t afraid I would travel the country for a month with strong women and make a documentary! What would you do?

Please check out our Kickstarter and donate any amount you can so we can make this project happen! Spread the word!

You can find us on Facebook at: facebook.com/HeartfeltProductions or on twitter @SarahMosh

Sarah Moshman has been a reality TV field producer for ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” for the past 10 seasons. She is also a documentary filmmaker who grew up in Chicago and now lives in Los Angeles. Female empowerment is her passion and her mission and she wants to inspire girls and women to go after their dreams! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/531137895/the-empowerment-project-a-docu-series-about-women

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As a child I grew up with labels such as lazy, good sleeper and good eater – guess how I grew up? I grew up feeling lazy, sleeping alot (to escape) and eating alot (finally realising that this was a suppression mechanism). I got fat and felt unworthy and undeserving.

I married the man of my dreams, I thought that I was so lucky – feeling like how does someone so generous love me (we will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary this year) and our life together is amazing!

Living with those labels inspired me to drive to achieve. I am very driven and the point was to dispel those notions and to conquer the feelings of unworthiness – however, this was always from the outside in – not from the inside out. I was looking for outside validation.

So my achievements included reaching an executive level in a government job which I absolutely loved, losing lots of weight and achieving weight loss goals of 23kg and 27kg (remember I was born to be fat – it was very unnatural of me to be light as I was born to be heavy), running 4 marathons which people said I couldn’t do (my first was a monumental feat – I was lazy????? – this label gave me doubt that I would complete the training – let alone the whole marathon – the last two were particularly hard each step of the way – for the whole 26.2 miles (42.2km) as I brought into the notion that I was LAZY – ridiculous!!!!

I became a Weight Loss Consultant, Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor and Remedial Massage Therapist – entered the realm of bodywork. The cost of all this drive was ill health in the form of suffering chronic anxiety, depression, breaking 3 bones on separate occasions all in 12 months, adrenal exhaustion and being exhausted all the time.

After suffering immensely for the last 10 years, I feel like I have finally conquered the notion of “not being good enough” and would love to share. LESSONS I’VE LEARNED – the main one is all you need to know is that I need to shout this out – YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!! You were born out of love and self care/self love is essential and needed. Know that the feeling of not being good enough or if you like inner critic, come up as protection.

1. My advice is to embrace these feelings, try to not to feed them by resisting and say a little thank you to them.
2. You don’t need outside validation – the only validation comes from the inside.
3. Listen to your heart and not your brain. Your heart knows best. Intuition is you being in tuition.
4. When you need a moment take it – you are worth it.
5. Know with every step in your journey, a story is created.

You are the story and enjoy the feelings which come from your existence, consciousness and finally bliss.

Find me at: http://www.embodimove.com

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The following article first appeared on Girls Guide to Swagger and is posted here with permission by author Cynthia Brown.

Have you noticed that while some people seem to achieve their goals and live their dreams, others who appear equally talented do not?

In my life working with non-profit and for-profit agencies, as well as college students, I have watched many people advance in their careers and seem fulfilled in their lives, while others are left behind wondering what happened. As I think about the reason for the differences, I remembered something a work colleague once said to me. “Those who succeed have the will to complete what they start.”

So here are my suggestions for how to be someone who completes a project they begin and succeeds!

Have a big vision – learn how to tap into your inner voice for guidance

Look inside and see your particular talents and gifts. What are your deepest dreams? How would you like to be part of making the world a better place? Ask yourself these questions and take some time to write down your answers and come back to them, as your life evolves.

Make goals and work on them every week

After you are clear on your big vision, note the steps you will need to take this year and next year, in order to reach your goals. Then schedule small steps on your calendar, starting now. Every week, take some time to plan your time and be sure to note the steps you completed last week and what you want to accomplish in the coming week.

Keep your word and do what you say you will, especially when it is hard

I know so many people who respond with enthusiasm, but don’t follow through. They may say “Sure, I would love to write a guest post for your website or interview you for mine.” But when you send a time to talk, there is no reply or worse yet, they schedule a time and then are not there when you call. Sometimes it is hard to keep your word. It is nice outside and you would rather go out for a walk or you feel tired or overwhelmed. It happens to all of us. If you can find the discipline to keep your word, especially when you don’t feel like it, you will find that it energizes you and opens doors for you. Follow through. If someone offers you an opportunity, respond! You never know which opportunity will lead you to the right connection with the right person who helps move your project forward.

Finish. The will to complete

There is a joke in the construction world that the last 10% of the job takes 90% of the time. Beware of the approaching end of the project when your energy seems to evaporate and there seems to be too many obstacles to finish. I know so many people who became discouraged part way through writing a book and starting a business. We all get discouraged and may find we need a break or some help. But don’t let a slow down or a series of obstacles become the end of your project. Break the steps down so that they become feasible and then keep doing! Keep your eye on the goal and surround yourself with those people who energize and support you. Feel your swagger rise and keep going. You’ll see your dreams become reality!

As Christopher Reeve said:

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and  then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

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Every once in a while I run across something that just throws me for a loop…  Something that goes against how I think something should work… Something that further develops my skills and way of thinking about things…

Today that something was The Success Indicator.

You may have seen the infographic floating around social media, but did you check out the report behind it?

I did. Truly amazing stuff.

If you haven’t seen the infographic, click on it to see the full image and read both sides of the poster. You can also download or print the image if you wish.

Sure, I know a successful person has a positive attitude and sets goals, etc. But there’s a lot more to it than just that. The Success Indicator report dives deep into the characteristics of a successful person. How many of them do you exhibit?

I learned several new ideas and tips that I hadn’t known about before and trust me – I study this topic a lot! Author MaryEllen Tribby not only hits the nail on the head, but really drives it in deep. The report is short (41 pages) but packed full of great info for anyone trying to achieve a goal or build a dream.

Click here to get the full report and find out more. It’s completely free.

And according to what I read in that report, successful people wouldn’t think twice about downloading it…

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Young or old, our Girls Can’t WHAT? biker apparel comes in all sizes and we’ve got lots of fabulous biker products for all riding seasons. The Girls Can’t WHAT? biker girl designs are available on hoodies, t-shirts, long sleeve shirts and tank tops. Select your style and color options to fit any personality. Cruise through our huge variety of styles and colors by clicking the “customize it” button and design a custom biker woman gift she’ll love.

Need gear for the off-road moments? We’ve got you covered. Show off a love for your favorite ride with our customizable mugs and tote bags. Or pick up a custom biker woman keychain or button to take out on the open road.

There are currently many Biker Woman designs to choose from. Select the one you like best and begin personalizing. With Girls Can’t WHAT? gear, she’ll ride in style and share the Girls Can’t WHAT? message with the world. If anyone says girls can’t be bikers, say Girls Can’t WHAT? and show them they can!

And don’t forget 20% of every purchase helps women around the world reach their dreams and change lives. Empower a girl…change the world!

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I’m not posting this as a pat on the back to me…that’s a huge pat on the back for YOU. Thank you for supporting Girls Can’t WHAT?, purchasing our gear, blogging about us and spreading the love. It is because of your support that we can invest in the lives of these women around the world. Businesses have been started, educations funded and living quarters improved – all because you support this site. That’s what it’s all about.

You make it possible for so many others to move forward with their dreams.

Thank you!

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When my son was diagnosed with Autism I thought everything about my life would need to change. Funny story, I was totally right, but in all the wrong ways. I thought I would have to quit my job and become a hermit stay at home mom so I could be available for my son. Little did I know, he would be the reason to inspire to me to embrace my life and go running in a new direction with a great big smile on my face.

It was a long and sometimes hard journey; and sometimes still is. I laughed. I cried. I journaled. I hid out in my room. Then I learned to embrace experience. I found myself! I cry even as I write this because I never expected what I thought was terrible news would bring me to find my best me and then to start a business as a result of this journey.

I was desperate to help my son so I enrolled in school to become a Certified Holistic Nutritionist hoping that cleaning up the way we eat would bring about improvements in our lifestyle. I was right about that. Let me be clear before you start making assumptions, my son still has autism. I don’t claim to cure autism through diet, but I believe that any person eating clean will function at their best level and if I can do it, anyone can. Sometimes we just need a kick in the pants to move confidently in the direction of what we really desire.

While going to school I was unbelievably stressed out, but I never gave up my goal because I knew it was the right thing to do for my kids, plus I could see myself getting healthier. I have to be at my best to be there for my kids. I could see how the better I ate, the more energy I had, I was sleeping better, my skin cleared up and I was happier. Going to school was still stressful despite the healthy eating, but luckily the increased energy paired with my super-duper supportive husband kept me going. He encouraged me, wiped away my tears, just listened when that is what I needed and really took charge of the household duties. In addition to that he recommended that I start taking yoga classes to deal with stress and depression. He was so right! But, how would I find the time. He helped me find classes close to home and a time that worked for me.

To some people I probably appeared to have completely lost my mind because what I did next was that I signed up for yoga teacher training. I can’t believe that was going to school for two different certifications at the same time, still working full time and raising a kiddo with autism. But the healthy food and yoga was helping me. It was helping my kids. It was helping my husband. Plus, when I graduated, something super cool happened. I started my own business!

I would never wish an autism diagnosis on any family, but the super cool part is that we’ve been able to accept and embrace the path our family is on. When you learn to get past the pity party you can find what you really need in life. Sometimes when I look at my life now, I realize that his diagnosis gave me the push to move in a better direction. I get the be the mama of a vibrant, bright and energetic little boys and create a career I love. That career allows me to help other women achieve their ultimate health for themselves and their families. And, from opening my own business I get to create it around my family. I work out of the home a bit when the kids are at school, but I am able to do the rest from home. I would never have gone down this path if there wasn’t a major reason to push me in that direction. Sometimes the challenges in life let us know just how strong we are and cause us to get creative, be brave and just go!

When I evaluate my life now, even thought I thought I would end up a miserable wreck, I see how much I actually gained:

• A strong body.
• A healthy body.
• Healthy mind.
• Confidence.
• Bravery.
• Became a yoga teacher.
• Became a holistic nutritionist.
• Started my own wellness business.
• Have super awesome kids.
• Appreciate the supportive hubby I have.

I challenge you to find something positive in your life the next time you get bad news. Drop me a line and let me know how the positivity helped you persevere and what you learned about yourself in the process.

xoxo,

Jessica Wyman
jessica@jessicawymanwellness.com

Find me at: http://www.jessicawymanwellness.com

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Both semesters were about the same. The text I was using had 11 chapters so I told everybody I’d give them a quiz after each, but throw out each student’s worst quiz and use only everyone’s top ten for the quiz part of their final grade since everyone has a “bad day” and I didn’t want a bad day ruining their average. In the first quiz most of the girls did pretty badly so made appointments with me to drop the course. For each student when I asked her the problem in the quiz, she’d only say that she’d never understood math. I’d ask if we could go over one of the problems that she missed and she said ok. She said that she saw that step would follow from each previous step, like multiplying both sides of the equation by the same amount or whatever. She’d say she saw it was true, but didn’t know which step to do first. I’d say, “That problem we just finished; do it yourself, but you do it in the ‘wrong order’ of the steps, just keep track of all the terms.” In the middle of the problem, it looks different. But at the end, she was writing the same solution as I did few minutes earlier. Each and every girl said the exactly same thing, word for word: “This is SO easy! I can’t believe I thought it was hard.”

I told them that when I’m taking a math test, if I finished early, I’d go over the test and do the problems in a different order of steps, just so I can be pretty certain that I got it right. The rest of the semester, those girls were getting B+’s and A’s. When I’d finished a chapter, I’d give the class an example and told them whet the homework was; then, let them ask questions. The girls rarely asked questions because they got the concepts and were racing through their homework, while the boys usually needed more examples to really understand what’s going on in the chapter. Girls are so smart, if most of them weren’t so nice, it would be a little scary.

At the end of the school year, I had a stroke, with the aphasia and paralysis so bad that I gave up my goal to be a math professor, but I did complete my master’s degree. After that I worked for the Air Force as a computer programmer in various squadrons . When I was in Civil Engineering, the clerk for my section asked me if it was true that I used to teach math and I said it was. Her daughters were failing in math so I agreed to tutor them. They went from bottom of their class to near the top. It was especially great when they did the best in the class on a math test. I’ve never had a daughter, but it was a thrill to think that ‘my girls’ can do anything.

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The following article first appeared on Girls Guide to Swagger and is posted here with permission by author Cynthia Brown.

What can you say about a woman who left a successful catering business in New York City to volunteer for the Peace Corps in the hopes of empowering African women and children and in the process cut off the head of a poisonous snake –  in her kitchen, with a machete! Well, you could say that Bonnie Lee Black has swagger. And you’d be right!

Bonnie had her own catering business in New York, serving the rich and famous. After ten years in the business, she was tired of New York and tired of waiting on rich people. A breast cancer scare prompted her to look at her life and ponder how she would like to live. Bonnie wanted to do something new with her life, something gratifying and purposeful.

So she decided to join the Peace Corps and was sent to Gabon, in Central  Africa to work with women and children on improving their nutrition and health. Ten hours away from the Peace Corps office, in Gabon’s capital Libreville, Bonnie worked independently, using all her creativity to engage the women and children in the small town where she was posted. She made puppets to entertain and teach the kids and taught nutritious cooking to the women.“It was like play for me. I felt so creative. I had a purpose and felt useful,” Bonnie said.

Living on her own, she had to be resourceful and courageous. She said she used skills and confidence that had always been “lurking inside her,” but now had the chance to come forward. She tells the story of the local police in her small town who detained a friend of hers, Youssef, because he was from Mali and not Gabon. When Youssef went to the train to collect Bonnie’s luggage, the local police forced him to remove his shoes and cut grass outside the police station. After some time had passed, Bonnie went looking for Youssef and found him working with a machete outside. Bonnie confronted the police captain and said that if they did not release Youssef, that she too would take off her shoes and cut weeds with him. As she was one of only two white people in town and a well-respected teacher, the sight of Bonnie cutting weeds would have been enough to disturb everyone and would have reflected poorly on the captain. He let Youssef go. Bonnie said, “I was able to stand up and say no, I won’t let this happen, even though you have a gun.”

In another episode of swagger, Bonnie was washing dishes at her sink when a flash of movement caught her eye. She saw a very poisonous green mamba snake wriggling its way into her kitchen through a screen. She splashed the snake with soapsuds, but that only enraged the snake. Bonnie went to the closet and retrieved her machete. She was thinking, “It is you or me!” and proceeded to chop the snake’s head off. Later, when she went to town to get some gasoline, which she had heard deterred snakes, she explained her story to the man at the gas station. He listened carefully and then said in French, “You are an African now.”

Bonnie reflected on her time in Gabon in her book How to Cook a Crocodile: A Memoir with Recipes. It was published in 2010, as the first book by Peace Corps Writers. It’s available on Amazon.

Bonnie had been to Africa once before and felt so at home, she spent many years looking for a way to return. After her service with the Peace Corps ended, she accompanied her friend Youssef  to his hometown of Segou, Mali. When a group of women visiting Bonnie’s house there saw a quilt that she made, an experienced seamstress asked her, in French ”What is this?” Bonnie replied “Le Patchwork.” The seamstress said, “We must learn how to do that,” and Bonnie’s next project was born.

She worked for nearly three years with a group of women producing quilts that can be sold. Bonnie hopes that as the quilts find an outlet, the project will turn into an economic development opportunity for the women of Segou.

During her time there, Bonnie learned that though Mali is now one of many “poor” countries in West Africa, it was once a large, proud kingdom. Many African Americans, perhaps, could trace their roots to that kingdom, from which countless people were kidnapped for the slave trade. Weaving together the story of quilting in Mali and the connection with America, Bonnie has written a new book called How to Make an African Quilt.The book has just been released by Nighthawk Press and is available through Amazon as well.

After her time in Africa, Bonnie wanted to share her experiences and help dispel the common image that many have of Africans as poor, starving and in need of saving. “The African women I worked with are some of the strongest people on earth, in my opinion. My new book is dedicated to ‘African women who are the hope,’” Bonnie said. For more on Bonnie Lee Black and her work, visit her website.

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This is the story of Ella, who when faced with a cash crunch, learns business skills to solve her problem. HOW ELLA GREW AN ELECTRIC GUITAR is a novel aimed at young readers ages 8 to 12 and it combines a tween drama with an introduction to financial literacy.

Co-authored by a professor of finance and a business journalist, ELLA is a book that both educates and entertains.

ELLA is the brainchild of Orly Sade and Ellen Neuborne, two moms eager to give their own girls inspiration to pursue business dreams. In searching for age-appropriate books with a business theme, Sade and Neuborne were shocked to discover there was little in the way of new children’s literature that offered business lessons and even less that featured a girl as the entrepreneurial hero. So the two tapped their own talents to solve the problem. Sade, a Ph.D in finance-business administration and a professor of finance at New York University and Hebrew University, created the story of Ella and her entrepreneurial quest, using accurate financial concepts and teaching methods adapted from her college classroom. She teamed with Neuborne, a former editor at

BusinessWeek magazine with an MFA in fiction to bring the story to life.

Education experts say financial literacy should be the fourth “R” a mainstay of elementary school curriculum.

Already, ELLA has attracted support from the educational community.

“A crash course (for older children and young adults) in raising money for a particular goal…The book makes a useful resource for teachers and parents seeking to branch out beyond traditional textbooks for teaching these important concepts.” Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children

Find me at:

• ELLA IN ACTION! Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, MD uses ELLA in the classroom
• A YOUNG READER’S REVIEW (VIDEO)
• Ella at Amazon

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