Welcome to The Villa. We're glad you stopped by.
In our years of meeting women from all over the world, we've collected stories of
courageous, inspirational, real women.
Come on in, make yourself at home, and become a part of our community.
Life is long, but we are never finished. The insights of this seasoned yogi and renowned journalist helps put everything in a little clearer perspective.
Carol Storey and I interviewed Velvet Poston-Rodriguez for our first Aluminaria feature on inspiring women who are taking risks and being bold for change. #BeBoldforChange
My name is Beldin, a 15 year old determined girl. I believe that if I have a gift for showing kindness to others then I should do it without any reservation, a Girl on Fire!
Introducing: MARION. We asked Marion to tell us a little about herself. To read what she wrote, view more pictures, and watch a video of Marion telling a traditional story, read the full blog.
Kiska lives in London, England with her husband and baby son. While she was born and raised in the United States, Kiska’s love affair with England began in college where she spent a semester abroad in London. Her husband is a native Brit and they lived in the U.S. prior to moving to London. Her story will resonate with many women, especially millennial women, who are not necessarily following in their parents footsteps. Instead, they are doing it in their own way.
Let’s give ourselves and each other a break. STOP APOLOGIZING FOR YOUR CHOICES, as long as they are choices you’ve made purposefully. Own them, proudly and respectfully. We are more than a product of our families, our societies, or our generations. We each have our own unique set of needs, passions, interests, values, and beliefs. Examine all of them and decide if any of them need to be challenged or pursued.
I see you, single working mom. I see you running yourself ragged to make ends meet and show up for your kids in the best way you know how. I see you in all the beautiful chaos that you are, and it’s time to give yourself permission to take care of yourself first.
These decade milestone birthdays are tough ones for many of us, especially when how we feel does not match up with our associations of age. I remember when my grandmother turned 50 and said that she was “half a hundred.” Now that I’m a full decade past that, I am sometimes not sure how to resolve this disconnect between how old I am and how I feel. So, here are a few of my tips for aging gracefully.....well, if not quite gracefully, at least with a sassy attitude :)
I am a MANIC HOT FUDGE SUNDAE FANATIC, and I eat them as often as I can: at home, in restaurants or at ice cream shops. But, truthfully, the sauce never measures up to this recipe that I’ve had forever.
I had no idea what to expect. Always an armchair traveler, I’d read and seen images of Africa, and it all seemed exotic and somewhat mystical, and it was. But, it was also a lot more.
There is an old African proverb: “The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.” And what our hearts have seen this past week in Kenya is almost impossible to describe in words. We can’t think of any way better to describe what we have seen than through photographs.
Not every job is going to be your passion. Not every hobby or passion is going to make you money. But I love her word, “intersection,” because it encourages us to sculpt our lives and create opportunities to intersect our passions, our hobbies and our purposes. These connections may sometimes seem grand and unattainable, but realistically even those tiny intersections matter if our desire is to keep ourselves motivated to continue the pursuit, to grow personally, and to ultimately discover and define what our own true happiness really is.
Autumn! Oh, how I love it. I love everything about it. I love the cooler temperatures. I love the changing colors of leaves and shuffling through them while taking Mollie the pug for walks. I love kicking the horse chestnuts that fall off the trees. I delight in weekends when I can head up to our gorgeous mountains, camera in hand to capture the season.
This has been a stressful week for all of us. Hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, insane decisions by governments (e.g. DACA). You can’t turn on the TV or your computer without some new breaking news that causes all of us internal chaos and helplessness with absolutely no ability to do anything about it (at least in the moment). It’s these times when I feel my breath start to quicken and my blood pressure rise, that I know I need to do something nice for myself.
I was 40-something the first time I got there. It was February, and I have never been so cold in my life. New York cold is brutal. But I fell in love.
Are you suffering from feelings of inadequacy? Are you a successful female who got to where you are by sheer luck and handouts? Are you afraid someone is going to find out that you actually have no idea what you are doing? Call the Fraud Protection Hotline.
We met Sarah Cooper in California last February. We love her advice on non-threatening leadership.
We're all ears
Has someone inspired you?
After ending a 23 year marriage, Lisa made an abrupt decision to sell everything she owned and move to Italy. She was terrified - but it felt right. She started all over again with little to her name. Since, she's started her own successful touring company in Tuscany, become a featured writer for Huffington Post, won a spot in the "50 over 50" out of thousands of applicants, and made an appearance on The Today Show. Lisa's story teaches us that it's never too late to reinvent yourself and life isn't over until it's over.