If She Can Do It, So Can You!

With over 10 years in the education field, Kai Butler holds a B.A. in English from Old Dominion University. She taught as an English teacher, but after three years, she saw the need to deepen her theory and practice for helping inner city youth in the areas of social-emotional and academic support, as well as career exploration. She obtained her Master's in School Counseling from Howard University in 2011.She has served as a school counselor in the middle and high school sector in New York and Richmond, VA, including Henrico County Public Schools as Director of School Counseling at The Academy at Virginia Randolph and currently at Varina High School. Serving the underdog and those forgotten is her true passion and she relishes the opportunity to connect real-life practicality with her approach. She is certified in trauma-informed care and restorative practices, with which she will infuse the program.Today, she is the Executive and Founder of Work of Art, a local nonprofit designed to empower girls 13-18 from underserved communities, focusing specifically on Black youth. The mission of the program is built on three beliefs: lead by example, inspire others, and connect the world through volunteerism and other enriching experiences. She also serves as a trainer for United Way of Greater Richmond, where she trains other organizations using The Weikart Center's Youth for Program Quality. What she enjoys most about her current positions is the ability to assist youth in reaching their unique potential and seeing the determined spark in their eyes. In her spare time, Kai enjoys dancing, hot yoga, and spending time with family, friends, and her dog Paris Rose.Instagram: @kai_thecounselor and @workofartrvaWebsite: www.workofartrva.org

Lesley St. James is the author of The Jill Cooksey Mysteries, a cozy mystery series about a public relations professional whose clients never fail to misbehave but whose friends always have her back. In 2020, Lesley's first novel, The Sweet Scent of Death, won Richmond Magazine and James River Writers' Best Unpublished Novel Contest. Lesley then started her own indie publishing business, Madcap Mystery, and released the novel to the world, along with the sequel, Death of a Dolly Waggler. The third Jill Cooksey mystery, Cruising Toward Death, is expected in August of 2022. Lesley began her career in film and television before moving to public relations and then to education. A devoted, lifelong reader of mysteries, she always knew the kind of books she would write. She graduated from Mary Washington College with a degree in English and French literature and went on to study film at Georgia State University. When she's not writing or teaching writing, Lesley enjoys traveling, movies, and genealogy. She resides in Mechanicsville with her husband Matthew.You can meet Lesley and purchase signed copies of her books on Saturday, October 22, 2022, between 10:00am and 2:00pm at Books, Beads & More, 8106 Bus US-360, Mechanicsville.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LesleyStJames/Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20893515.Lesley_St_JamesInstagram: @lesleyst.jamesWebsite: lesleystjames.com

Crystal Harrell is a #1 Best Selling author, Les Brown-trained speaker, and certified coach. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Public Health at Yale University and serves part-time as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army. As an Academic Success Coach, Crystal has helped over 700 students successfully navigate through higher education using her virtual coaching company and education blog.Over the course of her academic journey, Crystal received over $670,000 in scholarship awards, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship and the Yale School of Public Health Dean's Research Award. She shares details of her journey to help other non-traditional students get ahead in her first #1 Best Selling book Crystal Clear: A Journey of Self-Discovery (From Public Housing to Ivy League).Crystal's ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the potential we all have as human beings and show that it is possible to rise against all odds and live out your wildest dreams.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystalharrell_/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-harrell-ms-mph-57918aaa/Twitter: https://twitter.com/crystalharrell_YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHRsMsCNrOxrIBOE8vBE8WQ

Lauren McManamay is a Registered Nurse, advocate for mental health and LGBTQ+ issues, and a current Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has presented on Veteran mental health issues at the West Virginia Nurses Association and has been interviewed on the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy for the Richmond Times. Lauren is a 14-year Air Force veteran, with multiple overseas deployments, and currently serves as a Flight Nurse in the Air Force Reserves. Originally from West Virginia, Lauren has settled in Richmond, VA, with her wife Jaysa and her two dogs, Penny and Charlie. She adores spending as much time as she can on the James River, either in a kayak or hanging on the rocks with her pups, and traveling the world with her wife.

Jessica launched Virginia Outdoor Adventures Podcast because she wanted to provide a platform for individuals to tell their stories, to share their connection to the outdoors, and to build a local community where the outdoors are for everyone. She also wanted to tell these stories through a conservation lens to encourage others to be stewards of the outdoors. As a Virginian and outdoor enthusiast, Jessica is passionate about featuring outdoor recreation and ecotourism opportunities close to home while also supporting local businesses and economies.Jessica is frequently interviewed in local newspapers, magazines and television shows as an expert on Virginia outdoor recreation. Jessica is a public speaker and presenter, a guest blogger for Virginia State Parks, Destination Virginia and RVA On the Cheap, and hosts “take-overs” of Destination Virginia's social media pages. She is an avid hiker, cyclist, climber, backpacker, kayaker, photographer, and birder and recently earned the Virginia State Parks “Master Hiker” designation.Website: https://www.virginiaoutdooradventures.com/Facebook: Virginia Outdoor AdventuresInstagram: @virginia_outdoor_adventuresTwitter:  VirginiaOutdoorAdveturesPodcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/virginia-outdoor-adventures/id1529766862https://open.spotify.com/show/0olpreoZWJFmlmsnije1x8

Jessica Chenard is a writer of purposeful adventures, healing and legacy; hiking and writing give her a sense of creativity and purpose. She is a business owner, mother, wife, daughter, sister, community builder, and friend.Chenard is the founder of Her Hike Collective, an all-women's hiking community. You can find her hosting the group's quarterly hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains.Chenard was motivated to write here memoir, Her Hike, after spending a decade living it. She hiked to heal from tragedy, and later hiking helped her nurture a beautiful life. She has hiked in many places, from the Blue Ridge in Virginia to the Rocky Mountains in Montana.People she cared about played a large role in nurturing her love for the mountains, the most significant of these people being her brother. After his tragic death, she was left with only the knowledge of his love for nature and hiking. This enabled and inspired her. His love for the outdoors gave her a direction to go in--her true north--and she made hiking a part of her lifestyle. Ultimately, writing this book became her calling.Chenard passionately believes that spending time in nature can heal. When you endure a tragedy or even just a hard season, hiking and nature can be a lifeline for you.Website: www.jessicachenard.comFacebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/jessicachenardauthorFacebook Book Group Launch Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jessicachenardbooklaunchInstagram Profiles: @jessicaryanphoto @herhikecollectiveHer Hike Collective Apparel: https://www.bonfire.com/store/her-hike-collective/

Joanna Lee is the author of Dissections (2017), a co-editor of the anthology Lingering in the Margins (2019), and founder of the Richmond, Virginia community River City Poets. Her work has been published in Rattle, Parhelion, Driftwood and elsewhere, and has been nominated for both a Pushcart and multiple Best of the Net prizes. Having earned her MD from the Medical College of Virginia in 2007 and a Master's in neuroscience from William & Mary in 2010, she currently co-owns (with her husband, John) south-of-the-river coffeeshop and all-day breakfast joint Café Zata. When she's not slinging espresso or scribbling poems, Joanna is training for her next marathon or hanging out with fellow members of the newly formed Poets Who Run.Twitter/IG: @la_poetessaFacebook: J.S. Leehttp://the-tenth-muse.com

Nanea Hoffman is the founder of Sweatpants & Coffee, a social media platform, online community, and lifestyle brand focused on comfort, creativity, inspiration, and fun. She launched SweatpantsAndCoffee.com in 2013 as a place to explore the joys of everyday life and to foster meaningful connections. Nanea has been an avid builder of blanket forts since  childhood, and her goal has been to make Sweatpants & Coffee the coziest corner of the Internet. She is also the creator of the Anxiety Blob, a physical representation of her own anxiety disorder, which has since become a beloved mental health mascot for people around the world. The Anxiety Blob is a reminder that you are not alone, and that you are more than your anxiety. Trigger ⚠️: This episode discusses the topic of suicide, and may be triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweatpantsandcoffee/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweatpantsAndCoffee

Black Girls Hike RVA was founded in May 2020 by Nicole Boyd and Narshara Cade. These two friends and middle school teachers found joy in hiking and posted their adventures on social media. While on the trails, the two noticed a lack of diversity, especially among people of color.  With a vision and passion for wanting to create a space for women of color to enjoy the outdoors, BGHRVA was born. Based out of Richmond, Virginia, Cade and Boyd lead local and regional hikes for women of color. Recently featured in USA today and CNN stories, Boyd and Cade are working to ensure the outdoors is a safe space for women of color. They hope to grow the business, create a non-profit for underserved youth, and inspire future generations to debunk the stereotype that people of color don't love the outdoors. Facebook     blackgirlshikeRVAInstagram    blackgirlshike_rvaWebsite        www.blackgirlshikerva.com

Lisa Ellison is a writer, speaker, and coach with an Ed.S in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a background in mindfulness. She regularly presents and teaches courses on the use of mindfulness in writing, writing about trauma, and all things memoir. A regular contributor to the Jane Friedman blog, her essays and short stories have appeared in HuffPost, Hippocampus Literary Magazine, the New Guard Review, Kenyon Review Online, and Brevity, among others. She's currently working on a memoir about how traveling with her husband's heavy metal band into post-Bosnian-War Yugoslavia soon after her brother's suicide led to a promise that ultimately saved her. Find her here:Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisacooperellison/Twitter https://twitter.com/LisaEllisonsPenInstagram https://www.instagram.com/lisacooperellison/Trigger ⚠️: This episode discusses the topic of suicide, and may be triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. 

As the CEO of the Richmond SPCA, Tamsen Kingry oversees the development of the Richmond SPCA's short- and long-term strategies to achieve maximum lifesaving. Before being named CEO in 2019, Tamsen was the COO for 12 years and in that capacity oversaw operational development, design analysis, evaluation and improvement; regulatory compliance; emergency preparedness; community relationship building; fundraising; communications; and program and service delivery. She is passionate about developing innovative programming to proactively reduce pet homelessness and engaging in crucial advocacy to save and protect the lives of animals.Tamsen earned her bachelor's degree in communications from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management course within the Executive Education program at Harvard Business School. Tamsen joined the staff of the Richmond SPCA in 2002.When she's not busy working alongside the Richmond SPCA's talented and dedicated staff, Board and volunteers, Tamsen enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, as well as their two cats and two dogs—all of whom they adopted from the Richmond SPCA.Twitter.com/richmondspcaFacebook.com/richmondspcaInstagram.com/richmondspca

Ellen Kanzinger is a documentary photographer and journalist based out of Charlottesville, Va. She currently works as the travel editor for Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, covering outdoor recreation and environmental issues in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Whether it's climbing into the open cockpit of a hand-built airplane or biking 184.5 miles along the C&O Canal, she does whatever it takes to get the story. Ellen also volunteers as a transcriber for the Prison Journalism Project, an organization dedicated to telling stories from inside the justice system. In her free time, you can usually find her hiking the trails of Shenandoah National Park, biking around town, or sitting on her balcony with a book in hand. Instagram: @photo.zinger and @blueridgeoutdoorsWebsite: ellenmkanzinger.com

Valley Haggard has written in short and long-form all her life. She is a big fan of the postcard, the 6-word memoir, and drawers full of unfinished manuscripts. She has slept in tents, hostels, motels, couches, tool sheds, log cabins, bunk beds, and ship bowels for short periods of time, and the house she grew up in for much longer than that. She has lived in Virginia, New York, Italy, Colorado, Arkansas, and Alaska, holding jobs as a Waffle House waitress, Dude Ranch Cabin Girl, cruise ship stewardess, and hotel maid. She has written book reviews, author interviews, and first-person columns; judged fiction contests and fellowships, and sat on non-profit writing boards. She is the recipient of a Richmond Magazine  2014 Theresa Pollak Prize, a 2015 Style Weekly Women in the Arts Award, and the winner of the 2018 James River Writers' Emyl Jenkins award. The founder of Richmond Young Writers in 2009, Valley now leads creative nonfiction marathons, workshops, and retreats for adults. She is the founder of Life in 10 Minutes, the author of The Halfway House for Writers and Surrender Your Weapons: Writing to Heal, and the co-editor of Nine Lives: a Life in 10 Minutes Anthology. She has a handsome husband, a brilliant son, an addictive personality, and a voracious appetite for all things word. Her memoir, There's No Accounting for the Strangeness of Things will be published in December 2021.

Courtney Paulk, the first female president of Hirschler Law,  discusses how long-distance, open-water swimming makes her a better lawyer and a stronger person. “The hardest thing is jumping  off a perfectly good boat in the dark," Paulk says. " You just gotta get in and do it, over and over and over again. One arm and then the other arm until I get there."

Despite her family's best efforts, Anne Moss Rogers's 20-year-old son Charles died by suicide on June 5, 2015, after many years of struggle with anxiety, depression, and ultimately addiction. Emotionally Naked motivational speaker and award-winning author, Anne Moss shares how she survived her son's death by suicide, and discusses the work she does to help others heal. Her newest book, Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk, comes out in August. Trigger ⚠️: This episode discusses the topic of suicide, and may be triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. 

She is a writer who founded her own small press. She is not even a freshman in college, but is already a twelve-time world champion competitive target shooter. She swam across the English Channel. Want to know more about these women's stories? Check out Season 1 of If She Can Do It, So Can You! The first episode will air on August 1, 2021.