Pass It On: The Power of Women Supporting Women

Makena: Hello, hello.Hi there.

Gigi: Hi, Makena. Hello, everyone.

Makena: Nice to see you, Gigi.

Gigi: It’s always so funny when we’re on here. I see you sitting right beside me. Looks like we’re in person together.

Makena: It does, it does. Yeah. So we have a good topic today.

Yeah. Yes, we do. So it was just International Women’s Day a few days ago, and so Gigi had the idea to really talk about that. So why don’t you start, Gigi, about what International Women’s Day is about, a little bit about where it came from, because I think that really leads into our topic today beautifully.

Gigi: Yeah, I’m just going to read it. I got it from ChatGPT. So International Women’s Day began in the early 1900s, tied to women’s push for better working conditions, voting rights, and equality. It became official in 1911 with rallies in several countries. 

Over time, it evolved into a global celebration of women’s achievements while still spotlighting ongoing struggles for gender equality. Today, it’s a day to honor the women who’ve paved the way, raise awareness about what still needs changing, and celebrate women’s contributions everywhere. I love that.

Makena: It’s beautiful. I had no idea it’d been—yeah, I had no idea it’d been going on for so long. I thought it was a new thing in the age of social media that took off, but that’s awesome.

Gigi: Yeah, a long time, especially for women’s rights. Now women have been fighting for it for a long time.

Makena: Absolutely. So, Gigi, do you want to kind of share your thoughts about this topic?

Gigi: Yeah. So, when I reflected on it, when I was thinking about it, a couple of people reached out and just said, “Happy International Women’s Day.” I thought what an amazing thing it is, how we impact each other and how we learn from one another. 

So I started thinking about just in my life, the women who have had some kind of guidance, guided me in some way, or mentors, or women just who really supported me. Just to really shout out for that, because I think that is so important for women to do for one another. More and more, you see that there are just amazing communities of women all over the world now.

But I do believe that even with our current situation and economic situation and everything that’s going on, it’s even more important than ever for women to really come together and see how we can do good with each other and how we can bond and build together to change the world and also help put peace on this planet. So, yeah, I love that.

Makena: So I think you’re going to share some of your stories and I’ll mention some of mine in terms of women who have impacted us. Not only as mentors, but sometimes also just really giving a leg up or supporting in an important time in our lives. 

And then we’d love for you, listening, to do the same—to first reflect on who have those women been in your path who have done something like that for you, and is there any way you want to thank them or honor that? That’s a great starting point.

Gigi: Yeah, and I think the thanking, that’s what the day is about too, right? The acknowledgement. But I do think that special reaching out and thanking can also be really, really special too.

Makena: Yeah. So, what was one of your early experiences?

Gigi: Yeah, one of my early ones that really stands out is when I was, I think, about ten to maybe thirteen or fourteen. I was part of a program, and it was a modeling— I actually went to a school for modeling when I was a little bit older, but at this department store, there was a woman who led it. I remember her name: Lynn Ballard. 

She was the person who ran the modeling. We did fashion shows, we did etiquette, we did all kinds of things, and she really took an interest in me. She let me basically help her lead. I was put in situations where I set up the classes, and then I’d go and help with the fashion shows and everything, helping the other girls. So many different things—we did mannequin modeling, runway modeling, she taught us how to do the turns and everything. 

But her interest in me gave me so much confidence at that time, and she was such a role model because she was extremely elegant, very poised, and extremely kind. I never—I’ve thought about that—but I think it was a really important point for me. It gave me somebody outside of my world or my family, someone who really believed in me.

Makena: I love that story. It’s awesome. And then you shared about—we were talking before this—you were telling me about the woman we talk about in our book, right? Who early on really was the reason you got introduced to this kind of work, right?

Gigi: Yes. So June Pinnock, and June, if you ever listen to this, I’ve reached out to June. In fact, I met June when I moved back to Houston. I had two kids. I was divorced at the time. Went to work at a company called Houston Network, and I met all the people, and then I met June. June was this amazing bright light, talked about living her passion in 1985. 

She’s the one who introduced me to the first workshop I did. She gave me a lot of encouragement. She really pushed me to go into it. She was super fun, still is super fun, and a very wise woman. My interaction with her is the reason why I do what I do today. She interjected into my life in a huge way. It’s so funny because I didn’t talk to her for twenty-five years, and then I saw her online and she had a beautiful retreat center, very eclectic. We ended up going there and doing a retreat for women. I had talked to her, and so she set that up, and it was beautiful. Remember, in St. Thomas, right?

Makena: I can’t remember. I always get St. Thomas and St. Martin mixed up.

Gigi: It was St. Thomas. Yeah, we were on the edge of a cliff in this glass room. It was absolutely stunning. So she’s another one. And then again, I’ve had so many, even clients that have been with me for years and years who have just done so much for me and introduced me to amazing people. Katya, who, when I was doing retreats for so many years and then stopped for a couple of years, she said, “I’ll get women together,” and she really started me back to doing retreats in Hawaii again—Arts of a Woman. So many of those times when women have lifted me up and supported me.

Makena: Yeah. And for those of you who have read the book, we just put out our book—some of you may know that, some of you may not—called “The Wisdom That Raised Me: A Daughter’s Journey into Wholeness, Wisdom, and Womanhood.” We mentioned June in the book but not by name. We changed everyone’s names except for ours, and my husband’s. But we talk about that story, and it’s so interesting. 

I was thinking as you were sharing, Gigi, that not only is that a great story of a woman empowering another woman, but it’s also such an interesting reflection of how one moment can change your life. 

If you hadn’t gone to that seminar, you would have had a completely different life—forty years of a career, several of your children, many, many things that came out of that one moment in time. So also for people who are just sitting there thinking about wanting to make a change, you just never know in life. That can happen at any point; you could have a pivotal turning point. I think that’s really cool to think about, and that it only takes one connection sometimes.

Gigi: Yeah. We have to mention another one—a woman from Germany who absolutely opened up Germany and a lot of Europe. I had already been in Switzerland doing some of my work, and she ended up going to Switzerland for an evening class, meeting one of our coaches and trainers, and then she flew into Austin and worked with us. 

Then she went back and said, “Hey, I’ll bring you guys into Germany.” That one moment again, oh my gosh, opened up so many doors.

Makena: We still have so many German clients. I speak German because of that.

Gigi: And a lot of my career has been with Germany and Germans, and my first book was published there. So you’re so right, Makena. I was talking to a client about that the other day, and she was saying something about how things like that happen. 

I said, you know, at my age and all I’ve lived, I can tell you, you can never say, “Oh, that’ll never happen,” because ten years from now, you’ll go, “How on earth did that ever happen?” It just seemed impossible. Someone that’s sitting much further in life can tell you—you have to keep your options open and keep seeing yourself moving forward or seeing the dreams you want. That’s a different topic, but I think it’s important to talk about. 

I think it’s also important because some of the interventions in my life have been where people have seen something in me, like this teacher back when I was modeling, and really pushed me to go in this direction. 

And, Makena, you’ve been one of those people for me as well. Hugely, hugely. Think about it—all the times you’ve supported me. A lot of times I would have quit a long time ago if it wasn’t for you, even though you quit a bunch of times.

Makena: I think we both kind of quit here and there, but we managed to come back around and stick with it.

Gigi: But your belief in me and everything, oh my gosh. Like we said in the book, we’ve both been the wind beneath each other’s wings in many ways and held each other up—hugely.

Makena: Yeah. Because obviously you are my biggest mentor and I wrote a whole book about it. If you guys want to hear those stories, you can read the book and I just recorded the audiobook, so that’ll be coming out in a couple of months. I can tell you that is a marathon for your vocal cords, but it was fun. I was trying to think about other people and things along the way. 

Someone that came to mind was, in university I definitely had men and women as professors who were influential to me. Particularly when we’re talking about women, my Spanish professor, Professor Gomez—she was just such a supporter. I don’t even know exactly how to describe it, but I was really curious and open; I helped put on events for the languages department and I think she just saw that I was open and we developed a relationship, which was really supportive for me in my university years. 

I ended up winning the award for the languages department, and I’m sure she had something to do with that. I’m grateful for that. She’s awesome—super awesome. I still see her on social media.

And then one that came to mind really strongly was when I was in my copywriting career. In the last couple of years that I was doing copywriting, I was really burning out and working with all these different clients, always kind of having to get that next client. Then there came a connection to a woman named Destiny—which I love that name because it was so perfect. 

She was like, “Hey, I have different clients I work with.” So she tested me out on copywriting, ended up liking what I did so much that she was like, “Can I hire you to do the copywriting for all of my clients?” She just referred that business to me. I asked, “Do you want me to send you a referral fee?” She said, “No, just pass on the best rate to my clients.”

So in my last couple of years—apart from the very, very end—I almost wrote exclusively for her clients. It was awesome because I didn’t have to think about marketing myself, I just got to do my work and do it really well. We had deadlines and developed a great working relationship. She was pivotal because that gave me so much stability and grounding and experience. Some of her clients were my favorite clients. In fact, one of them ended up hiring my sister Brianna, your daughter Brianna.

Gigi: That’s right.

Makena: Her name was Colette Baron-Reid. And she is an amazing spiritual intuitive and oracle card expert. She ended up hiring my sister; they worked together for years. 

So, again, you never know where one connection can have this ripple effect that goes out even to other people in your life. Those are a couple that come to mind for me.

I think you have a quote too, do you want to share about this, right? From a song.

Gigi: Yes. It’s not really about this particular thing, but it is about passing it on, which I think is so important. If you look at the gifts or the things you’ve learned or the way people have seen you and what that’s brought out in you, like the belief I had in Makena and the belief she had in me—honestly, that’s been our foundation for our growth in the last seven years or so, along with, like I said, a handful of clients who have been with me for over twelve to fifteen years and have also just been beside me, encouraged me, and shared so many things. I think it’s so important to turn back around and to share.

Makena: Okay, so this is a song by Tim McGraw called “Humble and Kind,” and he says at the end:

“Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you. When you get where you’re going, don’t forget, turn back around and help the next one in line. Always stay humble and kind.”

Gigi: Yeah, and I just, I love that because I think that’s just so true. I think about that all the time, like, how do you give? I’m always trying to give what I have, to share it. And also the gifts that have been shared with me through my life and career. How do you do that? In what little ways? I’m always trying to do it in almost every conversation I have, not so much just coaching, just supporting people or giving them confidence or giving them a different perspective or something to where they go out and they’re like, “Oh, yeah.”

I have to just share this quickly. I had that just a few days ago with my daughter Mariah. I was talking with her and she shared with me a story about herself. When she shared it, she was sharing it so I could learn from it, and it almost broke a spell off of me. I feel like when she said it, I woke up, like I was in a daze or a trance.

Makena: How do you explain “broke a spell”?

Gigi: I think it’s like, if you get caught up on a thought or a stress. I’ve had a lot of things breaking down in my life recently and I was actually spiraling in a certain direction. When she said something to me, it made me stop and think, and go, “Oh my gosh, she’s so right.” It just made me calm down completely. It was amazing.

Makena: I think that’s such a great example because, like you said, she was sharing just a story from her experience. She wasn’t telling you, “You should do this,” or giving you advice. She was just like, “This is what happened for me,” and you got something from there. I think that’s awesome. 

And I love that you brought her up because she was actually one of the other ones I wanted to mention. Mariah has been a huge person in my life in so many ways, at so many different times. In the book, I talk about healing the mother and father wound. I remember very clearly, when I was going through all the parts of healing the father wound for myself and my relationship to our dad, I remember a lot of conversations with you and a lot of conversations with Mariah. She’s just such a great deep listener. It was really helpful and healing. 

She’s done that for me all through my life. Then, hugely in the journey to motherhood, she’s been pivotal—helping me with so many things and answering so many questions. For me, a lot of mine have come through family, which is such a gift.

Gigi: That’s amazing. Mariah, for me too—she has an incredible amount of wisdom. So much wisdom. 

Yes, you as the listener, think about who have been the women in your life and what have they shared. And then, how can you turn around and share yourself, right? Makena had some different ways that you were thinking they could share.

Makena: Like you said, I think it’s in every moment, in every conversation, or if you see someone—I do the same thing you do, Gigi. I’m always looking to see how I can be in service to people, even in small ways. We don’t know—they could be huge for people. 

As you were talking, I thought about my mother-in-law. She brings up things all the time that I said to her and I barely remember saying them, but sometimes they really stick with her and have been helpful in different times and seasons.

When I’m with her, as with everybody, I’m always looking to see how I can be in service—whether it’s sharing a perspective or a resource. I think that’s the biggest thing: consciously looking. If you haven’t thought about this, are there women in your life or young women or girls who you can support, big or small? Not thinking it has to be this huge thing is part of it.

If you feel called to mentor, that’s great, but it doesn’t need to be something that takes a lot of time. It’s just more about acting on the impulse when those opportunities come up and seeing how you can support people. Do you see anything else there?

Gigi: No, I think simple things, just to start to notice how you can pass it on. Many women who are listening are probably already doing that, but making a conscious choice to do it and maybe see even more ways you have things that would be so valuable for the younger generation, or for a friend. 

I had a dear friend here in Houston that I reconnected with recently— we were not close many years ago, but she’s become such a great friend. Her daughter reached out and said, “Thank you for being such a great friend to my mom.” I was like, “Oh my gosh, she is such a good friend to me.” Just being a really good friend to somebody, it’s reciprocal.

Makena: And I was going to say one last thing, which is the other way to go about this: think about areas in which you have skills or strengths, or in which you feel energy-rich or resourced, and it feels like it would be easy for you to give from a place of overflow. 

For example, you and I both have our work—we have our skill and strength as coaches—so of course a lot of how we end up doing this with people is by saying something in a conversation, or dropping something in, because we know how to do that in such a way that it doesn’t feel like we’re just giving people advice or telling them what they should do. That’s one of our strengths.

Another strength of mine is health; I know a lot about health. I’ve been through a lot in my health journey, and I’m always looking with the people around me to see if there’s something I can share with them or a resource. If I talk to someone and they have something going on, if they’re open to it, I’ll share resources or ideas and they can take it or leave it. I have a lot to share in that area and I’m happy to have that conversation. It’s also something that’s easy for me. If you know a ton about finances and you’re great with investing, maybe you could share that in some way and help lift up other women.

So that’s another way to think about it—where are you strong, skilled, or it’s just easy for you, but it’s a challenging area for others? How could you give back with that skill or strength?

Gigi: Yeah, and I love that you made the point that you’re resourced and have the energy—so you’re not doing it if it’s taking from you, which is great. Yes, awesome distinction there.

Makena: All right, well, I guess that’s pretty much it. Happy International Women’s Day, everyone—a belated one.

Gigi: And we will see you in the next episode.

Makena: Acknowledge ourselves for how far we’ve come.

Gigi: Yes, absolutely. All right, see you next time.

Makena: Bye-bye.