VIDEO: I’ve Been There, Too:
What Makes MissHeard Media Unique
by Lindsey Turnbull
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Hey, happy 2019! I hope your year is off to a great start- and if you’re snowed in like me, I hope you’re warm and safe and enjoying your day off!
I’m Lindsey, the owner and founder of MissHeard Media, a media and live events company that empowers, inspires, and emboldens tween and teen girls.
I wanted to share my story with you all because I don’t know that I’ve shared this part yet! One of the reasons I wanted to start MissHeard is because I was a teen girl! I dealt with all the normal teen girl struggles, plus or minus a few. It was very challenging and lonely and difficult at times- and I made it through to the other side.
Growing up, I was a normal teenage girl. An only child. My home life wasn’t perfect. My parents did the best they could with what they had. My father could be a very difficult person to deal with. He owned his own business. My mom worked and traveled a lot for work. I had a lot of unsupervised time. I lived in a rural area that didn’t always support the things that I believed in or didn’t get where I was coming from.
To be honest, I could’ve easily gone somewhere else with my life. A totally different direction- and maybe not a safe one, a healthy one, or a positive one. Somehow, I made it through high school. I went to the University of Central Florida for college and graduate school. I actually did really well. While I was in college, I was one of the founding members of the Young Women Leaders program, which matched 7th grade girls with college mentors.
I loved it so much. Honestly, some days, it was the only thing, the best thing- that kept me coming back to school each semester. I didn’t want to let them down. I served as a big sister mentor, I worked one-on-one with a girl named Sadie. I hope she’s doing well. I served as a group facilitator and eventually as the program coordinator.
In this program, I learned so much about myself and really grew. It made me a better person, it gave me more perspective on some of the challenges I faced in middle and high school. It taught me how to supervise people, how to direct people, how to be a good group facilitator. People think it’s easy, and it’s not easy to stand in front of a room full of girls, who are staring at you, waiting for you to answer questions and entertain them. There’s always something going on! It’s definitely a skill! The program really allowed me to sharpen my leadership and public speaking skills.
I learned more about the unique challenges girls face, then and now.
One of the most important things to me, as a group facilitator is that groups feel connected and comfortable like a community. When I Was growing up, I didn’t really have a group of supportive girls. I didn’t feel like the girls in my school understood me, I didn’t understand them. It took a long time for me to unlearn and realize that we all probably were going through similar things.
So, when I facilitate live events now, I want to be sure that the girls understand each other, that they’re all speaking the same language. Maybe they don’t agree, maybe their lives don’t look the same, but ultimately, they understand that they’re going through things that every person goes through. They’re not alone. And they have a community- and even if it’s just for one afternoon, they feel like they belong.
It’s one of the best things about the work I do. Even if they only last for an afternoon event, a week at summer camp, or for a longer time- some of our TAB members are still in communication with each other 5 years later- it’s amazing to watch.
It’s a space I feel like I missed growing up and it’s something I strive to create in the MissHeard events and on the blog. It’s hard to describe in words how great it is to see in person. It’s amazing to watch and it makes me feel so proud.
That’s what makes MissHeard and me a little bit different from some other groups and events, is that community focus.
If you want a community- for yourself or your daughter- please book a call with me to learn more>> https://calendly.com/missheardmedia-lindsey
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