Father's Day

At Thrive Theory, we celebrate everyday. We don't need a special date on the calendar to wrap up a gift of appreciation or just because.

Sometimes though, the perfect gift is not so easy to find. This time of year you might encounter your boss' son's graduation... of course, if it's her daughter's then Thrive Theory is certainly the perfect gift.

But undoubtedly the men we love need to be appreciated too. That's why Father's Day was invented, which is fast approaching on June 17. Times like these call for expert reinforcements.

Pimlico Magazine is one of our favorite resources for this very reason. If you're looking for the latest, most thoughtful gift ideas, or you're tired of searching for just the right things to kickup any celebration, they have endless ideas that will make you look like a star every time. Editors and friends Jen & Allison keep their fingers on the pulse of what's new & great in online gifts & celebrating splendor, and they're just a click away. Check 'em out!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Beauty School! is coming and I am so excited.

Pat Wynn Brown, humorist writer, performer, and founder of Hair Theater, tells stories that always makes me laugh so hard I double over with tears streaming from my eyes. It's not worth fighting against, and it's my favorite way to laugh. Growing up with three older sisters, I always loved being let in on every beauty tip and secret. My earliest memories were (pretending I wasn’t) watching soap operas with them and my mom; carefully studying the rituals involved with preparing for a night out; and when I grew up a bit, devouring any old, forgotten issue of Cosmo I could get my hands
on. My poor mother.

Even now, the amount of time and energy I spend maintaining any sense of "beauty" seems to border on ridiculous, yet I have to admit, the more I scrutinize my own vanity the harder I have to laugh about it. Which truly can only make things worse. But I look at these newly forming wrinkles & crinkles and appreciate the lifetime of laughter that has put them there. I love being a girl, and Pat’s lessons about what makes one beautiful is inspiring, and a great way to demonstrate Thrive Theory’s Key Principle #6: Beauty is more than skin deep... It’s a reflection of the love that was received. And also Key Principle #1: When Women are Happy, Everyone is Happier... and Key Principle #2: Surround Yourself with Those who Bring you Joy. And this year, also particularly Key Principle #7: Family is Everything, especially Sisters, Moms & Daughters, and Girlfriends!

That's why Thrive Theory is always delighted to participate in her shows. She honors her “Honor Society” representatives and her Beauty School “Valedictorian” with Thrive Theory pins and jewelry, and it's one of our favorite, most fun ways to share it. And this May 6, with
a great sponsor like the Mt. Carmel Foundation, it will be one of her most memorable shows yet. Her shows always sell out, so grab someone you love to laugh with and don't miss it!

For show details and tickets, click here.

Competition.

Last weekend my husband and I went to a dinner party. A few of the guests present had just returned from last week's TED conference in California. They were still excited about it and shared some of the most memorable talks from the most inspiring presentations happening anywhere. Another guest, who happened to be pregnant with her second child, commented that it's challenging to hear about all these impressive and accomplished people. She has to remind herself that the most inspiring thing to her is raising a healthy family.

I appreciated her comment a lot. It can be easy to lose sight of the importance of our hard work when we get caught up in the excitement around the work of someone else. No parent could argue that raising kids isn't both difficult and spectacular at times, yet it's so obviously critical that it's often times overlooked. This it seems to be especially when it involves taking care of people, whether they're our own children or those of others, or the elderly or anyone who is incapacitated or suffering. It is challenging work, and critical to those who receive it.

What I'd like to add to this thought is a reminder that no one can be outdone by anyone else's accomplishments. Just because one person may have done a good job at something and maybe they get some attention from it, that does not diminish anyone else's ability to accomplish any task they set out to do. We can all be accomplished for our own work, especially when we allow ourselves to be of service to others. No one has a crystal ball, and there's no point in worrying about what time will bring, because the only thing we can be certain of is change. If we can attend to the job at hand and give it our best effort, sometimes we find our own unique purpose despite ourselves. Many times sticking to the present challenge helps us find our own treasure.

Getting immediate attention for it, or featured in the next TED conference, can't be the only goal.

Namaste.

Hard to believe my first yoga class was over twenty years ago. It was spring quarter at the Ohio State University, my sophomore year. Back then yoga wasn't so easy to come by, at least not in the Midwest. I didn't know anyone who had ever done
yoga or admitted any interest in it. Somewhere along the line I heard
it'd been around for thousands of years and was considered the "health care system in India." Though that didn't quite make sense to me, I tried to rationalize the saying about the difference between Eastern & Western medicine, which went that in Eastern cultures, health practitioners were paid to keep people healthy, while in the West, doctors were only paid when people got sick.

Fascinated by these confounding rumors and curious to try it for myself, I quieted that nervous voice that questioned if yoga was truly the domain of hippies and new-age gurus on the coasts. Regardless, from the first class I was hooked. There was a recommended book
for the class, but our teaching assistants discouraged us from buying it. They said that the best way to learn yoga was to do it. To this stressed-out and cash-poor design student, that was the first note
to what would become music to my ears.

Over the next 12-weeks we met twice a week, learning the Sun Salutation and many poses, or asanas. And we learned to meditate. Thinking back, that quarter was the beginning of me finding my center. Or maybe it actually started the year before, and it probably never ended. The summer before my freshman year at college, right between freshman orientation and the beginning of classes, my mother was diagnosed with liver cancer. OSU happened to be down the street from my house, so at my Dad's request, I transferred from my school of choice before classes even started. That September I started school on schedule with everyone else. Conveniently, my sister Cap was already in graduate school there, so she'd drive me
to campus and home each day, while my mother literally fought for
her life. Cap's words of encouragement are still with me today:
"Don't forget to breathe, and you'll be fine." Thankfully, that was
just simple enough for me to remember.

After a year of both tragic and ridiculously funny ups & downs,
(it was college after all) finding a class that reinforced that focus
on my breath, and on the constantly-present subtleties of life, was extremely comforting to me. Though it was a few years later until I actually started a regular yoga practice, the meditation that I learned in that class became my go-to relaxation technique for a long time.
By reliably bringing me restful sleep whenever I was challenged to
find it, I was able to handle challenging projects, difficult clients, and exciting life transitions, even long after I graduated.

Now my yoga practice is a very physical discipline, and the only meditation I incorporate is a few moments of well-deserved bliss in Shavasana. But for years, yoga was something private I rarely thought to share. For this reason I'm ecstatic to find myself teaching yoga and sharing it with new and old friends alike, with every level of yoga experience, all these years later. And I'm thrilled that this coming Sunday, Thrive Theory is sponsoring a Lululemon Trunk Show at Harbor Yoga Studio in Old Dublin. Of course, no name was more fitting to me than: The Don't Forget to Breathe Trunk Show.

Relishing all the challenges & triumphs in life is what feeling centered is all about, and what Thrive Theory works to remind us. WE'LL BE RAFFLING OFF SOME BEAUTIFUL THRIVE THEORY ITEMS!
So take advantage and stop in on Sunday 12-2pm and say Hi. Meet Angie O'Brian & Heidi Bell, the incredible owners at Harbor Yoga, check out Lululemon's rockin' new workout apparel and have some treats while you're there. Hope to see you...

Namaste!

Outstanding Women

A few years ago, I wasn't aware
of many people talking about the importance of Women & Girls in
the world. After I read Kristof
and WuDunn's book Half the Sky,
I felt very far from the stories
they shared about the oppression of women in developing or underdeveloped countries. However I knew there were women
and girls here in Columbus, Ohio and across the country who have countless opportunities at their fingertips, yet who hold themselves back from creating the change they want to see in the world. We don't have to look far to see those who are afraid to let themselves change, learn and grow.

I thought about my mother, who graduated from high school
seriously believing her two options in life were to get married and have children or become a nun. And I thought about my kids, and
all the hopes I held for them. What could happen in the world to cause my daughter's opportunities to shrink to what they would have been 50 years ago, or 100 years ago? It didn't seem so hard to imagine. So I asked myself what could I do as a graphic designer
to help prevent this. My professional career to that point had taught
me many things, but nothing I thought had so much relevance for
my own kids. How could I grow to amplify my tiny impact in the world?

I developed Thrive Theory to demonstrate a positive example for
my kids. To show them that if they believe in something, they can make anything happen. How does anyone truly Thrive? It may take
a lifetime to discover, but no one can do it alone.

Since 2008, Sunny 95 has been recognizing women who don't let anything hold them back from helping others along this path, wherever they may be. This year they have included me in their
20 Outstanding Women You Should Know. To get to stand alongside women who have been recognized for what I value so deeply, I am touched and honored. And I am grateful that there are others who
see the value of celebrating the strengths of others, in both times of success and challenge. We are all connected, and we are the company we keep. Let's not forget to take care of ourselves so we can spread more L-O-V-E in the world...

And Happy Valentine's!

Click here to read Sunny 95's feature article.

THANKSGIVING

With Thanksgiving just a week away, we're very thankful for all the great support we've had since we launched at the beginning of 2010. This year has forced us to question what we truly want to provide for our amazing customers.

The answer has always been simple:

To help women & girls deeply connect with each other in love & support, while sharing this explicit intention:

When women feel empowered, there is more Peace, Health & Prosperity in the world.

To me, these ideals are critical in trying to build a more sustainable world. Just as Carl Jung argued, If there are problems in the world, they rise from problems within the individual... we define our time.

As a designer, I must satisfy my need to create products that promote my own values in the world, and I don't see them reflected often enough. This is the message I want us to rally around and share, to lift each other up one by one, so that we not only live fuller lives as women, not only do our daughters fulfill their potentials more often, but that all those ripples of love & support will envelope the entire world in more Peace, Health & Prosperity. This is, afterall, what all the data proves happens when women are empowered!

So a portion of all jewelry sales will continue to go to groups that encourage growth for women & girls through our Thrive Theory Foundation. For 2012, I'm designing-with-integrity many new & beautiful products that will make it even easier to share this message with the women & girls in your life. For now, my gift of thanks to you this holiday season is to keep our sterling silver jewelry collection, which is all hand-crafted in the USA, based on 2010 sterling silver costs, not the 2011 costs that have nearly TRIPLED over the past year!

This means that there are only a few items available in these jewelry styles, so once they're gone, they're gone!

Enjoy the new Paypal and shipping features on our site, and everything this holiday season brings!

Thank You Women's Fund!

 Last week Goldie Hawn graced Columbus, Ohio thanks to the Women's Fund of Central Ohio's annual Keyholder event. What an amazing night! Goldie talked about her book, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, where she shares her uplifting reflections of her life
in and out of the spotlight. It's
a rare perspective, for sure. She also shared the work she's done establishing the Hawn Foundation to develop a curriculum for kids
in school that nurtures their mindfulness. This roughly includes
their perception of happiness, their ability to handle stress, and their ability to build & maintain relationships. Not a small challenge by any means, but a well-proven approach that addresses concerns shared by many of us. By engaging experienced neuroscientists, educators and psychologists, she challenged them (and us) to provide better education & awareness for our kids so they have the skills necessary to create a more peaceful & sustainable future for us all.

Apparently it takes an Oscar-winning actress to not only call attention to these problems but also drive the collaboration to consider a solution. After reading her insightful book, it comes
as no surprise that she sees children's happiness as the key to unlocking our future progress. It's a fascinating and brilliant approach. It supports my belief that our future progress is inherently linked to supporting the passions of women and their ability
to connect with others to create a more sustainable world.

That's why we're such big fans of the Women's Fund, who grants money for women & girls in Central Ohio. They seek to drive social change by empowering women & girls. They are supporting our community in one of the most efficient ways possible. And they inspire us with icons like Goldie Hawn!

Thrive Theory is grateful to have been a part of that beautiful, Golden night last week. The Women's Fund asked to give Thrive Theory to their most dedicated volunteers, and as their appreciation gift to Goldie as well. To the Women's Fund, a big thank you for supporting Thrive Theory and sharing our message with so many amazing women in Columbus! We look forward to another inspiring event next year!

Queen Bee Syndrome?

Yes, it's Mother's Day weekend but I am distracted by a report that was featured on the Today show a few weeks ago. Apparently the latest news being discussed among psychotherapists and academics before the Royal Wedding kicked off was that by the time women make it to the top levels of leadership in the workplace, she's so fearful & insecure of losing her spot at the top that she becomes mean, vindictive, backstabbing, and generally makes the worst boss you could ever have. It also suggests that only the most competitive, ruthless women make it to the top in a workplace culture that encourages these kind of qualities in their successful males, yet they are not as appreciated in women--whether they're successful or not.

These experts also explained that ironically, the social theorists foretold a future where women bosses would be more compassionate and more supportive leaders. And their innate nurturing abilities would help foster the development of all their subordinates, particularly if they were also women. But no, these new studies show that pretty much the exact opposite is true. Women are actually more likely to help their male reports get promoted over their female reports to boot.

So what's going on here? The experts featured on the Today show seemed to have different ideas about why the Queen Bee Syndrome exists, but no one mentioned the biggest problem that seems blatantly obvious to me: Where are the nice women, the smart & capable women, and the nurturing women in this theory? Do they fear accepting higher roles in business because they don't want to be perceived as a Queen Bee, or a plain old be-ach? Do they have better things to do with their time than walk this path? What good does it do to label the successful women as bad, evil or overly masculine when they are so highly outnumbered by men, if not to keep it that way? Some stats help inform this perspective: according to the US Department of Labor, women made up 46.8% of the labor force in 2009, yet only 15.7% of corporate officers are women1. That is such
a disproportionate figure about today's workplace, I don't know how one can talk about working women without acknowledging such a severe imbalance.

Considering that Fortune 500 companies with a high percentage of women as corporate officers show an average 35% higher return on equity, it's not difficult to argue we need more women in the senior levels of business, not less. With more women at the top leading higher-performing companies, perhaps these associates would have better things to talk about than their Queen Bees.

Thrive Theory is the idea that we all need to be surrounded by people who want the best for us to actually achieve our best. Here's a good test: ask yourself if you're holding yourself back for fear that those around you might resent when you do succeed. If your gut response says yes, then you probably need more support in your life to become who you dream of being. We all need to be cheered on as we step into our futures, whether we're hitting our stride or hitting a speed bump. Everyone needs love & support to thrive, and we'll either help each other get there together, or we'll continue to hold ourselves back.

Take care of your Mothers and yourselves this holiday weekend!

1 2008 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners of the Fortune 500 

Happy New Year!

We're rolling into 2011 and I hope it holds many wonderful discoveries for all of us. Thrive Theory has lots of exciting plans
for the coming year, including introducing new pieces each season. 2010 was the year to launch Thrive Theory and see if it all these random thoughts could come together and make any sense! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, so much so that what seemed like a far-out theory when conceived in 2009 doesn't seem the least bit out of place heading into 2011. The TEDx Women conference last month confirmed that the tables are turning, women make over 50% of the workforce today, and we are ready to lead the way in increasing strides. This is a good thing, there are just too many indicators in the world reinforcing Thrive Theory's Key Principle #1: When Women are Happy, Everyone's Happier! And truly our mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces and friends need our support in making the most of these new and potentially overwhelming opportunities. 

The test for 2011 will be to evolve Thrive Theory from a promising new concept to a sustainable business. For me the initial startup 
was an exciting challenge, though not something I could do alone. Again, many thanks to everyone who helped us get Thrive Theory
off the ground in the past year. It will take more collaboration
and partnerships in the coming year to get it to the next level, so
we welcome you to share what you like about Thrive Theory and what you'd like to see, as well as who you'd like to see receive a Thrive Theory Award, and why. There are so many more people who are Encouraging Growth for Women & Girls and Sustaining Vitality for themselves whom we can't wait to share, we've only scratched the surface. We'd love to hear about who helps you Thrive too!

None of this would have been possible without the love & support I feel in my own life, and I hope everyone can become more aware of the love & support they need and receive in their life as well. The future is what we make it, and this recognition is truly an important place to start.

To much love & support in 2011!

Thank You

We've just celebrated a long Thanksgiving weekend with lots
of family and friends in Columbus and Cleveland. Before it's officially over and the next holiday is upon us, I want to give a shout out to all the people who have been so generous with their support for Thrive Theory this year! I am grateful to all of you: those I've known forever, those I've been so fortunate to meet more recently, and more still whom I haven't even met yet! This has been an incredible year all about taking an idea and bringing it to life so it could be shared with others, and testing whether anyone else would get it or not. I'm so delighted that people not only get it, they share it, give it, and ask for it. It feels like a very good beginning. So as Thrive Theory heads into our first holiday season, I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done to make this possible.

Wherever you are, whatever you're celebrating, share the season
with the favorite people in your life and relish the joy it brings!
Then we'll all be sustaining vitality!

Giving Thanks

This week of Thanksgiving,
Thrive Theory wants to honor someone we're very grateful to have met this year: the dynamic founder of Dames Bond, Mary B. Relotto. For those who read this post each week from the Dames
Bond newsletter, you already know what an amazing person she is. And for those of you who don't yet, I have to share. Dames Bond is
an organization that connects women-owned businesses and women-in-business with female consumers—so that pretty much includes
all of us. Besides a website recognized by ForbesWoman.com and Forbes.com as one of the Top 10 Career Sites for Women, monthly meetings are hosted by members which provide social opportunities
for women and businesses to connect. But that's just the beginning for Mary B. She's so connected to women in Columbus that when
the White House Council for Women & Girls and TEDxColumbus
want to connect with women here, she is one of the first they call.

Even forgetting all that, her sparkling & generous spirit just makes it
hard not to love her, especially since encouraging growth for women
is a passion we share. So I am also thankful that she's planned
a very special holiday event for Dames Bond next month! Saturday,
December 4, Dames Bond is hosting their holiday event "Peace of
Mind," to benefit Mental Health America of Franklin County. In
addition to being treated to celebrity host Shawn Ireland and a
fashion show sponsored by Role Model magazine, guests will see
local vendors, including Thrive Theory! It's a great opportunity to
check out the beautiful jewelry you see on this site, try it on, and
find the perfect gifts for the women & girls closest to your heart.
We're working on some new pieces that aren't even on the site yet...
here's a hint: they come in pairs. OK yes they're our very first
earrings, and I can hardly wait!

So come check us out at Easton at MI Homes Design Center (across from Pottery Barn Kids store) from 4-7pm. Please RSVP here. Thanks to Mary B. for supporting all the women in Columbus and beyond, because what she says is true: when Dames bond, Dames thrive!

For more information about Mary B. and Dames Bond, click here.

Honoring Catherine Scipione Forbes

This week's Thrive Theory Award
winner is someone who has made
a huge impact on my life, someone
who has sustained vitality through
tremendous transformations herself.
She's a woman who holds a PhD in
Statistics, is a professor at Monash
University in Australia, and together
with her husband raises two beautiful
children. But to become who she
was meant to be in this world,
she literally turned it upside down.

Cap, as she is affectionately known in my family, is my sister. The closest to me of my six siblings growing up, she's also seven years older than me. This made her a formidable rival as far as siblings
go (my favorite way to get under her skin was by insisting I was really older than she was, and in on the conspiracy with my parents). As we grew older, she was very much a wise mentor, advising me about boyfriends, girlfriends, school, and career ambitions. It was she who first encouraged me to pursue design. And though she decided to move home during graduate school as a cost-saving measure, when my mother became sick and quickly passed away, she was the glue that held my family together—for a little while anyway.

For not long after, she fell in love with a handsome Australian
PhD candidate who graduated before she did. She continued their relationship even when his visa expired and he returned to Australia. She knew she needed to see the other side of the world before she determined if she had to let him go or not. So after her graduation, she joined him in Melbourne. What started out as a two year plan soon became indefinite. They got married here in the US at a beautiful civil ceremony before she completed her religious conversion, became pregnant and took their Jewish vows in
Australia. My dad and I attended with some of our family,
but I returned feeling like maybe I had lost her forever.

She's been there over 18 years now, and though most visits seem too short and too far between, we always pick up where we left off like it's just been five minutes. Then a recent visit gave me new insight. She brought her entire family in the spring and hosted us for a Passover Seder dinner. She made the most delicious brisket and kugel. She served it wearing a funny headpiece, which we were all wearing thanks to her kids who had helped plan games during dinner to remind us how the ancient Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt.

I realized at that moment that my Catholic sister had truly become a Jewish mother, and clearly it was no accident. She identified strongly with the Jewish faith. One of the aspects that appealed to her was the more equal role in which women could participate. Women are eligible to become rabbis, equal to men at the highest level of leadership. And the special role Jewish mothers embody is a deeply honored tradition, because the responsiblity of passing down this faith to their children falls squarely in her hands. Cap was always a very spiritual, faithful person, but in my eyes, part of her was skeptical that our church's tradition provided the structure and respect for the knowledge and experiences that she sought. So I watched her grow to fulfill her dreams of having a brilliant family by moving to the other side of the world, embracing a new continent, a new culture, a new religion, and new challenges to become more fully herself. Though it was difficult for me at times, she demonstrated strength & courage, fearlessness & adventure, which I greatly admire. Without her at my side I set forth on my own adventures to overcome new challenges with a different support system, knowing she'd always be there for me, Down Under.

Neither one of us let the other, or ourselves, hold her back, and that's a pretty remarkable thing. We still cheer each other on no matter where we are. So this week I'm very happy to honor her,
my sister Cap!

Discovering Virginia Hamilton

How is it that I am just learning about Virginia Hamilton, America's most honored writer of Children's literature? I don't remember learning about her when I was
in school, even though she was the first African-American writer to win a Newbery Award. It's likely a librarian introduced
my class to her books during Black
History Month at some point, but maybe the fact that I wasn't aware of the term "multiculturalism" until I went to college reveals my ignorance. Now I'm quite impressed that she's a female writer
whose papers have been catalogued in the Library of Congress, and that she's the first Children's book author to receive the MacArthur ("genius") Fellowship, among dozens of other lofty recognitions.
And I'm fascinated that the Conference in her name on Multicultural Literature for Youth at Kent State University has been going on
for 25 years.

A recently published collection of her writings by her husband
Arnold Adoff, with writer/editor Kacy Cook, entitled Virginia Hamilton: Speeches, Essays & Conversations finally introduced
her to me. In these speeches, she talks about her creative process,
her family, and her passion for writing every single day. She
explains that none of her characters ever die in her stories, despite the sometimes overwhelming circumstances she created for them. Instead she insisted they overcome and survive, because she thought real life was already full of senseless death. 

I am inspired by her words, by her ability to write so powerfully,
and by the example she set that I'd like to think made the reality
of race in my lifetime less of a barrier separating each of us from one another. Though there is still much to learn from her stories
as issues of race, culture and equality continue to complicate our
world, the ripples she cast out from her work did help change it.
My impression is that at the time she wrote these stories, she wasn't entirely convinced that they would. Sadly she passed away in 2002 from breast cancer, so I thank Arnold & Kacy for highlighting her wisdom and remarkable contributions, and honor them both with this week's Thrive Theory Award. My hope is that Virginia Hamilton will
be known to many more people outside of the literary world and
Black History Month as simply an iconic, American writer.

More information about Virginia Hamilton is available here.
Kacy Cook's highly acclaimed novel Nuts, the first in a series for
kids, is also available here.

Honoring Beckie Boger of Divine Equines

The Thrive Theory Awards honor those who are encouraging growth and/or sustaining vitality for women & girls. Our latest recipient has a very unique perspective to share from her work helping women & girls overcome trauma and tragedy. Beckie Boger, President of Divine Equines, provides Equine Assisted Human Development to those dealing with a wide range of challenges. She describes the attraction to and connection many women and girls have with horses as "the stuff of the mythical heroes' journey inward to the authentic self, resplendent with dreams of flying and escape and the freedom of rising above to find ourselves... to be come more fully human, more powerfully feminine."

How does this notion of a woman's deep psychological, or even spiritual, connection to a horse help them overcome trauma? More frequently these days, she says her clients are overcoming experiences of sex trafficking or combat military service. With the modern interest to promote equality in every level of government, the goal has been to allow more women to serve in the armed forces, including engaging in combat. Rarely does anyone talk of the unique toll this takes on women, though its toll on men has been well documented. And those words, "sex trafficking," regarding women who live in Central Ohio, women in my community who have survived this reality and also need tremendous healing. How difficult it must be for those in either of these situations to return to a "normal" life and tend to the needs of others, even in their own family. This is what Beckie says about connecting with a 1,000 pound animal, who is highly intuitive and sensitive, to teach these women how to thrive in their lives with purpose and worth:

The clients who find their way to the experiential counseling services we offer at Divine Equines arrive at our barn emotionally exhausted and unable to express and process their true feelings in a healthy, productive way. They are depressed, anxious and often angry at the world. Due to their traumatic life experiences they are suffering from loss in one form or another: loss of self-worth and respect, loss of loved ones or important relationships, or loss of their dreams for a happy life. By partnering and building a relationship with a horse during their eight-to-twelve weeks of emotional growth and healing sessions, they learn how to have confidence in themselves and begin to trust their world again.

It's important to note that not every client is involved with her horses at such a deep level. Some come for team or leadership building, while others use the opportunity to grow their self-awareness without overcoming deep levels of trauma. But especially for her ongoing work to help women and girls overcome the loss of her personal power by creating such a fantastic bond with a magnificent horse, we honor Beckie Boger and wish her continued success. She is a true model of our shared ideals at Thrive Theory! Thank you Beckie.

You can learn more about Beckie's incredible work at www.dequines.com.

Honoring Zainab Salbi

Honoring Zainab Salbi

Women & girls seem to be defined as the linchpin to prosperity in the US and in developing countries as well, while economic opportunities for women have been credited with substantially spurring growth in China and other countries over the past few decades. Here in the Midwest and across the country, it may be difficult to understand how growth for women can be such a significant variable. So today Thrive Theory honors an amazing woman whose own growth has led
to helping hundreds of thousands of women overcome unthinkable obstacles and create stability and opportunities, for themselves
and others.

Zainab Salbi grew up in Iraq, where her parents were close friends of Saddam Hussein himself. Her father was actually his personal pilot and her mother a biologist. As Zainab grew up as a frequent guest at his palace, unbeknownst to her she began to attract the dictator's insatiable (and terrifying) eye. Her mother, an uncharacteristically progressive Iraqi woman who believed in education and opportunities for her bright daughter, saw the dangerous situation unfolding and by the time she was twenty, she quickly arranged a marriage for her daughter that would get her to America and to safety, she hoped. Unaware of this situation or her mother's true intentions, Zainab was confused but wanted to please her parents. She married this Iraqi man who lived in the US, only to find him abusive. She divorced him, but could not understand how her mother could have sent her away to this misery. As the first Gulf War surged in Iraq, she could not go home, yet feared revealing her identity. So she kept quiet about who she was and where she came from. She started her own organization called Women for Women International, to help women in war-torn countries where violence against women is an effective weapon of mass destruction. After more than a decade passed since moving to the US, she still hadn't revealed her family's relationship to Saddam Hussein. Then she met a woman in Congo who confided the horrifying facts about the rebels who raped and tormented her and her family. She decided that if this woman could talk about the unimaginable things that happened to her, then she must also find the courage to share her own story. So she began telling it, and she continues to fight for the women suffering and seemingly forgotten amidst the battles and casualties of war. Women for Women International not only provides support for women who are learning how to become self-sufficient, they also provide direct mentorship to these women so they are aware that someone, on the other side of the world, cares for them and wants to see them succeed in their struggles. After 17 years they've distributed over $79 million in direct aid/micro credit loans, and helped more than 800,000 family members. They were the first women's organization to receive the Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Award in 2006; she's been on Oprah eight times; and she continues to receive awards and honors for her ongoing work.

Now she can add the Thrive Theory Award to her impressive list, because not only did Zainab Salbi overcome her own story of tragedy and suffering, she's helping other women move on beyond theirs, all over the world. What's the impact of just one woman? It can be infinite. That's Thrive Theory anyway. Thank you to Zainab Salbi for proving this so exquisitely.

You can read about Zainab Salbi's story as I did in Half the Sky, or in her own words in Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the shadow of Saddam. To find out more visit Women for Women International.

Men, Boys, Girls & Women

Last week the White House Council for Women & Girls held a call for women in Ohio to discuss how the federal government is addressing the concerns of women & girls at all levels of every department. Two questions came up that still have me thinking about Men, Boys, Girls and Women.

The first question: How to change the mindset of men & boys, to understand the importance of women & girls in business, in government, in the world. Their response was that there are incredible men partnering in this and they must lead by example (President Obama was their case in point). It made me think about how my own husband has taught me the importance of other female role models in my life. I grew up with many, but as I grew older I needed more. He comes from a family of strong women: his mother raised him & his two older sisters, singlehandedly, for several years until she remarried a man with three kids of his own. They are an extremely tightly knit family, and have taught me much about strength, love & forgiveness. The women in this large, Italian family support each other every day, and they certainly support their men. As a result, these men inherently know how important this is for all women, and they're quick to recognize when they're not getting it.

In my opinion, when women truly support and encourage each other, the men & boys around them can't help but notice how they benefit from the happier women in their lives; they provide more for everyone. It's a win-win, but perhaps some will have to experience this unfolding themselves to believe it. Many stories in the book Half the Sky about impoverished women stepping up to become empowered in their communities, and then successful, reflected just that: a turn-around in support from their husbands and even the live-in in-laws. Until these women demonstrated their own strength & capability in providing more for herself and in turn her whole family, they bore the cruel brunt of everyone else's frustrations.

The second question: How can we raise stronger girls, since girls today frequently have such low self-esteem and self-respect, leading to problems with eating disorders and bullying (her examples). The response was that it's out of government's hands, it's up to the rest of us to address these challenging issues. To me, that's the purpose of "Sustaining Vitality". Sustaining Vitality means fighting the lies of negative body image, eating disorders, bullying, jealousy, gossip, critical self-thoughts and unhappiness. It's about believing we all deserve a happy, healthy life and taking steps to make it happen; growing wiser, living with verve; overcoming what we've lost and celebrating what we have; challenging us all to help others and help ourselves; finding our passion and sharing it. It's about taking the next step, and relentlessly fighting fear. Girls can't learn HOW to do this without role models to demonstrate this behavior; in fact none of us can. Could it be there simply aren't enough of us modeling it? Or did we forget the power of our own impact?

We're being challenged to step up, for the sake of our girls. Perhaps for ourselves too. Don't perpetuate lies about others or fall for the lies you tell yourself. The truth is, strength begins within.

Honoring Christine Cooper Hill

To anyone familiar with this exquisite line of gold & sterling jewelry, it's obvious that Christine Cooper Hill has a timeless sense of style and an acute appreciation for detail. But to anyone who knows Chris Hill personally, they know how her desire to connect with others through her beautiful jewelry by making them feel beautiful is at the core of her identity as an artist. The simple, uncluttered sihouettes of the British Arts & Crafts movement recur in her work, while the philosophy of their lifestyle also inspires it: working close to home in small studios to strike a practical balance between working & living, they celebrated fine craftsmanship and encouraged leaving a small footprint in contrast to the emerging Industrial Revolution.

As we continue to evolve from that period today, she allows the practical realities of living a sustainable life to nurture her design decisions. They emphasize substantial yet fluid forms over cheaply reproduced trinkets; intentional brilliance over thoughtless bling; and inconspicuous consumption over conspicuous over-consumption. Her work enhances a woman of style, beauty and depth; a woman who is, perhaps, less aware of her own beauty than are those around her.

Through her own Cooper Hill Studio, Chris also acts as a mentor to other developing gold & silversmiths. From early on she has been an
advisor for Thrive Theory, while she was also one of the very first
to test and prove this theory true. So to one who creates beauty
for women to always help them feel beautiful, while fearlessly
and generously inspiring other talented artists, we recognize Christine Cooper Hill this week and thank her for encouraging
growth & sustaining vitality in us all.

Christine Cooper Hill's line of fine jewelry is available at the Diamond Cellar, and you can see it here. (For the record
Thrive Theory was not asked nor compensated for this article.)

Thrive Theory Honors Marie Wilson

Welcoming readers from DamesBond! This network of women business owners & female consumers has got it right: When Dames Bond, Dames Thrive! We think so too, and we're excited to be Dames ourselves! Our Thrive Theory Awards honor those who are helping women thrive, not just survive:

When it comes to encouraging growth for women & girls as we do at Thrive Theory, Marie Wilson is as good as it gets. She is President & Founder of the White House Project, a national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization which aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors, up to the U.S. presidency. (Wow!) Particularly interesting is her recent Letter to the Editor published in New York Times in which she commented on their article by Brian Stelter, “Seeing a Tilt in Sunday Talk.” His article suggested there is a lack of diversity in the experts featured on Sunday news programs. Marie has been talking about this since 2001, when research published by The White House Project found these talk shows featured women as experts only 13% of the time. Despite leadership & expertise women have earned in business & in congress, this report revealed that women simply are not invited to these shows. And when they are not featured as experts with their male counterparts, it subtly skews one's perception of women as experts and their ability to lead.

Even as recently as 2008, this issue was addressed in an article by Carol Jenkins in The Christian Science Monitor, "Voices Too Often Missing in Op-Ed Land: Women's," noting that only 14% of the Letters to the Editor were published in The Washington Post by women, and an equal percentage by minorities. Rutgers University found in their research of the same period that in Op-Eds published by academics, male experts were referenced 97% of the time in The Wall Street Journal and 82% in The New York Times. Jenkins points out the trouble with this inequity is that editorials influence decisionmakers and policies nationally. If they are only taking in voices from one half of our population, they are not reflecting real situations people are dealing with every day.

Marie Wilson is setting a great example by contributing a Letter to the Editor to a national newspaper to call attention to this disturbing imbalance. You can also be referenced as an expert in your field, it's perhaps easier than you think. The website www.shesource.org connects journalists, producers and bookers looking for female guests & sources for an array of media outlets and expertise. Shesource.org is also sponsored in part by The White House Project, so thank you to Marie Wilson for working to change this reality and encouraging growth in us all!

(For the record, Thrive Theory was not asked nor compensated to discuss this issue)

Heart of the Theory

There are many ways of thinking about Thrive Theory. To kick off some of the principles it's based upon, I'll share a quote my friend Christine Wagner just gave me today, which is actually at the very heart of my thinking:

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anais Nin

I've been struggling with how to say this best and of course it's already been said. For me, I became aware that the work I loved doing as a designer was not always aligned to the values I held for myself and my family, personally. Sometimes I had even set my personal values aside to stay focused on the job or task at hand, which I believed to be the 'professional' way. Eventually it became very clear that this approach was not serving me well and I wondered if it was possible to align my life more simply around my personal values. So I challenged myself to let my design work reflect the things that matter most to me, in ways I could use to demonstrate to myself and my kids the things which are important to me and what I am doing, in my small way, to make a bigger impact in the world. This new approach I cautiously began to test, one small step at a time. My family, especially my mother and sisters, had always helped guide me to the decisions that kept me focused on using my talents and my abilities to their best use, my 'higher calling' my mother would say. Though this took me years to understand, these women were my inspiration for the Thrive Theory symbol, because I wished everyone could have the neverending love & support I grew up with. Over the years I had to open up to new influences, new friends, new opportunities, and let go of the outgrown ways in which I thought of myself. Though--or maybe Because--I've been fortunate to feel generous love & support from those around me, my biggest challenge to overcome has been my own limited thinking of myself.

As I have learned, "A seed must die to being a seed to become a tree."

The Thrive Theory symbol demonstrates the need for both love & support in one's life, and the beauty in that. It's just so easy to take for granted, how could one know for certain they didn't have enough? Perhaps when one can be the love & support for someone else they feel they need, one finds it within herself? Perhaps this is how we grow stronger and more vibrant. That's my deepest hope for us all.

Connecting to the Framingham Heart Study

Before I turned one, my family moved to Medway, Massachusetts and lived there til right before my eighth birthday. Medway is a small town less than an hour from Boston, and just a few miles from the town of Framingham. I've been reading a lot about Framingham lately, where researchers started following 5,124 residents age 18-91 in that community in 1948, checking in with their subjects every four years to determine what behaviors linked to cardiovascular disease. It led to discoveries about the risk factors of heart disease, including smoking and hypertension. This thorough data collection even tracked subjects' family, friends, and co-workers while it documented details on their emotional well-being in addition to their physical health. Recently another set of researchers combed through this information, mapping the social connections of all of these people which totalled over 50,000 for more than fifty years, to determine what patterns emerged. The results have been so remarkable it's been referenced on both PBS' This Emotional Life and Wired magazine's October 2009 issue. Their work demonstrates that not only do we have a significant emotional impact on each other, our impact ripples out and continues to impact our friends' friends, and even their friends, whether or not we even know them. It's not until four degrees of seperation, or our friends'-friends'-friends'-friends, that we do not impact their emotional well-being.

So I started to wonder about my life in Medway. It's entirely possible that my Dad worked with someone who lived in Framingham and was actually a subject of this study. If so, it's conceivable that events that occurred in my Dad's world and within my family could have statistically impacted one of the people in that study. Actually, my Dad and any of us could have been one of those colorful blips in that mapping study. There were several events that could have easily been passed along: when my siblings graduated from high school, when I started kindergarten, when my brother was born; happiness has proven to be as contagious as the common cold. And even if we weren't actually blips on the researchers screen, the remarkable thing is that we're all blips on someone's screen. It's impossible to know how far our reach extends without us even doing anything special, it's just the way we're wired. We can't even help it. It's impossible not to. So to think that our moods can make such an impact with our friends, that it actually keeps going through two more layers of people? I can't imagine a more compelling way of thinking of each person's power and potential.

As soon as I heard about this study, I felt like it was scientific proof that Thrive Theory's visual hypothesis is true. The study even confirms that 6-7 people are really the most very-close relationships one person can maintain. That's fortunate for Thrive Theory, because there's seven petals around the heart at the symbol's center, and each one represents a different person who encourages the little blossom to grow stronger. Debbie Phillips says that each blade of grass has its own angel above it, smiling & cheering it on to "Grow! Grow!" Wouldn't the world be an amazing place if each one of us felt we had those angels? Because each one tiny voice would continue to echo beyond each of us through our moods, even cheering on our friends'-friends'-friends. I wonder what would happen then?