Seattle Ignited Women Project #SIWP

 📷: http://seattleignitedwomenproject.com

Last night I attended an event that was devoted to women empowering women. The Seattle Ignited Project, started in 2017 by Allison Tenney to "redefine what strength and success means as a woman." The speakers, catering, sponsorship, and facility space were all consistent with the idea of inspiring women in all their roles - as female business owners or entrepreneurs or fitness pros or athletes or innovators or moms.

The Riveter is a space devoted to empowering women moving their businesses forward.  They host events that support female initiatives and serve as a work space for thinking, networking, and productivity to start or further develop your company.   I typically write my blog from my living room or from Walnut Street Coffee - but I loved this concept.  And the food! Catered by That Brown Girl Cooks were roasted veggies and chicken sliders with garlic aioli and Chef Kristi Brown's famous hummus.

The sponsors were a series of tables by mostly local companies - all women owned - with a variety of purposes and goods.  I'd love to tell you about them all - but instead I'll pick my two favorites.  I was super excited to see my good friend and fellow Seattle Storm sideline pal Emily Blurton to learn more about her personal training and athletic development business - Emblem Fitness.  She's bright and talented and I'm so fortunate to have her in my circle - Check out her site! I also really liked meeting the crew from Intentionalist - an online directory of businesses owned by women and/or LGBTQ individuals so that consumers can choose to spend their money intentionally in support of these organizations.

The speakers were inspiring.  I had never heard of Erin Brown before this event - TRAVESTY! She presented a list of "Ten Things She's Reasonably Sure Of" which included many valuable lessons.  One of those was "Take Time to Digest" from which she discussed that people are consuming information at a rapid-fire pace and we can't process or fully comprehend it all at the rate in which we receive it.  Her recommendation was to be mindful of how we choose to access these inputs - such as potentially spending less time with the social media and respecting other peoples' stories.  It made me think about how I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice about 2 weeks ago, and how in those days (early 1800's), you would receive a letter by horseback riding mail carrier, and you would take the time to sit at a desk with a quill and ink, carefully process the information,  and write a deliberate and thoughtful response. If you send me at text, I almost instantaneously respond - sometimes without actually even comprehending the full incoming message and too often with an impulsive reaction.  The emotion of our communications is lost with our new means of interactions and it's not moving us in a positive direction.  I like to think this blog post is a small way for me to digest the information from last night, process it and see what I really took away from it.  (CT Pals - she's coming your way soon!)

Gina LaRoche was the second speaker and she very eloquently spoke about three of the seven laws that are in her soon-to-be published book "The Seven Laws of Enough."  I understood her message to be more about introspection.  Spoiler Alert: Law Seven is "Love is the Answer" but the question surprised me:  "How well have I loved myself today?"  I'll be honest - I generally think meditation and mindfulness are garbage... but this view is an ignorant one because I have never given it a try.  In the past several months, I've been working on a focused program for a healthier me, and only last week did I even consider that there should be some amount of mindfulness practice included in that.  But I don't like doing it! (Maybe because I'm so terrible at it!)  Gina led a meditation practice and I could see the reaction others in the room had to this moment, and I decided I had to give this a fair shot for the next few months. I practice skills for my career and for getting better at this blog writing stuff and for my physical fitness - why couldn't I practice something to improve my mind?

The evening wrapped up with a panel discussion including: Crossfit Competitive Champion and Olympic Weight Lifter Elisabeth Akinwale,USA Soccer Olympian turned speaker/activist and performance trainer Lori Lindsey,  and ESPN Journalist Dianna Russini, moderated by The Riveter CEO Amy Nelson.  They talked about their journeys, obstacles, accomplishments, and what drives them to support women personally, in the world, in the workplace and in athletic endeavors.

I can't ignore the people in the crowd because the room was full of about 100 women and they were awesome too!  For example, I met Sally Roberts, two-time world bronze medalist in wrestling and founder of Wrestle Like a Girl which supports young girls through college-aged women who want to participate in wrestling.

Ultimately - it was a fun night that provided me with some new perspective and numerous ideas to ponder.  I'm excited to see where Allison Tenney takes the event in the future, and I'd definitely attend in the future.  I hope you'll click a few of the links and look into some of the people who participated to learn more about some really strong women working to improve the world for the next generation of girls to have better opportunities in the future.