Message from Women Of Green Founder, Carolyn Parrs
It was a profound year for me in so many ways. There were things that rattled my soul to the core. Challenged the very parts of me that I thought… just were. My mothering. My way in the world. My Carolynness. All of that and more was up. I met both the beauty and the shadowy equally. And what I learned was this. No one, yes no one, escapes it.
It’s all how you meet it.
With great jubilee, as a gift to you I have put together highlights from my video interviews of Women Game Changers from my summit this year for you to savor through the holidays. These women have met it all. They’ve been bruised, banned and barred. And all the while, they’re committed, conscious and charismatic human beings that have put their lives and their labors on the line to make this world a better, more sustainable, more loving place.
And guess what? They are all still works-in-progress. Like you and me.
So with a whole lot of love and reverence, here’s an ENCORE of 12 amazing Women Game Changers. Their essence is no different than you and I. Don’t believe me? Well, then just listen in. You’ll see.
XOXO Carolyn
PS: If you want to unleash the game changer in you, join Devi Records and I for the Women As Game Changers Boot Camp. Special super duper pricing ENDS TODAY. So if you want to meet it in 2017, meet us on January 7th. I promise, you won’t be the same.
ENCORE till January 1st
Meet the women who are transforming the world
Creating a Movement & Moving Millions with Natalie Isaacs
Natalie Isaacs is the founder and CEO of 1 Million Women, the movement of women and girls who take practical action to fight dangerous climate change by changing the way they live. Natalie is a pioneer in the gender and climate change arena in Australia and under her leadership 1 Million Women is now a movement of over 450,000 women and girls.
In this interview, Natalie Isaacs shares her own story of awakening from a life as a cosmetics manufacturer, unaware of the issues of climate change, to a strong and focused vision of inspiring, educating and supporting women and girls to fight climate change. The first major step in her own life that propelled her vision: Reducing her electricity usage drastically by 20% and food waste by 80%. This is what she supports women around the globe to do in their own lives. Natalie’s message is most relevant than ever. You’ll want to hear it!
Interview Gems:
- Women have enormous power in making decisions that determine a family’s carbon footprint. Our potential for changing the game within the market place is game-changing.
- You can take individual action today on climate change even with little knowledge of it by utilizing 1 Million Women’s extremely accessible information and real tangible outcomes.
- Challenges are opportunities in disguise to help us grow to another profound level.
- Growing your love affair and relationship with nature and the earth is the foundation for everything we do that impacts the planet — good or bad.
- Take a good look at how you live from your household’s energy usage and food waste, culinary knowledge, understanding the food system, fashion and sustainability, transportation, happiness vs. consumption, etc.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Natalie Isaacs
Nell Newman, Co-founder of Newman’s Own® Organics: The Second Generation®
Nell Newman is the Co-founder of Newman’s Own® Organics: The Second Generation®. Nell was steeped in a family that fostered a deep interest in food and the environment. Growing up, she saw the connections between certain methods of agriculture and their negative environmental impacts, leading her to a career in reshaping how we produce food so that it doesn’t harm wildlife, ecosystems and people. This innate understanding and passion, gave birth to Newman’s Own Organics: The Second Generation. Today her love for organic agriculture and permaculture continues to bud new ideas and expressions in this arena. We can hardly wait to see what’s next!
The most powerful game changer is the one driven by what they love. For Nell Newman, daughter of actors Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward, organic agriculture is and the seed that started Newman’s Own Organics: The Second Generation. In this interview,
she reveals how it all started with a sneaky Thanksgiving family dinner made with
organic ingredients. The result: Over $50 million donated to charity by Newman’s Own Organics while Nell was at the helm. Now that’s game-changing power!
Interview Gems:
- A game changer is someone who has a vision they persevere with, making it a reality.
- To create an environmentally conscious business or a new way of doing business that takes into account the Planet, People and Profit, you begin by standing strong in your vision.
- Do what you love in life instead of what makes others happy.
- Seek out mentors and those who have gone before you in your area of interest, and foster a relationship with them. Find your support system.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Nell Newman
Becoming the CEO of Your Own Finances: Women As Game Changers Summit interview with Sue Thompson
Partnering with her clients, Sue Thompson empowers people to master money so that they can truly build the kind of business they desire and at the same time live the life they deserve. As a Virtual CFO, she and her team work with you to provide structure, training and consulting. Sue believes that money is a tool and it should work for you instead of you working for it.
As a virtual CFO, Sue Thompson works with clients around the world, building relationships via video communication and utilizing the internet. Sue’s clients are impact entrepreneurs who share similar cycles of emotions that stem from past events and current narratives around financial management. In this interview, Sue talks about how money can be a tool that can work for you once the emotion is pulled out and how when we learn to manage money well, we can feel empowered.
Interview Gems:
- Game changers are people who have a huge heart with a big vision and values they want to transform into projects but need a vehicle to do so.
- Money can be a tool that can work for you once the emotion is pulled out and when we learn to manage money well, we can feel empowered.
- Some pitfalls for strong valued women seeking to actualize their vision are finding the capital to transform the vision into reality and learning how to manage money once begins to flow.
- When making financial decisions, we are reasoning with ourselves through filters and perspectives around money that may not be aligned with the best practices of financial management, having the potential to sabotage project goals.
- “Learning how to become the CEO of your own finances, depending on the numbers, will mean that you may become someone who is an investor,” and this requires having a solid foundation, knowing how you’re investing your time, energy and money.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Sue Thompson
Greening Up the Woolworth Legacy: Women As Game Changers Summit Interview with Priscilla Woolworth
Priscilla Woolworth, named “New Green Pioneer” by Time magazine, is the founder and CEO of PriscillaWoolworth.com, an online ecocentric General Store and quarterly Almanac newsletter, where she encourages a lifestyle of environmental awareness and sustainability, with the goal to inspire systemic change and create a better world. Priscilla Woolworth is the author of LOLA (Lots of Love Always), a book aimed at young women about how to live a sustainable lifestyle and make healthy choices that are good for them and the planet.
“You can shape the world by what you buy” is the motto for Priscilla Woolworth’s ecocentric general store and in her quarterly Almanac. In her work she educates readers about the products she sells, organizations doing positive work in the world, ways to shift one’s way of life towards less of an impact and what she has tried. In
this interview she shares how we can become conscious, empowered consumers when we know more about a product; where it’s made and its impact on the world. She also shares how she became a conscious provider of eco-friendly and healthy products.
Interview Gems:
- Women shape the world by what they buy. Since corporations track purchases, women (and men) can use their dollar to influence what products are on the market, and by choosing health and eco conscious products, will create a greater supply of them.
- Women, specifically who are mothers, are motivated to create a better world for their children and this commitment is powerful and strong, making them game changers in their own right.
- We become conscious, empowered consumers when we know more about a product; where it’s made and its impact on the world.
- “It is important to reinvent yourself before the kids leave the house” so you are grounded in your life’s work and happy while moving into a new stage of life.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Priscilla Woolworth
What Story is Alive in You?: Women as Game Changers Summit Interview with Gail Larsen
Gail Larsen is the founder of Real Speaking® and the award-winning author of Transformational Speaking: If You Want to Change the World, Tell a Better Story. Her work has been described by Fast Companyas “transforming your relationship to your voice via the deepest stirrings of your soul.” An SBA award-winning entrepreneur and catalyst for life-affirming ventures, her original approach to communication draws from her own journey as a previously reluctant speaker, her respect for indigenous wisdom, twenty-five years in the world of speaking, and wide experience in business and association management.
As a game-changer, what you say is as important as what you do. Learn how to speak the story that is alive in you with confidence and connection. Gail Larsen, will show you how. In this interview, she shares how she supports clients through workshops and life immersions in reflecting on who they are NOW, outside of the “jetlag of life”, and understanding their truth, thus learning to speak from this truth.
Interview Gems:
- Game changers are “holy fools, stepping outside of convention and expectation to do what their soul is asking them to be, no matter what.” Join the holy fools challenge!
- For women today it is time to stand out by learning to trust in who we are and our message and remember that there is no right formula for promoting our visions and ideas.
- When you understand your gift and connect to the message that shows it matters, you can more easily put fear behind you and let that energy give you power.
- By connecting with your truth and message, you can share in one minute what the core is of your idea, vision, dream, or project to inspire others.
- Set up the environment and introduction of your talk so it works for you and grows your confidence.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Gail Larsen
Can Business Be a Force For Good? Women As Game Changers Interview with Kim Graham-Nye of gDiapers
Kim Graham-Nye, named one of Fortunes 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2011, is the co-founder of gDiapers with her husband Jason. Their passion to disrupt the global diaper market is matched by their passion to do business differently From onsite childcare to bCorp certification, their aim is to use business as a force for good.
Can business be a force for good? Instead of destroying our planet and its resources, can it actually heal it? Oh yeah! That’s what Kim Graham-Nye, co-founder of gDiapers, believes too. In this interview, Kim shares how she helped found gDiapers, a disposable diaper company with cradle-to-cradle diaper “inserts” that after use can be planted. She also shares how she found the immense importance of building a sustainable life in order to truly have a sustainable business.
Interview Gems:
- Game changers are people who don’t accept the status quo.
- When an issue or problem has an impact on you that is unforgettable, activate the game changer in you and collaborate with others to find a solution.
- Find a tribe to support you in times when you are stepping into new territory.
- Meditate and focus on breathe to re-center yourself so you are better able to handle the complexities of the workplace and home life.
- Integrating practices and activities into your life that fill and nourish your soul is vital for your success in all aspects of life.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Kim Graham-Nye
The Deep Transformation of Being a Game-Changer: Women as Game Changers Summit Interview with Jeannie ZandiJeannie is the Director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the heart on the planet; inspiring, teaching and supporting people to live and lead from their deepest hearts and souls. A year before the birth of her daughter, Jeannie was plunged into a dark night of the soul that culminated in a radical shift of consciousness. She is known for her fearless clarity, tender mercy toward humanness, highest vision of the human being and a juicy, poetic and often humorous style. Residing in Colorado, she travels widely in the US and Canada, bringing a down-to-earth embodied teaching of living and leading from the heart.
What game do you need to change within you to truly have the impact you want? Jeannie Zandi, Director of Living as Love, a nonprofit organization dedicated to seeding a culture of the heart on the planet, shares in this interview, a game-changing moment that changed her life forever. She believes leadership from this deep place brings about the wellbeing of all and talks about how, in her work she supports people to connect to the tenderness of the heart and to their deepest knowing.
Interview Gems:
- When the world around us crumbles, we are forced to dive deeper, settle into the heart and the soul. Asking ourselves questions like: Why are we here? What do we have to share? How can we live in support of the greater energy?
- Shifting from our mind to our heart can guide us to living from our deepest essence as we surrender to it.
- Often we have to abandon our ship of safety (our old way of living) or face failure, in order to open up to the deep wisdom and guidance within as well as its’ tenderness.
- One must be in touch with the tenderness and vulnerability of the heart to lead from the heart.
- Going through a deep transformational and felt experience, begins the rise of a knowledge that grows up out of you and living from the foundation of this grounding, renders one unshakeable.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Jeannie Zandi
Grooming our Girls for Greatness: A Women as Game Changers Interview with Kim Grustas
Kim Grustas is the Founder and Owner of Good For You Girls Natural Skin Care – inspiring moms to protect what’s most precious – our girls. For more than 15 years, Kim has been instrumental in the growth of some of the country’s largest nutrition and supplement companies as a graphic designer, creative consultant and marketing adviser. Kim has lived and breathed the natural products industry, for more than 15 years. Most recently, she’s owned and operated an advertising and design agency in Connecticut, working exclusively with companies, which have made a commitment to natural products and services.
So often women start businesses or organizations to solve an intense social or environmental problem. That couldn’t be truer for Kim Grustas, Founder and Owner of Good For Your Girls Skin Care, a company born to teach and guide girls at a crucial age to respect their bodies and make safer choices. In this interview, she talks about the innate qualities women have of tapping into their intuitive nature. She also touches upon the necessity of connecting back to why she is doing the work and who she is impacting by her efforts when facing the daily difficulties of working for change.
Interview Gems:
- Work with passion. Be present in the now and anticipate the future.
- Research and knowledge can bring a game changer to another level.
- An essential practice in business or organizational development is to “check back with yourself” by visiting existing feelings and apprehensions through your intuition.
- Find a way to have financial support before moving further with a business or project.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Kim Grustas
Fair Trade Jewelry Hits the U.S.: A Women as Game Changers Interview with Helen Chantler
Helen Chantler is the founder of Reflective Images Jewelry, the first and only certified Fairtrade Gold Jeweler in the US, selling uniquely crafted jewelry made with 100% recycled metal and ethically sourced stones, gems and jewels. For Chantler, jewelry is more than just fashion. It is about what is essential and real in life, and what can awaken us to beauty and connection in the world around us. Helen is one of the only jewelers aligning talismanic meaning with ethical sourcing, and at the same time supporting the continuation of artisanal craftsmanship that’s thousands of years old.
You heard of fair trade coffee and chocolate? Well, Helen Chantler and her husband have taken the fair trade concept to a whole new level. Their company, Reflective Images Jewelry, is the very first fair trade jeweler in the U.S. They believe what you put in your body (like coffee and chocolate) is as important as what you put on it. In this interview, Helen speaks candidly about her journey as an entrepreneur and activist in a highly controlled and competitive industry. Watch this and witness a game changer in the making.
Interview Gems:
- Know yourself and why you are doing the work you are doing.
- Find a way to move into a direction, in your work or community life, that has a positive impact on the world.
- In facing challenges that deeply trigger you, let go of personal baggage by pulling back to reconnect and see the big picture.
- Powerful leadership within a business involves empowering and providing a strong support of employees and co-collaborators.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Helen Chantler
The Mind-altering Joanna Hartcourt-Smith: A Women As Game Changers Summit Interview
Joanna Hartcourt-Smith is the creator of the online podcast Future Primitive and author of the memoir “Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary”. Joanna is featured in Gay Dillingham’s movie “Dying to Know” , a documentary about Leary and Ram Dass’ lifelong exploration and friendship.
Joanna Hartcourt-Smith is the creator of the online podcast Future Primitive and author of the memoir “Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary”. In this interview,Joanna Hartcourt-Smitt brings to light how living in love and caring deeply about the relationships we have with others, carries us towards an intimacy with the
planet. This is what she believes brings equality, balance and sustainability. Take some time and sit with Joanna as she inspires you to love yourself and the world in a new, profound way.
Interview Gems:
- Game changing is not about power over people, it’s about relationship and deeply listening to others and understanding who they are.
- Respect and love your own pain. It will help you evolve into your authentic self.
- Listen and care deeply about the people you are in relationship with.
- It takes ten years to get good at something so put the time into building yourself and that “something” you want to bring to the world.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Joanna Hartcourt-Smith
What Conscious Companies Look Like: A Women as Game Changers Interview with Meghan French Dunbar & Maren KeeleyIn 2014, Maren Keeley and Meghan French Dunbar co-founded Conscious Company Magazine — the first print and digital, internationally distributed print publication in the US that focuses solely on business as a force for good. The inaugural issue of the publication hit stands nationwide in January 2015 through every Whole Foods Market in the US, and has since been picked up by the likes of Target, Barnes & Noble, HEB, Publix, Sprouts, Natural Grocers, and more. Prior to their foray into the publishing world, Keeley was a chef for nearly 15 years, running her own catering business, and then managing large teams at two Whole Foods Market’s flagship locations, while French Dunbar spent nearly a decade in project management and strategic development in the nonprofit world and was Managing Editor of two nationally distributed publications.
Meet game changers, Meghan and Maren. They are Founders of Conscious Company Magazine, a print and online magazine that sheds light on the game-changing work that women and men around the country are doing within sustainability and business. In this interview they share how business can be a force for good and several pieces of advice when moving forward and creating your own business or organization. Catch this insightful interview before its gone!
Interview Gems:
- A game changer identifies the “North Star” in their lives and audaciously goes after the change they are seeking, while having the courage to change themselves in order to accomplish it.
- Look at your career through the lens that life is about experiences and a lifelong learning.
- Reframe risk and opportunity and take action on your dreams!
- Remember to always take a step back and see the big picture of where you are and where you want to be.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Conscious Company
Women Hold the Purse that Can Change the World: Women as Game Changers Interview with Diane MacEachernDiane MacEachern is the Founder and CEO of Big Green Purse, a blog to inspire consumers to use their marketplace clout to protect the planet and themselves by shifting their spending to the greenest products and services available. She is one of America’s leading green consumer advocates and an award-winning entrepreneur who recently received the “Image of the Future” prize from the World Communication Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Named one of America’s EcoHeroes by Glamour magazine, she was included on Earth & Industry’s List of “16 Women in Sustainability You Must Follow” as well as Blogtrepreneur’s “100 Must Read Green Blogs for Women.”
Did you know that women buy 85% of the purchases in the US? That’s 7 trillion dollars a year! We have far reaching impact within our families, communities and lives. Our featured guest today, Diane MacEachern, author of “Big Green Purse”, shares what she has learned about the power women possess in changing the world through choice. Choice in what we buy, what we demand as a consumer and what knowledge and way
of life we pass on to our children. Learn from this engaging interview how women can leverage this power to create a sharing economy based in value not in consumption and a world without toxic, wasteful products.
Interview Gems:
- Using our marketplace clout gives us the ability to make an impact with very little effort.
- We as buyers, connected to a collective of people doing the same thing, have an impact in the market and therefore an impact on the planet.
- Align yourself with groups that have grassroots strength and share similar missions.
Click here for Carolyn’s video interview with Diane MacEachern
Women of Green is TURNING UP THE VOLUME of the feminine voice on the planet in order to create the world we know is possible.