One of my favorite things about Emerging Women is the honesty and vulnerability with which presenters speak to the tribe. No one is offering any quick-fixes, there aren’t any gimmicks or pitches, just an open sharing of personal experience in hopes of pointing towards the truth.
As Dominique Christina says in one of the amazing videos we share with you today, “I could offer [my voice] into a space and not teach you anything, necessarily, but show up BIG and in so doing maybe, maybe it becomes instructive. Maybe you recognize that it is also belonging to you.”
It energizes me when women share their stories, and it inspires me to continue on my path towards self-alignment. Do you feel this power of connection when you listen to a woman speak her truth? Then continue the connection, join in the conversation and aim to share your most authentic voice with this tribe. We will all benefit!
Big love,
Chantal Pierrat
Founder, Emerging Women
“I could offer [my voice] into a space and not teach you anything, necessarily, but show up BIG and in so doing maybe, maybe it becomes instructive. Maybe you recognize that it is also belonging to you.”
Check out Christine Arylo’s Power Practice #10 to see what she takes 3 minutes to do every morning.
>>Like what you’re hearing? Join me at Emerging Women Live 2014 in NYC this October for a truly unforgettable weekend of dialogue and connection. Make the leap now!
If you were at Power Party Denver, Emerging Women Live 2013, or watched either via Livestream, then you know why we are absolutely, completely and totally thrilled to have the magnificent Dominique Christina – poet, artist, activist, educator, author – joining us again for Emerging Women Live 2014 in NYC.
Watch this quick clip to see what we’re talking about. Even her intro banter flows like a polished poem, gaining momentum and sweeping up the crowd before she reads a single word from her book:
Dominique Christina is a self-described “colored girl with stars for eyes.” She is also the ONLY person to hold two national titles for slam poetry at one time and is the ONLY poet in history to win the Women of the World Poetry Championship twice.
“I’m interested in telling the truth — my truth,” she says. “I’m interested in women recognizing the value of their voices and the urgency of their voices. I want to challenge old ideas.”
“When they ask who you are… tell them you are many mountains moving. Tell them you are wind song. Tell them they should not have to ask. Tell them you do not have to answer.”
She raises her voice to challenge the old ideas of her mother and the ‘legs-crossed/always-appropriate’ women she had as templates for womanhood in this reading from Power Party Denver. Do you relate to her juxtaposition between mother and daughter’s versions of the feminine?
“I thought I was doing woman-ness wrong. That there was something flawed about how I showed up in the world,” Dominique says. But she goes on describe how she discovered later in life that “the business of womanhood – what’s so cool about it – is that it’s in your handwriting. It should not be prescribed.”
“The business of womanhood… it’s in your handwriting. It should not be prescribed.”
A former 1996 Olympic Volleyball player, Dominique has over 10 years experience as a licensed teacher, holding double Masters degrees in Education and English Literature.
She conducts performances/workshops for all over the country for colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and conferences like the LOHAS forum in Boulder, Colorado. She does branding and marketing language for companies like Lotus Wei and Gaia. She is presently across the nation with Denice Frohman as Sister Outsider.
She’s also a mother. An awesome mother. What does a mother like Dominique Christina do when a boy on Twitter attempts to shame girls for menstruating, you might wonder? Then you must watch (or read the transcript below) “The Period Poem.” Period.
Dominique Christina: I have one more poem, in order to stay in time. Let me just say this: it is profane. Now, I have a daughter. She’s 13 years old. She’s taller than I am. She is absolutely persistent in her acts of rebellion against me. Which does not mean she’s a cut-up. It means that she loves pink, loves ruffles, love skirts, is not interested in athletics—all the shit that I’m not! So, for me, that’s rebellious.
All right. When she started her period, we all knew it because she walked out of the bathroom and she looked stricken. I have four children; she’s my only daughter. Three boys, my god. So she walks out of the bathroom, she’s looking stricken, her brothers are confused. And I’m like, “Nashia, what’s up?” She told me she started her period, she was devastated, lip tremble, whole thing.
So her brothers are immediately like, “Oh.” And she had this—she was grieving! And I needed to undermine what to me looked like shame right away. And it was familiar shame, because I remember being in middle school, having started my period and the boys found out, and then, you know, there was some shit.
So I threw her a period party. It was cool. And all my friends came and everyone was dressed in red and all the food was red and all the drinks were red. And we raised the roof to her shedding uterus. It’s true. It’s really true. It’s a good template. Feel free to use it.
And so it was working. It was working. She was operating in the absence of shame. When I was in Austin, Texas, for the Women of the World Poetry Slam this year, I got a screen shot from her. It was a guy on Twitter, and in 140 characters, he almost undermined all that work. So this is my message to him.
So dude on Twitter says, “I was having sex with my girlfriend when she started her period. I dumped that bitch immediately.”
Dear nameless dummy on Twitter: You’re the reason my daughter cried funeral tears when she started her period—the sudden induction into a reality that she would have to negotiate people like you and your disdain for what a woman’s body can do.
Herein begins an anatomy lesson infused with feminist politics because I hate you.
There is a thing called the uterus. It sheds itself every 28 days or so. Or in my case, every 23 days. I’ve always been a rule breaker. But that’s the anatomy part. I digress.
The feminist politic part is that women know how to let things go, know how to let a dying thing leave the body, how to regenerate, how to become new, how to wax and wane, not unlike the moon and tides, both of which influence how you behave. I digress.
Women have vaginas that speak to each other. It’s true. By this I mean, when we’re with our mothers, our sisters, our friends, our partners, our menstrual cycles will actually sync up. My own menstrual cycle is mad influential. Everybody I love knows how to bleed with me. Hold on to that. There’s a metaphor in it.
But when your mother carried you, the ocean in her belly is what made you buoyant, made you possible. You had it under your tongue when you burst through her skin, wet and panting from the heat of her body—the body whose machinery you now mock on social media. That body wrapped you in everything that was miraculous about it and sung you lullabies laced in platelets without which you wouldn’t have no Twitter account at all, stupid. I digress.
See, women know the world better because of the blood that visits some of us. It interrupts our favorite white skirts and shows up at dinner parties unannounced. Blood will do that. Period. And if you are as unprepared as we sometimes are, it can get all over you and leave a forever stain.
So to my daughter: Should anybody be fool enough to mishandle the wild geography of your body, how it rides a red, running current like any good wolf or witch, well then, just bleed. Bleed, girl. Give that blood a biblical name, something of stone and mortar. Name it after Eve’s first rebellion in that garden. Name it after the last little girl to have her genitals mutilated in Kinshasa—that was this morning. Give it as many syllables as there are unreported rape cases. Name the blood something holy, something mighty, something written in hieroglyphs, something that sounds like the end of the world, something with crooked teeth and two fat fists.
Just bleed. Name it. Name it for the raw between legs and for the women who will not be nameless here. Bleed anyhow. Spill your impossible scripture all over the good furniture and then bleed on everything he loves. Period.
And really, what’s left to say after that?! We are so excited to have this fabulous woman join us in NYC for EWlive14. Will you be there getting goosebumps with us?
>>Ready to dive deeper with Dominique and the Emerging Women tribe? Join us at Emerging Women Live 2014 in NYC. Register now!
Emerging Women is hosting another fabulous Power Party on June 12th, this time in Denver, CO at Converge Denver. If you can’t make it in person you can still participate via Livestream by signing up below. Please note that all tickets must be purchased in advance.
About:
Power Parties are authentic networking events that aim to bring together brilliant women ready to influence real change in the world through “the how” of what we do. Power Party Denver is designed to be a comprehensive event that will explore the dimensions of living the truth of who we are through feminine power. You will experience real connection, intentional circles, speakers, book signings, live performance and groove. The line-up for this event is awesomely inspirational – featuring Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, Sara Avant Stover, Kim Coupounas, Bari Tessler, Dominique Christina and Dr. Lynn Gangone — all successful visionary leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives who are trailblazing a new way of influencing positive change in the world.
Expect authentic sharing of what makes these women tick and how they were able to achieve uncompromising success by living the truth of who they are.
Register for Emerging Women’s Power Party Denver HERE
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andel Allen-Davis, MD, is vice president of Government and External Relations for Kaiser Permanente Colorado. She leads the organization’s community relations and communications functions, stakeholder engagement, government relations, clinical research activities and community benefit investment.
Dr. Allen-Davis is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and after 25 years of taking care of patients, transitioned from a physician leader to Kaiser Permanente’s Health Plan Leadership team. Dr. Allen-Davis believes health care will improve when all the primary stakeholder groups — clinicians, patients, elected officials, community leaders, and employers — can collaborate effectively to put the patient at the center.
Dr. Allen-Davis is an active participant on community boards, including current Board Chair of Denver Botanic Gardens, CU Foundation Board of Directors, Colorado Association of Health Plans Board of Directors, Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry Board of Directors, and more.
Dr. Allen-Davis is the proud recipient of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Colorado from the Colorado Women’s Chamber in 2013, the 2013 Colorado Black Women for Political Action, Women Making History Award, the 2013 Metro Volunteers Community Impact Award, just to name a few. Learn More>>>
Sara Avant Stover is a yogini, inspirational speaker, teacher, mentor, and author of the best-selling book The Way of the Happy Woman: Living the Best Year of Your Life.
Sara graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Columbia University’s all-women’s school, Barnard College. After a cancer scare in her early twenties, Sara moved to Thailand, where she embarked on a decade-long healing and spiritual odyssey throughout Asia. She became a certified yoga instructor, and went on to teach thousands of women in over a dozen countries, from United Arab Emirates to China and from Greece to Sweden.
Sara is a student of Sofia Diaz, Sarah Powers, and others. She has been practicing yoga, Buddhist meditation, and women’s work for fifteen years. She taught the first 200-hour yoga teacher training in Thailand and is the creator of the world’s first Women’s Yoga Teacher Training. A pioneer in merging modern women’s spirituality and lifestyle, she now teaches at centers such as Kripalu and Shambhala Mountain Center. Sara’s writing has been published in Yoga Journal, the Huffington Post, and Yogi Times. She has also been featured in Newsweek, Natural Health, and on ABC, NBC, and CBS. Learn More>>>
Kim Coupounas is a values-centered leader, public speaker, and entrepreneur who is a passionate advocate for the environment and a firm believer in the power of the corporation to do good in the world.
Kim serves as Director of B Lab Colorado where she is leading a collaborative effort to make the state of Colorado the leader in responsible business practice, enabling companies to model a better way to do business, better for Colorado’s workers, environment, and economy.
Prior to B Lab, she co-founded and served as Chief Sustainability Officer GoLite, the premier global manufacturer of lightweight, innovative and responsible apparel and equipment designed specifically for outdoor athletes. Kim and her husband founded the company in 1998, and she served as GoLite’s CEO until 2008. Kim is also past Chairman of the Board of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), the trade association representing the $646 billion active outdoor recreation industry. Kim earned an A.B. with honors from Princeton and a joint M.B.A./M.P.A. from Harvard.
Among her deep passions are time spent with her family, trail running, hiking, singing, doing yoga and martial arts, drinking great wine, and climbing mountains.Learn More>>>
Bari Tessler, M.A., is a Financial Therapist, Mentor Coach, Mama-preneur, and the Founder of The Art of Money. She has guided thousands of people to new, empowered, and refreshingly honest relationships with money through her nurturing, body-centered approach.
Bari earned a Masters in Somatic Psychology from Naropa University and worked in body-centered therapy for over a decade before unexpectedly falling in love with bookkeeping systems and money work. Her unique methodology integrates these two worlds into deep money healing that honors all the facets of our money relationships: body to spirit, lineage to career, smart practices to deep visioning, and much more.
She is currently leading a global conscious money movement via her year-long program, The Art of Money, which weaves together personal, couple and entrepreneurial money teachings. She’s on a mission to bring healing, awareness, and un-shaming to our money relationships.Learn More>>>
Dominique Christina is a writer, performer, educator, and activist. She holds four national titles in the three years she has been competing in slam poetry, including the 2012 Women of the World Slam Champion and 2011 National Poetry Slam Champion. She is presently the only person to have held two national titles at one time.
Her work is greatly influenced by her family’s legacy in the Civil Rights Movement; her grandfather was a Hall of Famer in the Negro Leagues, while her aunt, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, was one of the Little Rock Nine. Dominique has always known she was a colored girl. Her writing is a celebration of that. Dominique Christina has performed across the country, opening for Cornel West, and performing for the Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till families in Washington DC at the Shiloh Baptist Church.
She conducts performance/workshops for the LOHAS forum in Boulder Colorado, has done branding and marketing language for companies like Lotus Wei and Gaia. She is presently enjoying a rigorous tour schedule with Denice Frohman as Sister Outsider. Learn More>>>
In spring 2007, Lynn M. Gangone, EdD was named dean of the University of Denver – Colorado Women’s College and associate clinical professor of higher education at the Morgridge College of Education. The college’s mission is to educate women to boldly lead in the communities where they live, work, and engage. Dr. Gangone is committed to building women’s educational environments that strengthen self-confidence, enhance leadership capacity, and empower girls and women to develop strong peer relationships.
Dr. Gangone is a champion of women’s leadership in the new economy. She is often called upon for her expert opinion by organizations like Rocky Mountain PBS, the International Leadership Association-Women and Leadership Affinity Group, TEDxMileHighWomen and others.
She serves on the faculty of the Women’s Leadership Institute, the HERS Institutes for Women in Higher Education Administration and the Midwest Women’s Leadership Institute. She co-created the Institute for Emerging Women Leaders in Higher Education. Dr. Gangone was recently honored as one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Colorado (Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce), as well as one of the 2013 “Women Making History” (Colorado Black Women for Political Action). Learn More>>>
Reserve Your Spot at Emerging Women Power Party DenverHERE!
Check out an Emerging Women Power Party in action:
Check it out! Brené Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Eve Ensler, Alanis Morissette – all our favorites are here, talking about Emerging Women Live. And so many power women from EWlive13 are featured, too. Are you in the video?
We are so humbled and grateful for the beautiful, thoughtful testimonies given by our tribe. Warm thank you’s and big, big love to you all! Let’s keep the momentum of this movement going! Let’s change the world!
About Emerging Women Live 2014:
Emerging Women Live aims to support and propel the emerging movement of women who are stepping up and changing the world. #EWLive14 is a one of a kind conference that helps women to harness the power of the feminine, rock the business world, and create a new paradigm for success. Join us in NYC for a truly extraordinary, one-of-a-kind event!
Join us for an experience that will last far beyond the four days we spend together. Learn more here>>>
Dominique Christina shares “Writing the Bones,” a compassionate practice to help us improve our relationship with the written word. This Power Practice will teach us how to accept and creatively transform our silence, our inner critic, or simply put, to engage writer’s block. Dominique patiently guides us through the process of “dealing with silence before words happen.”
Dominique teaches us how to fight and own our insecurities by giving them a seat at the table, by allowing the silence to be a collaborator and an instigator of creativity. This is truly a fascinating exercise that will help you stretch your imagination.
Play the Power Practice:
“Attach a wider lens to your silence as a way to conquer it.”
A writer, performer, educator, and activist, Dominique has won four national titles in the three short years she has been competing in slam, including 2012 Women of the World Slam Champion and 2011 National Poetry Slam Champion. Dominique is presently the only person to have held two national titles at one time. She conducts writing workshops nationally for various organizations, colleges and universities and is presently enjoying a rigorous tour schedule with Denice Frohman as Sister Outsider.
Her first full length poetry book, The Bones, The Breaking, The Balm: A Colored Girl’s Hymnal will be released March 1, 2014 (Penmanship NY). Her second book, a radical look at the creative process, Writing In Fire, is set for publication in 2015 by Sounds True. Dominique was also a featured presenter at Emerging Women Live 2013 & 2014.
Want to see Dominique perform “The Period Poem” at Emerging Women Power Night? It’s a must-see.
Chelsea Brookshire
Executive Assistant and Relationships Manager
Chelsea has over 15 years of experience in administrative and executive support. After her years of working in the legal and oil and gas industry, Chelsea has made it her passion to fill her life with creativity and incorporates that into everything she does. Her position at Emerging Women allows her to expand on that creativity and assist with empowering women around the world. She is a native of Colorado and enjoys spending time with her husband, her son, bonus son, family, and friends. In her free time she loves camping, painting, and all things creative.
Michelle Caggiano
Online Business Manager
Michelle studied Marketing and received her degree from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her passion for marketing, combined with great attention to detail, and over 7 years of experience in the tech-world makes her a valuable asset to the team! In addition to Emerging Women, she is also a solopreneur and works with a number of different clients in the online business realm. She is an experienced Online Business Manager and Virtual Assistant who specializes in marketing operations, project management and online course launch management. She is a Colorado native, mother of two dogs, a cat, and a turtle, and step-mother to an amazing little girl. In her spare time she enjoys live music, good food, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family.
Jen Jefferson
Power Circle Administrator
Jen comes to Emerging Women with over 25 years of experience in event operations and volunteer management. She has worked various types of events as a Volunteer Manager for Integral Life conferences and as an Event Coordinator for various large arts and sports festivals throughout Colorado. Alongside her passion for creating and producing events, she worked as a hospital administrator for over a decade in one of Denver’s largest hospitals helping make care affordable to hundreds of patients. Jen was born in Lima, Peru but has spent most of her life in Colorado. In 2016, a year sabbatical morphed into a life living abroad. Jen has been living in Cusco, Peru for the past four years and cherishes her life in the Andes mountains. In her spare time she enjoys exploring the world, playing capoeira, and deepening her yoga and meditation practices.
Nicole Fegley
Director of Power Circles
For over 13 years, Nicole has been a producer and connector in the field of personal and professional growth and transformation, creating diverse content, life-changing curriculum, and exquisite live and online experiences. She loves to unite and facilitate people in their work to live more good, true, and beautiful lives. She’s honored to bring this diverse expertise to Emerging Women. For the past two years she has been the lead producer for Emerging Women Live, and now is bringing her extensive production, coaching and facilitation skills to EW’s Power Circles. Nicole works in private practice as a Certified Integral Master Coach™, through her company, Unabashedly You, and has worked with hundreds of women (and men) individually and as a group facilitator. She also creates programs and interviews fascinating teachers and wellness experts in her role as U.S. Content Producer for Conscious Life. She is the co-founder of Core Integral, an educational company offering a comprehensive and accessible approach to learning integral theory. Prior to this work, she owned a large and lively restaurant and brewery in Pennsylvania. She has studied extensively and worked alongside Ken Wilber (Integral Theory), Daniel Brown, PhD (Tibetan Buddhism, Self-Development, Attachment, and Positive Psychology), and Sofia Diaz (Hatha Yoga and Feminine Embodiment). She holds a Masters Degree from Lehigh University. She regularly delights in the sunshine and mountains of Colorado with her two dogs and her partner Clint, and is a new mama to her daughter Truly Golden.
Chantal Pierrat
Founder & CEO
Chantal’s mission is to increase women’s leadership across the globe. After earning an MBA from the University of Colorado, Chantal left a career in medical device manufacturing in search of work that would align her dedication to transformative leadership with her passion for living an inspired, impactful life. In September 2012, she founded Emerging Women, a global leadership and media platform that serves over 70,000 women worldwide and has advanced women’s leadership within Fortune 500 companies such as HP, Oracle and more. Chantal’s ultimate vision is to weave feminine leadership and authenticity into businesses, and to create a world where women have a strong voice in the shaping of our future. Prior to Emerging Women, for over a decade, Chantal served on the executive team as the VP of Sales and Marketing for Sounds True, a multimedia publishing company focused on spirituality, personal growth, and holistic living. Chantal is a sought after speaker delivering keynotes at The Grace Hopper Celebration, Wisdom 2.0, and many other stages where women’s leadership is critical to the conversation. When she is not dancing or working to empower women around the world, Chantal enjoys family time with her husband and two sons in Boulder, CO.
Big love,
