Meet Terri, who became Chicago’s first female morning drive on air personality in 1981. For more than 40 years, Terri Hemmert has been playing “Chicago’s Finest Rock” as a disc jockey on WXRT. I recently had the incredible opportunity to interview this broadcasting pioneer who was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2010. Amy: What made you want to be a DJ? Terri: I saw a picture of Ringo Starr being interviewed by Jim Stagg, a DJ. I was in high school, this is 1965. I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to become a disc jockey so I can meet The Beatles.” Because I didn’t want to chase them down the street and try to pull their hair and stuff like that. I want to hang out with them. They were really cool. I didn’t tell anybody because I knew they’d laugh at me. It’d be like a girl from a small town, Ohio in 1965… It’d be like saying I want to be on the Cubs, girls can’t do that. So anyway, I kept it kind of secret. And then while I was looking for college, I wanted to have a college radio station and found Elmhurst College. My parents were surprisingly supportive. They were really wonderful. Dad just said, have a plan B in case it doesn’t work out because they knew the odds were against me. I graduated four years later and had done a lot of college radio. My first job was being, not a receptionist, but answering the request line for $90 a week with my college degree in hand. And it took a long time for me to get on the air. I finally, slowly but surely, worked my way up. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 Amy: What does women’s empowerment look like to you? Terri: Well, it looks like people empowerment. I teach at Columbia College and so I’m there to encourage women to follow their dreams and not to take people’s BS when it comes their way, to just plow through that. But at the same time I’m also encouraging my African American students and all kinds of … now my trans students. I’ve been there 40 some years, I’ve seen a lot of changes, it’s just, I think human empowerment is the big thing and women are half of that. And to me, a perfect world is when people are given opportunities to find their true potential and to follow their dreams. So to see where it takes them and not have these artificial obstacles that make no sense. I mean, really. I mean, especially even if you’d be pragmatic and you’re thinking in terms of business, it doesn’t make any sense to exclude all these talented people that happened to be the wrong age, the wrong gender, the wrong racial mix, the wrong ethnicity. That’s just stupid to deny yourself the opportunity of getting those people in there. And I think empowerment is when you walk into a place and it’s a real mixture of people. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 Amy: What are the top three inspirational songs that are in your personal playlist? Terri: For getting through rough times. I think The Beatles – “Hey Jude”. It’s not my favorite Beatles song. It’s a great song. But there’s something about it that’s so comforting. And I think because it was written from that space. It was Paul writing it for John Lennon’s son around the time that John was breaking up his family. And here’s this kid, his dad’s moving out, and hey Jude, take a sad song and make it better. The second one would be Beatle related and then there won’t be any more Beatle songs on the list: John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”. “We all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun.” I find that just spiritual. To me, it sounds like a hymn. It’s just beautiful. I just love it. And another one would be “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye. And that whole album, just the mood of the sound of the music is so emotional, so moving. And then the lyrics are about issues that we’re facing every day about racism, poverty, the environment, soldiers going away and coming back broken or in body bags. And that album came out in 1971 and is still relevant. But that inspires me, that album. I played “Mercy, Mercy Me” the other day and it was like hearing it for the first time. It doesn’t sound dated at all to me. It’s really an incredible piece of music. To hear more… Terri is on the air streaming LIVE with WXRT 10 AM – 1 PM Monday – Friday. Also Breakfast with the Beatles Sundays 8:00 – 10:00 AM. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Terri. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 21 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Behindthemusic #Dressforsuccess #MusicandLyrics #BreakfastwiththeBeatles #WXRT #52PWP #RockandRollHallofFame #ColumbiaCollege #ElmhurstCollege #ChicagosFinestRock #TheBeatles #amyboylephotography #TerriHemmert #52PhenomenalWomen

“Sometimes a warrior has to let down their shield in order to discover true strength within.” Meet Laura: (@lauramsavage) In her own words: ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 “December 20, 2017, I suffered a possible career ending injury. During a performance of Newsies at the Marriott Theatre I was dancing my usual track which included a tumbling sequence on top of and then off of a table. I don’t know what was different about that dismount. I did not fall, but when I landed it felt as though my left leg had broken into two pieces. To my surprise, my leg was still intact so I continued to dance on it despite it not supporting me in the way I needed it to, especially with a very strenuous lift coming up. I wisely decided to hobble offstage where I proceeded to dance captain my cast through finishing the show without me. Two days later, I cried throughout an MRI that revealed a complete tear of my ACL. Three weeks later on January 23, 2018, I had reconstructive surgery. Shield down. My physical therapy experience did more than bring my body back to health. It became a metaphor for my life, mainly, how to embrace the ebb and flow. One day you are feeling strong, inspired and positive. The next day unbearable pain, frustration and negativity. It was a constant battle. I knew I had to come back as good if not better than I was before. I was not done expressing myself through movement and I was not done sharing light and joy with others through performance. Persistence was essential. In many ways this devastating event helped to heal what I did not know was broken within me. It reminded me to remain open and receptive to what the universe tells me. I kept myself too busy to listen. I was far too caught up in the daily responsibilities that allowed me to keep my shield in place. I was not taking care of my emotional health so the universe took my external health into its hands and quite literally sat me down. It was the time for a journey back to me- a journey back to Savage. I was forced to turn inward for a solid 7 months. This was a time for lessons in vulnerability and life alignment. Every day I had to choose to put down my shield. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 It’s hard for me to fathom that my new ACL is one year old today. Doctors and physical therapists told me that after a year I would begin to feel “normal” again. It’s true, my leg is almost as strong as the other, but I can assure you, what I used to consider “normal” will never be. I am not the person I was before my injury. I am better, forever changed physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And I have learned that choosing to lower your shield allows you to be the warrior you never thought you were.” See Laura as Dyanne in Million Dollar Quartet @marriotttheatre in the – opening 1/23/19 at the Marriott Theatre (Lincolnshire, IL) *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Laura. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 20 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #52PWP #LauraSavage #ACLrepair #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen #Dancerlife

Meet Maureen: @momo_sanderson In her own words: ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 “I am slowly but surely shifting from being described as “fresh out of college” to “a young professional.” Exciting? Yes. A bit daunting? Absolutely. My 20s, as I have heard time and time again, will be the period of the most change in my life; the time for me to “not throw away my shot.” As soon as I took off my graduation cap with my diploma in hand, that has already proven to be true. All I knew about what I wanted was to find innovative ways to connect to people and still stay in the industry I adored: theatre. So I hit the ground running. I started my first, as my mom loves to call it, “big girl” job, working as a social media assistant for Broadway In Chicago. I joined the StateraArts Mentorship Program, a program designed to help women grow in the arts. I decided to do even more and was made a social media coordinator. I started my own side business, Gimme Mo Events. Full steam ahead, I decided I still had more to do and auditioned for my first Chicago production. I became fully wound up in wanting to make something of myself. Then life brought me to a complete halt. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 My great aunt Margie, an incredible 90-year-old woman I have known my entire life, suddenly went to hospice. I visited her and sang to her. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I said I love you to her, over and over until my mouth was dry and my face wet with tears. I asked her, if she decided to go, to please send me a sign that she was well. She passed away on a Tuesday morning, marking the first major death I had experienced in my family. I desperately needed a sign that she didn’t just disappear; there must be something more, something BEYOND this life. I begged and pleaded for her to show herself. I needed her more than anything. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2019 Three days after she passed, I found out that I got the role in the show I auditioned for. The name of the show? “The Incredible 6000 Foot Ladder to Heaven.” Whether you believe in signs or mere coincidence, this show was my sign, my connection. This show tells the story of one girl’s (Hadley) determination to see her father again. Yet her father teaches her in his song, “They Live On,” that he will continue to live through her: “No parting is final, as I hope you’re learning; all that there is has a way of returning.” She taught me how to be relentless in my pursuit of happiness, to forge onward even through tumultuous times. So I am still young and scrappy and learning, pushing myself to accomplish and create. But, instead of working towards an unknown future, I relish the present. My 20s may be chaotic and daunting, but, as Hadley learns, “I promise, I won’t take time for granted anymore.” Follow Maureen’s adventures – FB: IG: TW: and The Incredible 6000 Foot Ladder to Heaven.” Pronouns: they/them, she/her *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Maureen. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 19 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #52PWP #guestblogger #Portraitphotography #incredible6000ftladder #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen

The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are. St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein) Meet Flo (@flomerkldeutsch): In her own words ©Amy Boyle Photography “I never thought there was a place of leadership for me in the Catholic Church. Growing up in the ‘70s, I couldn’t be an Altar Server because of my gender, but I remember our young priest giving me a tour of the sacristy. It was like peeking through a slightly ajar door to glimpse mystery, but only for a moment, then the door closed. Since I didn’t want to be a religious sister, I figured I was limited to Mass attendee and Sunday School teacher. I embraced these roles, but they ignited more of a candle than the bonfire that I suspected was in me. Everything changed during my first Holy Week at Saint Clement Parish in Chicago when I was 26 and had just moved from Boston. Seeing women serving and coordinating the Mass, and another dancing around the altar bearing incense, it left me thunderstruck. Here was the powerful feminist image that I never thought possible in the Church I loved. ©Amy Boyle Photography Unemployment gifted me with time to respond to opportunities at the church, including coordinating young adult retreats, welcome dinners, liturgies, bringing communion to the sick, and more. It took a dear priest friend to finally say, “Maybe we should bring you on staff since you’re already here all the time!” ©Amy Boyle Photography As a staff member, I cherished the chance to be a knowledgeable woman at the front door and in the sanctuary through which young people, especially girls, could connect and envision new possibilities. The job led to graduate school, and my current role in campus ministry, where I work to equip the spiritual tool boxes of emerging adults. In theory, the Church knows that it can’t fulfill its mission without women’s voices, gifts, and leadership, but it has a ways to go in cultivating an environment in which all people can flourish. I am grateful that I can pass on to others what was modeled for me.” *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Flo. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 18 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #52PWP #guestblogger #Chicago #amyboylephoto #Portraitphotography #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen

©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Meet Laurie aka The Wine Coach – In her own words “My love of wine began over 20 years ago when I was working as a sales executive for a software company, traveling all over the country and working with some brightest people in the industry. One aspect of my job, which I enjoyed the most, was entertaining prospective clients—typically taking them out to dinner at the finest restaurants around the country for great food and wine. The first time I was handed a wine list that was as thick as a phone book, I panicked! Everyone at the table was looking to me to choose the perfect wine selection to accompany our meal. I scanned the list for anything familiar and hoped the client (and my boss) would not see how nervous I was. I asked the waiter for help, but was greeted with a healthy dose of attitude. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 To ensure this embarrassment would NEVER happen again, I began studying wine. I wanted to navigate a wine list and dazzle my clients unassisted. I began taking wine classes, attending wine dinners and reading as much as I could about wine. As my knowledge and confidence increased, I began to look forward to taking charge of the wine list. My passion for wine grew and eventually I decided to take a sabbatical to walk away from my 6-figure software job to study wine. I moved to Manhattan to study with the American Sommelier Association to earn a certificate in Viticulture and Vinification. During that time, I worked at one of the largest wine stores in New York City and was asked to host a wine tasting class. It was at this tasting that everything clicked—I enjoyed teaching about wine in my humorous, attitude-free style and could see the light bulb going on for them. It was then that I realized what my true calling was–to combine wine and laughter to bring people together. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 The most rewarding part of my job is that I can save my customers from the awkward moments I suffered with the wine list back in my software days. Over the last 14 years, I have armed thousands of corporations, associations and wine lovers with the confidence to take charge of the wine list. In addition to live events, I offer an online video course, Pick The Perfect Wine Every Time where you can learn how to swirl, sip and savor like a pro in just 5 classes. In 2012, I invested in taking my comedic skills to the next level by training at the DC IMPROV. This allowed me to create my Comedic Wine Tasting show entitled “Something to Wine About” where I share the ultimate pairing—WINE & LAUGHTER.” See more about Laurie on her website The Wine Coach – *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Susan. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 17 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #laurieforester #52PWP #thewinecoach #comedy #amyboylephotography #CityWineryChicago #wineries #52PhenomenalWomen

©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Have fun everyday. Be weird. Invest in experiences. Make snow angels. Swim in the ocean. Cannonball into the pool with your clothes on. Prank your grumpy sibling or colleague in a kind but hilarious way. Be goofy. Laugh at life and most of all, at yourself. Have you ever had a moment, that seems insignificant, until later you looked back and realized it was that exact instance that changed everything? I was living in Vancouver in summer 2006 when and a stranger walked by wearing a t-shirt that said, “Life is not a dress rehearsal”. I repeated it for days to every person in my life, yet no one seemed as profoundly impacted by this alarming statement the way I was. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Maybe it was just the timing. I was, back then, a thirty-something Mom with a young parade of offspring, not even a decade into my marriage, relocating to yet another country to settle and begin a new life. My adulthood had only ever been a whirlwind of truly amazing experiences, far from routine. Yet those around me, from my limited perspective, seemingly settled into an ordinary existence that involved one career path, one neighborhood and one annual vacation to the same routine resort. What was this childlike preoccupation I possessed to break routines and always want to have fun? Life is not a dress rehearsal. My experiences, the adventurous life path my husband and I chose, even with a young family in-tow, were really what living was for us. An epiphany. Suddenly my crazy dreams were not impulsive, self-centered or reckless, they were merely making the most of life. The one life we are given. This life. Look around because fun can truly be created everywhere, and laughter is golden, healing and contagious. Adventure and fun is free to share, easy to gift and readily accessible. When you are fun to be with, you attract fun people and soon you have a tribe of enjoyable friends surrounding you. This string of laughable memories with my family and friends are truly what I am most grateful for. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Susan. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 16 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #52PhenomenalWomen #52PWP #amyboylephotography #Dressforsuccess

©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild to pick up a book and read to a child.” Dr. Seuss Meet Debby: (In her own words) “My life has been about children, books and libraries as reading is everything to me; enchanting, life changing and fulfilling. Reading was always my safe haven. As a child I would climb a rock wall, library book tucked under my chin, and sit on the summit for hours alone in my story world. It was a happy place. A wonderful sanctuary filled with imaginary places and people and adventures. As I grew up I knew I wanted that world for everyone. I want every child to know the joys of words, the smell of books, the taste of adventure and imagination. I want them to feel the touch of someone sitting with them sharing a picture book. I want them to hear the comforting silence of libraries. I want them to learn empathy from being exposed to stories of people different from themselves. So I have spent a lifetime volunteering to read to children and hopefully influencing them in some small way to enjoy a world of books. As a RIF, Reading is Fundamental, volunteer I was able to share this love of stories with young children. Throughout the years I read to children in hospitals to take their minds off of their fears and pain. In Title 1 schools the books I gave the children were often times the first books these children ever had of their own. Watching a child’s face as I read, making each character a different voice, filling their young minds with fantasy and humor and heroes and nature was pure joy. And now I am privileged to read to my granddaughter Adelaide and hopefully leave her with this love of learning. Our days are filled with literary friends like Eloise, and Curious George and Madeleine, Peppa Pig and Angelina Ballerina, Peter, Little Blue Truck, Pete the Cat, and Knuffle Bunny and the Pokey Little Puppy. I look forward to the days when we meet some of the authors her mother and I read together like J.K. Rowling and E.B. White and Dr. Seuss, my dear friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Lewis Carroll, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Astrid Lundgren, Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis, Maurice Sendak, Maude Roald Dahl, Maude Hart Lovelace, Jan Brett and Beatrix Potter, Madeleine L’Engle, Eloise Wilkins, Inga Moore, Eric Carle, Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume and on and on. Oh, the places we will go!” ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Debby. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 15 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 #Dressforsuccess #52PWP #amyboylephoto #thoughts #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen

Meet Cara: (In her own words) “I was twelve years old when it hit me for the first time: there was nothing more powerful than words. Perhaps in a last-ditch effort to give her students something to do at the end of the school year, my sixth grade teacher assigned my classmates and I one last creative writing story. I don’t recall it centering on a particular theme, nor do I remember what the story was actually about – but I do remember poring over the handwritten words on the page. I remember the hard won eraser marks on my college-ruled notebook paper, how I wanted and needed and demanded to tell the tale in a particular way. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 When I didn’t get my prized story back on the last day of school, I returned to Mrs. Johnson’s classroom a couple of days later and listened as she apologized for throwing my paper away in the recycle bin. I walked home, tears brimming in my eyes, devastated that my most important words lay jumbled in the bottom of a garbage receptacle. Even though the memory is fuzzy at best, it’s still something my mind chose to remember all these years later, its scene a telltale sign of my eventual future. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Now, nearly thirty years later, when someone asks me what I do for a living, the word “writer” falls off my tongue, almost effortlessly. But this identifier didn’t happen overnight: after college, I taught high school English and leadership. A handful of years later, I remained deep in the trenches as the director of a non-profit youth organization. Even though I didn’t call myself a writer, the act of writing still gave me life. I blogged. I wrote sermons and speeches. I guided others in the art of writing. I dreamed of writing a book someday, although I wondered how it would ever happen. But then, becoming a writer really, actually happened. Almost six years ago, I quit the traditional work force to care for my oldest son and pursue a dormant dream of writing and speaking full-time. Although I doubted my abilities, a thousand times over, and received rejections, ten thousand times over, something deep inside kept telling me to press on, to keep putting one foot (or one tapping, typing finger) in front of the other and do the hard work. Now, I write for various print and online publications; I guide others to stop and pause and read between the lines, quite literally; I pore over my own words, writing and rewriting because it’s what you do when you call yourself a writer. And in less than two months, my first book, The Color of Life, which is a memoir about my journey as a white woman into issues of race and justice, will publish. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 I’ve not arrived – not by any stretch of the imagination, because I doubt any of us actually arrive – but I have reclaimed old stories lodged in the recycle bin, as I’ve begged to get the story just right.” Cara Meredith is a writer and speaker from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first book, The Color of Life, a memoir about her journey into issues of race and justice, releases in early February. She blogs regularly on Patheos, and you can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Cara. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 14 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #California #writer #blogging #TheColorofLife #52PWP #Blog #Photography #reflections #thoughts #WordPress #52PhenomenalWomen

Meet Alessandra: (In her own words) ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 People tell me at work that when they see me they remember to pause and take a breath. They take a moment to get out of their head, their worries, their anxiety. Others ask me how I can keep a sense of calm and focus when the pressure is on. I tell them I practice mindful meditation. For 15 minutes every morning I sit by the same window and practice being still, in my body, in the present moment by paying attention to my breath. Studies indicate that mindfulness may enhance emotional and physical resilience, improve cognitive functioning, and increase our connection to others. I am in my early 50’s and feeling the best I have ever felt in my life. Feeling happier, healthier, physically stronger, and with energy to live with purpose and make a difference in the world. A few years ago, that was not the case. I felt burned out, got sick frequently, woke up on weekdays cursing at the world, feeling exhausted. I was perceived as “doing well” at work, I served on non-profit board to make a difference, I kept an active social life because I loved arts and culture and enjoyed it with friends. I felt life was on track, and I believed burnout was just part of the journey. Who has time to sleep? In October 2014, I had my wake up call. I ended up in the emergency room due to non-stop heart palpitations. When asked: are you under a lot of stress? I answered: “no more than usual.” So why would my body act differently? I learned that stress builds up. After being monitored for a month, the cardiologist concluded that what I felt was real, and not yet life threatening. The cause of my condition was stress and sleep deprivation. I should manage both to avoid the symptoms. I did not know how. He told me that if the symptoms bothered me, I could choose to take medication or try meditation. The second option surprised me! I had been curious about meditation, and knew of a program called “21 day meditation integration”. I choose meditation. I downloaded the program the very next day and got started. The program had great tips everyday, including where to do it, when, and how, and it led us from a 5-minute meditation to 20 minutes over 21 days. After three weeks, I finished the program and continued cycling through the guided meditations. I stuck with a morning practice following the tip RPM (rise, pee and meditate). I was working hard on not being so sleep deprived during the week ensuring I got at least 6 hours. My husband could not believe it! “What have you done with Alessandra? You are waking up earlier to do nothing?” he asked. After 2 months the daily heart palpitations stopped! I had lived with them for 5 months! After a few more months I noticed other benefits: improved focus, improved awareness of the needs of my body (made a priority to eat, to sleep, to exercise), improved response to pressures including the ability to have a few microseconds more to respond versus react. I was no longer driving home from work completely lost in thought on rumination and to do lists, I was no longer forgetting to pick up my husband on the way home when we carpooled. I had lived so much of my life in my head. I have missed so much because of worrying, being unable to shut up the nasty roommate in my head, and waking up to 3 a.m. meetings with myself to review the endless list of things I had yet to do. I am now able to let go of that and do my best work because I am present. By connecting with my breath and my body for 15 minutes every morning, I am now able to connect much more vibrantly with myself and the world. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 I have a passion for promoting mindful self-awareness as a vital aspect of being your best. That is the mission of 3M Inspire, a Special Interest Group I am part of which began as an employee grassroots initiative at 3M, where I work. Founded by 3 employees in 2015, the group has grown to a membership of over 1200 employees around the world. I have had a personal mindful meditation practice for 4 years and I am interested in the science of mindfulness and its benefits. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Resources: Book 10% Happier by Dan Harris Thrive by Arianna Huffington. Other meditation apps I used: Headspace and Insight Timer. Article: 6 Scientifically Proven Benefits Of Mindfulness and Meditation Photographed at the MCA art installation by Ernesto Neto (Brazilian, b. 1964) Water Falls from My Breast to the Sky *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Alessandra. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 13 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #blogging #Blog #om #WomenonFire #Photography #Health #meditation #reflections #happy #mindfulness #thoughts #Business #3M #WordPress #amyboylephotography

Meet MJ: (@mjtam) ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 In her own words… “It was 1999 when I first stumbled writing online. I was in the fashion industry at that time, and I was extensively traveling for work so during my flights and hotel stays, I started documenting my daily experiences on an online journal. I anonymously blogged my life as the new mom-to-be. I instantly connected and found a community of blogging women and next thing I knew; I became a big part of the first collaborative blogging network in the nation. My blogging hobby became a career, and since then I worked hard on keeping progressive and always at the forefront of the new media. Social Media became my business. I hosted branded Social Media campaigns, organized high-profile influencer events, and even created a blogging conference that ran for a few years. But behind all that, I continued to blog and tackled topics that meant to me the most: family and parenting. Part of writing about parenting, I often look to discover places to go and experience with my kids in Chicago. Bringing them up in a big metropolitan city was vital to me as a parent of color. Chicago provided the many cultures that I wanted to surround my family. Chicago is a city of immigrants, rich in diversity, and a perfect place for me to raise my children. I ran around with them exploring neighborhoods from up North by Rogers Park to get some Indian groceries, Vietnamese food by Edgewater, Ethiopian food by Uptown, and of course, there’s Greektown, Little Italy, and Chinatown by me. I am passionate about this city and coined myself a Chicagonista. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 A Chicagonista is someone who lives, loves and breathes everything Chicago, and with that, in 2008, I launched chicagonista.com (link), so I can share the vast richness of culture that this city offers. At Chicagonista.com I am joined together with talented and dynamic collaborators from diverse Chicago neighborhoods and backgrounds who share their voices en masse to help unearth some city gems that some may have never heard of like the Filipino Kamayan Feast (link) or about the new Taiwan-inspired Bakery (link) that just opened. Chicagonista.com also goes beyond Chicago. The site has covered travels from around the U.S. and as far as India (link) , Beijing (link), Malaysia (link), Japan (link), and many more! ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 In 2010 I also created and built the first Social Talk Show of Chicago called The #ChicagonistaLIVE Show . It was a Chicagonista.com come to life interactive show via live-streaming that garnered about 18million Twitter impressions during a one-hour show. I am proud to see that so many followed that path and now that everyone has easy access to doing live online shows, and as technology progress, I have to make sure that I keep up and stay ahead. So it’s that time again to respin, reinvent, or maybe morph the show into something different. Let’s just say; I’m not done yet! Besides blogging, I also actively post and engage on Twitter and Instagram . There I often use tags #CapturingChicago, #Chicagonista, and #ChicagonistaLife to share a glimpse of my everyday Chicago life.” *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about MJ. This year for my birthday, I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 12 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #blogging #CapturingChicago #52PWP #Blog #Photography #amyboylephoto #Chicagonista #thoughts #WordPress #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen

“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance — and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”― Oprah Winfrey Meet Tabitha: In her own words ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 “I’d always dreamed of two kids and that white picket fenced home. Little did I know what life would bring me in just my 35 years on this earth. A new kind of dream, and a little more than just two kids. Supplied by Tabitha Blue “It’ll be an adventure,” I promised. It was a move that transformed the shape of our home, literally. Just a month after the birth of my fourth, we moved into our downtown loft. It was a space that we’d converted for our studio… a space where we could shoot and film recipes I’d create with the brands I was working with. It was a place to host workshops and events… and now? It was becoming a space my family of SIX would live until we found our home. In a turn of events the home we put an offer on fell through and we were so grateful we had a place to go. The small storage room in the back became a shared kid’s room and the loft upstairs held a crib next to our bed for the master bedroom. Something that year taught me, as we huddled as a big family in our small studio loft, is that home truly is what you make it… and dreams? They take on a completely different significance when you look through that lens. That year, we grew so much closer as a family. It became the base for a big film and magazine project we did with Folgers and brought us so many new opportunities. Isn’t it a bit like life as well? We don’t always know the twists and turns that will come our way, but even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning. What began with saying “YES” to the opportunity of downtown living with my family, taught me how to say “YES” to more… like being invited to the White House, cruising with Oprah and creating our own business (with more launching soon, shhh!). Through it all, we’ve learned that we can live in just about any landscape, and sometimes what may seem the most terrifying can actually deliver some of the most beautiful moments. Those things that may be intimidating can be just the things that catapult us into our dreams… sometimes the ones we didn’t even know we had.” Check out Tabitha’s blog, youtube , and instagram. *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Tabitha. This year for my birthday , I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 11 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #Dressforsuccess #blogger #blogging #52PWP #TabithaBlue #Photography #work #reflections #Lifestyleblogger #Business #WordPress #amyboylephotography #52PhenomenalWomen

Meet Annita: in her own words ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 “Becoming a world traveler wasn’t on my radar as a young girl. I wanted to be a businesswoman who would take the world by storm or at least my hometown. However, as fate would have it travel entered my life via WWII stories my father shared and I lingered to hear every detail of his travels through North Africa and Europe as a soldier. I imagined walking the same cobbled stone streets, sipping coffee in French Cafes tucked away along narrow streets and late night chats with new friends over Spanish tapas and Sangria. Supplied by Annita Thomas I applied with Pan American World Airways and started my journey to explore cultures, see far away lands and meet new friends around the world. Exploring cultures became the highlight of my travels. I was intrigued to see we lived our lives differently around the world. On my first Pan Am flight to Japan, during a Soba Noodles meal service (Japanese noodles made of buckwheat), I heard passengers slurping their noodles. I was shocked because my mother always instructed that I not slurp my noodles, but cut them neatly enough to fit on my fork along with the spaghetti sauce. I later discovered this too was not the way to eat noodles in Italy. I was amazed to learn that while my mother in South Georgia taught me “do not slurp, but cut,” another mother in Japan was teaching her little girl “slurp to show how delicious the noodles are.” And, in Italy, little girls were learning to twirl their noodles with a fork & spoon. My first lesson in cross-cultural communication helped me learn we love the same things around the world, although we express it in different ways. ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 After traveling to over 100 countries, people often ask where is my favorite destination and that’s not an easy question for me. I am still intrigued by the cultural differences of the people, places, and foods I experience. I love exploring them all. Instead of expressing a preference for one destination over another, I want to inspire others to get up from the sofa, put down the city/country brochures and travel the world. Through my radio show I seek to encourage listeners to have the one-on-one experiences of places right down the street, across town or around the world; explore this beautiful world we call home, and you will find there are more similarities than differences between people around the globe and most differences don’t really make that much difference. Go explore – the world is waiting!” ©Amy Boyle Photography 2018 Visit my website and social media to explore the world with me: Blog and Instagram and Twitter -Annita *** Please follow along on instagram as well and learn more about Annita. This year for my birthday , I am embarking on a weekly photo essay project highlighting 52 Phenomenal Women. This is week 10 of 52. Participants in this project will be supporting the efforts of Dress for Success Worldwide – Central. We are all stronger together and it is my sincere hope that we will be inspired by each other’s stories. Now is the time to celebrate as well as encourage one another. Tell your story!*** #blogging #52PWP #Blog #Photography #travelbagswithAnnita #reflections #Friends #WordPress #travelphotographytips #52PhenomenalWomen