Choose to  Awaken with the WUENation! 

On March 29, 2020, Spirit of A Woman, LLC, launched the Wake Up Everybody (WUE) Virtual series in partnership with community healers, thought leaders, coaches, medical and mental health professionals, educators and artists from across the nation. WUE was created to provide community members, from across the country and abroad, with an opportunity to keep their mental, emotional,  physical and spiritual well beings balanced and whole as they navigated the impact of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 global health crisis. 

WUE was  originally designed as a 30 day offering that would provide “temporary” covering and support for participants until the quarantine period ended, however, the producers and community members quickly realized that the WUE journey would last much longer than they originally anticipated. 

The series was created by Shawnee Benton Gibson, CEO, of Spirit of A Woman (SOW) Leadership Development Institute, who was inspired by the lyrics of the song  “Wake Up Everybody” by Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. The song, which was popular in the 70s, speaks of issues that we are still glaringly relevant today; (racism, war, poverty, sickness, political strife, corruption, etc). The WUE Virtual series was designed to “WAKE UP” the masses by providing empowering messaging, holistic healing tools, guidance for daily living and strategies for addressing the injustices, pain and imbalance that exists in the world. 

All of the “Wake Up Everybody” sessions take place 5 days a week (every Sunday, Tuesday, & Thursday from 7:00am - 8:30am EST and every Monday and Wednesday from 7:00am -7:30am EST.) over Zoom and Facebook Live. Every session is facilitated by powerful and prolific presenters from various backgrounds and areas of discipline. Each facilitator guides participants through an interactive experience that fosters education, conversation, new insights, empowerment  and expansion. 

The WUE Family invites you to join our phenomenal community so that you can share, heal and grow as part of the collective. You are free to join as a community participant, as a session facilitator and/or a member of the admin team to support the magic that happens behind the scenes. We hope to hear from you. 

Sunday, October 1st - "Unlocking Social Media Success: Navigating the Digital Landscape for Business Growth" 

Facilitated By: Athenia Rodney

Navigating the world of social media can be a daunting task. The constant changes and the integration of AI can make it seem overwhelming. But, it's essential to find ways to embrace these innovations. In this session, we'll tackle these challenges head-on. Join Author and Coach, Athenia, as she empowers the community with practical insights that can be implemented right away to boost your social media engagement. Don't let the fear of the unknown hold you back. Let's embrace the digital landscape together and make your social media strategy shine!

   

Monday, October 2nd - "The Changemaker's Cashback Hacks"

Facilitated By: Martine Lissa Malivers

Most consumers do not take advantage of all the cashback programs available to them or they end up losing the cash they make back to high monthly interest fees. Come learn about The Changemaker's favorite cashback programs and how she makes hundreds of dollars back on her purchases every month.

 

Tuesday, October 3rd - "Protecting Your False Sense Of Peace (Going Along to Get Along)"

Facilitated By: Meika Joseph
What are you tolerating, putting up with, avoiding, hiding from or just simply not being present with, just to keep this false sense of peace? We do what think we must to avoid chaos which leaves us in the trap of tolerating. Lets discover the ingredients that will free us from that old trap.

 

Wednesday, October 4th - "Winning Wednesdays with Yogisha!"

Facilitated By: Stacy McLean

What tools do you use/have that help you win? What are you winning at in life? Where are you NOT winning in life where you desire to win? Come breathe and create with Yogisha and manifest as we go within!

 

Thursday, October 5th - "Learning Through Play"

Facilitated By: Marilyn Perez

Learning through play puts skills into practice. Play allows infinite possibilities and helps discover new challenges. Play leads to a deeper understanding of self, of learning, and exploring. Why is it that we connect play with being childish? Why is it that as adults, we have a preconceived notion about playing? Join pre-school teacher, Marilyn Perez as she shows us that play based learning is essential in every stage in life. Let's rid ourselves of trauma based learning and start to have fun!!

 

Upcoming Facilitators  

 

Athenia Rodney is the Founder and CEO of Umoja Events, a female-owned corporate events logistics planning company based in Brooklyn, NY, and organizer of the flagship event annually known as Juneteenth NYC Festival and Summit. Umoja Events is a MWBE business and focuses on partnerships with city agencies. Athenia has a passion for travel which has led her to start Rodney Tribe Travel and Tours where she offers group travel for weddings and retreats. 

Athenia a wife, mother of 3 holds many positions in the New York City community of Brooklyn where she is currently a chair on the Family Advisory Board of United For Brownsville, an Ambassador for Brownsville Sentiment, Board member at Brookdale Hospital One Brooklyn Health, Co-chair for “Moms Who Lead With Love” a virtual advocacy support group and organizer and founder of the 13th Annual Juneteenth NYC Summit and Nationally recognized Festival. 

One of Athenia’s inspiration is her mother. Growing up in Brooklyn, Athenia’s mother faced barriers to participation as an immigrant in the educational system and that has fueled her ambassadorship with education not only for herself and family but also for others who do not have a voice. Athenia learned how critical it was to be able to access an equitable education, and recognized that the pandemic meant a gap in educational services and childhood development. Athenia acted fast with the help of her peers to put support in place for community members to improve the education, health, and wellbeing of families. 

Among other accolades, Athenia has mentored youth, married couples, and entrepreneurs to achieve their greatest potential.

Athenia, a psychology graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and a long time lover of education continues to take certificate programs and add to her long list of recognitions that are way too many to mention here. 

Lastly, Athenia was recognized by The Robin Hood Foundation in 2020 as a New York Hero recipient for the work done with United for Brownsville. In addition, Athenia received an Entrepreneur of the Year award from New York City for her amazing organization of the NYC Juneteenth event for 12 years running and her superb outreach work with the community.

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Martine Lissa Malivers is a pediatric home health nurse, research nurse and a child sexual abuse prevention specialist. She is a survivor of child sexual abuse and is passionate about stopping what happened to her in her youth from happening to other children.

She founded Touch: The Rebellion, Inc. (Touch) in 2011 in order to bring awareness of the prevalence of child sexual abuse in all races, cultures, classes, religions and communities as well as to create fun, engaging and age-appropriate programming that teaches predatory prevention to the community and empowers the youth. Touch encourages discussion that dispels myths, clears up confusion and breaks a societal taboo that has long posed a detriment to our children's well-being. They use a grassroots approach to reach the public directly and provide them with resources such as workshops and free parent packs filled with educational material on how to fight child sexual abuse and make its prevention a part of every child's daily life. Martine believes that the education and active prevention of child sexual abuse is a community responsibility and when fulfilled helps to create safer environments for the world's children. 

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Meika Joseph has been a Professional and Personal Performance Coach for over 12 years. Today, she is a THOUGHT HEALER. She co-owns a wellness studio in Brooklyn called, The Crystal Raven. As a thought healer, she heals the thoughts that dominant the mind and creates unwanted habits. She works with clients to turn their thoughts into Reality and give them power to create a new vision of life. Through her methods, she has guided hundreds of people to successfully break through otherwise impenetrable barriers in their professional and personal lives. Her experiences include: training and developing individuals to use tools that will interrupt thoughts on their own. Her clients range from parents, entrepreneurs, to CEOs. She has a profound commitment that all of humanity experiences the freedom, power, and clarity to be successful and fulfilled in their lives, to enjoy the ripple effect a new vision has on their families, work, personal creativity and communities.       

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Stacy McLean A.K.A YogishaCertified Yoga Instructor, Certified Pranic Healer and Lifestyle Coach has been practicing yoga since 2008 and teaching since 2012, graduating with the inaugural Celebrating the Call Training under Catherine Calderon. Stacy is a Certified Pranic Healer and has been practicing since 2015 under the tutelage and leadership of Master Jeffrey V. Noble, founder of the Noble Touch Healers. Stacy is passionate about empowering individuals through transformational coaching and healing techniques. Stacy is mother to a beautiful young man named Joshua who is Autistic and is thriving! Which is a large part of following her life path as a healer and advocate for parents who have children with Autism/special needs. 

In class, she loves to combine intentional healing, inspiration to deepen one’s practice and a spirit of joyfulness that spills all over class. Stacy seeks to help others heal in life by empowering mind, body and spirit. When you step off your mat her goal is that you take all the juice you got from class home with you to drink and share it with others! Stacy teaches all ages and people from all walks of life. Her Teaching ranges from Seniors, Chair Yoga, Special needs, prenatal, couples & intimacy yoga, students- pre k-12, parents and teachers in educational institutions. Stacy Leads healing rituals, ceremonies, sharing circles, workshops and retreats. It brings her much joy along with spending time with friends and family. She lives by the motto: "Don't let NObody steal your Joy!" Stacy knows her Joy stems from an everlasting well that is embedded deep within; and believes that You will be eternally blessed when you are a blessing to others.  

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Marilyn Perez has been a preschool teacher for about 12 years. She has worked with children ranging from 2-5 years old. Marilyn is certified in Childhood Trauma Informed Care and is currently enrolled in college to complete her certification to become a licensed teacher in New York.

Marilyn is passionate about working with children and their families. She advocates for children with special needs and provides support to families that need help navigating through the evaluation process. She is expanding her knowledge to become a Family Development program provider in hopes of someday opening a non-for profit where she can help parents build nurturing bonds with their children. This will be a place where families can learn about their child’s milestones while also addressing any delays. Marilyn is a walking brainstorm thinking of ways to reach parents and help them support their child’s academic needs.