With women dolled in their soothing but blooming colors, it was a day of laughter and tears as Mrs Cortia Bingham McKenzie, founder and CEO of We Inspire Women, and her team shared their stories. 

 Bingham McKenzie expressed heartfelt gratitude to all her speakers and to the women who supported such an amazing event. The line of speakers for Sunday’s brunch included soul igniter Yendi Phillips; head of Corporate Relations at Red Stripe, Dianne Ashton-Smith; author and former international model Sandra Rodriguez-Bicknell; and co-founder of Stush in the Bush, Lisa Binns. These women poured out their souls in their speeches as they shared not just their deepest wounds, but also their best victories.  In such a patriarchal world, Yendi Phillips reminded us as women that it is very important to ourselves. Despite how difficult it may be, it’s important to choose yourself first. Your mental health matters above all. Through Cortia’s questions, the audience had a very intimate conversation with Yendi, one that eventually led her to tears. Tear by tear, Yendi admitted that her biggest fear is to pass away before her daughter, Israel, is self sufficient. Having lost her mom at a tender age of 16, she only prays that she gets as much time as is divinely purposed. However, she also explained that from her mom she learnt a great lesson – the power of communication. As such she makes it her point of duty to ensure that communication is key between her and ‘Izzy’. After her speech,

teenAGE stopped by to have her feedback. “As a public figure, often times your story is told by everyone but you,” Phillips said. “So today I shared my story with authenticity and the feedback is beyond overwhelming. This is what we inspire women is all about, creating a safe space for women.” Up next was Dianne Ashton-Smith, who focused on the topic ‘Loving you when nobody else does’. After sharing her story of a failed marriage, failed attempts at impregnating herself, and her struggles with bulimia and alcoholism, she gave us four tips to love ourselves when nobody else does, and when we ourselves feel incapable of doing so. These tips are:1)Forgiving yourself for your shortcomings and seemingly imperfections.2)Accepting what is and what you simply cannot change.3)Being good to yourself.4)Surrounding yourself with people who are positive and will cause you to be positive also. Former international model, Sandra Rodriguez-Bicknell rather cheerfully recounted her story of her unexpected rise in the fashion industry and her twisted love affair with love. Being in love with the idea of love led her to compromise who she was and her true purpose. She was never free until she had snapped out of her fairy tale misconception of love. Do not be mistaken, it was not a day of bashing relationships, marriages and love, but rather a day of healing. As it was neatly put by the final speaker, Lisa Binns, on her topic ‘Salvaging Sisterhood’, “A woman who heals herself, heals her mother, heals her daughter and heals every woman in her community.” To end the day and commemorate such an inspiring event, Cortia, in tears, invited everyone to create a circle, as we held hands and formed a sisterhood. Thank you

We Inspire Women. The strength these women showed in their vulnerability has healed, helped and inspired many. Strong is the new beautiful. 

–Akeelia Richards