What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my family. My daughter brings such a fun perspective to things. She’s always so full of energy, music, and spunk. She’s a free spirit. I love that about her. I am thankful for my husband and his family. I am thankful for my Mother and my siblings families. My nieces are all growing up so fast and I’m thrilled for my new nephew.

I am thankful that we all have our health and for the most part are a pretty happy bunch. I am thankful for my coaches who push me and hold my vision for me. I am thankful for my former team and team mates as I have learned from all of them and have become a better leader as a result. I am thankful for my friends.

I am thankful for my clients who have allowed me to work with them and help them further themselves on their on path of being the leader of their life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” — Sara Blakely, Spanx

Another topic discussed at Emerging Women Live was gender bias and inclusion. The timing of these conversations were interesting as it was during the conference on October 13th when Michelle Obama called Trump comments on Women “Intolerable” while in my home state of NH. These statements from Michelle Obama spoke to me most.

“We thought all of that was ancient history, didn’t we? And so many have worked for so many years to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect, but here we are, in 2016, and we’re hearing these exact same things every day on the campaign trail. We are drowning in it. And all of us are doing what women have always done: We’re trying to keep our heads above water, just trying to get through it, trying to pretend like this doesn’t really bother us maybe because we think that admitting how much it hurts makes us as women look weak. Maybe we’re afraid to be that vulnerable. Maybe we’ve grown accustomed to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet, because we’ve seen that people often won’t take our word over his. Or maybe we don’t want to believe that there are still people out there who think so little of us as women. Too many are treating this as just another day’s headline, as if our outrage is overblown or unwarranted, as if this is normal, just politics as usual.

But, New Hampshire, be clear: This is not normal. This is not politics as usual.  This is disgraceful. It is intolerable.”

“It’s about basic human decency. It’s about right and wrong.  And we simply cannot endure this, or expose our children to this any longer — not for another minute, and let alone for four years.  Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say enough is enough. This has got to stop right now.”

“Because consider this: If all of this is painful to us as grown women, what do you think this is doing to our children? What message are our little girls hearing about who they should look like, how they should act? What lessons are they learning about their value as professionals, as human beings, about their dreams and aspirations? And how is this affecting men and boys in this country? Because I can tell you that the men in my life do not talk about women like this. And I know that my family is not unusual. And to dismiss this as everyday locker-room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere.”

“The men that you and I know don’t treat women this way. They are loving fathers who are sickened by the thought of their daughters being exposed to this kind of vicious language about women. They are husbands and brothers and sons who don’t tolerate women being treated and demeaned and disrespected.”

Her words were so on-point. Her entire speech can be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/13/remarks-first-lady-hillary-america-campaign-event-manchester-nh

#MichelleObama