Renée Trudeau is the award-winning author of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family and The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. A sought after life balance coach/speaker, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, Spirituality & Health and more. Trudeau graciously agreed to share the following guest post with Girls That Create. In these uncertain times, cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a powerful action that can greatly benefit our emotional well-being. Want to Feel Good? Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude Growing up, our overachiever family placed a high value on competency. Often that translated into a critical mindset toward self and others, where we frequently saw the bad before the good. This way of being, like all patterns, became habitual for many of my siblings. And as my father’s daughter and a champion of “let’s make it the best,” it’s a tendency I’ve been unraveling for years. When you walk into a room and see your child working on a science project, greet your partner at the end of the day after a big presentation, or receive an email update about a work project, do you see what’s going “right” or immediately look for what’s going “wrong?” Cultivating a gratitude practice has helped me to shift my perspective and see the gifts in any situation–even those that look horribly astray. An attitude of gratitude doesn’t come naturally to us. It was something I had to learn, to bring my attention and focus to, and to practice, practice, practice. I chose to …

What do Alice Guy-Blaché, Carmen Herrera, and Claudia Rankine have in common? They are all exceptional women in the new book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World. This third installment in the popular Rebel Girls book series allows young girls to travel the globe and be home by bedtime. It also teaches tolerance and sparks important conversations about immigration. What Does it Mean to be a Rebel Girl? The book contains one hundred biographies of immigrant women who left their birth countries for a multitude of reasons: some for new opportunities, some out of necessity. From chefs and surgeons, to musicians and politicians, to champions of judo and chess, these extraordinary stories will inspire girls everywhere to follow their dreams, no matter where they lead. Seventy female illustrators worked on the book to beautifully depict the women celebrated. In its preface, Rebel Girls founder Elena Favilli shares she herself immigrated to the United States from Italy. Favilli also writes, “People often ask me what it means to be a Rebel Girl, and there can be many definitions—just like we are all different from one another. At her heart, a Rebel Girl is someone who tries to make the world better for herself and the people around her, no matter the risks.” The book’s age range is five to ten-years-old. Rebel Girls Podcast Favilli created the first two volumes of the Rebel Girls books with Francesca Cavallo. The Rebel Girls brand prides itself on throwing out forced stereotypes, breaking down barriers and emphasizing the inherent value …

A specific image stood out to Aesha Ash when she was studying to become a professional dancer at the School of American Ballet in New York City. The picture, hanging on a wall, showed Black ballerina Andrea Long who had been part of the school before Ash joined. On the toughest of days, Ash would stare at the picture and think, “Okay, Aesha, pick yourself up. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.” In August 2020, Ash became the first Black female member of the permanent faculty in the School of American Ballet’s 86-year history. She is also the creator and founder of The Swan Dreams Project. Its mission is to use ballet and photography to combat the objectification of Black women and stereotypes. Giving Ballet a Chance Ash grew up in Rochester, New York, a place still near and dear to her heart. Starting out she did not plan to study ballet. As a youngster, Ash studied jazz and lyrical dance with aspirations of appearing on Broadway. There were competitions, but Ash wasn’t a fan of trying to beat out other girls. She simply wanted to dance and perform. When a teacher suggested learning ballet would help her become a better dancer, she gave it a shot. “Other forms of dance came much easier to me,” Ash recalls. “Ballet was very, very hard. It was definitely something that did not feel natural. As I got older, I liked that challenge. It was something that made me push myself further …

It’s safe to say a lot of us are doing porch drop offs this year when it comes to gifts. Why not spruce up your present for a special girl with one of these free printable Powerful Girl Gift Tags?!? There are eight different gift tag designs included in the printable. Just print, cut, and write to and from on the back and you’re good to go! Click to download Free Printable Powerful Girl Gift Tags Things you should know before downloading: Girls That Create printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY You may NOT modify, re-sell, redistribute, or claim the design as your own If you’d like to share this project, credit must be given to Girls That Create and linked back to this post For best results, print the gift tags on cardstock paper. More Girls That Create posts: Self-Esteem Activity for Girls: What I Like About Me and Picture Books With Women and Girl Main Characters www.girlsthatcreate.com

Bestselling author and illustrator Kate Allan put out the perfect book for 2020. Titled You’re Strong, Smart and You Got This: Drawings, Affirmations, and Comfort to Help with Anxiety and Depression, the work blends sunshine drawings and powerful words. The book not only provides a supportive voice for readers when they’re overwhelmed, it is also a gentle reminder we should treat ourselves with more kindness. Allan began creating to cope with her own depression and anxiety. As her work grew, she started posting drawings on Tumblr. People took notice, a community was born, and today Allan’s social handle, The Latest Kate, reaches more than 100,000 people. Allan corresponded with Girls That Create via email. Q&A With Kate Allan As a young girl, did you see yourself becoming an illustrator one day? Were you always pulled towards drawing or is it something you found later in life? I’ve always loved to draw, but because I had very low self-esteem growing up, I never thought I’d be a creative professional in any form. So now that I have published work, patrons, and people following my art from week-to-week, the whole thing can still feel unreal. It’s like a good dream I don’t want to wake up from. Did you have a favorite picture book growing up? Animated film? Oh, absolutely! I loved fairy tales– my favorite picture book was Snow White and Rose Red, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett. She had this, like, art nouveau style crossed with a bright 70’s technicolor design. It’s so pretty! My favorite …

Every four years The Professional Association for Design (AIGA) activates its community of designers across the U.S. and beyond to Get Out the Vote. The 2020 Get Out the Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote poster campaign (in partnership with the League of Women Voters) invites AIGA members to design nonpartisan posters to commemorate the beginning of 100 years of women’s voting rights. This campaign aspires to support voter participation, while also offering examination of the history of voting rights and women’s fight for equality. “For more than a century, women have played a fundamental role in shaping an inclusive and active electorate. Women have powered—and continue to power—the vote. Even as this year continues to bring unprecedented challenges to our communities and our democracy, we know that our nation is at its best when everyone has a chance to participate,” said Virginia Kase, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States. See all the submissions here.  Five Posters Empowering the Women’s Vote Title: All the Cool Girls Vote Submitted By: Lynell Ingram AIGA Chapter: Chicago Artist Statement: “Voting is our right, our duty, and our power. I believe in women, women’s’ empowerment, and our ability to influence the world and our collective futures for the better. This is my watercolor painting to put what I want to scream from the rooftop into an image and to speak to all of us, including the young or disenfranchised. We need our voices to be heard, on all platforms, but especially at the ballot box.” Title: Her …

Although more men are dying from COVID-19, women are suffering from a “shadow pandemic” economically by shouldering the burden of caregiving and other unpaid jobs, global philanthropist Melinda Gates said at the 2020 (all-virtual) Texas Conference for Women. “The key infrastructure in this society that needs to be built back properly is this unpaid labor, this caregiving work that women so often do,” Gates said during a sweeping conversation with media executive and TEDWomen co-founder Pat Mitchell. “If we can build that system back in a way that really supports families, and supports jobs and capitalism, then we are going to be better off as a society in the next decade and the next 50 decades ahead.” Keynote Recap: Melinda Gates on the Future of Gender Equality Gates, who grew up in Texas, is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an advocate for women and girls who last year announced a $1 billion commitment to expand women‟s power and influence in the United States. She has recently been outspoken about COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on women—and the importance of addressing systemic racism. More than 10,000 people (including Girls That Create) participated in the 21st annual Conference. Gates joined actor Issa Rae and National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo to headline the day themed “Leading the Way Forward.” Rae, an acclaimed producer, actress and writer, called it vital for women to surround themselves with a supportive community. Keynote Recap: Issa Rae Shares What Has Helped Her Succeed “I have to foster a community of …

As a child, author Dana Love was lovingly taught by her mother how to color pages in her coloring books. She was shown how to stay within the lines, color in the same direction, and allow her imagination to run wild and have fun. This skill would serve the author well through her life’s journey. Love has endured many harsh challenges, including childhood abuse and domestic violence. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), she contributed the following guest post on how coloring helps her cope. She is also author of the coloring book Beauty for Ashes and shares sample pages below.  Believe It or Not, Coloring is Therapeutic! When I felt no one could understand what I was going through, and I felt alone during the difficult times in my life, coloring helped me to cope and to heal. I’ve experienced childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence. I’ve had to have surgery to repair my brokenness. I endured the loss of my father to suicide, job loss, and experienced sexual harassment on the job. I did not enjoy any of this, nor did I ask for any of these things to happen to me. My experiences span the timeframe from a child to an adult and so the fact that I can relate on both levels is a blessing because while I may never have an answer for why I endured mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical abuse, I did overcome. Now, I am passionate about helping both adults and children to overcome their difficult times …