Why I Choose To Give First

I started The Great Do-Over once I discovered the secrets of reinventing yourself in midlife. My own path of burnout, divorce and declining health led me on a journey of self-renewal.

What I found was real happiness, and a complete release of fear. Even more – I discovered how to create my own experience and realize my every desire. Life is rich and I would never have done this without having courage and determination.

My purpose now is to share that path with others. All women, regardless of circumstance, have the power to reinvent their lives. All you need is courage and will.

Last year on a mastermind retreat with other women entrepreneurs, my friend Kim Carpenter shared her vision of creating an alliance of social entrepreneurs committed to taking a stand for something bigger than ourselves and our own pocketbooks.

We support a variety of causes —children’s education, animal rights, human rights, environmental conservation, and more. We give FIRST as opposed to waiting until we have our “first million”, or “enough” to give because we believe there is plenty for everyone.

This year, The Great Do-Over will give 10% of our gross proceeds from our group programs to The Malala Fund.

To me, Malala is the epitome of courage – a young girl who stood up to the Taliban and defended her right to an education. She did so in the face of death, and without an ounce fear. She went on to win the Nobel prize for peace and established the Malala fund, dedicated to supporting education for girls worldwide.

I believe it’s crucially important that we not only ensure every girl’s right to an education, but every girl’s right to a life without fear.

I hope you will join me on this journey – not only to eliminate the barrier that fear places in your own life, but to support the education of young girls around the world so that they can grow up to be courageous creators of their own brilliant destinies.

“The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.”
-Malala Yousafzai

You don’t need to be a member of The Great Do-Over program to support our fundraising campaign. If this has inspired you to also take a stand for every girl’s right to an education, click here to make your contribution today.