Lael Couper Jepson shares a story on stage at SheSpeaks in December 2019 at One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine. In this live storytelling evening featuring the stories of women, Lael further weaves the theme of "Wellspring" throughout the five speakers, offering this story about how we are taught to "bury the girl"—an everything she represents—in ourselves as we age into woman. And then she talks about how we women eventually get out a shovel—and go dig her up, as a means to reclaim what we have most forgotten about ourselves.

www.SheChanges.com

Photo Credit: Kelley Drew Photography

Joanna Horton McPherson takes the stage at SheSpeaks 2019, a two-day women's storytelling event in Portland, Maine hosted by Lael Couper Jepson of SheChanges.

Joanna's story, entitled Going into the Layers, explores what it looks like to make space for truth to emerge when we can't plan what will happen next. This deeply personal story mines beneath the topic of vulnerability and illuminates what it's like to give voice to those things that live below the places we cannot touch, but can only sense—in the unknown.

FMI www.SheChanges.com

Photo Credit: Kelley Drew Photography

Lael Couper Jepson sets the stage at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine for SheSpeaks 2019—two nights of women's storytelling centered on the theme of "Wellspring". In this first story of the evening, Lael shines a light on what she's learned about how to get in to the arena of what you don't know you don't know—and why that's important.

FMI www.SheChanges.com

Photo Credit: Kelley Drew Photography

Kat Joyce shares a *story on stage at SheSpeaks in December 2019 at One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine. In this live storytelling evening featuring the stories of women, Kat's deeply personal story on stage explores what it would be like if we were to take off all the costumes and the armor we've been wearing. She considers what is left when we strip ourselves naked to reveal the full wattage of who we are. Kat's story will explore what happens when we call ourselves home, put our own skin back on, and align who we truly are on the inside with how we show up on with others on the outside. Her story is entitled: Getting Naked.

[*Listener note: this story contains references to sexual assault and rape, so it might hit close to the bone for those who have had similar traumatic experiences.]

www.SheChanges.com

Photo Credit: Kelley Drew Photography

Season 5 of the Unscripted Woman podcast will be released in Summer 2023, and I'm really excited about it.

It's called On Her Mind: Conversations with Thinking Women Feeling Our Way Forward

My aim is to have these be like those conversations you love overhearing in airport lounges or plane terminals...the ones you move a little closer to because they're fascinating. We'll be playing at the intersections of some of the most complex conversations of our times—touching on topics like the environment, economy, education, white culture and racism, aging, death and dying, spirituality and religion, creativity, food systems, and government and politics.

We'll be reflecting on what we've read, what keeps us up at night, and the places we go in our heads when we think about this world we're living in.

But unlike the news, the aim of these conversations is to illuminate a larger web of understanding that connects all these distinct conversations. These conversations feel generous in that they are intimate and deeply personal—but also somehow universal.

I hope this series offers a space—and a springboard—to inspire deeper levels of thought, conversation starters for the people in your world, and ultimately some fuel courageous action. At the very least, I hope listening to these helps you to not feel so alone.

Here's a taste of why I'm doing it, what you can expect, and how I hope it serves.

Learn more about Lael Couper Jepson and the work I do with women leaders at SheChanges at https://shechanges.com/

Originally aired in 2016, this podcast features Lael Couper Jepson reading an excerpt from her book: Unscripted: A Woman's Living Prayer and riffing more specifically on what she's learned about doing the dance of masculine and feminine energy in a woman's body.

It's about assuming responsibility for all of who we are and inhabiting ourselves more wholly—our internal geography we roam, our contradictions, our too muchness, and our not enoughness. At its core, this is a story—and an invitation—to move more fluidly and color outside the lines of who we're told we should be.

You can learn more about Lael Couper Jepson and the work she does over at https://shechanges.com/

Lael Couper Jepson's latest book, Ignite: Lighting the Leader Fire, was released on November 13, 2019. Part heat-seeking memoir and part fiery missive, Ignite is what it looks like when a woman taps into her power with her whole heart and unapologetically leads with all of who she is—without asking for permission or pausing to to explain why.

Come and sample the opening chapter read by Lael—and bring your match. Because now is the time and this is your moment, which is also our moment.

Lael Couper Jepson's latest book, Ignite: Lighting the Leader Fire, was released on November 13, 2019. Part heat-seeking memoir and part fiery missive, Ignite is what it looks like when a woman taps into her power with her whole heart and unapologetically leads with all of who she is—without asking for permission or pausing to to explain why.

Come and sample the opening chapter read by Lael—and bring your match. Because now is the time and this is your moment, which is also our moment.

Nadine Farag shares a story on stage at SheSpeaks in December 2018 at One Longfellow Square, Portland, Maine. As the final speaker of the first night of this annual women's storytelling evening hosted by SheChanges, Nadine's story is about her own personal revolution—one that had her examine the contractions that lie within herself, understand who she is on the inside, and who she is on the surface, and how to best to adorn that woman. Her story is entitled: The Vessel Of Self.

"After a lifetime of rule following...I walked into my advisor's at my doctoral program at Harvard, and I dropped out. I dropped out because I wanted to be wearing completely different clothes... I wanted to whole shebang of sartorial dressing to be at my disposal...this began a complicated and fraught process for me of unpacking what the word 'fashion' meant to me...and also other women."

- Nadine Farag

http://www.shechanges.com/experiences-for-women/shespeaks-womens-speaking-series/upcoming-shespeaks/

Photo Credit: Melissa Mullen Photography

Lael Couper Jepson tells a story on stage at her annual women's storytelling series, SheSpeaks, in December 2018 at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine.

In this story, Lael shares a story about how sometimes the real value of something is hidden inside a crusty layer of shit. She speaks about her experiment to see if she could value and appreciate both the shit AND the gold in a surprising way.

"...It brought me to this place of appreciating the need for outfitting as well as adorning...When I outfit myself, I'm ready for a street fight—that's my amour. But when I adorn myself..feel the regal nature of that word? That's me assuming the throne of my life..."

- Lael Couper Jepson

FMI: www.shechanges.com/experiences-for…ming-shespeaks/

Photo credit: Melissa Mullen Photography