Love, Girl Talk

We are in the midst of a global pandemic of loneliness felt through isolation and a longing for human connection. At Girl Talk, we are providing the antidote to this pandemic of loneliness through friendship, hope, and healing. During the holiday season, we are going down memory lane with our mini-series, #FeelsLikeHome, to remind each other that we are never alone. Our podcast co-hosts, Julie and Shannon, chat with Regina about the excitement of sharing stories with high school and middle school girls. They talk about romance, the craving deep conversation, and why blankets and pillows make all the difference. Girl Talk #FeelsLikeHome.

Regina Bethencourt is the founder and CEO of Tenunto (www.tenutoconsulting.com), a branding firm that specializes in visual identity, web development and content writing for small to medium-sized businesses. She has a decade of experience in branding, marketing and communications and formerly served as the Director of Marketing & Communications for Yuma Center, a women’s leadership organization. She played a pivotal role in the development of Girl Talk's initial content and marketing, and has continued to advance the dignity of women through various platforms over through years. Regina started her career in political journalism, working for the Washington Examiner, before moving to the business side of communications. Regina lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and three children.

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"Girl Talk reaches out to moms, older professionals, seniors, college women — women all over the age spectrum and all over the life spectrum — and just hearing all those different stories and seeing where your own story fits in with others’ experiences is just really comforting.” - Regina Bethencourt

"We all go through similar things, and we can always find someone that can give us that support we are needing. We’re not in isolation going through the challenges that life brings to us.” - Regina Bethencourt

“These girls are craving getting to know truth, beauty, and goodness.” - Julie Larkin “

We were able to just spill out the self-worth and dignity to the girls because we felt that so strongly with ourselves.” - Julie Larkin

“Awareness of ‘I’m not the only one’ is really powerful and can change your perspective of what you’re feeling or what your condition actually is.” - Shannon White

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Follow the #FeelsLikeHome Series: www.ourgirltalk.org/feels-like-home @ourgirltalk

Join the Coffeehouse Community Today!

We are in the midst of a global pandemic of loneliness felt through isolation and a longing for human connection. At Girl Talk, we are providing the antidote to this pandemic of loneliness through friendship, hope, and healing. During the holiday season, we are going down memory lane with our mini-series, #FeelsLikeHome, to remind each other that we are never alone. Our podcast co-hosts, Julie and Shannon, chat with two amazing college ambassadors, Catherine and Emma. The girls share about the power of vulnerability, our inherent dignity, and beautiful sisterhood in their college years. By laughing at ourselves and helping lift each other out of the shadows and into hope, Girl Talk #FeelsLikeHome.

Emma McCoy is a Girl Talk alum who currently works for CBS as a Broadcast Associate on the television show “48 Hours.” She graduated from Catholic University in 2019 with a degree in Media and Communication Studies. She was an ambassador for Girl Talk in 2017, it taught her so much about life and created memories that she'll never forget. Emma enjoys singing, yoga, and horror movies.

Catherine Olohan

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“The most valuable thing that we can do for our friends and for those around us is to remind them that they have dignity.” - Catherine Olohan

“I went to an all girls high school and that was such a safe place for my four years of high school and in college. I felt like I didn’t have that same safe place of all women that had events where you could learn about yourself and learn about other people and so Girl Talk really filled that little hole.” - Emma McCoy

“We’re constantly going going going. and [Girl Talk] was a time to slow down and just acknowledge that things go wrong and we mess up and we’re imperfect. But there’s a hopeful way out. And there’s a way to turn it around, and make it into something actually beautiful.” - Catherine Olohan

“I think that you can find a new sense of dignity and self-worth through vulnerability. There’s strength and pride in vulnerability that I don’t think either of us had before we were in Girl Talk.” - Emma McCoy

“We can be perfectly imperfect, and keep striving.” - Julie Larkin

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Follow the #FeelsLikeHome Series:
www.ourgirltalk.org/feels-like-home
@ourgirltalk

Join the Coffeehouse Community Today!

We are in the midst of a global pandemic of loneliness felt through isolation and a longing for human connection. At Girl Talk, we are providing the antidote to this pandemic through friendship, hope, and healing. During the holiday season, we are going down memory lane with the mini-series, #FeelsLikeHome, to remind each other that we are never alone. To kick off the series, Founder Julie chats with two of Girl Talk's all-star interns from 2016. The girls share entrepreneurial stories about planning retreats, creative fundraising schemes, and filing the essential 501c3 application. Through the ins and out of launching a non-profit, Girl Talk #FeelsLikeHome.

Victoria Principato is currently living and working in Manhattan for a commercial real estate company as a financial analyst. Where did she get her beginnings in budgeting and forecasting? From Girl Talk, of course! In 2016, Vic was Girl Talk's Finance and Ops intern, and helped launch Girl Talk's first iteration of the Girl Talk College Institute. From planning budgets and fundraising events to grocery shopping and planning retreats, Vic gained a wide array of experiences during her internship with Girl Talk, but, most of all, she learned the importance of the value of deep conversations, authentic friendships, and the community/sisterhood that makes it all possible.

Teddy Bridgeman:
Teddy was one of the first Girl Talk interns during her Sophomore year of college at CUA. Since graduating Teddy has moved to New York City where she works as a Project Manager at a marketing agency. Her favorite parts about living in New York are all of the fabulous restaurants and window shopping on Saturday mornings! Teddy’s favorite Girl Talk memories have to be all of the teams Friday meetings in Julie’s office.
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"Something that I really took away from Girl Talk is that there is this huge community of ladies who are just there to support each other and be there for each other." - Teddy Bridgeman

"[Girl Talk] does open you up to a different line of thinking, and brings forward different and important conversations that you otherwise maybe wouldn't have with your friends." - Victoria Principato

"Give thanks, and eat pie!" -Shannon White

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Follow the #FeelsLikeHome Series:
www.ourgirltalk.org/feels-like-home
@ourgirltalk

Join the Coffeehouse Community Today!

Girl Talk explores the unique and unrepeatable dignity behind every person. Julie and Shannon invite Girl Talk Ambassador, Victoria Turner, to share her stories of diversity of skin color, language, and experience through service, while appreciating the inherent worth of each and every human being.

Victoria was a Girl Talk Campus Ambassador in 2017-2018. Her childhood was mainly spent living in White Plains, New York until she moved to Yardley, Pennsylvania with her parents and two brothers. She is an avid Yankees fan. Victoria spent many years running track, swimming, participating in community service and more. She graduated from Catholic University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Social Work and minor in Spanish. Following graduation, Victoria was a long-term service volunteer in Ecuador at Fundación Rostro de Cristo (Face of Christ Foundation), where she followed her call to walk compassionately with her brothers and sisters through Christ. She will be beginning graduate school at University of Michigan in the fall to receive her Master of Social Work, where she hopes to continue empowering others of their worth and fight for justice.

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"No matter what race we are, language we speak, socioeconomic status we have, and on...we are all human beings, and no one deserves to be treated with any less dignity and respect."
- Victoria Turner

"To love another person is to see the face of God." -Les Miserables

"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." -A Just Mercy

"As I have loved you, love one another." - Jn 13:34

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Learn More About Girl Talk's Mission:
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"Love, Girl Talk" co-hosts Julie & Shannon welcome their dear "Zia" to share her stories of shame, inadequacy, eating disorders, and the struggle to love her body and herself. Wether we're counting calories, living by the scale, or constantly seeking the approval of others, Zia helps us journey through the rough patches of life, and to sit our little 9-year-old selves next to us and remind her that she is enough...she is worthy...she is loved.

Kathleen is a mother of four from Lawrenceville, NJ. A graduate of Rutgers University, Kathleen worked in public relations before raising her family full-time. Through her stories and experiences, she shares the life lessons that she has learned. Kathleen also loves sharing inspirational quotes, writing, cooking, and most of all, doing small things with great love.

“We have to relearn the truth: you are enough, whether you are on your 18th mile, your 6th mile, or no miles.” — Shannon White

“Don’t deny what you need. We need what we need! Be honest in defining your needs. Don’t be afraid of it because it is the very thing that will make you whole.” — Kathleen McQuarrie”

Be unspeakably kind to yourself.” — Kathleen McQuarrie

“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can...it will be enough.” — Kathleen McQuarrie

Julie and Shannon tackle mental health with their first "Love, Girl Talk" guest! How do I handle anxiety in my everyday life? What does depression look and feel like, personally? Is it ok not to be ok? Join these friends as they encourage each other to take on life "one little bubble at a time!"

Meaghan Kane passionately believes in feeding the whole person: physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. She loves cooking a good meal, sweating through a hard run, reading books of many varieties, and connecting deeply with her family and friends. She is married to her college sweetheart, and they live in Virginia with their six children and one rowdy german shepherd.

“It’s ok not to be ok.”

All roads lead to Rome, and all Girl Talk pillars lead to healing...hopefully! Join the ladies as they close out this section of Girl Talk Foundations, and discover why healing is so necessary, sometimes painful, and ultimately, beautiful!

“Your feelings are not right or wrong. They just are.” — Kathleen McQuarrie

“We all have scars, some from stab wounds and others from a million papercuts.” —Angelica Tom We all take messages with them…

“Healing does not necessarily mean the remission of symptoms. It is the restoration of a sense of meaning, purpose, and sense of self despite the struggle” — Anatomy Professor

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Hospitality, vulnerability, and friendship all lead to hope. Join Julie and Shannon as they ask some tough questions. Why do we need hope? Where does our brokenness come from? How will hope help us?

“The way I see it, hope is our lifeboat out of any situation. No matter how low we feel, how wrapped up we are in our emotions, no matter the depth of our sorrows or anxieties, hope is the lifesaver that keeps us afloat and leads us all back to happiness and love. Hope that we have the strength within to weather the storm. It's not always about conquering the storm ― it's moving through it with as much grace as we can muster, if any at all. Hope that we all have the capacity to grow and blossom in the morning, next week, or next year. Hope that we all have wonderful things to contribute to the world around us.” ― Gabrielle Piccininni

"No one was going to let me fall into the shadows, because no matter how specific I thought my situation was, there was already a Girl Talk girl who had been there before.” ― Girl Talk College Sister

“I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something.” ― adapted from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Girl Talk Website:
www.ourgirltalk.org

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"Friendship is born at that moment when one person looks at another and says, "What? You Too? I thought I was the only one..." Julie and Shannon turn the page to friendship as they continue to build Girl Talk's sisterhood of self-worth.

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“A friend is someone that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.”
-William Shakespeare

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person looks at another and says, "What? You Too? I thought I was the only one..."
-C.S. Lewis

“Sometimes we have to weed our friend garden.”
Kathleen McQuarrie, Girl Talk Senior Mentor

Girl Talk Website:
www.ourgirltalk.org

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Julie & Shannon turn the page to vulnerability discovering heartbreak, loneliness, anxiety, and a bit of messiness. Listen as they reflect and decide if vulnerability is ultimately the best choice for them.

Quotes Leading Discussion:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” – C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“Vulnerability is neither comfortable nor excruciating, but is essential.”
Reflections on stories about disconnection

Brene Brown, Power of Vulnerability Ted Talk

Girl Talk Website:
www.ourgirltalk.org

Follow us:
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[email protected]