When GreatNews.Life Executive Director Jenny Craig-Brown came up with the idea for All About the Girls (AATG), her main goal was to create an event where women are brought together, reminded of how powerful they are when connected with one another, and offer a space for sharing of stories and experiences with others. What Craig-Brown didn’t know at that time – just six years ago – was how much the event would grow from that first year and just how much it would inspire people just by giving women the opportunity to be themselves.
Over the years, AATG has flourished into an amazing event that has women coming in ready to learn and make new connections, spending the evening crying, laughing, and feeling every possible emotion brought on by the amazing speakers, and then leaving the night with a fresh sense of pride in who they are and who they want to become. This year’s event – All About The Girls Part 6 – was nothing short of special and offered plenty of those new connections that Craig-Brown and the GreatNews.Life team hoped for.
“I want all those who attend to connect with one another, feel empowered by each other, and connect with and feel inspired by each speaker, but the event is also something where people can go to and meet new friends,” said Craig-Brown. “It’s very much a place where people can come by themselves and feel welcome; it’s really a no-negativity zone where we all support each other and connect to the women who will positively affect us.”
Past themes for AATG have included Dear Me, You’re Welcome World, Like a Girl, and Courage Over Comfort, each of which sparked new moments of joy, gratitude, confidence, and more in both the speakers and the audience. Women have shared funny, memorable stories like when Cathy Brown-Brown talked about teaching young students how to properly wring a towel. Sometimes the stories shared are incredibly touching and inspiring, like when Donna Flanagin gave each audience member a silver box and spoke about the power of kindness. Other times, the stories are moving and emotional, like when the power group of Ashley Halpern, Cassy Swanson, Buffy Adams, Ashley Dickinson, Lisa Kusbel, Courtney Smith, Elizabeth Marks, and Katie Eaton chose courage over comfort in sharing personal moments of hardship and growth in each of their lives.
Craig-Brown welcomed this year’s attendees with the humor and reflection that many have come to appreciate during AATG events.
“Like most others, I think the past year and a half or two years, has been a time where we’ve found a ton of gratitude and a ton of appreciation for those that are around us,” Craig-Brown said. “It takes a village to raise children and me.”
Craig-Brown proceeded to thank multiple people in her life for helping, motivating, and inspiring strength in her and helping to host this event for the first time since 2019.
Aside from a new venue and plenty of fun, new faces attending, All About The Girls Part 6 brought the same energy and emotion that AATG fans have come to expect. Hosted in Central Park Plaza in Valparaiso, Ind. on Thursday, the event’s theme of #MyStrength turned out to be a truly perfect fit after the past year and a half of adjusting to our change in environment and using the strengths you have, or the strengths you discovered under pressure, to stand up and make your way through it.
With that theme of #MyStrength, Craig-Brown invited the speakers to take their performance in whatever direction they choose, often prompting the question of, “What does #MyStrength mean to you?” Though the theme is central, the speeches were so unique from one to the next as the only thing Craig-Brown asked of the women was to make the performance their own.
“One of the biggest things I hope people take away from this year’s subject is not only your strength, where it comes from, and what type of strength you have, but an appreciation for the fact that the strength you have varies greatly between you and your neighbor, and each strength makes you who you are,” said Craig-Brown. “Whether it’s mental, physical, or emotional strength – I think all of us have all of those strengths – but each of us has one that’s strongest and where we feel we strive the most, and I want women to realize that there’s more than just physical strengths. You can have a different strength than the person next to you and that makes each of you fantastic in your own way.”
This year, the powerful women who brought the theme of #MyStrength to life included opening remarks from Blair Milo, performances from Michelle Shirk, Steph Madera, Mary Martinez, Africa Tarver, and Debie Coble, and a special intermission presentation from Buffy Adams.
The night opened with remarks from Milo, an accomplished woman across the State of Indiana and beyond who is also a proud All About the Girls Part 1 alumna. As the founding director of the Center for Talent and Opportunity and former first secretary of Career Connections and Talent, Milo’s work in community enrichment extends far with a big impact. Milo was also mayor of the City of La Porte from 2011 to 2018 and led the city through economic growth, engaged government services, and increased focus on health and quality of life and happiness for the community.
“The chance for us to come together this evening and celebrate our experiences as women and all of the amazing things we bring to the workplace, to our lives and to celebrate one another, it is just such a special treat to come be a part of that,” said Milo. “And when I think about my strength, this was just such a fun exercise to get to dig into about what are some of the things I think about as far as my strength, and I think about a community like this.”
The first speaker at the event, Michelle Shirk, is a longtime La Porte County resident who has a passion for creating safe, welcoming spaces in the community and is the executive director of Boys & Girls Clubs of La Porte County where she leads programs that positively impact over 500 children each year. Shirk is also a proud wife and mother.
“I am not the strongest person in this room, there are many people who have had to deal with a lot more adversity than me in my life,” said Shirk. “But I know we have all strengths, and I think this conversation is richer where we can own that and all share what we’ve learned.”
Shirk continued to share her experiences over the last 10 years from growing as a 30-year-old to a 40-year-old, moving jobs and fields, and becoming the woman she is today. These experiences left her with one final, important piece of advice for the audience.
“On a personal level, when our friends, family members, and people who care about us tell us our strengths, we need to listen to them and own that,” said Shirk.
As owner and head coach of Revolution Fitness in Crown Point, Steph Madera knows a thing or two about strength and perseverance. Madera opened her business in 2014 and has made waves sharing her passion for fitness and wellbeing ever since.
“So, this year’s topic is my strength, and over the past year and a half, I think we all had to learn what all of our true, real strength was,” Madera said.
When giving the audience a taste of what #MyStrength means to her, Madera discussed how she had to learn what her true strength was when she opened her gym on her own while working as a paralegal. Her experience with the gym started off as training a friend, quickly becoming a few more until she decided to take this new situation, turn it into her business, and find her true strength.
Buffy Adams was welcomed to the stage for the event’s #MyStrengthMoment sponsor with St. Jude House. Adams, a speaker from All About The Girls Part 5 and vice president of mission advancement for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana, discussed St. Jude House’s work to help, support, and improve women’s lives in our community.
“On behalf of St. Jude House, we are so privileged tonight to be here as a sponsor,” said Adams. “And many of you might be saying, ‘What is a domestic violence shelter, a non-profit doing sponsoring an event like this?’ And it’s really pretty simple. Any place, where a whole group of strong, influential, amazing women gather, St. Jude house needs to be in that room.”
Adams’s continued on with her #MyStrenghtMoment speech, which had every audience member living in their strengths.
“I don’t want to use my time to talk about my strength, I am going to flip that script and talk about your strength,” said Adams. “Because honestly when I look out there, I am seeing a lot of women with a lot of amazing stories.”
Mary Martinez, founder of the nonprofit Hannah’s Hope with her husband Mike, utilized her time on stage to discuss how the nonprofit, which was named and founded in memory of her late daughter, has fostered a new sense of strength in her own life since it began in 2010. Along with being a loving mother to Hannah’s sisters, Haley and Hadynn, Martinez is an active member of her community, a NICU nurse and certified lactation counselor, and an avid supporter of those who help to foster the mission of Hannah’s Hope.
“Since tonight is All About the Girls, I am going to talk about my four favorite ladies,” Martinez started.
Martinez continued her speech discussing the several amazing qualities her mother and three daughters have that added to her own strength. As she went on to discuss her life with Hannah, she had the entire pavilion captivated with their story.
“I think our website says it best, ‘Although Hannah’s life seemed too short to many, those who were touched by her understand that the quality of her existence far exceeded the quantity of time she lived,’” said Martinez.
“I want to leave you with a quote my friend shared with me because it reminds me that I am strong and that I can get through anything, even on my darkest of days,” she continued. “‘You have been assigned this mountain, to show others it can be moved.’ So tonight, I hope we inspired you to find your strength and move those mountains.”
As someone who was born and raised in the city she now serves, Africa Tarver is a huge fan of making her community a better place for all. Tarver is the executive director of planning and development for the City of Hammond, a proud product of the School City of Hammond, and a graduate of Calumet College. Tarver has been using her expertise to spark integral change within her city.
Tarver opened her speech with the transparency of questioning if she should be a speaker. But she knew there was a reason she was asked and that meant she had a story to share.
“In preparation for this speech, I drafted an outline, took notes, and rehearsed what I was going to say several times,” Tarver said. “I asked myself, ‘If I were in the audience, what would I want to hear, what can I say about my strength that was drastically different from what the other speakers would say?’”
Tarver then continued to differentiate herself from each of her fellow speakers by sharing her thoughts, inspirations, and experiences for her #MyStrength speech. She ended her speech with one final piece of advice.
“So, always remember that strength requires a new perspective. It's about picking back up after a fall. Celebrating small victories. And embracing those who love and support you. September is suicide prevention month, so share this story with someone who may believe their storm will never end. Because strength isn’t about how you feel, it’s about who you are and what you do.”
Rounding out the night of amazing speeches, Debie Coble welcomed the audience to her take on #MyStrength by discussing how different successes and failures throughout her life have fostered the strength she has now. Coble is the president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Michiana, Inc., a position that she grew to hold after starting as a store manager for the organization in 1990. During her leadership, the organization has brought many new initiatives to the community and sparked tons of positive change.
Coble captured the audience immediately with her six F words that she used to describe her strength: family, fitness, failures, fears, feat, and faith. These six F's provided insight into her life as a mother, CEO, and strong woman.
“We don’t often think about failures and fears as being a part of what builds our strength, but it really is,” Coble said. “We need to remember that the one who falls and gets up is so much stronger than the one who never falls…And I can tell you today that my failures have made me stronger.”
As Coble continued her speech, she used her six F's to inspire the audience to find strength in multiple facets of life.
“So, in closing, I want to thank you. Thank you for listening to me sharing my thoughts on the six F’s that have built and sustained the strength that I need each and every day,” she said. “I hope you can find one nugget of what I have said to help build the strength within you.”
As each woman stepped up to the podium, the supporters in the crowd were on the edge of their seats, eager to be inspired and eager to share in the experience that is All About The Girls. Most notably, the common theme throughout the night was creating a community built on support for strong women, and this is something that will shape AATG for years to come.
Reflecting on this sixth event of All About The Girls is an emotional reminder of what positivity can do. What started as a small, 50-person crowd in a restaurant in 2015 has since developed into an often-sold-out event with hundreds of women, women supporters, and positive people ready to connect with one another.
After a successful night of sharing in one another’s experiences, connecting with like-minded women, and learning from the experiences of the women around you, AATG and GreatNews.Life would like to thank the following sponsors for contributing to the event and showing their support for women empowerment: Valpo Parks, Sage-Popovich, Inc., St. Jude House, Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Services, Party People, Benjamin F. Edwards & Co., General Insurance Services, Inc., Community Healthcare System, Great Lakes Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, P.C., Team Chevrolet of Valparaiso, and American Licorice Company.
