Author: Sean

Naomi’s first film didn’t give her the validation and acceptance that she sought. Naomi felt crushed. So for her second film, she set out to be accepted by the “System” and chose to play by their rules. Naomi encountered very powerful ‘gatekeepers’ that feel they define the success and happiness of film makers, such as herself. Once she realized that she had been empowered all along, she took a refreshingly different approach. Naomi recentered with her own value system and courageously decided to distribute her film herself. She rented an RV and embarked on her “Joyful Vampire Tour of America”, which provides screenings, Q&A with the film makers and ends with a fun ball. Naomi looks forward to connect with her end consumers and independent cinema owners. She shares these powerful nuggets of life wisdom:
– your acceptance, validation and happiness is measured by your values, not those of others
– do not chase external recognitions that are, in reality, meaningless
– get centered with your values, what is truly important to you and go after it
– sometimes you just need to challenge the norm
– learn by doing
– listen to your gut

Naomi McDougall Jones is an award-winning actress, writer, producer, and women in film activist. She grew up in Aspen, Colorado and attended Cornell University before graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). Naomi wrote, produced, and starred in the 2014 indie feature film, Imagine I’m Beautiful, which took home 12 awards on the film festival circuit including 4 Best Pictures and, for Naomi, 3 Best Actress Awards and The Don Award for Best Independently Produced Screenplay of 2014. The film was named as #8 of OscarWorld’s Top 10 Films of 2014 and was distributed theatrically and digitally by Candy Factory Films. The film is now available on AmazonPrime. Naomi’s second feature film, Bite Me, is a subversive romantic comedy about a real-life vampire and the IRS agent who audits her. The film premiered at Cinequest, won Best Feature Film at VTXIFF, and then went on to the innovative, paradigm-shifting Joyful Vampire Tour of America in summer 2019, a 51-screening, 40-city, three-month, RV-fueled eventized tour that involved Joyful Vampire Balls, capes, a docu-series and a whole lot of joy. The film is now available to watch on Seed&Spark, Amazon, GooglePlay, and iTunes. She is currently at work on her third feature screenplay, Hammond Castle, a magical realism film that explores themes of identity, legacy and gender through a modern-day seven-month pregnant woman’s unexpected interaction with the brilliant, eccentric and deceased inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr., for which Naomi received the honor of being the first artist-in-residence at Ernest Hemingway’s final home in Sun Valley, Idaho. Naomi’s first book, The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood, will be published by Beacon Press on February 4, 2020 and is now available for order on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, IndieBound, and Beacon Press. Naomi has been a vocal advocate for bringing gender parity to film, both on and off screen. She has spoken at film festivals and conferences around the world and written extensively on this subject. Naomi TEDTalk on these issues and what to do about them, “What it’s Like to be a Woman in Hollywood, has been viewed over a million times. She has teamed up with former CFO of the City of Chicago, Lois Scott, to found The 51 Fund, a VC investment fund that will finance films written, directed, and produced by women. Naomi lives in Atlanta with her husband, Stephen.

TEDTalk: go.ted.com/naomimcdougalljones
Podcast: Fear(ful)less: Filmmaking From the Edge

tags: Naomi, McDougall, Jones, naomimcdougalljones.com, award, winning, writer, actress, producer, film, maker, women, activist, Imagine, I’m, Beautiful, Bite, Me, TEDTalk, What, It’s, Like, to, be, Woman, in, Hollywood, 51, fund, Wrong, Kind, of, Woman, podcast, Fear(ful)less, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

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Melissa experienced a big pivotal moment twelve years into her marriage, when she realized that she was no longer in love with her husband. She knew there was something off, but did not have clarity initially. Melissa used her skills as a crisis readiness strategist to assess her own relationship. She chose to follow her truth and divorced her husband. Melissa feels that she crisis managed her divorce to a place where they are not romantically linked anymore, but still have respect and admiration for each other. She was able to do it with grace, respect and love. Melissa shares these powerful nuggets of life wisdom:
– understand the whys
– know your truth
– find strength in accepting your truth
– we deserve to live our best lives
– don’t shy away from difficulties
– be kind to yourself

Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.

As a strategic advisor and keynote speaker, Agnes has worked with NATO, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, financial firms, technology companies, healthcare organizations, cities and municipalities, law enforcement agencies, global non-profits, and many others, helping them understand risk and build invincible brands that can withstand even the most devastating of events. In 2015, she gave a TEDx talk in Los Angeles where she discussed the secret to successful crisis management in the 21st century.

Agnes is the editor of the Crisis Ready Blog, host of the Invincible Brand Podcast, a contributor to Forbes, and a go-to source for the press, with recent coverage including the Wall Street Journal, VIBE Magazine, USA Today, and many others.

Agnes’s book and Crisis Ready Model continue to be adopted into undergraduate, graduate, and MBA programs around the world, and as a university guest lecturer, Agnes teaches crisis management in university courses around the world, including at NYU and McGill.

https://melissaagnes.com/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Ready-Building-Invincible-Uncertain/dp/1684014131/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 

tags:  Melissa, Agnes, crisis, management, strategist, brand, trust, creditability, speaker, advisor, consultant, coach, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

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Sally experienced sexual trauma as a teenager. She repressed it, absorbed it and was ashamed of it. Sally felt as if it was her fault. She started on a journey of healing and began to acknowledge what happened. Initially, Sally felt uncomfortable to tell her story publicly. Then she realized … if she couldn’t tell her story, then what message was that sending to others, such as her daughters. Through supportive communities, Sally published her book and became a survivor of sexual trauma. Today, she creates safe, trusted communities, where she empowers women to experience healing. Sally shares these nuggets of life wisdom:
– never underestimate the power of sisterhood
– find a community of women who have your back
– support one another
– practice self love and self care
– as a mother, seek a community to support you in self care, which is also helpful in protecting your daughters
– we can help unload and release pain that others experience
– evaluate pain in safe setting and release it
– honor your body
– practice deeper listening with yourself and others
– consider joining a red tent, which is a women’s tribal community, where people gather, feel safe and can experience healing

Sally Clark is a director, researcher, author and graduate of the Columbia Journalism School. She directed the award-winning documentary Cowgirls and has worked with acclaimed authors and producers, including Naomi Wolf on her book Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood and with Lili Fournier, producer of the Women of Wisdom and Power series. She is also a survivor of sexual assault and has twenty years of experience helping women with similar issues. Her first book, The Way of the Warrior Mama: The guide to Protecting & Raising Strong Daughters, in available now. Sally lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her family.

https://sallylclark.com/

tags:  Sally, Clark, author, speaker, life, coach, self, care, calgary, alberta, canada, sexual, abuse, trauma, pollution, cowgirl, productions, way, warrior, mama, guide, protecting, raising, strong, daughters, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

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