Woman of the Week: Rachel Lloyd

Photo Credit: GEMS Website

Name: Rachel Lloyd

Occupation: Executive Director and Founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)

Why she is inspiring: Ms. Lloyd founded GEMS as a support group for young girls who are affected or involved in commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking after surviving her own youth as a sexually exploited teen. After escaping she went on to receive her bachelor's degree as well as her masters in applied urban anthropology. Her group strives to function as a safety net for these girls, as well as to work for legislation that will help and protect them. I think the most profound element of Ms.Lloyd's work (and company) is her interest not only in helping youth escape exploitation, but also in helping them realize their potential in other ways. GEMS focuses on the idea that every survivor has a story to tell, and a right to be heard. The implementation of this concept is more widespread than just this single cause. Ms. Lloyd herself acts as a prime example that awful experiences can be turned into productive feedback and networks in the community. Hopefully her work will travel nationally. Cheers to you Ms. Lloyd!


For more information on GEMS please visit their website: www.gems-girls.org

Familiar Face Friday!

To kick off the community-based element of this blog I want to feature one of the original women who inspired me to start this blog: my sister! Although I am a little biased towards her good genes I think she is a perfect fit for what I'm trying to accomplish here.

Name: Fiona Smith

Age: 23

Occupation: Ski Patrol Woman, Telluride, CO. Former National Geographic Young Explorer.

Why she kicks major boo-tay: In my mind, Fiona is the perfect pick for my first "Familiar Faces" segment. She has always represented the kind of go-get-em gumption that I admire. After graduating from college last year Fiona and two of her friends planned and executed a kayak trip through the Haida Gwaii wilderness. After that she upped and moved to Telluride, CO to follow her dream of becoming a ski patroller; she is one of ten women on a 70 person team and still manages to hold her own in an unfamiliar town. And if that weren't enough she has been a mentor and friend to hundreds of kids a year acting as a counselor and unit director at a Northwestern YMCA camp. I've haven't heard of that many women who have the guts to go out into the wilds of Canada almost completely un-accompanied and brave the Colorado Rockies, let alone I get to be related to one of them (maybe some of her fearless-ness will rub off on me...)! Fiona has always been true to herself and inspires me (not to mention her friends and campers) to go for it and not be limited by hard situations or what other people may think. I can't wait to see what she'll do next and neither can her community! Kudos to you Yon!

***Like this segment? Have a special lady in your community that you find inspiring and that you think should be featured? Tell me why and send me a photo at reach.ladynet@yahoo.com !)*** 

Woman of the Week: Michelle Obama

Photo credit: Official White House Photo

Name: Michelle Robinson Obama, J.D.
Age: 47
Occupation: Current First Lady, Founder of the "Let's Move" campaign, former Lawyer
Why we love her: Its no secret that I love Michelle Obama. She has been intriguing to me ever since her Mr. Obama stepped on the scene as a young politician. But the more she has been in the spot-light the more reasons emerge why she is a fantastic role model for women the country over.  Prior to first-lady-dom Ms. Obama led an incredibly successful career, first with a legal firm but later in a variety of community-development arenas. Her ability to be a powerful career woman while developing a family is astounding in its own right.
      But clearly her accomplishments continue to shine through in her work as first lady. Ms. Obama strongly but subtly supports the American fashion industry with her wardrobe selection, supporting young American designer like Jason Wu and Peter Som in addition to larger companies like JCrew. Through her sartorial choices Ms.Obama stands in the public eye as pulled-together, stylish, but friendly and approachable. Her look is professional yet individualistic, and is chronicled through many a fashion blog (my favorite being mrs-o.org).
     If this were not reason enough to find her impressive Ms.Obama's "Let's Move" campaign is the icing on the cake. She has spearheaded an initiative to teach America's youth the value in good eating habits and good exercise, targeting the spreading obesity in our country. But I believe there is another value in the concept of "Let's Move" that is more pertinent to this blog: that by educating youth about healthy eating and exercise Ms.Obama is acting as a role model for young girls to learn about healthy body images and consumer habits. She is not only starting this campaign, she is the icon of it; she demonstrates that despite a busy life with work and family and other problems (like, oh...world politics) it is possible to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Cheers to you Ms. Obama!

Woman of the Week: Marissa Mayer

***Because this blog is basically a constant love-note to impressive lady-folk, I figured I would get this business off the ground appropriately and launch the first official post on one of my favorite girly holidays. So here is a Valentine to one of my personal favorites***:

Photo: Vogue.com

Name: Marissa Mayer
Age: 36
Profession: Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google
Why she is inspiring: I have always had a soft spot for ladies who work science jobs ever since my brief career on a high school robotics team, so its no wonder that I chose Ms. Mayer as our kickoff woman. It takes serious gumption to go to work every day and be surrounded by a lot of men-folk, let alone run the whole darn thing. Ms. Mayer proves that not only can you be successful in the tech world at a young age, but you can do it with every-day class and style. She is a huge part of the reason millions upon millions of people are attracted to Google as a search engine. Without her we would still be using search engines like "hotbot.com"...seriously. She is an exceptional role model for girls in math and science fields who aspire to great things; kudos to you, Ms. Mayer. Happy Valentines Day!

Mission Statement

This blog is a dedication and celebration of women in today's society who support a successful and healthy feminine community. Our definition of a powerful, successful woman in is so often skewed by biting media commentary and un-healthy female standards. We contribute to this cycle by participating in the pithy criticisms, and fighting to live to the standards that have been set for us instead of celebrating each other and our accomplishments. I have begun this blog in an effort to encourage all ladies to participate in a supportive, loving, and inspiring community while we strive for our goals and make un-known levels attainable for future generations.