The reason why it is so essential in means of creating the health and wellness of POC is because of the issues that are continuously faced. Queen B Mentorship started from the space of not allowing any other child have to go through what we have gone through as POC. 

Woman in Leadership Feature

OCTAVIA RAMIREZ
’I remember being in grade school and the girls in my class, or my friends, would always follow what I did. I don’t know if you’d label that as being “bossy”, or just decisive? Call it what you want, but when I moved, people followed’

You all know that I never shy away from hard work, but if you think you could never work as hard as me, think of this as your white privilege. For me to achieve any of my dreams and goals, I have had to work twice as hard as a white person to be seen, heard and trusted. I now pass the torch to you.

At The Well we value diversity, we are inclusive, we raise up women’s stories of lived experiences. We value the collective voice, all women voices, amplified for all to hear. We want women to know they are the glue that holds community together.

Woman in Leadership Feature

Daria Malin:
’’

Here’s the thing. I don’t think I’ve ever prepared for a project before in my life.
I only learned to do this since opening The Well 2 years ago, and started to apply it since the Pandemic.
Yes, less than a month I have been preparing for an idea.

This said idea, I prepared for in about two days. Now I am not saying ‘be like me’, please be yourself.
What I am saying is, a whole lotta amazing stuff can happen with little or no preparing.

Some find space to think, breathe, pause threatening, for some it is a blessing.
I found it similar to watching a scary movie of which I’m not a big fan. I was looking at my world through the slits of my fingers so I could just see pieces and not the whole picture.

Priorities.
What were mine?
Who was I truly at my core?

Woman in Leadership Feature

Sara McCabe:
’I'm just over here trying to rewrite what leadership is. Instead of that word being a source of anxiety, why don't we rewrite the definition? Each of us has the power to do that. I believe leadership is more about embracing who you are, understanding how to work with that instead of forcing yourself to fit an impossible ideal.’

Well Business Advisor and Small Business coach/consultant shares the reality of business during a pandemic and to remember that ‘your business is an investment’.

Our business is built on community, authenticity, and relationships. After a monumental week I wanted to share what we’ve done to strengthen us as a whole and give you some honest communication about our steps moving forward.

The questions everyone wants to know is, how are we doing financially.

The ability to provide space for refugees, as Nazanin is, allowing them to feel safe and accepted for who they are, is a dream come true for The Well. It’s more than we ever could have asked for. Reflecting on these valuable and life altering things are so important in a time of world crisis like we are in.

Are you asking yourself, ‘How could you possibly use this time to strategize and pivot your thinking when you feel like the world is standing still?’

That’s the whole point. It is standing still for right now. As a business owner, time has always been the most valuable commodity. Now you have it.

If you don’t engage in community, you won’t receive these things. As well, your expectations of others will get the best of you and your experience.

As conversation flowed my mind drew a metaphor comparing this concept of finding balance in life to my process in learning to canoe. I recalled lessons I’ve been taught and realized the many parallels that paddling holds with the way we move through life, always working to continue forward and keep upright.

I had a conversation with my daughter recently. I paused to swish the topic around and around. She cannot sit with herself. Just sit. Pause. Rejoice in her being. I believe this is an epidemic in much of humanity. It drives many to distractions. Anything to not stop and hear the needs of the heart and the soul.  Busy-ness is our compulsion. 

We traded in our cell phones for a cocktail, said no thanks to selfies, indulged instead in eye contact and our memories. We didn’t search up our favourite IG accounts to share and snap photos of the most amazing food. We simply enjoyed each moment and allowed ourselves to forget that someone may want to reach us.

Why do we share honour? Simply, because we are all human, made beautifully, made well. We all have unique stories of hardship, growing, rising, breaking and achievement, but at the end of the day and since the beginning of time, we have all shared the fundamental quality of humanness with one another.

Something I have been experiencing a lot lately is this thing called dress rehearsing tragedy. Brene Brown defines it this way: “imagining something bad happening when in reality nothing is wrong.” 

Dress rehearsing tragedy is so sneaky. It can show up as anxiety or dread, but before you know it turns into a full blown way of thinking or a pattern. 

My heart is pounding writing this , self doubt grips my chest like a chain and yanks me down into a hole of dark. My brain rushes thoughts in and out as fast as it can, as if to distract me from recovery. I am wondering what I need, I ask myself the questions to bring me back. ‘Tammy, what do you need in this moment?’. To hide my heart says. To isolate. To never leave my house. To quit everything. Don’t let anyone know how I’m feeling.

I used to think of slowing down as sleeping in or having no plans, which is important too. What I now realize is that I can intentionally carve out time for slowness. This way I can attend to my family, my business, myself, and not feel anxious and overwhelmed all the time. I am ‘building my house’ in a way that is sustainable.