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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreThese 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 :)
Read MoreCourtney Kenefick is an Editor and Special Projects Manager at the design magazine Surface in New York City. Courtney joined Surface in 2015 as their assistant fashion editor. Previously, she worked as an assistant fashion editor at Travel and Leisure magazine, and interned for the magazines Seventeen, Women’s Health and SHAPE. Courtney graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. In her spare time (which is never enough) Courtney likes to run, travel, cook, read, watch football, and do yoga. She is obsessed with her nieces and nephews and tries to see them as often as she can.
Read MoreFifteen years ago, when I was 45, I attempted to climb the Grand Teton, a jagged, towering and intimidating 13,776 foot-high mountain near Jackson, Wyoming. I, along with three of my best women friends from graduate school, decided it would be a really cool thing to do.
For the most part, my family thought I was insane.
Read MoreThere's a lot of talk lately about the mental and emotional load that women often carry the brunt of. What's on YOUR plate today?
Read MoreHave you ever Googled your adult child and been shocked at what you found? I did - and what I found shocked me. My oldest son Nate, the one who drove me insanely crazy when he was a teenager, is standing nonchalantly with Solange Knowles in a photograph set against the New York City night skyline.
Read MoreWe at The Villa are so pleased to introduce to our growing Villa community our friend and like-minded passionate do-gooder, Devin Thorpe. Devin is a corporate social responsibility advocate, a crowdfunding speaker and trainer, a published author, new media journalist, Forbes contributor, and, ardent champion of social good.
Read MoreRecently, a French cartoonist’s feminist comic strip, “You Should’ve Asked”, went viral. Originally posted in French, it has since been translated to English and shared over 200k times on Facebook. “You Should’ve Asked” addresses the Mental Load – an invisible responsibility carried almost exclusively by women. For International Women’s Day 2018, our team at the Villa Blog decided to look more deeply into this topic. We’ve collaborated on this post, as well as the short video that summarizes our own collective experiences.
Read MoreWhy should we tell our stories? Ms. Kantor said that if the women who first came forward to speak publicly of their experiences with Weinstein had not had the courage to stand up, we may never have seen the unpredictable fallout and continuing discussions that are still happening 15 weeks later.
Read MoreWelcome to our How To Series! We have got lots of “How To” ideas to share with all of you, and to kick it off, we are starting with “How to Get Motivated.” I promise you won’t be disappointed. Prepare to confront all your motivational issues and take charge!
Read MoreThe bottom line is this: just like everything else in life that is rewarding to us, we have to be willing to take the risks and do the work, despite our insecurities, self-doubts and misgivings. What we know, though, is this: many women are re-inventing their lives.
Read MoreSexual violence—any sexual violence--is motivated by power, control, and often hostility.It keeps women in a subservient, “less-than” position in societies dominated by men. With the recent surge of calling out this archaic treatment of others, we can no longer look the other way. We will no longer keep it in the shadows.
Read MoreMaybe there are places for perfection in “things”, because I do want my car’s engine to be perfectly engineered, or my friend’s knee replacement surgery to be perfectly executed. But perfection in being human may be an impossible goal, and our pursuit of perfection can set us up for always feeling “less than” and “not enough” if we compare ourselves to others or set unrealistic expectations for ourselves.
Read MoreEvery 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence. In humanitarian emergencies, gender-based violence often increases, subjecting girls to sexual and physical violence, child marriage, exploitation and trafficking. Adolescent girls in conflict zones are 90 per cent more likely to be out of school when compared to girls in conflict-free countries, compromising their future prospects for work and financial independence as adults. Source: UNWomen.org
Read MoreThis question has been on my mind this past week since visiting family in Nashville and watching my niece’s adorable 3-year-old daughter play with Barbie dolls. I have three grown children--two sons and one daughter--and I pride myself on being part of the baby boomer generation of women who considered ourselves to be equal opportunity mothers. I did my part. I gave my sons dolls and strollers to play with and my daughter a soccer ball to kick.
Read MoreWhat’s all the excitement about confidence, and why would we spend an entire month focused on understanding it, building it, challenging it, or figuring out why we struggle so much with it?
Read MoreI would venture to say that, for me, all photography helps ME to understand the nature of my society and my place in it, too, but there is something profoundly fascinating about staring at a photo of a person I don’t even know, and wondering.
Read MoreLast week I spent two days in a windowless conference room, discussing “inspirational leadership” in one-on-one meetings with 15 Taiwanese high-level male managers.
Read MoreSubscribe to our blog to receive a FREE copy of The Chemistry of Confidence, a self-guided confidence building exercise by Merrilee Buchannan.
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