RTL Episode 56: Shero's Rise with Yetunde Rubenstein and Yamilet Medina Lopez
Shero's Rise with Yetunde Rubenstein and Yamilet Medina Lopez
On today's parenting episode, I am joined by Yetunde Rubenstein and Yamilet Medina Lopez from Shero's Rise.
Sheros's Rise is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing girls and young women from underserved communities with the essential skills, experiences, tools, and support needed to become empowered agents of change in their world. Their purpose is for every girl to find her voice, own her power and learn how to use her "invisible cape" to soar high in each stage of her development. Their goal is for each girl to become her own Shero.
Born and raised in Guyana, Yetunde Daniels Rubinstein serves as the Cultural Impact Strategist & Operational Officer at Shero's Rise. Beyond her work at Shero's Rise, Yetunde is an Associate Director of College Counseling at an independent school in Los Angeles and an instructor in the UCLA College Counseling Certificate Program. Yetunde centers the voices and skills of those who are most at risk and systemically overlooked. Her intersectionality illuminates the unique gifts that are needed to provide novel solutions to old problems.
Yamilet Medina Lopez is an admission professional, educator, Diversity Equity Inclusion practitioner, and partner. Her roots are in the island of Puerto Rico where she lived until attending college in the mainland. She currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Diversity Outreach and External Relations for Stanford University. Yamilet believes in the power of compassion and education to build a more socially equitable future for women.
In today's episode we will discuss Shero's Rise and the great work the organization is doing to empower young girls and women.
Episode 56 Transcript
Josephine Atluri (00:09):
Welcome to Responding to Life. A podcast where we talk about issues relating to health, fertility, and parenthood. On today's parenting episode, I am joined by Yetunde Rubinstein and Yamilet Medina Lopez from Shero's Rise. Shero's Rise is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing girls and young women from underserved communities with the essential skills, experiences, tools, and support needed to become empowered agents of change in the world. Our purpose is for every girl to find their voice, own her power and learn how to use her invisible cape to soar high in each stage of development. Their goal is for each girl to become her own Shero. Born and raised in Guayana, Yetunde Daniels Rubinstein serves as the cultural impact strategist and operational officer at Shero's Rise. She is an intuitive, passionate, educational leader who believes in empowering people to recognize and celebrate their full selves.
Josephine Atluri (01:08):
Yetunde's professional career began at what was meant to be a temporary detour in the undergraduate admissions office at Fordham University, spearheading partnerships with CBOs and other early college awareness programs. She continues to be greatly influenced by these experiences as they allowed her to bear witness to the dramatic inequities that exist for black, Indigenous and people of color and girls. Yetunde's resolve and focus are articulated by her work to impact systemic and permanent change as a cultural competence practitioner. Beyond her work at Shero's Rise, Yetunde is an associate director of college counseling at an independent school in Los Angeles and an instructor in the UCLA college counseling certificate program. Yetunde centers the voice and skills of those who are most at risk and systematically overlooked. Her intersectionality illuminates the unique gifts that are needed to provide novel solutions to old problems.
Josephine Atluri (02:07):
This approach coupled with her rich experiences, curiosity and love of travel grounds Yetunde's path. Yamilet Medina Lopez is an admission professional, educator, Diversity Equity Inclusion practitioner, and partner. Her roots are in the island of Puerto Rico where she lived until it attending college in the mainland. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Recreation Administration and a graduate degree in Counseling with an emphasis in Higher Education from Texas State University. Yamilet lived college experiences were a turning point for her to examine how herself identity and her voice where her strengths. She has served as Associate Director of Diversity at the University of Southern California for the past 10 years. She currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Diversity Outreach and External Relations for Stanford University. With more than 15 years in the field of higher education, Yamilet's work focuses on the complexities of intersectionality and how to leverage their strengths by showing up authentically imperfect in their lives.
Josephine Atluri (03:16):
She has presented on the topic of the intersectionality of women nationally and internationally and is the co-founder of the online Facebook group, "Wonder Woman in Admission." Yamilet believes in the power of compassion and education to build a more socially equitable future for women. She works on equity committees within regional and international admission professional organizations to create educational opportunities for all members seeking to develop long-term policies and practices that center anti-racism and equity in college admissions. She's beginning to expand her work beyond diversity and equity in college admission, by partnering with other industry leaders, to provide consulting for organizations, looking to create practices that sustain longterm diversity goals. Yamilet loves a good mofongo and dancing to salsa music when no one is watching. Yamilet and her partner love traveling but equally enjoy spending time at home with their dog Seany.
Josephine Atluri (04:15):
Welcome to the show ladies. I am so excited to speak with you both today and raise awareness of your new nonprofit organizations, Shero's Rise. I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer last week to be a presenter for one of your sessions with your community, and I had the best time. So thank you so much for taking time out of your day and for that opportunity. And I'd love to start from the very beginning, which is for you to share the mission of Shero's Rise and how it came to fruition.
Yetunde Rubinstein (04:48):
Josephine, thank you so much for having us on today. We count ourselves as absolutely fortunate to have you in our tribe of people who understand the mission of Shero's Rise and as it's stated, Shero's Rise is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing girls and young women from underserved communities with essential skills, experiences, tools, and support needed to become empowered agents of change in their world. Essentially what makes us who we are is because we recognize that there are specific tools and skills needed for the growth of inner growth of each of us to be able to thrive to our absolute best potential. And we noticed that there were quite a handful and a population of girls who were not being given that opportunity. So in we came to hopefully close the gap and to offer as many young women as possible or women, young girls who identify as women as many opportunities as possible to be their absolute best selves, because we know our world needs each of us to be our absolute best selves. We know the outcomes of our world is much better if we are each able, especially women and girls, if we're each able to be our very best.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (06:17):
Thank you, Josephine. If I can also addso really when we think about Shero's Rise and when we think about what we wanted to equip the girls with, it's an imaginary cape if you will. It's for them to be able to put on that invisible cape to deal with, to handle, to navigate day to day life. And so, you know, when we think about these tools and the support, it is really about putting on that invisible cape and taking on your life, your day-to-day life. And so really how to navigate their lives with these tools that we hope they will continue to use, because we know that this is a process that we never sort of arrived, but that we continue to work at it every single day.
Yetunde Rubinstein (07:12):
And I, one of the things that we have discovered over time, and I think as, as each of us know on this call, we don't get there alone. We don't suddenly wake up and we have had an epiphany that on my singular journey, I have arrived at this enlightened place and I am better, ready to serve and contribute to our world. We all recognize that there are a team of people around us, surrounding us, beneath us, above us who are pulling, pushing and encouraging us along the way. And so our programming is built so that the mentorship comes from every direction. Yes, there is meaningful mentorship paired with each girl is paired with an able adult, but that mentorship is quite cyclical. So as the older girls are closer to completing the pillars that we can talk about later, they too can reach back and mentor the younger girls and each age group has the opportunity to do the same for each other which makes for instance, our young Shero Board is an integral part of what we do because we recognize that the work that we are going to do and, and the gifts that we're going to be able to bring into the world can not be found in one plane can not be found in a singular space.
Yetunde Rubinstein (08:39):
We have to engage as many voices as possible and we recognize that it's not just going to look the it's going to take some time for us to unlearn that mentorship looks this way. Leadership looks a particular way. So we're doing our very best to make sure we are modeling the world and creating the world in which girls can continue to thrive beyond our program.
Josephine Atluri (09:08):
I love the idea of that cyclical mentorship. It's a great way to reinforce what they've learned themselves as they teach the younger girls and, and to really embody that for themselves. I just love everything that the organization stands for and how it came to be. And going back to that idea of the invisible cape that you have on your logo, actually the idea of soaring to each stage of development. In what capacities and offerings do you currently have, and then eventually hope to have, to provide the young women of your community to help them find their voices and their own power.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (09:53):
So I, I think I can get us started here. I work primarily with our education and programming piece, and so really looking at our curriculum and consulting with different advisers, psychologists, pediatricians, folks that are part of the organization to make sure that we are providing developmentally appropriate programming for them.
Yetunde Rubinstein (10:19):
One of the pieces that we are learning, and we're learning a ton, I think every day and then the many ways in which this empowerment is, is unfolding is quite organically. So something as simple as students who have been on Zoom all day long and at the end of a long school day, the very last thing they want to do is to continue to be on Zoom with their cameras on and engaging. But yet here we are encouraging them to show up as whomever they are. One of the things we talk a lot about is come as you are. And one day that could mean you're coming with big hair and 10 pounds of makeup on, and you're feeling you're your best self and your cape is flying really vigorously that day. And another day, your cape is flying equally as vigorously, but you're coming really stripped down. You've had a long day, but you're still feeling really strong. So something as little, as small, as simple as seemingly insignificant as turning on your camera and seeing each other for who you are in that moment and allowing the girls to do that is really, really important. So yes, we've got this insanely wonderful curriculum that we will be following for each pillar, but the strength is in the smaller places. The strength is in these smaller Shero circles where students, well girls, period, not just students, will have an opportunity to just unveil themselves in the safety of really skilled facilitators who may have got taken through a really great facilitation training process to help girls come forth in ways, whatever ways make the most sense to them. Help them understand how to lean in and to support each other, how to be honest and open with each other in not just in the smallest spaces but also in the larger group and helping them understand that girls in support of each other is an absolutely mind bogglingly, powerful endeavor.
Josephine Atluri (12:43):
That's wonderful. And, you know, from my own experience of having the pleasure of participating last week, I love the message that I constantly kept hearing about encouraging the young people to be brave. You know, I heard that a lot. I think putting that in the messaging just to be brave, to show up as your authentic self and, and to allow yourself to really shine as who you show up as that day, no matter which version of yourself you may be. And so that actually is a good lead into talking about the pillars. Because when I went on last week, we were talking about joy and how it related to mindfulness. And I loved the discussions that we had and the things that the girls brought up. But I'd love to hear about the different pillars that you will be teaching your community and how that, how that came to be.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (13:44):
Sure. So, so we have, we are rooted in 12 structured pillars and these are our building blocks. So again, when we talk about these tools that we want to really, we want the girls to really think about these tools as something that they will have for the rest of their lives. And so we start with self-esteem was the first pillar we started with, with the group that we're talking about. And then we talked about self respect and we've talked about empathy. And then we talked about joy when you visited and this week we are actually going to talk about self-reliance and self-confidence. So one of the things that we really do is build on each week, each of the different pillars builds on each other. So we still have to talk about trust. We are going to talk about kindness, courage, compassion, love, and we are going to end with gratitude.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (14:47):
So again, all of these are really about the cultivation of self. That character and value development, that identity work that we keep talking about, right? And that we know is something that continues throughout your entire life. One of the things that we tell the girls for example, is that we are working every day to show up as who we are. That's not something that ever stops, right? Because some days we don't feel as brave. And so encouraging them to be brave is, again, really recognizing that this is all ways that it's a work in progress all of the time that you continue to work at cultivating self-esteem, that you continue to work at empathy and really joy and mindfulness and being present in that joy. And so, you know, it's this idea of continuing to work towards being the best version of yourself that you can be
Yetunde Rubinstein (15:52):
To add to that. It's we, we started with looking at developmental psych and identity development and what, what are key components and key markers within you know, that identity psych tells us, or teaches us, coupled with the research that tells us that it's beginning at age eight and nine is when girls start to begin to develop a negative view of themselves internally and start to, they're also internalizing some of the negative messaging and questioning of themselves that they are beginning to engage with much more in their lives. So the, the age of eight was really important to us to begin. Let's get in there and interrupt what society may unconsciously want to, to get, to start this negative feedback loop. And also based on our own lives and our experiences, we can think of different ages and different times and specific instances and markers and forks in the road, in our, you know, between the ages of eight and 19, when it would have helped to have a bit more self-confidence. It would have helped to have a really well-developed sense of trust in oneself and trust in others.
Josephine Atluri (17:22):
Well, that's wonderful that you started with that foundation of self-respect self-esteem because especially now it's a huge component, as you said, with pre-adolescence and starting as early as eight, that's insane to think about and, you know, it's great to expose them to the idea of challenging these thoughts that we have. I talk about it a lot with, you know, my mindfulness teaching about having that inner critic within us that lives there. And I love that you're able to sort of give them the tools at such a young age - at such a formative age - to be able to have that inner conversation where they can challenge those limiting beliefs and things that pop up that they see and that they hear and that they hear within themselves. It's just, I think it's phenomenal. I love this work. And you know, you touched upon it, Yetunde, just now about hearing things that, you know, as they grow up around them, you know, maybe from their families or their friends, and you had also mentioned it, you know, as a topic of discussion about exploring the idea of our origin stories and how they impact how we view ourselves and our place and impact on the world, especially when the things that you're hearing, aren't aligned with your values and the life that you see for yourself.
Josephine Atluri (18:55):
So I'd love to hear some other strategies maybe that you have in place now, or are thinking about for the future of how the girls can unlearn the old to teach them the new.
Yetunde Rubinstein (19:12):
Simply, and thank you for yes, bringing it back to the origin stories. What's something that something that we've noticed is that girls are not very often asked to tell their own stories. We also understand and recognize that your ability to control your narrative, not only affects who you are as a person in the present, but also affects how you are perceived, affects your self esteem, going back to all the pillars. So something as simple as them naming for themselves. One of the things we do in the smaller circles is journaling. Naming and understanding this is who I am. I have the opportunity to name and understand and so yes, I may have been raised in this way in this family with this particular perspective, but I, in my presence right now, yes, as an eight year oldI will not be practicing I should be quiet. I should sit and melt away. I should shrink into a different version of myself, but helping them understand the importance without telling them that at this early stage, the younger kids may not necessarily embrace as much, but we still share with them in a developmentally appropriate way. Yes, you get to claim your name. You get to claim your standing. You get to write that down. You get to draw that in. You get to enact your power in whatever way makes most sense to you. I think about how we, as, you know, a woman of a certain age, I will say how impactful it feels to be able to tell my own story. And, how fortunate I do feel sometimes that I was given the opportunity to say who I was from a very early age and the very different points in my life where I was told that I shouldn't say that. I shouldn't do that.
Yetunde Rubinstein (21:17):
I shouldn't be this. I shouldn't be that. And the ways that those moments when the narrative was written for me, how negative it became in my life. So apart, and that doesn't just go for me. But I think it goes for many of the women in our group. You get to name it, claim it, practice it, sit in it, in whatever way makes the most sense for you. And we help the girls do that early and often as a matter of course in practice so it doesn't become, you know, an exceptional one-off tool that they use every now and again. In the feedback that they give, we get to tell them, we value your voice. Tell us you get to build this thing with us. Oh, wait, you want to hear from us? We are important? You want to, oh my God, I can't believe somebody believes me. You believe me when I say something and you want to hear and incorporate it into the work that you're doing? That's powerful.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (22:20):
We also understand again, because of the age range that we are working with that and we've already experienced this in working with some of the girls, is that they have learned and they have internalized some of the negative messaging that we are talking about already. And so the conversation at that point does take a different turn. It's unpacking that. Unpacking where and how they have internalized some of these thoughts and how to really challenge those thoughts going forward.
Yetunde Rubinstein (22:58):
I loved reading a recent reflection from a one of the girls who just said one of the things that you [she] learned in your session after your, your conversation Josephine, that she is capable of joy. Something as simple as understanding that joy is yours to own that you, that we take for granted. But so many of the girls noted that wow joy is within my grasp.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (23:39):
Josephine, I also wanted to share one of the girls said that they learned that to create joy they did not need anything other than themselves and a quiet place. And I thought that was amazing because again, it really shows right there, they, the comment was, you know, I've always thought that for joy, like I needed meditation, music and pillows, and it literally, they wrote this and then said, and I learned today, all I need is a quiet space and myself, and that is all. And I thought that was beautiful. So I just want to say thank you for that.
Josephine Atluri (24:18):
Oh, that warms my heart. Yay. Yay, for that. I'm glad that they, they were able to hear that and recognize it. And that's, that's totally my gratitude for today to hear that it impacted them in that way. And the fact that they were able to hear it as, as young people, because even as adults, you know, we have it, we find it hard to, to allow ourselves moments of joy, you know especially with, as life gets busy, we always end up taking a back seat to the needs of others. And so I'm so thankful that they're learning all of this so young so that it can really just get embedded into their way of life. And I wanted to touch upon another of the purpose that you stated for Shero's Rise, you know, to learn the tools and have the resources to dismantle discriminatory practices and the systemically limited resources that they are surrounded by. I'd love to hear about how you envision equipping the participants in ways that will support them in this changing world that we find ourselves in.
Yetunde Rubinstein (25:35):
Yeah. In, in very practical ways. And if you, I was just thinking again about the feedback that the girls have been giving about each of these sessions they have had thus far and every presenter who has come in, every member of the Shero's Rise team, every partnership that we have developed, it's towards the end of giving each one of our participants, should they want it, the opportunities to thrive in terms of their, you know, in a very practical way, internships, skill buildingopportunities to interact in different industries. So all of these avenues have now become open to girls in ways that they hadn't thought could be open to them. So now they're understanding something as simple as when we, I think when many of the girls in our group think of, again, I'll speak again of joy for a moment. The access to joy, they think of, oh, what is it going to take for me financially to do that?
Yetunde Rubinstein (26:48):
And I don't have that money; therefore, it is not available to me. I'm going to leave that up to someone else to go out there and live their best life. So living the best life is not for me. But now they understand that they can. And that's one little step, one barrier that is potentially removed. Oh, I am not a writer. Well, now at the end of this process, you have just written probably 60 pages at the end of your time with us. Oh, I don't, you know, I don't really, my public speaking skills are really poor. I don't speak up in class, but through the practice of the small groups and eventually in the larger groups, they get to practice and hear their voices. They're learning these skills in ways without recognizing them necessarily as barriers. We don't want to double down on the, on a deficit model of here are the things you don't have.
Yetunde Rubinstein (27:44):
We are starting with hearing all the gifts you do have. Here is what you bring. Here is what the world has been waiting for. So bring that to us, even though we know that, yes, there's a lot of negatives. There's a lot of systematic discriminatory practices in place that the, yes, to some extent is there to take the girls, take these girls out of the game and to not give them as many opportunities as possible, but we're coming from the asset based model. Here are all of the skills and tools and talents you have to bring to the world and that is what we will continue to support. At the end of their time with us, they will have a leadership certificate. They will have a completion certificate certifying that they now possess these skills, used to be soft skills, now they're essential skills in terms of employability and their, you know, ability to go into the world and do great things.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (28:46):
I'll also say that I, you know, what I really believe is that fundamentally at the core, we are giving them that ability to really reflect and look within and really calm all of the noise outside so that they look within and they acknowledge just all of the wonderful skills that they have.
Josephine Atluri (29:11):
Thank you so much for, for sharing that I love the sort of vision that you have and the plans that you have for these, for the community. It's wonderful. And speaking on that idea of the capewith the title of the podcast, being Responding to Life, I always love to hear about the people who are on just about their own experiences. So if you could kindly share about a time in your own life, when you felt like your light was dimmed, your cape wasn't at the ready and how you rose to meet those challenges.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (29:54):
I guess I can jump in here first and, you know, so that time for me was not that long ago. But I will say that I think in my adult life, when I have felt my light dimmed the most was when I lost my grandmother. And this was about three years ago and the anniversary was last week. So always around this time, I'm thinking about her a lot and generally, I think about her a lot, but especially when I'm doing any kind of Shero's work, she is really at the forefront of a lot of the work that I'm doing. And one of the reasons is because, you know, when I share her story she definitely was someone that was very strong and stood in her own truth in many ways. And that was not the norm in her generation.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (30:59):
And so she was someone that I always looked up to. And so losing her was a time in my life where I didn't feel like I had that cape because I think a lot of it, a lot of the way that I saw myself was connected to her and in losing her, I really had to look within and find all those things that she had prepared me for and had added to my life in many ways that I had not reflected upon. And again, so I wasn't, I wasn't looking within, I wasn't really reflecting inwardly to see what were all those wonderful gifts that she had given me. And so it has been really hard to deal with the grief and I'm still dealing with it all the time, but I think in responding to it, it gave me the opportunity to really quiet, a lot of the noise and look, and really be able to express gratitude for those gifts and it really lit a fire in me and wanting to do something with all of that. And so this was around the time when we were having some of these conversations a year ago and Shero's Rise came to be, so yeah, it's, it's been a really, again, full circle for me. But it's, it's been wonderful and I'm still learning. I'm still learning and I'm still growing from it.
Josephine Atluri (32:41):
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Yamilet. You know that really hit close to home. I just lost my mom - I guess it was two months ago. And so everything that you said totally resonated with me, and I was like, as if you knew I needed to hear those words, and I'm glad that you were able to take, you know, everything that she taught you and, and look deep within, and then find a way to respond to those challenges and now build something for other, for other young women to recognize their own power. So thank you for that. And Yetunde, I'd love for you to share yours.
Yetunde Rubinstein (33:27):
I am sitting here thinking about the many times where I have felt that I am absolutely not in my best space. My, I don't even have a light and that's not even dimmed light, it is just not even there. The piece that, the fork in the road that feels most impactful and relevant to our conversation today for me is I would say about 11 years ago I was a new parent, new mom to now two super young kids, two under two at the time, started a new job in a large public school and was really way in over my head in terms of my energy level, in terms of my, what I wanted to be able to do at the school, but then being not understanding the public school systems feeling very lost about being able to not make an impact when the needs were so great.
Yetunde Rubinstein (34:45):
And just felt like I was spinning my wheels for a very long time and, and felt very lost. And I think of, to some extent there are some parts of those of that time that I really don't even remember. I think I've just somehow wiped it from my memory, but feel it, it informs why I do what I do now, why I'm so adamant when I am in the rooms with folks to make decisions why I'm so adamant about not, we, I can't be, I can't, I don't want to sit at your table. I don't want to, I don't want to come into the room and join your conversation. I want to go to a different room and have a different conversation to provide more effective outcomes. I see, you know, this was a really great public school where kids were being woefully underserved, but that is not the only public school where that happens.
Yetunde Rubinstein (35:51):
It happens often. It happens often in schools. I think of, you know, in listening to both of your stories, I think of when my dad passed now 16 years ago, unexpectedly March 5th, and how I don't think I have ever recovered and every March 5th since his passing, there's always something that happens on March 5th since his passing. I got my first shot this year on March 5th and it took me out for the day and I don't think it was just because of the shots. So, however, when I think of dim lights, when I think of times that really took me down to my knees, I also think of my great grandmother, who I, for whatever reason has been this absolute light, I even would have very vivid dreams of her pulling me back up off my knees. This is where I think I may have shared this with you before Josephine, when I discovered meditation and sitting and breathing, because I couldn't do anything else. So when I think of any time that I can't get up, I have learned over time to just sit and be, and know that it will pass, but while I'm sitting and being, I am writing and I'm learning from that vantage point. Maybe if I'm on the floor, I'm recognizing that the floorboard should be changed, but I have a different perspective, but I think I see dim lights very differently now.
Josephine Atluri (37:36):
Thank you so much to both of you for sharing these wonderful nuggets of wisdom and lessons learned that you took from both of your experiences with your family, with just your life experiences really, really appreciate you sharing. And I could keep talking to you both for forever hearing about your plans and your vision, I just love it all so much. But, I'd love for you to know, before our show comes to a close, to share one last piece of advice for how the parents out there listening can best support their own children to become these agents of change.
Yetunde Rubinstein (38:19):
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of advice is, listen. It is so hard sometimes as a parent to just listen. But I have learned over time that when I learned the most from my kids, about my kids, even thinking of students that I work with, if I just listened with an open heart, open head to removing my own preconceived notions of what should or shouldn't be said. So listen.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (39:00):
So we're definitely connected because that's what I was going to say. Really just the listening piece, but really the, the empathetic listening. And so I think along with the listening is compassion because we are all evolving and changing who we are as people. And so when I think of who I was as a young girl, wanting to be understood by my, by my mother and my grandmother and my family, that is a very different person from who I am today. It's such a different person. And so that compassion piece really has to be there with that empathetic listening so that when you tell someone that you love them, that you love them freely to allow them to be who they are. And who they are, might look different than what you thought as a parent as they evolve and change. And I know that for my, I know from my parents, that has been a challenge because I have evolved in, in a different way and my identities have evolved and that compassion is necessary so that we can, you know, sort of as best as possible practice that empathetic listening and that understanding and that loving freely to allow people to blossom into who they are and to show up imperfectly as they are.
Josephine Atluri (40:49):
I love that as well. It's so important that the compassion goes hand in hand with the, with the empathy and with listening. And I'm, you know, it's something that carries through not just with our own as parents, as you gave the advice to, but also well into adulthood. And it's just such so necessary for mindful communication. And I always end my podcast with gratitude. It's a way to shift from one state to a state of positivity. And so I'd love for you to share your gratitudes for today. Well, let's start with you Yetunde.
Yetunde Rubinstein (41:33):
My gratitude today is you, Josephine in the, for the ways that you show up, they feel like consistently, since I've known you for everything that you bring just as really wonderful reminders in my life. So I am throwing all my gratitude flowers at you today. Thank you.
Josephine Atluri (42:01):
Thank you for that.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (42:03):
And I, my gratitude is really just to be able to share this space with both of you today and to talk about my heart work and not my day-to-day work, which sometimes really consumes our lives. And to have an opportunity to pause in the middle of the day, in the middle of a workday, and actually spend time with both of you talking about the heart work is really, really touching. And I'm just very grateful to have the opportunity to be here and to have the opportunity to share with both of you. So thank you.
Josephine Atluri (42:45):
Thank you. I love that you bring up the pause. I'm always talking about it and how it's great to be able to do that in our lives, and, you know, pausing in the middle of your work day to talk about the heart work. The thing that you're passionate about then allows you to be re-energized when you go back to your day to day work. So and I'd love for you to share how the audience can learn more about you, contribute, and be a part of your mission.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (43:15):
Absolutely. So I can't say this enough, but, you know, we are a nonprofit, so we are always doing fundraising. And the best way to really get to learn about us is on our website at www.sherosrise.org. That is really the best way to access what we are doing to get the most up-to-date information and to also receive information on how to volunteer timefor those who, you know, maybe right now, donating financially is not a possibility. There are definitely other ways to support us and to support our mission.
Josephine Atluri (43:57):
Wonderful. Well, that will be in the show notes, the website, and for ways that people can connect with you further. Thank you again so much to both of you for taking the time to speak to me today and to share about Shero's Rise mission, and just for the work that you're doing for the community. It's just, I love it. I love it.
Yetunde Rubinstein (44:22):
Thank you, Josephine. Thank you, Yamilet.
Yamilet Medina Lopez (44:27):
Thank you for having me.
Josephine Atluri (44:28):
Thank you for listening to today's episode of the Responding to Life podcast. For more info on today's guests, check out the episode summary. I'd love to connect with you more. So be sure to check out my website, respondingtolifepodcast.com for links to previous episodes, articles I've written and interviews I've done on mindfulness, meditation, infertility and parenting. You'll also find free video meditations on my site and on my YouTube channel, Josephine Atluri Meditation. If you'd like to book a one-on-one session with me, you can do so on the website. You can also follow me on Instagram @josephineratluri for daily inspiration and mindfulness tips. Finally, I'd love for you to join my Facebook group, to connect with a supportive community and receive greater insight on how to incorporate mindfulness into your life. Check out the Mindful Parenting group with Josephine Atluri or the Empowering Your Fertility group. Thanks again for tuning in today. I look forward to sharing more conversations with you on how to respond to life in a more mindful way.