Yay Area Sisterhood

This month, we are featuring a story from Kelly Dobbins, an award winning amateur bodybuilder. Kelly also happens to be my personal trainer. She has a gym, appropriately called, Kelly’s Gym, and I see her every week for my one-on-one training.

Along with Kelly, there are several other personal trainers who work at her gym. All of them women; all of them fabulous. Her gym is used solely for individual training, so it’s an intimate environment and when several trainers are working with clients at the same time, there’s a wonderful sense of community and sisterhood. Everyone is introduced to one another and there is always plenty of laughter coming out of that gym. People place their cards on Kelly’s desk at the entrance, and referrals are often given there. I don’t believe that Kelly ever needs to advertise and there’s a good reason for that. She often mentions that she feels blessed to have her gym and the fantastic women that work with her there, training members of the community, sharing their stories, and inspiring each other to stay strong; in more ways than one.

It’s this kind of sisterhood that feeds my spirit on a daily basis. If I don’t get it from Kelly and her gym, I get it from my chiropractor, Betsey Carpenter, or my massage therapist, Cara, or from my hair stylist...and all the women I meet each day in the course of going about my work. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to relish the nourishment that comes from these connections and conversations. There’s an understanding there; a common ground. Simply as women, living in this beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, going through the stuff of life, be it mundane or significant. I find solace in that.

I know it’s the same with Patti in D.C., as it is for my friends Jane in New York and Donna in Portland. That connection with other women in our community can be profound. It’s an unforced network of spiritual exchange. Even in its simplicity and every-day nature. It reminds us of what we have in common and helps bring levity and a little laughter into our lives.

BTW. Kelly's offering free consultations to Dare To Be Fabulous referrals. Give her a call! (510) 601-5432.

DTBF!
Johanna

Fab Links, Fab Updates

Contributor updates:  (links are underlined)

Gloria Steinem’s* Op-Ed piece about Sarah Palin, the nominated Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, appeared in the Los Angeles Times on September 4th. 

Kamala Lopez’s* film,  A Single Woman, has been generating some great buzz. What a time for a film about America’s first Congresswoman, and peace activist, to hit the screens! From the website:

“A Single Woman is a film adaptation of the successful stage play about the life of Jeannette Rankin, America’s first Congresswoman and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. Suffragist, peace activist, and reformer, Jeannette changed the American political landscape forever. Unabashedly political, occasionally chilling, and entirely unique, A Single Woman illuminates the role of the individual in the American legislative process.”  

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has arranged for this movie to be screened at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

* Gloria and Kamala are confirmed DTBF contributors whose stories will appear at a later date.

Anne Singer (“Of Men and a Machine”) has launched her own communications consulting business. She landed one of her clients a guest spot on The Colbert Report last week. Congratulations, Annie!

And an unrelated fun link, just because:

I received this link and just have to pass it on. It’s wonderful and totally uplifting (4.5 minutes long.)  Check it out:  “Where the hell is Matt?” Makes you wanna do a silly dance, it does!

DTBF!

Johanna