THE COMPANY THAT HEALS US
Women Friendships That Strengthen, Sustain, and Stretch Us
A few weeks ago, I was on the phone with Jo—a friend I met during my four years in Suffolk. We sang in the same choir, shared dinners, stories, and seasons of life. That afternoon, I needed her voice more than I realized.
I’d been circling the same worry all week. The kind of quiet ache only a mother understands. My younger son, now 24, has flown the nest—but I still find myself clinging to invisible threads. Threads of concern. Fear. Maybe even guilt.
Jo listened. Then, with her usual warmth and candor, she said:
“Ale, he’s a grown man. You’ve done your part. Let him live his path. This is your time now—to love your husband, to find joy, to come back to you.”
She didn’t give me advice. She gave me perspective.
When we hung up, I didn’t cry. I didn’t journal. I just... exhaled. Something inside me had loosened. My shoulders softened. My mind cleared. It felt like I had been held—not by answers, but by understanding.
We talk a lot about healing as if it’s some thunderclap of a moment.
But sometimes, healing is quiet.
It sounds like an old friend laughing down the line.
It looks like someone who remembers your essence when you’ve misplaced it.
This week, with Mother’s Day approaching—a day that can stir up so many emotions—I want to honor something equally maternal, equally sacred:\
The friendships between women that anchor us. That pull us gently back to ourselves when we drift.
💬 Real Friends Are Real Medicine
Science tells us what we already feel deep in our bones:
Women’s friendships protect our hearts, lower stress, boost immunity, and help us live longer.
But beyond the biology, there’s something far more sacred at play.
A true friend isn’t just a witness to your life—
She helps you carry it.
She’s the one who:
Hears the silence between your words,
Shows up without waiting for an invitation,
Makes you laugh when everything else feels like too much.
In a world that often tells women to compete, compare, or prove—
Real friendship says: you don’t have to perform here. You can just be.
Think about it:
Who is one woman who has helped you come home to yourself?
Text her. Thank her. Or simply hold her in your heart today.
Women Who Hold Us Up: Famous Faces, Real Friendships
Yes, these women are well-known. But what I admire most isn’t their fame—it’s the way they love each other. Their friendships feel real. Grounded. Generous. The kind that reminds me of Jo and me. We may live far apart now, but that thread between us is unbreakable. I know I can count on her. And she knows she can count on me. Isn’t that beautiful?
Here are six women whose friendships have not only endured—but uplifted them both.
🌿 Oprah Winfrey & Gayle King – A Lifelong Sisterhood
They met in 1976, both working in local TV in Baltimore. What started as a spontaneous sleepover after a snowstorm became a sisterhood that’s spanned nearly five decades. Through breakups, career leaps, and aging in the public eye, their friendship has remained steady, nourishing, and fiercely honest.
In a world that often misunderstands deep, platonic intimacy between women, Oprah and Gayle show us what it really means to hold space for each other. Oprah once said: “She’s the mother I never had. She’s the sister everybody would want. She’s the friend that everybody deserves.”
✨ Want to see their friendship in action?
Watch this moving and joy-filled conversation with Melinda French Gates, where Oprah and Gayle reflect on aging, friendship, transitions, and what it means to truly be there for one another:
🔗 Moments That Make Us: Oprah & Gayle on Friendship and Life’s Big Changes
It’s tender. Funny. Soulful. And full of those little truths that make you nod and whisper, “Yes. That’s what I needed to hear today.”
🌸 Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin – From Co-Stars to Soul Sisters
They met filming 9 to 5 in 1980, and their friendship has been going strong ever since. On-screen or off, they are a force—lifting each other up through activism, aging, and every twist of life. Jane has said their bond is built on laughter, but underneath is something fierce and loyal. Watching them together feels like watching two women walk each other home.
Want to see their friendship in full swing?
Watch Jane and Lily in this short, sharp, and laugh-out-loud conversation on The Late Show, where they talk about love, peyote, boundaries (or lack of them), and what it really takes to stay friends after 40 years.
🔗 How Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda Keep the Love Alive After 40 Years of Friendship
It’s irreverent, real, and refreshingly unfiltered.
Exactly the kind of friendship that doesn’t need perfection—just presence.
✨ Taylor Swift & Selena Gomez – Growing Up, Holding On
Their friendship started in 2008, and through the chaos of fame and personal change, they’ve stood by each other. Taylor has often called Selena her “best friend in the business” and describes her as “the little sister I never had.” What she admires most? Selena’s humor, her honesty, and her realness—qualities that don’t always survive fame.
In her own words:
“She’s been through so much. She’s a revelation. I’m so proud of her.”
Their bond reminds us that even in competitive worlds, real connection doesn’t have to be sacrificed.
Want a glimpse of what friendship looks like when it’s real, messy, and enduring?
This sweet, sincere video weaves together 11 minutes of Taylor and Selena just being themselves.
🎥 Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez Being Best Friends for 11 Minutes Straight
It’s not just cute—it’s true. And it reminds us that even in fast-changing worlds, some friendships only deepen.
THE QUIET POWER OF WORK
FINDING SUCCESS ON OUR OWN TERMS
Five years ago, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.
I left a steady teaching job at a high school—a job that looked safe and sensible on the outside—to create something of my own.
It wasn’t a bold leap with trumpets blaring. It was a quiet choice, born out of love and necessity.
My mom needed more care, and deep down, I knew I needed a different kind of life too.
One that allowed me to show up for her. One that let me show up for myself.
Starting my own language coaching business wasn’t easy. It meant stepping into uncertainty. But it also meant reclaiming something I had lost along the way: the freedom to build a life that fit me, not one I had to squeeze myself into.
Sometimes the quietest decisions are the ones that change everything.
As we step into May, I’ve been thinking about the different shapes that “work” can take.
Sometimes it’s punching a clock.
Sometimes it’s growing a garden.
Sometimes it’s carving out time for a dream nobody else can see yet.
Whatever work looks like for you right now, I hope this month you’ll give yourself the grace to honor it—even if it doesn’t fit the usual definition of “success.”
Even if it’s different.
Even if it’s still in the making.
Redefining Work on Our Terms
May 1 is International Workers' Day—a day often tied to protests, labor rights, and fair wages.
But let’s look at it a little differently this year.
All over the world, women are reshaping what “work” means.
Some are shifting to flexible hours to care for aging parents without losing themselves. Some are building tiny businesses from kitchen tables. Some are walking away from workplaces that drained them dry—and some are daring to start over completely after 40, trading titles for true peace of mind.
It’s not about a trophy or a magazine cover. It’s about the daily courage it takes to say, this is my life—and I get to choose how I spend it.
These aren't the splashy "I quit my job to travel the world" stories that flood social media. They're thoughtful recalibrations made by women who still need to pay mortgages, fund retirements, and show up for the people who depend on them.
Small, practical shifts. Quiet acts of strength.
And to me, that’s just as powerful as any parade or protest.
Women Who Found Their Own Definition of Success
These women have done it—proving that success doesn't have to shout to be real.
Louise Slyth
Corporate Professional to Freelance Communicator
In her mid-30s, Louise left a high-paying but stressful corporate job in Edinburgh, feeling unfulfilled despite external success. Driven by a long-held dream to live abroad, she and her husband moved to Barcelona for a year after she accepted a voluntary redundancy package. Embracing a slower pace of life, she found personal growth and renewal. Upon returning to Edinburgh, Louise re-entered the corporate world as a freelance communications specialist, enjoying a better work-life balance and newfound career flexibility.
If you'd like to learn more about her story, you can read it here: Business Insider.
You can also find out more about her freelance activity: LouiseSlyth.com.
Maggie Perkins
Educator to Corporate trainer
Maggie, a 32-year-old former teacher, left her career in education after eight years due to worsening working conditions and low pay. She transitioned to a position at Costco, where she advanced from a membership employee to a corporate trainer and content developer in the company's marketing department. Maggie now creates training materials and guides new employees, a role she finds fulfilling and reminiscent of teaching—without the excessive unpaid labor and emotional toll.
If you'd like to learn more about her story, you can read it here: People.com.
Maureen Chiquet
Redefining Success at the Top
Maureen started her career in marketing at L'Oréal, later helping launch Old Navy and leading Banana Republic. In 2003, she stepped into a big role at Chanel—and just a few years later, she became the company's global CEO.
She helped Chanel grow and strengthen its luxury presence around the world. But in 2016, after some differences about the company's future direction, Maureen decided it was time to walk a different path.
Instead of jumping straight into another high-powered job, she took a step back to reflect on what real leadership—and real success—meant to her.
She shared her journey in her book Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership, and Success on Our Own Terms, encouraging a new kind of leadership rooted in empathy, collaboration, and authenticity.
Her story is a reminder that even at the very top, you can choose a new definition of success—and it can start with listening to yourself.
By the way, the image of Maureen is a self-portrait she painted herself. She’s also a talented artist, creating beautiful, expressive works of her own.
Ava DuVernay
Trusting Her Own Timing
Ava didn’t even pick up a camera until she was 32, after years of working behind the scenes in film publicity.
Without formal training, she self-financed her first feature film—quietly carving out her own path in an industry where few looked like her.
She became the first Black woman to direct a film (Selma) nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, not by following someone else’s timeline, but by trusting her own.
Her story is a reminder that it’s never too late to choose yourself—and to build something lasting in your own way.
If you'd like to hear more from Ava herself, you can read this beautiful interview where she talks about her early love of film, why she cherishes silence, and what it really means to lead with care: The Guardian.
What About You?
What strikes me about these women isn’t the drama of their choices—it’s the clarity. The way they paused, looked honestly at what mattered most to them, and had the quiet courage to shape their work lives around it.
Take a moment to check in with yourself:
✨ What parts of your work truly energize you?
✨ What parts quietly drain you?
✨ If you could reshape your work life—without judgment, without outside noise—what would you change?
✨ And what’s one small shift you could start making today to honor what really matters to you?
THE MYTH OF THE “LATE BLOOMER”
WHY TIMING ISN’T THE POINT
Still Unfolding? Good.
There’s a strange kind of clarity that comes after loss. When my mom passed, something shifted in me. Her absence wasn’t just quiet—it was cavernous. And in that quiet, the real questions started to rise:
What do I want for the rest of my life?
How do I want to spend the years I have left?
I’ve been teaching languages for years—it’s work I love. It keeps me curious, connected, grounded. But after losing Mom, I felt this ache for something more. Not more in a flashy way. More in a true sense.
A deeper sense of purpose.
A reason to use my voice beyond the classroom.
That’s when Women Rising Strong took root. I started writing about women like my mother—steady, wise, quietly powerful. Women who remind us that life doesn’t have to happen fast to be meaningful. Growth isn’t a race. It’s something we lean into, sometimes only after life cracks us open.
Now, with my memoir in the works, this newsletter in your inbox, and blog articles that feel more like letters from the heart, I’m learning that blooming late isn’t a flaw—it’s a feature. It means you’ve lived. It means there’s depth behind the bloom.
So if you’re just now starting to understand your own power, or asking, What else is there for me?—know this:
You’re not behind. You’re right on time.
And above all, you’re not alone.
We’re all unfolding, one season at a time.
Stories That Took Their Time
We often hear about people who “made it” young—the prodigies, the wunderkinds, the overnight successes. But what about the rest of us? What about the ones who need a little more life, a little more mess, a little more time?
This week, I’ve been thinking about women whose lives didn’t follow a straight line. Women who kept going—quietly, steadily—until something clicked. Or maybe nothing clicked. Maybe they just kept showing up until the world finally noticed.
1.Ann Dowd – A Masterclass in Patience and Purpose
For decades, Ann was the kind of actor you’d recognize but might not name—steadily delivering compelling performances in films like Philadelphia and Garden State. It wasn't until her 60s that the world truly took notice, when she stepped into the formidable role of Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale. This performance earned her an Emmy in 2017 and a Critics' Choice Award in 2018, marking a well-deserved recognition of her talent.
She calls that role “a gift.” Not a reward. A gift.
2.Mary Wesley – A Late Bloomer with a Sharp Pen
Mary Wesley didn’t rush. She lived a full, complicated life—war, love, loss—before she ever sat down to write fiction for adults. At 70, after the death of her husband, she published her first novel, Jumping the Queue. It was bold, unexpected, and full of the kinds of characters most writers don’t touch, especially not at that age.
And then she kept going. Ten bestsellers in two decades. Her books weren’t cozy or polite—they were sharp, unfiltered, and often scandalous, touching on everything from sex and death to human messiness in all its forms. She didn’t write to please. She wrote because she had something to say.
And when she didn’t anymore? She stopped. “If you haven’t got anything to say, don’t say it,” she said.
Now that’s a woman who knew her mind. And her late start didn’t hold her back—it gave her voice more grit, more clarity, more truth.
3.Laura Ingalls Wilder – A Life Lived Before It Was Written
Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t rush into writing. She lived a life full of rich experiences—growing up on the frontier, teaching in one-room schoolhouses, and raising a family—before she ever put pen to paper. It wasn't until she was 65 that she published Little House in the Big Woods, the first in a series that would become a cornerstone of American literature.
Her stories, drawn from her own life, are filled with the simple joys and hardships of pioneer life. They remind us that it's never too late to share our experiences and that the most profound stories often come from a life well-lived.
Your timeline is yours alone.
What’s something you’ve put off because you thought it was too late?
Now ask yourself—what if it wasn’t?
What if everything you’ve lived through so far was just preparing you to begin now, at your pace, on your terms?
When We’re the Ones Who Stay
Honoring Steadiness in a World That Glorifies Escape
We hear a lot about the women who leave.
The bold departures. The brave new starts.
She quits the job. Ends the relationship. Moves to a new city.
And we cheer her on. We call it freedom. Reinvention. Courage.
But we don’t talk enough about the women who stay.
The ones who choose not to run.
The ones who hold the line.
The ones who love in place.
I remember when my mom got sick with cancer. I was living abroad.
My life was elsewhere—my work, my friends, my rhythm.
But when the chance came to return to Italy and be by her side, I didn’t think twice.
After all she had done for me, being there for her felt like the most natural choice in the world.
Was it always easy? No. It was hard.
Watching her in pain was brutal.
And caring for someone you love through illness pulls something deep from you.
But it also gives something back—
a kind of closeness you can’t build any other way.
And I didn’t do it alone.
My three sisters were there, too.
We held each other up.
We made it through the hardest days by leaning in and leaning on.
So here’s to the ones who stay.
The woman who remains in her marriage—
not out of fear, but because she believes in the messy, sacred work of building a life with someone.
The daughter who comes home to care for her aging parent.
The neighbor who tends to her small corner of the world, quietly, faithfully, with love.
The woman who roots herself in one town, one family, one rhythm—
and says simply: I’m staying.
Maybe you’ve been that woman.
Maybe you are her now.
You didn’t stay because you couldn’t imagine another life.
You stayed because this one mattered.
Because love asked you to.
Because something inside whispered:
There’s beauty here—even if no one else sees it.
And maybe, at times, you’ve wondered if that made you less brave.
But I believe it makes you strong in a way few understand.
Staying isn’t giving up—it’s holding on.
To people.
To purpose.
To place.
And there is deep power in that.
🌿 4 Women Who Chose to Stay—and Changed Everything
In a world that often glorifies departure, these four women chose to remain. Their decisions to stay—rooted in love, conviction, and purpose—transformed their communities and left lasting legacies.
🏛️ Aziza Chaouni: Breathing Life Back into Fez
Aziza, a Moroccan architect and engineer, returned to her hometown of Fez with a vision. Where others saw decay in the ancient medina (one of the world's oldest urban centers), she saw potential. The Fez River, once polluted and forgotten, became the heart of her restoration efforts. Through her dedication, the river and the medina have been revitalized, blending heritage with sustainable design. Her work didn’t just restore buildings—it brought back life, stories, and dignity to a place long overlooked.
📖 Marilynne Robinson: Illuminating the Sacred in the Ordinary
Marilynne Robinson writes about ordinary life like it’s sacred. In her novels—Gilead, Housekeeping, Lila, Home—her characters stay. They stay in their marriages, their faith, their quiet towns. They tend to love, memory, forgiveness. Her words invite us to slow down and notice the holiness woven into everyday things.
While literary trends chased irony and detachment, Marilynne didn’t follow. She stayed with what felt true: the quiet power of grace, the dignity of small lives, the ache and beauty of being human.
💬 Kate Bowler: Embracing Life's Uncertainties
Kate didn’t expect to get cancer in her 30s. But she did—and everything changed. She stayed present. In her body. In the fear. In the messy, uncertain middle. And she wrote about it.
Her podcast Everything Happens and books like No Cure for Being Human don’t offer fixes or silver linings. Instead, they offer something more honest: comfort without platitudes, faith without guarantees. Her work reminds us that life can be beautiful and brutal at the same time—and that we’re not alone in it.
✝️ Sister Helen Prejean: Advocating from Within
Sister Helen, a Catholic nun from Louisiana, could’ve stayed in the comfort of conventional ministry. But she didn’t. After witnessing an execution in 1984, she chose to step into harder places—walking alongside people on death row and the families of those they harmed.
She didn’t leave the Church. She stayed—and used her voice to challenge it from the inside. Through her work and her book Dead Man Walking, she showed what compassion looks like when it costs something.
💭 Questions for Reflection
Sometimes the greatest growth doesn’t come from leaving—it comes from looking more closely at where we already are.
Consider these gentle prompts:
• What have I built by staying? What’s grown stronger because I remained?
• Have I ever questioned that choice? What did that inner dialogue teach me?
• What does commitment mean to me right now—not just in love, but in life? What am I choosing to tend with my presence?
