The Women's Current

Just Hang On - that's what we're doing. I decided to release the Just Hang On webinar from last week because this discussion made such a phenomenal impact on me and the women who attended. These women really broke down what is important right now for us and how we need to remain positive as we live through these next couple of months. 

I spoke with Elizabeth Bryan-Jacobs, Debbie Gravitte, Kristen Jensen and Kitt Shapiro, all Just Hanging On and staying positive. Artist, Performer, Content Creator and Small Business Owner. How the pandemic has affected them both personally and professionally. And the message -  Just Hang On.

At 64, Renée is taking a 1956 Porsche 356A to Antarctica to raise awareness about child trafficking. Talk about a road trip of a lifetime! Her goal is to have raced in all seven continents. Antarctica will be the final continent for Renée to complete that amazing goal.

Renée turned her hobby into Valkyrie Racing and then launched Project 356 World Rally Tour, raising awareness about child trafficking along with money to help fight it. She has worked with aid groups around the world including Kenya's HAART Foundation in Kenya and The Exodus Road in Colorado.

And all of this started after raising her four children eight years ago.

Let’s combine the above with chance meetings, decisions that incorporate courage and a woman in her mid-fifties. After raising and homeschooling her four children, Renée remembered something that had been percolating in her head since she was 17 years old. 17 years old, her father and a VW Beetle. She figured it would be a one-time thing. What had been percolating? How about racing…Rally Car Racing to be more specific. And why not? The one thing that Renee could not fathom happening was to go to her death bed regretting that she had never tried.

Rally racing, one of the only woman Champion Rally Race Car Driver, working undercover with the FBI and advocating to stop child trafficking internationally and she’s 64.

That thought in her head led to helping so many.

This week I talk with Renée Brinkerhoff, a woman who didn't have to take the chances that she does at 64. A woman who is more than a little inspiring.

A VW Beetle

The one liner in her head

A chance meeting with an undercover FBI agent

Her first race

Winning as a woman

Her Valkyrie racing team

Why she chose advocating against child trafficking

The treacherous terrain

Her undercover work

$1 million dollar goal

One more continent to conquer

Antarctica and what that means

Leslie Gray Streeter is Black and Baptist, her late husband Scott was White and Jewish. They had met back in 9th grade when they were both in the same high school. They reconnected some 20 years later through Facebook. It didn’t take them long for them to fall in love and marry.

We were both very respectful of each other's backgrounds and faiths because we respected our own and I think we saw that in each other. And it never seemed like a conflict. It never seemed insurmountable. So the differences made it all the more sweet. The difference made… this was something else to learn about; I could learn about Kugel and he could learn about gospel music and we learned about each other's things and that to me is exciting.

The Black Widow

They had only been married for five years when in 2015 Scott died suddenly of a heart attack. Leslie had been laying right next to him. They had also been in the final stages of adopting their son, Brooks.

A veteran journalist and writer, her story needed to be told. And so ‘The Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books With Words Like “Journey” in the Title’ was written, a heartwarming, love story that has all the real-life elements of love, heartbreak, and laughter.

It’s the story of the religious and racial obstacles that they overcame and how Leslie navigated grief after losing Scott so suddenly. And of course, busting stereotypes on how she was supposed to act.

Tender, true, and endearingly hilarious, Black Widow is a story about the power of love, and how the only guide book for recovery is the one you write yourself.

Meet Leslie

Leslie is an author, speaker and journalist who has written for O, The Oprah Magazine The Palm Beach Post, Modern Loss, The Sweet Midlife with Lynne and Leslie, and New Musical Express. She has been featured on Huffington Post, FoxNews.com, in the Miami Herald, The New York Times as well as other sites. Leslie is a playwright a well having written 'The Gift of the Mad Guy'.

'Black Widow', her memoir was released in March of 2020, right before the pandemic hit and has been named a top pick by Glamour, The New York Post and others.

Having just moved back to her hometown of Baltimore along with her son, Brooks, Leslie is currently Senior Director at Laurel Strategies, a D.C. based CEO and C-Suite advisory firm.

Candid and heartwarming

This week I talk with Leslie Gray Streeter, candid and heartwarming...

Navigating and embracing differences

Busting stereotypes

Overcoming racial and religious obstacles

'New Widow Lifestyle'

Integrating tradition with her own need and belief

Finalizing the adoption of their son

The journey of writing her story

James Patterson - a big fan

The Avid Gardener

Sue Stuart-Smith, is an avid gardener, a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and the author of The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature. Don’t let the title fool you; you do not have to be a gardener to read this powerful book, but you may want to become one after you have. You may discover the mental health benefits that come with tending a plot or just a plant.

Really, just a plant and your mental well-being?

'Nature's power of restoration and natural beauty is very sustaining.'

Sue Stuart-Smith is a prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist and of course, an avid gardener. She took her degree in English literature before becoming a doctor. Sue worked in the National Health Service where she became the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. Currently, Sue teaches at The Tavistock Clinic in London is a consultant to the DocHealth service. Married to Tom Stuart-Smith, the celebrated garden designer for over thirty years, the avid gardeners created the wonderful Barn Garden in Hertsfordshire.

Can growing something actually help one’s mental well-being? Does nature really have restorative powers? And does a garden need to be more than the plant that you can fit on your windowsill?

‘Long before I wanted to be a psychiatrist, long before I had any inkling that gardening might play an important role in my life, I remember hearing he story of how my grandfather was restored after the First World War.’ Sue’s grandfather had been a prisoner of war and had suffered tremendous trauma. She would learn that his recovery started in 1920 when he enrolled in a horticulture course.

Not just a gal from New Jersey. The Black Fairy Godmother.

The Black Fairy Godmother, Simone Gordon, is not just a gal from New Jersey. She's a community organizer in New Jersey for black African American and Latino families. Simone is a mother of an autistic child, motivational speaker, special needs advocate, and domestic violence resource specialist. She also serves as the Executive Director for the nonprofit organization House 581Inc based in East Orange, New Jersey.

Simone utilizes social media to provide emergency assistance to domestic violence victims, send groceries, emergency medical supplies, baby formula, low funded tuition, rental assistance and household essentials to help families get back on track. She regularly provides assistance for special needs schools/centers and support families to achieve their GED. Her proud moment is her inaugural event, The Purple Diamond Awards where she was able to honor fellow Domestic Violence survivors and activists championing this cause including Carol Maraj, Andria Mayberry & Luisa Diaz from Fox 5 and many more including the LGBT community. She is endorsed and receives support from many celebrities including acclaimed author Elizabeth Gilbert. Simone’s mission is to replace the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Replacing the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Simone and her team of volunteers do not just help with a specific emergency and then leave. They do so much more by helping these women get out of emergency mode. Even having them make a vision board. “I'm going to help you with this emergency. However, we're going to get you stabilized because you can't continue to be in the same predicament that you are in. Where do you see yourself? Do you need job placement? Do you need job training? Or do you want to go to school? Maybe you need babysitting services? Do you want a car? Would you like to open a business? So I just tried to dream with them.”

“So I make them think the same way these women had me think and I get them to stability and that's where the testimony comes; ‘Yes, she changed my life and made me think out the box.’ I'm not saying these women are rich, but they're stabilized. They have jobs. They’re in school. They're eating healthy, their children are healthy. They're housed.”

Soon it will be Thanksgiving and assisting women in need.

This week's episode is so right for this time of year. In a little over a week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving and what could be more appropriate than celebrating a woman who is assisting women in finding the missing pieces and self respect. And saving so many.

A candid conversation with a woman who is without question, a fairy godmother to so many Black and Brown women.

How 4 women changed her life and her path

Instagram, getting noticed by acclaimed author Elizabeth Gilbert and the growth overnight to over 37,000 followers

Not just a handout - how Simone gives women the self esteem and replaces the missing pieces of their puzzle

On being a Domestic Violence Resource

Covid hit hard - how is Simone managing

You can find out more about Simone here.

Hazell Jacobs goes by the saying ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.' Hazell lives in London. Over 80 years of travelling with her late husband, saw Hazell accumulating hundreds of scarves. Each scarf holds a story. When the pandemic hit, Hazel knew that there were many people having a difficult time adjusting to this new reality.

Finding herself stuck in lockdown back in March, Hazell made a plan to start blogging. Mind you, Hazell had never blogged before. At 87, living alone since the death of her beloved husband in 2004, Hazell hatched her plan with the help of her granddaughter, Ella, a graphic designer. Ella built her a website and on March 26th Hazell chose one of her scarves from her bottomless collection of scarves, and blogged her very 1st blog. And Hazell became Scarf Aid, Busy Bee Blogger Hazell.

The reaction could be heard around the world, literally. Comments came from all over. They were comments of joy, laughter and happy tears. Hazell has managed to touch people when they most need touching. One blog every day for 100 days straight. One hundred days of choosing a scarf and writing the true story behind it. Always with humor, always bringing back memories and touching so many. These days she has gone to one a week, with everyone waiting patiently for Sunday’s for her newest blog. You never know where it may take you. Hazell continues to 'Keep calm and carry on.'

Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint, Inc., best known for its award-winning Hint® water, the leading unsweetened flavored water, and the author of Undaunted, Overcoming Doubts & Doubters. She is an active speaker & writer and hosts the podcast Unstoppable with Kara Goldin where she interviews founders, entrepreneurs and other disruptors across various industries.

Kara turned her unsweetened flavored water into one of the most successful beverage businesses of our time, as a result, she has been named one of six business disruptors. And let's not forget, she's also one of InStyle's Badass 50, Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business, Fortune's Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California.

Our conversation turns to her complete journey from going cold-turkey on diet Coca-Cola to her dislike of plain water to her search for flavored water. That is, flavored water with no sugar added. Becoming an entrepreneur was not a plan, figuring out how to disrupt the beverage industry and create an unsweetened flavored water resulted in Hint® water.

Were there setbacks? Were there fears to overcome? Was she told that it was an impossible goal? Yes to all of these questions, but that did not stop Kara who has forged a path for future entrepreneurs who may feel that simple can't make it. And there's more...sunscreen, deodorant, hand sanitizer and masks. All helping to put people on a path to healthier living.

Love, loss, healing, camping, adventure, misadventure and that RV

Laura Fahrenthold is a former NY Daily News crime reporter. She has worked as a government press secretary, private investigator and content editor at Woman's World Magazine for over two decades. 

Her memoir, 'The Pink Steering Wheel Chronicles, A Love Story' has been ranked as a 'Top 20 Hot Pick' on Amazon. Laura has appeared on national television and her story has been featured on People.com and The New York Post in addition to other news, radio and internet outlets.

Laura Fahrenthold hadn’t given much thought to traveling across the country. That is until she and her two young daughters suffered an unspeakable tragedy, the sudden death of Mark Pittman, husband and father.  As a result of looking to find a way to heal, Laura and her daughters embarked on a five year, 31,152 mile adventure across the country. Every summer vacation was spent in their 1993 RV with the pink steering wheel.  31,152 miles as they sprinkled his husband’s ashes across N. America.

The journey came with lots of adventure, misadventures, tears and laughter:

Laura's husband - Mark Pittman

The evening before Thanksgiving

Finding the way and pitching a tent at the beginning

'HaRVey' the RV and a stray dog

Spreading his ashes and McDonalds

The people you meet

Dealing and healing - each in their own way

Finding his journal - the surprise

Laura has interviewed more than 60,000 subjects on topics from health parenting and motherhood to fitness and finance. She is a regular contributor to humor writer Erma Bombeck's memorial blog.

Climate change is a crisis and action needs to be taken now. This is not political. The science has been very clear about it. This is a crisis that even for adults, is hard to grasp. So how do we talk to our children about it without freaking them out even though for a lot of us adults, we ourselves, are ‘freaking out’?

I turned to Harriet Sugarman, Founder and Executive Director of “Climate Mama”. Harriet is the author of How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change: Turning Angst into Action. Harriet’s goal over the last many years is apolitical. And her book directly addresses this goal: to help parents have the conversation with their children about climate change and the fact that we are facing a crisis. Our children are facing a very different future than ours. How do we have the conversation and still maintain hope for ourselves and our children?

Founded in 2009, ClimateMama is an on-line community reaching individuals in over 110 countries and 50 states. Harriet is a professor of Global Climate Change Policy and World Sustainability and Chair of the Climate Reality Project, NYC Metro Chapter. She is a climate policy advisor with many years of experience when it comes to activism on the climate crisis.  In 2017, Harriet received the Climate Reality Green Ring Award and she is featured in Al Gore's 2017 book, An Inconvenient Sequel, Truth to Power. Harriet was selected as a 2020 New York City Climate Hero and a 2019 featured speaker at the Global Engagement Summit at United Nations Headquarters. She spent 13 years working with the International Monetary Fund including 10 years as an IMF representative at the United Nations.

A sought after speaker on solutions to the climate crisis, here's a glimpse into this hopeful and inciteful episode with Harriet.

Harriet's beginning and her journey

It is a crisis

Maintaining our own hope and that of our children

Talking to children at various stages of life

Actions do speak louder than words

Truth is easier to deal with

Actions that we can take to tackle the climate crisis together

All profits from the sale of How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change will go to support parent, youth and teacher projects on education, advocacy and outreach on the climate crisis. For more information on this program and how to apply you can find the information on ClimateMama.com.

Caroline McBride’s debut novel, Four Seasons at Angelino’s, is a modern day relationship story. It has all of the ingredients that are necessary for making the culinary wonder that we call love:: women’s empowerment, communication, chemistry and more.

In life as in cooking, following recipes doesn’t always give the results that we are looking for. A tweak here or there can add spice in our life. That’s never been truer than in the times we are currently living in. So this week I’ve decided to lighten things up a bit and talk about romance, finding the one and all of the ingredients that go into it.

Caroline McBride and her protagonist Charlotte, take us on a whirlwind escape through Japan, India, France, and Russia and of course, New York City. We follow the recipe for trying to find the one.

Caroline was encouraged by someone very dear to her before he passed away. She was encouraged to venture into writing fiction as a creative outlet influenced by her work experiences and personal escapades around the world.

A conversation with Caroline McBride. We talk about everything...

Public Relations and restaurants

Travel and escapades

Inspiration and drive

Journey into writing

Empowering women

Finding the one

Communicating

Confidence

Ingredients

Caroline Alexa McBride is the Director of Public Relations and Business Development for Serafina Restaurant Group. She spent the past decade marketing, branding and launching restaurants across the globe, as well as consulting for private clients.

Caroline Alexa McBride grew up in sunny Southern California. She remained there for college to earn her B.A. in Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. Caroline holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in The Netherlands where she studied as a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar.