A Great Escape to a Women's Speaker Series In Fall River

What do women want? That is one of the questions we inherently ask in these Great Escape articles. Notice, it's not only, "What do women need?" but also, "What do women want?"

Often moms (and women in general) can get burnt-out by taking care of others and not taking the time to nurture themelves. I'm reminded of the instructions the airplane stewardesses share during takeoff. If the air masks drop down during an emergency, parents are instructed to put the mask on themselves first before putting the masks on their kids. The idea behind this is that parents can't take care of their kids if they are not taking care of themselves. Maybe we can apply that idea not just during our plane rides. 

As I've stated in previous articles, a happy mom leads to a happy family. Our happiness helps not only ourselves but also others in our lives. Our happiness often depends on our own self-care which can entail taking time for oneself, asking for help, connecting with others and just being inspired. Our Great Escape this week entails all of these things.

Janine Ouellette Sullivan has also attempted to ask and answer the question "What do women want?" as part of a women’s lecture series she brought to the area in March of this year. Similar to the question, her series is called What Women Want. In asking Janine about what motivated her to start this series she stated,

“Time and time again I would speak to women who were spread too thin, didn't feel like they were enough, had no time to be who they were. Over the years I have met so many great women in the field of self help. I decided it was time to bring the tools and resources that they had to women in my area.”

Although it will be moving to a new location in July, the speaker series has had a great reception at Waterstreet Café in Fall River, MA, where the latest event will take place on Wednesday, June 15 at 6 p.m. While Janine Sullivan created the speaker series, Jeanne Padilla (the owner of Waterstreet Café), has been a supportive partner by offering her space for the events. 

The format of the night is simple. The event admission is only $6 a person. Attendees can also come early and get dinner beforehand at Waterstreet Café. The presentation takes place in “The Room” (a separate meeting area within the restaurant). The festivities formally begin around 6:30 p.m, at which time the inspiring speaker is introduced and then speaks for around 45 to 60 minutes. It includes a question and answer time. Janine indicated that afterward there is socializing, a book signing and private questions. It wraps up at 8:30 p.m.

Shortly after one of her events, Janine posted on Facebook, “My vision for the 'What Women Want' series was achieved tonight. Wonderful!" To get a sense of her vision for her speaker series I asked her what aspect of her vision was achieved at that particular event. Janine shared that not only was there great attendance, but the speaker, Pat Hastings, also engaged attendees in her presentation, which enabled them to also share their own personal stories.

Janine stated that during the event, “I want people to feel comfortable, safe, happy, cared about, seen...” and she felt that was achieved that night. One of the speakers for this month, Linda Pestana, also shared her experience after attending the series.

"I attended two [events], they were wonderful! I truly have witnessed empowererment lived to it's fullest. I sat and was so blessed as I watched women share there pain, brokeness, and fear...while knowing they were in a safe place to share their hearts. Powerful and power-filled."

As with the event mentioned, normally there is one speaker at the event. However, for the event on June 15 attendees will have the pleasure of listening to two speakers. Gilda Arruda and are friends, and are also both authors, who share their personal stories in their indiviual books and share some commonalities in their message.

Gilda describes herself as a, “retired medical assistant, author, columnist, and speaker." When asked about her presentation she indicated she will be sharing about the messages in her books.

“My first book Twice Wronged was the book that started my writing journey. It addresses the question of when or if we have the right to intervene in another's life. My new book The Promise of Tomorrow/To Live Life with No Regrets, is designed to help individuals find not only acceptance of themselves, but also develop a self-love and find their own spiritual direction and divine purpose."

You can learn more about Gilda's book and message by reading her blog.  

The seconde speaker, Linda Pestana, will be sharing the messages from her book as well. Voices of the Heart includes her life story along with life choices that she’s learned from.

 “My entire story is about the choices I've made in life and the transformation that resulted. You may recognize your own story in mine. Some things in life we have little or no control over, but we do have control over how we view what happens and how we learn from it. My own, personal truth is this: Life is not a race. It is a journey to be savored. Don't forget for even one moment how special you are. Honor and value yourself."

Just one of the difficult decisions Linda Pestana made in her life was to question her life as a nun. 

While both speakers messages have a spiritual component, Linda and Gilda are not promoting any one religion. Rather, they speak of personal journeys and personal choices we all make. When talking about her book, Gilda said,

"It's a personal account of how to remove insecurities, evoking self-thought in the acceptance of love, forgiveness, reflection, knowledge, trust, hope and faith, with forgiveness being the magical eraser to all of our negative emotions." 

Linda also said,

“My hope is that my message will empower and help the listener to get rid of the baggage, whether memories, people or environment...that keep us down and choose instead to dwell on the good and true things of life.” 

With that message in mind Linda also wrote a song titled, “It’s Your Choice." It can be heard on her website and purchased at several music websites. You can check out her website for more info regarding her book and her song.

I saw Linda speak before and was touched by her ability to share her message of the human experience of being in the crossroads of life and feeling stuck. I also was touched by her message of accepting who we are no matter where we are on those crossroads.

The event where I  heard Linda present was through a different group Janine had  founded called “Living in Possibilities."  This group’s mission is described on the “Change for Change Foundation” website:

 “The mission of the group is to work together to move our thinking to the next highest level. Live in Possibilty is committed to supporting one another and dedicated to community service. Each of the participants seek out opportunities to do good in their town.”

The What Women Want women’s lecture series and the Living in Possibilites group are just two of many projects Janine has spearheaded this year. Janine’s catalyst for all of these positive efforts was winning a Holistic Makeover from the inspiring radio show The Dr. Pat Show. Through the Holistic Makeover, Janine had access to a variety specialist who supported her in her health and wellness goals. As part of the agreement she was asked to also do a “Pay it Forward” project. Janine shared with me all of the things she did as part of the "Pay it Forward" project:

“I began with a food drive to stock five soup kitchens. Then I feed breakfast to veteran's at an area association. The drive filled the kitchens, then a women's shelter, an animal shelter. Then we had a drive to fill back packs for the homeless. That we did twice and filled over 30 packs with are distributed through St Anne's Hospital in Fall River, MA."

You can hear more about her experience by listening to her interview on The Dr. Pat Show. Some of her speakers of from What Women Want have also been on another popular radio show, Patricia Raskin's Postive Living. Here is one interview which includes one of the speakers for this month, Linda Pestana.  

I also found a "What Women Want" interview series on  Blog Talk Radio where several of the speakers were interviewed. One of the past speakers, Pat Hastings, is the host for these interviews. Here are two interviews: 3/30/11 and 4/24/11

One could say Janine's life and her projects were greatly affected by winning the “Holistic Makeover." However, Janine would say the change in her life started before that with an encounter she had with a homeless man. She wrote about that encounter in her winning "Holistic Makeover" essay.

“My story begins when I stopped and spoke to a homeless man on Christmas Eve. I gave him food. We spoke for seconds. He said nobody out there can help him. I said people can help if you just let them. When I said those words they echoed in my mind for a long time. I was running my self down, working, raising my kids, sustaining my marriage and taking care of my mother. I wasn't letting anyone help me and I wasn't even showing I needed help. I did."

Through this encounter Janine realized her own need to ask for help and the difficulty that many people have in doing so. She believes, unlike the man who felt that no one could help him, that sometimes we are limiting the help we can get by never asking. One of the gifts she received in her experience was learning to ask for help. Janine was able to ask for help from friend Shelley Ducharme and as well as many others individuals and businesses for her Pay it Forward project. She also needed to ask for help in order to get speakers and locations for What Women Want. 

Hopefully that conversation with the homeless man will continue to echo in Janine’s mind so she persists in seeking the help she needs to enable her mission and message to continue to help others. For more information about Janine, her projects and her speaker series you can go to her blog.

Quick  Info:

What Women Want Speaker Series
Where/When: Waterstreet Café, 36 Water Street, Fall River, MA, June 15 at 6 p.m.
Why go: Be inspired by the speakers of the evening and connect with other women in the area.
Cost: $6.00 (Payable at the door)

*** Please note, in July the events will be moving to The Soul Purpose, 877 County St, Somerset, MA.