Happy Women’s History Month! Every March we celebrate the contributions women have made to our society. While there have been many women throughout history that have helped change society, there are also many women today who are doing great things to contribute and help others. Some of them are women I have featured and interviewed at P.O.W.E.R.
Featured Women
Giada De Laurentiis has taken her passion for food and cooking and created a multi-faceted empire. She is a chef, caterer, an Emmy-award winning television personality on Food Network, a restaurateur, and cookbook author. Cancer research is near and dear to her heart, and she has devoted her time to working with Alex’s Lemonade Stand which helps kids with cancer. She loves that it excites kids about food and engages them in the bigger movement. Led by her dear friend and chef, Suzanne Goin, Giada works among fellow chefs toward a greater cause to raise money for cancer research.
Christine Guarino founded A World of Pink in 2015 with the dream of changing breast aftercare forever. She made it her mission in life to help women everywhere feel beautiful, balanced, and confident again, following all types of breast surgeries. She wanted to be an integral part of supporting the surgeons who were helping women. She was noticing the need for more skin color choices with prosthetics as well as bra styles. Women’s bodies change following any reconstruction. There seemed to be a lack of overall care when it came to restoring beauty and confidence for breast cancer survivors. That empowered her to revolutionize prosthetics- so women can feel confident in their clothing and have symmetry for overall health.
Dr. Debi Silber’s own traumatic betrayals inspired her to enroll in a Ph.D. program to study the mind, study betrayal, find a way to move forward,
and help others do the same. This fueled her endeavors to find the Post Betrayal Transformation Institute. Dr. Silber is a holistic psychologist, a health, mindset, and personal development expert, award-winning speaker, and coach. She is the author of two bestselling books written to help women rebuild their bodies and minds after a life crisis and to learn to trust again after betrayal. Dr. Silber is dedicated to helping people move past their betrayals as well as any other blocks preventing them from the health, work, relationships, confidence, and the happiness they want most.
Having a father who works in education and continually seeing the impact he is making on the youth in her community fueled Nichole ‘Niki’ Childers’ passion to combine education with the nonprofit sector to be a change-agent for those most in need. Niki is the director of partnerships for the national nonprofit organization, Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG). She is responsible for the design, management, and implementation of JAG’s national partnerships for the 1450 communities in its national network. Niki creates employer engagement opportunities with contributing partners such as SHRM, Honeywell, McDonald’s, Regions Bank, and Adecco. Additionally, Niki also develops curriculum for Wichita State University. Her course, Cultivating Culture and Inspiring Change, debuted in the fall of 2020, when she taught students about today’s work trends and how to create a foundation for organizational culture from a leadership perspective. Among the many projects she has worked on, she is especially proud of the L.O.V.E. Project (Lifting Our Voice for Equality) in conjunction with IHG Hotels and Resorts, which seeks to encourage youth to identify challenges in their community and work collectively to make change.
Stephanie Strawbridge has over 25 years’ experience in funeral services and grew up in the industry, learning the business from her parents. She is the funeral director at Strawbridge Memorial Chapel, a funeral home in Cleveland, Ohio. In this capacity, she is responsible for offering comfort and compassion to families and oversees all funeral services and the staff. Stephanie was honored as the first African American woman to open a funeral home in Cleveland, Ohio. Stephanie is extremely active in her community. She is an elected central committee member in the ward where she resides and an elected executive committee member as well. After spending years wondering how to educate her generation on the ins and outs of funeral planning, she decided to put out a workbook titled, “You’re Gone; Now What?: Everything “They” Didn’t Tell You About Planning a Funeral.” In the workbook, Stephanie explains how to prepare, plan ahead, and arms the reader with all of the basic tools you need to be ready for a loved one’s or even your own funeral.
These are just a few of the amazing women I have featured in the latest issue of P.O.W.E.R. Magazine. You can learn more about these women and others by reading their articles in the Spring 2021 issue of P.O.W.E.R. Magazine. The digital copy will be on the powerwoe.com website this week. All previous issues of P.O.W.E.R. Magazine are also on the powerwoe.com website. You can also tune in to P.O.W.E.R. Talk Radio, P.O.W.E.R. Video, and P.O.W.E.R. Talk TV on the powerwoe.com to listen to interviews and view podcasts with many incredible women who are creating history through their work and philanthropic efforts. In the words of the real estate entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” panelist, Barbara Corcoran, “It’s your game; make up your own rules.” Despite the pandemic, let’s see what we can achieve by Women’s History Month 2022.