The Art of Building Intentional Community
This month we had three incredible gatherings with our Collective community.
First, we gathered virtually on the theme of Our Collective Power: The Art of Building Intentional Community.
We asked each other questions most professional spaces never make room for:
Where are you performing connection instead of actually creating it?
When have you truly felt part of a community, and what made it feel that way?
What makes it hard to let other women show up for you?
What came up was honest, raw, and completely unexpected.
So many of us are exhausted by surface-level connection. So many of us are craving a village, especially those of us who are also mothers. So many of us have been carrying the weight of being the "strong one" in every room we walk into without anyone asking how we are actually doing.
We walked away knowing we are not alone. In our struggles as founders, as leaders, as moms, as women who want more depth than most of our environments offer.
That is the whole point of this collective. And I am still sitting with it days later.
Then a few days later we hit the Wing & Barrel Ranch for their annual Rodeo!
On Saturday, September 19th, we put on our boots and hats and headed to Sonoma for a real live rodeo, wine, BBQ, live music, and line dancing.
Thanks to our founding member, Olia Rosenblatt, founder of Mishka Dog Cakes and member of the Wing & Barrel Ranch, we got access to this exclusive event and venue. It was an extraordinary afternoon. The setting, the energy, and the women in the room made it the best possible entry into the Fall season.
Last week we felt the burn at our Flow, Glow and Swap monthly wellness and connection in person event in Sausalito.
The FemThrive Collective took over Anna Munandar's beautiful studio in Sausalito for one of our favorite events yet and we are still glowing.
Here's how the afternoon unfolded:
The Swap - our founding member and personal stylist Steph Brown led the clothing swap and styled every woman in the room. Watching women walk in unsure and walk out confident in something they never would have picked for themselves, that is Steph's superpower and we felt every bit of it.
The Flow - Meredith MacLean, our Co-Creator and fitness instructor, led the most grounding mat Pilates class. Moving together in that light-filled space before the rest of the afternoon it set the tone for everything that followed.
The Glow - we connected over laughs, our mutual reminiscing about feeling like we were raiding our college roommates closet, our longing desire for something different and deep real connection with other women that just get it.
"What moved for me today was this feeling of aloneness I've had all week. I was looking forward to doing something different this week and after today my heart feels full and light." - Bre Russell, Femthrive Collective Co-creator
Our community is growing and the next events are coming. If you know a woman who belongs in this room, send her our way. https://www.femthrive.com/collective
RSVP for our next events, can't wait to see you!
