Get on Track at Passion into Action

Special Events

To kick off the conference, we’re offering two intensive workshops on Friday afternoon at Grass Valley’s Center for the Arts. They both teach communication skills to use for a wide range of audiences, meaning they’re just right for everyone to attend.

The White House Project, a networking group for women in business and politics, is sponsoring Personal Branding through Strategic Storytelling. Catherine Grey, will show you how to develop persuasive speaking skills, and use narratives as building blocks for your own personal brand. (Friday, 1-4:30 p.m; session fee is $39.)

Michael Stone, KVMR radio host, and Marilyn Nyborg, founder of the Nevada City chapter of Gather the Women, will jointly host Gender Reconciliation, a workshop on how men and women can communicate with each other on a level playing field. The discussion is designed to make you question your beliefs and assumptions about gender differences, and then learn how to understand, empathize and communicate better with the opposite sex. (Friday, 2-3:30 p.m.; free).

To end the conference, join us for a special Taking Care of You Sunday brunch, co-hosted by the Sierra Nevada Women’s Imaging Center, at the Grass Valley Veterans Hall. Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, breast health is high on the agenda. Christine Newsom, M.D., who recently retired from practicing internal medicine at Sierra Nevada Medical Group, will moderate a panel of breast cancer survivors who serve as mentors for other women battling the disease. The morning’s events will also include presentations from former Planned Parenthood CEO Gloria Feldt and World Pulse magazine founder Jensine Larsen, music by the String Sisters and Emma’s Revolution, exhibitors, and a special Beauty Bar. (Sunday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; $35 a la carte’ or included with full conference pass)

Buy tickets for these special events, along with tickets for various levels of Passion into Action conference access at the Briar-Patch Co-op, or online at www.passionintoaction.tv.

“Defining You” Workshop Track

Who are you really? What do you want to be, and what do you want to get from life? This track of workshops is truly focused on jump-starting your passion and turning it into action. Here’s just a sample of the sessions to choose from.

Where would you be without your friends? Use them as your support system to better yourself, both personally and professionally. In Girlfriends Unite!, Kathleen McIntire, Robin Milam and Mary Elizabeth Young explain how they came together to form a triad of support for each other, and how you too can use your BFFs to help you move your wishes from the back burner into the mental and physical actions you’ve always dreamed of taking on. (Saturday, 11 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.)

Then Mary Elizabeth Young shows you how to keep your head up in her workshop “Keeping Your Dreams Alive, Even When Your World is Falling Apart.” She’ll show you how to start over from scratch after a loss of job, money or family, and find the gifts in your loss or challenge to propel you forward to a better future (Saturday, 1:30-2:40 p.m.)

A perfect example of finding yourself, no matter what your age, is Heather Donahue. You may remember her from the scary blockbuster film The Blair Witch Project. She ended her acting career to start one in writing, and her memoir, Growgirl (about leaving the big city behind to join her brand-new boyfriend in the pot-growing community of “Nuggetville”) was recently published. If you’re interested in writing a story, an essay or your entire life history, Heather will show you in Finding Your Voice on the Page – don’t forget your pens, paper and the story you want to share. (Saturday, 1:30-2:40 p.m.)

Discovering who you are as a person also means discovering your sensuality and sexuality. In Sensual Esteem and Awakening the Goddess Within, sacred sexuality teacher Lisa Schrader will teach you practical ways to awaken your sensual vibrancy, appreciate your body and tap into the power of the goddess within you. Expanding your “sensual esteem” will also boost your self esteem as you go about your daily life.

“Leading Your Life” Workshop Track

You know who you are, you know what you want, now it’s just a matter of finding out the best way to go about getting it. The “Leading Your Life” track, broken down into four topics, steers you correctly down the path you want to go down, whether it’s starting a business, going green, or just stepping up to better take on your everyday challenges.

Leadership

The Leadership mini-track kicks off with Gloria Feldt, former CEO of Planned Parenthood. She’ll tell you about her best-selling book, The No Excuses: 9 Power Tools for Leading an Unlimited Life. Through group discussion, personal reflection and the creation of an action plan, you’ll learn how to embrace “authentic power” and use it wisely to benefit yourself and the world around you. (Saturday, 11 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.)

If you want to improve your speaking skills, whether on a stage or across your backyard fence, award-winning musician and activist Holly Near will share some practical tools and tips for speaking up and telling a compelling story in Improving Presentation (Saturday, 1:30 – 2:40 p.m.)

Do you need a sponsor or mentor to help you succeed in a project? Attend Managing Mentors, Sponsors and Feedback, sponsored by the White House Project, a networking group for women in business and politics. Its communications trainer, Catherine Grey, will offer concrete strategies for finding and engaging the right mentor or sponsor for you, then developing and managing a successful, strategic relationship that achieves the concrete results you want. (Saturday 3 – 4:10 p.m.)

Entrepreneurship

You have a passion, you think you can do a good job at it and make money, too. Where do you start? Brenda Horton is a serial entrepreneur who started the online marketing and professional networking Meetup group, Nevada County Online, and in How to Turn Your Passion into a Real Business, she’ll teach you specific strategies for turning your passion into a revenue-generating product or service. (Saturday, 1:30 – 2:40 p.m.)

In a changing world with an unstable economy, how can you keep up professionally? Ruth Schwartz, who started a multi-million-dollar music distribution company, chronicled her success in the book The Key to the Golden Handcuffs. In this workshop, she’ll explain what women should be doing professionally to meet changing demands and technological shifts, and how you can become less overwhelmed and more clear about where to focus your skills and talents.(Saturday 3 – 4:10 p.m.)

Do you want to start a green business? Learn about Ecopreneuring from Lisa Kivirist, who runs multiple green businesses and co-authored many books about the “rural renaissance.” She’ll tell you about green business trends, starting one up, staying diversified and debt free, and successfully run a business that goes beyond just profit. (Saturday, 11 a.m. – 12:10 pm)

Media Activism

Everyone is using video these days, but not everyone is using it effectively. Jeannine Glista, Emmy award-winning executive producer of the national public TV show Biz Kid$, is leading Media Tools to Tell Your Story, to teach you simple tools and techniques to maximize the use of video as the medium to share your story in a beautiful, impactful way. (Saturday, 1:30 – 2:40 p.m.)

It also seems like everyone is “crowdfunding” these days. But what is it, and how can you benefit from it? If you have a good idea for a product, book, film or anything else, you should attend Get Funded to learn about this new, exciting way to raise the money you need. Debe Fennell, partner in the female-owned CrowdFundingLIVE platform, will explain what it’s all about and share success stories of women who used it to achieve their financial goals. (Saturday, 3 – 4:10 p.m.)

Leading a Green Life

After reading an article five years ago about how plastic waste is polluting our oceans and killing our wildlife, Beth Terry challenged herself to stop buying any new plastic. Since then, she has reduced her plastic waste to less than 2 percent of the national average and has made it her mission to help others do the same through her popular blog and a new book. In her workshop Living a Plastic-Free Life, she’ll share her story and help you think creatively about solving similar problems in your own community, from seeking out alternative products to organizing a campaign. (Saturday, 1:30-2:40 pm)

If you want to be hands-on at the conference, then consider Build your Independence, Build a Garden Cabinet. Samantha Hinrichs, founder of the DIY building business Mud and Pearls, will help you how to build a small cedar cabinet that’s useable, demystify power tools and show you that women truly can do it themselves. (Saturday, 1:30-2:40 pm)

The weather is getting cooler, but now is the perfect time to learn how to start gardening on a budget. In Garden Art Projects and Budget Gardening Ideas, Susan Gouveia, founder of the 400-plus member Society of Garden Goddesses, will share easy ways to do so. Then she’ll inspire your creativity by offering up the art supplies to make meditation rocks, seed-saving containers and garden sculptures (Saturday, 3 – 4:10 pm)

“Taking Care of You” Workshop Track

To achieve your goals and tackle your projects, you also need to be in good shape, both physically and mentally, to bring everything to completion. We have workshops to help put you in healthy shape, fit for action, and ready to take on anything you want.

Food and Nourishment

Are you interested in using herbs for health and wellness but not sure where to begin? Rachel Berry will talk about Nourishing with Herbs, and how you can use them at home for everyday needs. She’ll give you a hands-on look at several herbs are you may already have in your kitchen or home garden, and discuss how to use them for skin care, first-aid, stress reduction, common colds and more. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn how to make a medicinal oil and herbal salve. (Saturday, 11 a.m – 12:10 p.m.)

If you’re constantly craving sweets, Kelly Schrader, owner of EVOLVE Yoga and Nutritional Wellbeing, will help you to understand why and what to do about it in How to Conquer Your Sweet Cravings and Take Back Control of Your Diet. If you want to regain control without deprivation, this is the workshop for you. (Saturday, 3-4:10 p.m.)

Movement and Well-Being

Say it’s the middle of the night. You can’t get back to sleep but you have an important meeting in the morning. How can you reduce your stress and get some more shut-eye? Find out the solution in The Creative Journey to a Stress-Free You. Zoe St. Clair runs creativity workshops to Fortune 500 companies, and in this workshop, she’ll show her three-step process for using creativity to release stress and foster wellness. (Saturday, 11 a.m – 12:10 p.m.)

Colds, kids, career, creaks and aches. These can all make you feel irritable and overwhelmed, but with the right strategies for managing your energy and supporting your body, you can experience consistent joy, good health and peace. In Taking Care of You in Ten Minutes a Day, Karen Atkins, creator of the Restore Your Soul training videos and a certified BodyTalk and Qi Gong instructor, will teach you a few easy practices to manage stress, calm emotions, tap into your resourcefulness and get out of a rut. (Saturday, 1:30 – 2:40 p.m.)