Megan Ferland, Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s CEO, opened the summit. She explained, “As a region, we are known for innovation and we have a pivotal opportunity to bring that innovation to how girls access opportunity as they grow up.” Megan emphasized, “Academic, health and leadership gains have not been shared equally by girls who are of color and/or who grow up in poverty. That needs to change. We need to support access to opportunity for all girls.”

Dr. Lori Pfingst of the Washington State Budget & Policy Center explained favorable regional data trends in education, while also outlining issues that hold girls back such as poverty, violence and lack of equal representation in elected office. As she challenged us to consider solutions, she told us, “Poverty is a bottom line issue and solutions have to address it if we want to unleash the power of girls in our region.”

Jen Estroff, Children’s Alliance Government Relations Director, moderated a lively panel to showcase regional solutions that are helping to create economic security for girls. State Representative Laurie Jinkins, Microsoft DigiGirlz Program’s Jacinda Chislum , President of Attachmate Kathleen Owens and Bean Sprouts Café and Cooking School Co-founder Shannon Seip shared insights on business and legislative policy and program strategies, as well as entrepreneurship. “As early as second grade, Washington State girls think math is not for them,” explained Chislum.  DigiGirlz, a program developed by Microsoft to boost girls’ involvement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers, is a model for corporate and youth development sector collaboration.

To help explore the realities of girls’ lives that aren’t reflected by statistics alone, Caroline Rex-Waller of Powerful Voices used a story based on a girl’s life to guide an interactive activity called In Her Shoes. That definitely hit home with James Dorsey, ED of Washington Mesa, who said, “I haven’t done this type of out-of-the-box activity before. It got me in touch with these issues in a new way.”

After lunch the discussion turned to cross-sector conversations, as we broke down how we can do more to work together in innovative ways. Liz Vivian, Women’s Funding Alliance Executive Director, kicked off the conversation by asking participants to think about where we want to go next as a region. Later, she recapped the insights and solutions she heard participants advocating for. Liz and Megan, themselves representing a successful effort between the philanthropy and youth development sectors, closed the summit and explained, “This is a first step, a beginning.” Tweets that captured the conversation included:

• “How do we create a pipeline for girls to be successful, with measurable milestones along the way?”
• “Cross sector conversations – people seem energized around ideas about how to innovate for girls, together.”
• “Closing comments – a mix of hopefulness and frustration. What if a powerful day like this doesn’t succeed in making change?”

Before the summit’s close, participants were asked to write down their commitments to local women and girls.  Some comments included:

• “Do More Mentoring!”
• “Ensure more decision makers are clear on the value proposition of investing in girls.”
• “Be a fierce advocate for young women age 18-25 who aren’t in college.”
• “Advocate for strategies and policies to improve girls’ lives across sectors.”
• “Scale opportunities for exposure to career opportunities and attending Summit 2: Action.”

Megan text polled participants to see what they believed they gained from participating. Nearly four out of five said they believed the summit helped them “a lot” to see the importance of working across sectors to support girls in our region. Three out of five believed the summit helped them “a lot” to understand promising efforts to improve the state of girls in our region.

Plans to keep the summit momentum going are in the works. Members of the State of the Girl(s) Summit Advisory Committee as well as leaders from Girl Scouts of Western Washington and the Women’s Funding Alliance will meet soon to sketch out where we want to go from here. Stay tuned!

For more information on this effort please contact Ann Muno.

Jessica is a roller derby professional, a sport that she says is a cross between hockey and football, with a little bit of gladiator thrown in. She skates with the Rat City Rollergirls, a team that has been around since 2004.

Though roller derby has been around since the 1930s, it saw a revival around 2001, in Austin, TX. There are thousands of leagues all over the world (even in Egypt and Shanghai!), and around 200 leagues that are certified through the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). As a bonus, the women of Rat City maintain a ranking among the nation’s top 10 best derby teams. The team has become so successful, in fact, that they now have their bouts KeyArena, home of the Seattle Storm WNBA team and former home to the Seattle Sonics NBA team.

How She Got Here

“I’ve always been pretty brave, and am also an adrenaline junkie,” Jessica recalls. “I swam competitively as a kid, and did triathlons when I was nine. I got second place in the Iron Kids Triathlon at Disneyworld! I was driven. I wanted to go to the Olympics.

“Being tough is an attribute not necessarily attributed to women. People think that means you’re bossy or aggressive. Girls aren’t taught to wrestle on the playground like boys. In roller derby, you learn to take it out on the track, and leave it there. As with any sport, there is a certain amount of competitiveness, but there is also camaraderie.”

There is also confidence involved – something Jessica didn’t necessarily have the moment she decided to try out for the team. She was brave, yes, but still admittedly nervous.

“When I first tried out for the league, I almost had a panic attack,” she admits. “I thought, ‘Are you cool enough? Fast enough?’ But the good thing is, you don’t have to worry about looking stupid if you fall. Everyone falls.”

What’s Roller Derby Really About?

Jessica says roller derby is about sportsmanship, not fishnet stockings. However, the stockings and colorful outfits have been what most people tend to think of when they think of the sport.

“At first we embraced it because it was stylized and cute,” she notes. “We were objectifying ourselves on our own terms, and it was okay. But phase two is having the world recognize that what we’re doing is serious, and change people’s perceptions of who we are. There’s nothing wrong with embracing femininity in sports, but we want it to be about the sport, not what we’re wearing.

“We are working to create a more sporty uniform, and discourage appearances that objectify us in any way. We’re making conscious decisions to end the old stereotypes. We do a lot of community outreach, and are trying to be responsible role models for young girls, so we partner with organizations that have similar missions.”

It may be a gradual process, but Jessica is excited about the future of roller derby. There was even a bid put in to have the sport included in the Olympics!

Girl Scouts and Roller Derby Girls

In addition to the women’s league, there are also leagues for girls ages 6-8 called the Tootsie Rollers, and a group for older girls called the Galaxy Girls. Women in the league mentor the younger girls, and often invite them to their bouts to sell raffle tickets and participate in other things. You might say it’s a troop of skaters.

Jessica rocked a vintage Girl Scout uniform at a RCRG bout in March on our Instagram!

Speaking of troops, Jessica remembers summers at her camp swamp as a Girl Scout in central Florida (seriously – a camp swamp!). Beyond that, she remembers doing beach activities and adopting a manatee. What she remembers most, however, is selling Girl Scout Cookies.

“I sold cookies like a fiend,” she remembers. I went door to door. I remember being nervous when I rang the bell, but when I made the sale, I did a mini fist bump with myself! When I have ownership of something, I don’t stop until I achieve the goal. I wasn’t very confident when I was a kid when it came to my relationships with girls, but I always had confidence in my abilities. I always believed I could do anything.”

She obviously still believes those things today. And she has clearly overcome her lack of confidence when it comes to developing friendships!

She compares her experience as a Rat City Rollergirl to being in Girl Scouts.

“We run a business together,” she says. “We have to collaborate, be inclusive and respectful. We all have ownership of what we’re doing, so our goals are the same.”

Beyond that, Jessica loves how diverse the 80 women on her team really are.

“This isn’t like a sorority. We have women from different careers, education levels and economic backgrounds. It’s fascinating to get to know these women. It doesn’t matter if someone is a welder or an architect – we’re all measured by the same rules. It’s powerful for women to have that experience together. It creates deep friendships that are rare and honest.”

At this high energy, interactive event girls learned how to identify bullying behaviors and took part in activities designed to help them recognize the good, the bad and the ugly in friendships with girls. The good – the best things about being friends with girls, the bad – the conflict that may occur with friends but if handled with honesty and consideration can be resolved and the ugly- gossiping, excluding, bullying which has no place in friendships.

The day kicked off with an icebreaker to help the girls get comfortable with each other and build community. Next the girls developed a Group Agreement; establishing what the girls thought was important to remember when working together so that everyone gets along and feels safe.

The girls learned about different types of bullying and the various roles involved in bullying situations through role playing activities. One of the girls’ favorite activities of the day was the opportunity to act out The Sneetches a story by Dr. Seuss. Reflecting on the lessons that could be learned from the story girls talked about the impact of being unkind to people who we see as different from ourselves and how it feels to be the outsider.

After lunch the emphasis was on learning how to intervene in a bullying situation using the Power Up principles: Doing nothing? Not an option! Everyone stays safe and keeps her dignity.  Don’t bully back – the bully deserves dignity too! One of the main objectives of Power Up is to enhance girls’ skills to positively intervene in bullying situations. That lesson definitely hit home with Faith who said, “the most important thing I learned in Power Up was to treat all people with respect and how to be a defender when another person is being bullied but to make sure you keep your dignity when that happens and that the bully keeps their dignity when that happens.”

For program staff member Rachel Forte a big goal was to have fun while talking about what can be a difficult subject for middle school and junior high age girls.  It seems that she and co-facilitator Melissa Curtis achieved that goal.  We heard this feedback from one participant, “the best part of Power Up was there was so much fun stuff to do and they [the program staff] made learning fun!”

Would any of the girls change their Power Up experience?  Not according to one participant who was asked what could make Power Up better and replied, “Nothing! It was amazing! I got to learn some valuable skills with some amazing people!”

Don’t worry, you didn’t miss out!  The Power Up event offered in January was a pilot program and was such a huge success that we’re offering two more Power Up events this year!  One on Sunday, May 5 from 10-4pm at the Girl Scout office in DuPont and one on Sunday, June 9 from 10-4pm at the Girl Scout office in Marysville.

We are actively recruiting adult volunteers to join the Power Up Facilitator team!  Are you ready to change the bullying culture?  Learn more about what it takes to be a Power Up Facilitator.  This just might be the right volunteer opportunity for you.  Power Up Facilitator Workshops will be held Saturday, April 20 at the DuPont Girl Scout Office and Saturday, May 18 at the Marysville Girl Scout Office.  For more information on this righteous new volunteer role please contact Melissa Curtis or call 206.633.5600 ext. 1886.

What is a service writer?

A service writer is someone who handles all the customer interaction from the moment someone visits a repair shop, to the moment they leave. He or she reviews customer concerns, then gives that information to the technicians. Then, they take the notes the technicians have given them about what needs to be done, and talk with customers about what the repair needs are, and what the costs might be.

“A good service writer is a check to the technician,” says Lori. “If you don’t know enough about cars, it can be trouble. A good service writer should be out at the car. How could you tell someone what they need if you didn’t see it? I think about what’s best for the customer, which builds relationships.”

Lori has her degree in Business Administration with a focus on Human Resources, which prepared her well for her role as a manager in a customer relations job. But there’s more than business in her background.

You might say she was born with cars in her blood. Her grandpa owned an auto parts store, and when she was little, she used to take parts back and forth from the store to different auto shops with her dad. Her aunt and uncle worked at a different location of her grandpa’s store, too! In addition to that, her dad worked for General Motors, and talked about cars a lot.

When her car quest officially started

Lori’s first job was at Crown Hill Automotive. She was hired as a receptionist, but the owners noticed how knowledgeable she was about cars, and asked her to start doing more.

“They kept giving me more responsibility,” she remembers. “I started going out to the cars, and the guys started teaching me more. They couldn’t believe how much I already knew, and how much I retained. They told me that many men came in to do the same thing I did, and wouldn’t get it the way I did!”

That’s where she met her husband, who was the British automotive specialist, and their best technician.

“He taught me a lot, as well as everyone else,” she says. “I worked there six years. Random parts people would come in and tell me how good I was, and it made me think.”

Lori learned how to be a service writer by attending a training class in Baltimore. She later worked for a commercial painter, where she got managerial training.

“That’s what made me want to get a business degree,” Lori says. “There’s a difference between dabbling in something, and really investing yourself. The guys I’ve worked with have reinforced things for me. They cheered me on, and told me I was good. That really gave me the confidence I needed to keep pursuing it.

“There are a few more things I want to learn. My next step is to own my own shop!”

One of the biggest things she says she has learned in this still-male-dominated industry has been how to honor the strengths as well as the differences between the ways in which men and women communicate.

Before cars, there was Girl Scouts

Lori was a Girl Scout in upstate New York until she was in fifth grade. She went to Girl Scout camp four summers in a row, and it was there she learned cooking and fire skills, First Aid and safety on a trail.

“I never get lost,” she recalls. “People always comment on that while I’m hiking. I’m a big outdoors person. My biggest dream was to be able to hike with my child, and now I have a daughter. I learned the importance of being active as a Girl Scout, and learned early on that girls can do anything. I liked that what I was doing wasn’t common for women. Early on, that concept was enticing for me.”

Lori’s advice to girls interested in the automotive field:

“In any industry you’re in, try different positions. If you’re curious about the mechanical side of things, try that. Or if you like accounting and sales, try that. The more aspects of an industry you understand, the better you will be at the end job that you choose. If you sold cars, you can help suggest how to repair them better. If you have done accounting, you’ll be better in the warranty department.

Dealerships are a great place to start. In small shops, you have to know a lot.

Go to school to be a service writer or to be a mechanic. A business degree is good if you’re considering the other side of things, like I am now.

Working in the auto industry is a physically demanding job. It’s important to be physically fit, and have good strength and flexibility. Having a brain that is scientific is helpful. Physics and calculus help you understand mechanics, and math helps you in the office.

You should also be good with people and love change. The automotive field is constantly innovating and changing.”

Lori’s colleagues at Downtown Automotive suggested a few schools to check out locally if you’re interested in becoming a mechanic or service writer:

Renton Technical College offers a two-year Automotive Technology program which ends with an Associate’s degree and offers a WA State Emissions Certification as well as an Automotive Service Excellence Refrigerant Recovery and Recycling Certificate.

Shoreline’s program offers a two-year Professional Auto Training program which partners four local dealerships with on the job training for eleven weeks.  Students can graduate with a two-year Applied Associate in Arts and Sciences degree as well as numerous manufacturer-specific training certificates.

What’s Read Across America Day?

Read Across America Day is a one-day celebration of reading, organized by the National Education Association (NEA). The event was created 16 years ago and it’s honored across the country as people join together and encourage each other to read. Sometimes people celebrate by reading together at home or school, while other times there are huge parties where everyone picks up a book and reads!

Read Across America Day is usually on the same day, or close to, Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Many of you may know Dr. Seuss for his wonderful series of children’s books, including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and many, many more. Dr. Seuss’ books are often used to help encourage kids to read, and can be a lot of fun to read out loud!

Back to Read-A-Palooza!

At Read-A-Palooza, girls had lots of fun things to do. They got to design their own bookmarks, try a spin in the hair activity station, listen to an inspiring guest speaker and, of course, everybody got to read!

The girls also loved getting to meet some college students who volunteered to help with Read-A-Palooza. The college volunteers helped out at the Hair Activity Station, where the girls got the opportunity to ask questions about college. This also let everyone talk about what they wanted to do when they grew up.

At the Bookmark Creation Station girls got to turn up their creativity and create the bookmark of their dreams! They used markers, crayons, ribbons and stickers for their works of art, so they’d have something special to use while reading.

Along with all that fun, the girls were lucky to have a special guest speaker, Tonya M. Drake, PhD. Tonya’s the Special Assistant to the President for Equity and Inclusion at the college and she gave a really inspiring speech! Tonya was a very engaging speaker and talked about how important reading is to everyone, no matter how old they are.

To wrap up what was already a wonderful day, the girls had one more surprise- everyone got to pick out a free American Girl book! Of course, everybody scrambled to find their new favorite!

Thank you to all the girls and families who came out to celebrate Read-A-Palooza! We had a wonderful time and loved getting to have a reading party with you! Special thanks to staffer Jaycie for sharing this story and to all our incredible volunteers who helped make the event special.

As a group, they decided they wanted to learn more about the music business. Instead of simply reading about it, the girls set an ambitious goal to write a song and produce a music video! What did they decide to write their song about? Girl Scouts, of course! With the help of Julia, their program coordinator, and Danielle, their program assistant, the girls at first decided that they could achieve what they wanted by having four lessons over four weeks. Once they started planning and practicing, they realized they wanted extra time to rehearse (including with their principal, Ms. Roth!), so they decided to give themselves more time to plan and to practice.

Besides trying to make sure they had enough time to learn the song and choreography, the girls realized that sometimes it’s hard to make everyone in a group happy, especially when you want to make sure everybody gets a chance to share their ideas. Working together, they also noticed that some people have really big personalities, and sometimes they overshadow other people who are a little more quiet, or don’t feel confident speaking up. Have you ever felt that way? Luckily Troop #48544 came together and decided they would try to include everyone’s ideas, so that everyone could be happy! By the end, the girls worked together to make sure they created a video that they loved! We’re proud to present the video here:

Do you think, after all that hard work, that the girls changed their minds about pursuing music as a career when they’re older? Not these girls! After this project, they said they were even more excited. Let’s give a big cheer to Allura, Deianira, Florencia, Ibeth, Janet, Lizbeth and Sophia for all their hard work!

Read on to learn more about the trip from Emma Kate and Casady, two Val Manuel Take Action Travelship scholarship recipients, who tell us about the trip in their words!

Emma Kate Describes Volunteering at the National Congressional Cemetery

Before going to Washington D.C., it was decided that I would lead our troop in a service project while we were on the other side of the country. After diligently searching for a service project within our abilities, I stumbled upon the website for the Congressional Cemetery. The website said that they allowed Eagle Projects, and that they needed help righting sinking footstones and tombstones.

At first I began correspondence with Patrick Crowley of the cemetery, however, soon after he stopped replying to my e-mails about the project. Weeks later I found out he had left the cemetery without having told anyone about me or my troop’s project we had been planning. With only days before we left, I began planning the project again from the beginning, with the help of Paul Williams. He had informed me that they planned on having us up righting footstones.

After several days in D.C., and some last minute e-mail planning, came the morning of the project. We filled our water bottles, grabbed our work gloves, and hiked over to the cemetery only to find that plans had been changed once again. We were now going to be clearing a neglected area of brush, and it taken long enough to get there that we would be working during the near hundred-degree heat of the day. Under the supervision of Barry Hayman, we cleared everything in our path, from small trees, to litter, to ivy and other various weeds gone out of hand.

Having cleared a heapingly humongous pile of brush, we called it a day and settled down to listen to Barry educate us on some of the famous women who are, and were, buried there, such as Dolley Madison, and Louisa Adams. We then began to walk back, stopping along the way by the hose to wash up a bit, and to visit the grave of John Philip Sousa, and continued the long walk back home for some well-deserved rest. A few days later, after returning home to Washington state, we received the following, and very grateful, e-mail from Barry:

Emma Kate -

Please extend my thanks to all your hard workers at Congressional Cemetery.

I have to tell you two things.

First, when we collected all the foliage, it hit me like a ton of bricks: your group cleared an impressively large volume. I was impressed (again) with the work and the spirit in which it was accomplished.

Secondly, the sight of that cleared corner inspired a proposal to terrace that neglected corner, once & for all, with a sustainable (say ‘low maintenance’) garden. One hundred years of weeds and we are just getting to it.

I’ve gotten’ ooohs’ & ‘ahhhhs’ from all sorts of people in just a day. The credit belongs to you and your team.

Please make sure that everyone knows how much we appreciate your efforts.

Regards,

Barry

Historic Congressional Cemetery

Casady Explains Making and Distributing Homeless Helpers

My troop and I were brainstorming ideas on service projects that we could do when we traveled. DC first, then Europe. The service project was for the Val Manuel Take Action Travel Scholarship to help traveling girl scouts. “How about Homeless Helpers?” I said. I knew we did Homeless Helpers already in Everett so it would be easy to do it somewhere foreign. I didn’t know that my idea was going to be the one we decided on!

Our plan was to visit a girl scout troop from wherever we were going and teach them how to make homeless helpers, a package of various things, like socks, tea, soup mixes and hot chocolate, that we would hand out to homeless people to help them. We thought it would be good to also include the Online group called Zero Apathy, started by the brother of a fellow girl scout, to help people see that helping the homeless is better than ignoring them.

I contacted the Girl Scout office in Washington DC to see if I could organize a meeting with one of the groups there. A long time later, they emailed back to say that we would have to try a website that we already tried earlier to use and didn’t work. Since it was already too close to the DC trip to figure everything out, we decided to go with plan two. I would take a video of us making homeless helpers in DC and take pictures of spreading the word of Zero Apathy so that we could come back home and show the other Troops what we did so they could do it too.

During the trip in DC, we bought the ingredients to make the Homeless Helpers and set it all out on the table. Each girl was able to make two. The next day, we kept an eye out for anyone who might need one. Each time I sat at a bench, or was waiting for the metro, I would sneak out one of my Zero Apathy cards and tape it to where I was sitting. I hoped that then, people would see it and look it up on face book just for curiosity’s sake. Everyone should help, in any way they can, even if it’s not a lot at the time. Even the smallest things can make a difference.

While walking in downtown DC, we saw a group of people sitting on a bench, with plastic bags at their feet. We gathered up our courage to go up to them and offer up our homeless helpers. We handed them our packages and one man said he didn’t want it, well, except for the socks. Socks were the items that people appreciated the most, but we were still surprised. He gave the rest of the Homeless Helper to the others, who were more than glad to get it.

I walked away with a spring in my step, hoping that I made a difference in their lives, and that they were glad of it. We met another man who gratefully accepted our Homeless Helper. He said that he chose to be homeless to help spread the love of god. His name was Start Loving, which was tattooed on his forehead, and he said that he had a blog online. He let us take a picture of him, which would be good for our presentation back home.

I now am planning my presentation to the girl scouts, to tell them that they can make a difference with the little things, like Homeless Helpers. Wherever they go, they can show some love, and zero apathy.

Get to Know Your CEO: A chat with Megan Ferland, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Washington

Learn how a theatre and speech lover developed a passion for justice, and how her work in juvenile crime prevention and youth empowerment prepared her for her role as CEO of an organization dedicated to helping girls become tomorrow’s leaders.

What would you do if something unfair happened to someone you cared about? What if it was so big and so shocking that the country was talking about it on television and in magazines, and media cameras and police were everywhere? Would you still want to speak out, or would you think your words or actions couldn’t possibly make a difference?

Most of us don’t stop to ask ourselves those questions. We don’t imagine there’ll be moments when we’re actually called upon to do something big. In truth, those aren’t exactly questions Megan Ferland, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Washington, was asking herself before the entire trajectory of her career – and her life – changed forever.

Nancy Pearl, Sally Jewell, Megan and Jean Berg at the 2012 Leadership Luncheon

While earning her M.A. in Communications with a major in public relations at The University of Texas at Austin, Megan received word that her brother-in-law had been murdered. He was a police officer in Houston, and was shot to death during a routine traffic stop. The man who killed him was a multiple felon, which means that he was released from prison into society, even after committing many violent crimes.

Megan’s sister had two small children to care for, and was overwhelmed by the intense media interest that followed this case. Although Megan had been offered a corporate relations job in New York when she finished graduate school, she knew she couldn’t leave her sister. That’s when she decided to take a completely different career path – one that raised questions about a system that allowed multiple felons to roam free without rehabilitation or training. She took a job with the Texas House of Representatives as a legislative aide, where she worked on criminal justice issues – including prison reform and early gang legislation.

“That really focused me on criminal justice policy,” she says. “During one of sessions, they were dealing with a reform of the juvenile code. I was really trying to understand what happened to my family, and how you can go from being a kid standing on the side of the street to shooting a cop on that street in broad daylight. How does a person get there?”

Megan exploring local waters!

Later, she served as legislative director for a Texas senator, and was motivated even more to focus on juvenile justice policy. That’s when she was approached about running the Juvenile Crime Intervention Division of the Office of the Texas Attorney General.

“If you want to keep more kids from growing up into the guy who killed my brother-in-law,” she says, “you start on the juvenile side.”

For five years, she worked on things like a tattoo removal program for youth involved in gangs.

“Frequently their tattoos made it impossible to not be seen as a gang member,” she recalls. “I’d go to tattoo removal days and teenagers would come up to me crying, saying that getting their tattoo removed would change their life.

“With the tattoos, they couldn’t get a job or, if they had kids, they didn’t want them to follow in their footsteps. The tattoo removal piece became a critical thing. Seeing that it can put kids on a different trajectory was really powerful.”

Megan started the journey she did because she was trying to understand how people come to make the choices they do. She learned it was all about the path – not just the path they started out on, but the turn they can take if enough time, compassion and education are invested in them.

“No matter what background anyone comes from,” she says, “if you put people in the right environment with the right support, they can succeed.”

After working for the Colorado Children’s Campaign as president and CEO for three years, Megan had an opportunity to become CEO at Girl Scouts of Colorado.

It was an easy move for her to make.

Megan and Patricia Henson at the Thurston County Women of Distinction Luncheon 2012

“That was the point about Girl Scouts for me,” she admits. “It was the idea of giving kids transformative opportunities – kids like the ones I used to work with, as well as kids like mine. I loved that there is such a broad reach.”

That reach became even broader when she stretched her arms from Colorado to western Washington in January of 2012. She loves living in Washington, and has a daughter who is a proud Girl Scout and currently dreams of becoming a marine biologist. Lucky for her, Girl Scout Camp Robbinswold is right on Hood Canal, and has an amazing touch tank with lots of experiential learning opportunities, and a trained naturalist on hand!

Megan most appreciates the enthusiasm and passion of the more than 26,000 girls and 13,000 volunteers who make Girl Scouts of Western Washington what it is.

“I love that Girl Scouts of Western Washington has such a strong history of putting girls on the path to leadership,” she says.  “You can’t teach confidence, but you can build it. It’s about putting yourself in situations that take you a little outside your comfort zone. That’s what Girl Scouts do all across western Washington every day!”

For an organization whose mission is all about helping girls build the courage, confidence and character needed to make the world a better place, there couldn’t be a more awesome leader at the helm.

We know of at least one. That would be J.A. Jance.

She was on a boat with her Girl Scout Brownie troop, headed to Victoria, BC, when it hit her that everything she never knew was possible was, in fact, possible. Even more, it was now real!

“I sat on the boat with all my girls gathered about, and read my first paperback book,” she recalls. “It felt like a miracle. It was a miracle. It is a miracle every day. Every time a new book comes out, it’s still a miracle. The wonderful thing is I’m doing what I always wanted to do. I’m living my life. My life now is not like I’m living a dream, because I never dreamed anything this good.”

That’s how J.A.’s story turned out, but before she was on that boat with a gaggle of happy Girl Scouts, she was a girl growing up in Bisbee, Arizona, with, as she says, “no access to the kind of sophistication that ended up falling in my lap.”

What she did have was libraries. She took full advantage of school and public libraries, and learned about the world outside her small town. It was books that opened her mind, and books that gave her the courage to dream.

She earned a scholarship to the University of Arizona, where she got a degree in English and Secondary Education. When she was denied admission to the creative writing program by a male professor who told her that girls “ought to be teachers or nurses” rather than writers, it didn’t stop her from going on to earn a master’s of Education in Library Science. She filled her life with the study of books, and never gave up her dream of writing until her first Detective Beaumont book, Until Proven Guilty, was published in 1985.

In addition to a love of words, J.A. also carries with her a deep and long-lasting love for Girl Scouts. She was in Girl Scouts as a Brownie all the way through Senior (9th/10th grade) and, as she recalls with a laugh, “made the world’s ugliest sit upon.” She attended Camp Whispering Pines in the Catalina Mountains, and participated in the Girl Scout Cookie Sale – an experience so rooted in her memories that she often includes cookie references in her books. For example, in her Joanna Brady series, Brady’s photo in the Cochise County sheriff’s department is of her hauling a wagon-load of Girl Scout Cookies. And in her third J.P. Beaumont series book, Trial by Fury, an important photo is provided by the Girl Scout standing outside the QFC in lower Queen Anne, selling cookies.

“When I applied for a job selling life insurance, the district manager asked if I had done sales,” J.A. recalls. “I said I sold Girl Scout Cookies, and asked if that counted. It must have, because I sold insurance for 10 years.”

As a Girl Scout troop leader and cookie mom, J.A. watched proudly as her daughter paid her own way to Girl Scout Camp Robbinswold three years in a row by selling 1,000 boxes of cookies each year!

“Girl Scouting gave me confidence, and my daughter gained huge amounts of confidence selling those cookies,” she adds.

We are so proud to have J.A. Jance as part of our Girl Scout family! Her commitment to never giving up on her dreams – despite other people’s opinions – paid off in a big way. She encourages girls today to keep focused on their dreams, and has some great advice for girls hoping to one day become writers!

J.A.’s advice to future writers:

“If someone is interested in being a writer, then what they need to do right now is read. I was a reader the whole time I was growing up. People often write to me and say they want to write books, but they don’t read them. Why would they want to be a writer if they don’t read?

When you’re going through life, pay attention. Pay attention to the people around you, and to the people you meet. The things you do on the journey are what you make use of. I paid attention when I was going through different parts of my life, and I’ve been able to draw on those experiences to write books much later on.

To be a good writer, you need to be good at English, understand grammar and be good at spelling. Words should also have grammatical finesse. And don’t forget attention to detail!”

Maybe you didn’t think you had enough experience or money, maybe you lost your confidence or maybe you thought someone else could do it better.

Perhaps you didn’t follow that dream, and were left wondering what could have happened.

Jennifer Shea, the founder, baker and party-maker of Trophy Cupcakes, was almost one of those people.

Even though she discovered her love for baking when she was little, her life took her on many different journeys. Turns out, it was actually those life adventures that helped her figure out what her true passions were. And here’s the best part – she didn’t figure it out until she was in her 30s. That proves there is no time limit for dreams! And no expiration date, either!

Before There Were Cupcakes

After high school, Jennifer thought she would become a marine biologist.

It was a career fair, however, where she found herself intrigued by the study of nutrition, and decided to attend Bastyr University. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics, and became a dietician. Then, a new adventure showed up.

“My ex-boyfriend was a musician,” she says, “and asked me to go on tour with his band. I became their merchandise manager in 2000, and learned about inventory and branding while traveling across the U.S. and Europe.”

So now she knows about nutrition, management and sales, and there is still something in her that thinks there’s more out there.

“I went to my first cupcake shop in 1996,” Jennifer recalls. “It was in New York. That’s where I had my a-ha moment. The seed was planted, and I started researching bakeries and patisseries in every city I went to for the next several years.

“I never thought of baking as a career, but a friend convinced me to write a business plan, and later became my angel investor.”

Jennifer started Trophy Cupcakes in February 2007 in Wallingford Center, and could quickly tell her idea would become a success. She sold 300 cupcakes on the first day, and found it difficult to meet the demand.

The Frosting on the Cupcake

In 2008, Trophy would be put on the map, and Jennifer’s dreams were about to grow bigger than she had ever imagined.

Martha Stewart’s producer called. Martha and her team tasted samples from most of the cupcake shops across the country, and were only going to feature three companies on their show, which meant there was some stiff competition. Jennifer bought two tickets to New York, and she and her kitchen manager borrowed a friend’s kitchen to make cupcakes they hand delivered to Martha’s studio at 8 a.m. the next day.

“The producer called me that day and told me ours were the best,” she beams. “That changed everything. The show aired April 3, 2008, and lines were out the side of the building for two weeks straight. People were calling from all over the country to place orders.”

Turns out, the cupcake Jennifer made for Martha’s show was inspired, in part, by her Girl Scout experiences!

“I grew up going to Girl Scout camp,” Jennifer fondly remembers, “and the chocolate graham cracker cupcake with toasted marshmallows I created for The Martha Stewart Show was inspired by s’mores. It’s still listed on her website under ‘Favorite Cupcakes!’”

We love that Jennifer has carried her love for Girl Scouts even further, and created three cupcakes inspired by Girl Scout Cookies!

We also love that she wasn’t afraid to try out lots of different things before figuring out what it was she was meant to do with her career.

“I was reading Martha Stewart’s magazine since I got out of high school, and watched her show religiously,” she says. “It was a dream come true for me. I think I was supposed to go through all I went through in order to get to where I am now. There are reasons obstacles are put in front of you.”

Trophy started as an idea, and now there are four stores! Plus, Jennifer was listed as one of Seattle magazine’s top 70 power players in the Seattle food world. Way to go, Jennifer!

Jennifer’s Advice When it Comes to Following Your Dreams:

Jennifer has some great advice to share with anyone wanting to know how to jump start their dreams.

“Many girls think they have to figure things out in their 20s. I found my way when I was 36! Martha Stewart started her magazine in her late 30s. There is no time limit when it comes to your dreams. Plus, you don’t have to figure it out for yourself. Be a sponge for learning, and take all the help you can get.

Do your homework so you know your stuff. Don’t give up, and always stand your ground. Persistence is important.

Find a mentor in a business you admire and pick their brain or become an intern.”