From Hollywood to Empowerment: Amy and Nancy Harrington's Passionista Path w/ Julie DeLucca-Collins
Passionistas Project Founders Amy and Nancy Harrington, chat with Power Passionista Julie DeLucca-Collins to share their journey to launching The Passionistas Project Sisterhood. They take a deep dive into their inclusive sisterhood where passion-driven women come to get support, find their purpose and feel empowered to transform their lives and change the world.
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE.
Julie DeLucca-Collins is the Founder and CEO of Go Confidently Services and the host of the popular Casa DeConfidence Podcast®. As a Business and Life Strategist Coach, Julie helps women business owners launch or grow their businesses, get clients, be productive, and achieve their dreams. Julie helps her clients create simple habits to achieve goals and change lives. Julie is also the best-selling author of the newly released book Confident You (simple habits to live the life you've imagined). Julie is a sought-after public speaker trainer and course creator. She is certified as a CBT Holistic Coach and Tiny Habits Certified. She is also certified as a Social Emotional Learning Facilitator and has completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification.
Amy and Nancy founded The Passionistas Project out of a deep desire to empower women around the world. Both co-founders walked away from high-profile jobs in Hollywood to work together. Amy was the Vice President of Visual Effects and Post Production for all feature films at Warner Bros, working on movies like the "Harry Potter," "Matrix" and "Batman" franchises. Nancy left the ad agency where she created Academy Award campaigns for Miramax. Now Amy and Nancy shine a light on the positive stories of self-identified women and non-binary people through their media company. They have conducted over 1600 interviews including red carpet events and more than 65 one-on-one oral histories for The Interviews for the Television Academy Foundation with pop culture icons like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Laverne Cox, Carol Burnett, and many others. They have also produced interviews for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame including a sit-down with Mick Jagger. They were handpicked by OWN to be part of the VIP digital press corps covering "Oprah's Lifeclass" during Winfrey's tour of the U.S. and Toronto. Amy and Nancy founded The Passionistas Project in 2018 and through their podcast, online sisterhood and Power of Passionistas summit, they strive to inspire women to follow their passions and join forces in the fight for equality for all.
LINKS
ON THIS EPISODE
[00:03:24] Amy and Nancy Harrington on their selfish dream
[00:05:20] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the journey to creating The Passionistas Project sisterhood
[00:07:46] Amy and Nancy Harrington on their biggest motivation in moving forward with The Passionistas Project sisterhood
[00:11:50] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the catalyst that propelled them forward in starting The Passionistas Project sisterhood
[00:15:25] Amy and Nancy Harrington on Passionistas being supportive of each other
[00:18:06] Amy and Nancy Harrington on how they overcome imposter syndrome
[00:20:39] Amy and Nancy Harrington on their sisterhood’s Wall of Women’s Wins
[00:22:32] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the most significant barrier that women face
[00:30:11] Amy and Nancy Harrington on who The Passionistas Project sisterhood is not for
[00:33:34] Amy and Nancy Harrington on their roots and wings
[00:38:28] Amy and Nancy Harrington on their values and the values of the membership
[00:41:41] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the content and opportunities offered in The Passionistas Project sisterhood
[00:48:02] Amy and Nancy Harrington on Power Passionista Danay Escanaverino
[00:51:15] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the lessons they’ve learned building The Passionistas Project sisterhood
[00:53:47] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the Power Passionistas
[00:54:42] Amy and Nancy Harrington on the legacy of The Passionistas Project sisterhood
FULL TRANSCRIPT
JULIE: Welcome back, everybody. My name is Julie DeLucca-Collins, and I have the pleasure of having some of my favorite people with me today. And the honor today is for me to interview Amy and Nancy from The Passionistas Project, which both of these two sisters are the founders. And The Passionistas Project.
In case you don't know him, out of a deep desire to empower women around the world, both co-founders walked away from high profile jobs in Hollywood to work together. Amy was the Vice President of Visual Effects and post-production for all feature films at Warner Bros., working in movies like Harry Potter, The Matrix, Batman franchises, which I haven't seen a lot of them. Sorry, Amy.
But Nancy left the ad agency where she created Academy Award campaigns for Miramax. And now Amy and Nancy shine a light on positive stories of self-identified women and non-binary people through their media company. They have conducted over 1600 interviews, including red carpet events and more than 65 one-on-one oral histories for the interviews for the Television Academy Foundation, with pop culture icons like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Laverne Cox, Carol Burnett and many others.
They have also produced interviews for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including a sit down with Mick Jagger. They were hand-picked by Owen to be a part of the VIP digital press corps covering Oprah's life class during Winfrey's tour in the U.S. and Toronto, Amy and Nancy founded The Passionistas Project in 2018, and through their podcast online Sisterhood and Power of Passionsitas Summit they strive to inspire women to follow their passions and join forces in the light for equality for all. Welcome, everyone, and welcome, Nancy and Amy.
NANCY: Thank you. So excited to be here. Thank you for being here, Julie. It's fun to celebrate and have the tables turned on us.
JULIE: It's I love turning the tables and on somebody else's show. This the takeover here of this podcast is a very fun endeavor for me. I've had the pleasure of doing life with both you ladies since 2020. And what a gift 2020 brought to all of us that we've fought to these incredible relationships. And in the process of getting to know you, in the process of seeing the work that you do, I have learned so much of the passion because there's no other word for it, right?
The passion that you have to really help to support create a platform for women. And and anybody who identifies as the woman now, I have a question for both of you. And this question is a little bit of off the reservation. So are you ready for it?
AMY: Ready.
JULIE: All right. What is your selfish dream?
AMY: My selfish dream? You to go now and I go. I feel like mine's right there. My selfish dream involves a villa in Italy in the middle of nowhere.
I would say to my boyfriend, Let's go to Italy. You can go do whatever you want to do. Just drop me off at a gas station so I can get something to eat. Because one of the best sandwiches I ever had was in a gas station in Italy. I just want to go eat.
My selfish dream is we build this community so that we thrive and that every woman in it thrives and that we have enough money to retire in Italy in a villa with all the people we love visiting or in their own separate structures.
JULIE: Well, I was going to say I would looking at.
NANCY: This is that dream, my dream actually, that is the first thing that popped into my head, especially because we're both learning Italian and trying to become Italian citizens. But my dream is not Villa compound compound.
NANCY: I like this so that you have to take care of our own space. But we're right there.
JULIE: Yeah, like how you're thinking, ladies? Because I have been on there as well. I've been telling Dan, Dan, we're buying a house in Italy, and I think that we have to dream big. We have to be able to just shoot for the stars. And I know that both of you have worked in really large projects in your career, and now you are giving birth to this new endeavor.
And it's evolved and changed throughout the years. And right now you are are really starting this journey. Tell me a little bit about what is the journey for those who maybe are just tuning in for the first time in or maybe haven't really heard or haven't been paying attention? What is this journey that you're entering into?
NANCY: So this this latest part of the journey is what you're asking.
JULIE: Yeah, this latest part of the journey. What is the latest part of the journey?
NANCY: The latest part of the journey is we today officially launched our passion business project, Sisterhood, and it is an online community where women can come to to get education, to get resources to network and to just be heard and seen and included and loved. We we have heard, you know, we've had The Passionistas Project now for seven years, and we've heard from women over and over and over again that they wish they had what we have.
We have an unbreakable bond. We have 100% loyalty, thousand percent trust. We have each other's backs, we support each other. And we want to share that with everyone else. So that's that's what this is all about. This is about welcoming everyone into our sisterhood. And this new platform is amazing. We have a free version and a premium version.
We also one of the things we really want to stress right from the get go is that we have a scholarship program so that if people can't afford the membership but really want to be a part of the community, just let us know there's an application on on the site and you can apply. And for everyone who buys a one year membership, somebody else gets a free one.
So so there's there's plenty of opportunity for everyone to be included. And that's our dream.
AMY: And one thing to the… Can I add anything?
JULIE: I love it. Yeah, please.
Lauren just pointed out that George Clooney's villa in Lake Como is for sale, so I like that. Put that out there.
JULIE: I love that. It's a very good. And by the way, selfish dreams are something that a lot of women stay away from having. And I think that this is one of the reasons I wanted to open up this conversation, because the sisterhood is about empower, bring each other to dream big, go after our dreams, and really be able to bring alongside our business besties or sisters so that we can all rise together.
What would you say is the biggest motivator or driver that inspires you to keep going in this journey?
AMY: Well, in a that's a really important point. I mean, I think that we've struggled along the way with the concept of earning money, doing what we're doing, because as you know, we focus a lot on women from marginalized communities. So that's us where women over 50, it's AAPI, you know, black women, just women with disabilities, Latina women, indigenous women.
We really want to bring everybody together to create one larger kind of force to fight for our rights. And I think that we thought it wasn't right to make money off of doing that. But we realized that the only way we can keep going is if we earn a profit and have a thriving business. And so we're setting up this community with affiliate links for power fashionistas, ultimately for members, so that as we grow and thrive, everybody else can thrive with us.
And, you know, I think the importance, the motivator is we see so much injustice, and that's across all three pillars of what we're doing. It's not just the social impact, which is an important part of our community. There's clearly so much injustice against women in the social impact space, but in the business space, women get, you know, white women get 2% of the funding, venture capital funding.
Women of color get far less than that. So how can we be having a more equitable society in terms of business growth? You know, in personal growth, women get depressed more than men. Women don't have the support systems that they need in place. So for us, it's every day just knowing we have struggles and we're super lucky, really fortunate people.
There are a lot of people who are struggling even more than us, and we want to help make the world a better place for them. And also just, you know, we really have come to love all the women in our community and we just want to know more of you. We want and we want you to know each other. So that's what drives us every day to do what we're doing.
NANCY: And I would add that every single day, no matter what mood kind of mood I'm in, we talk to a new woman and we get off the call like, my God, she's doing that. She's overcome that. That is amazing. Everyone needs to know about her. And that's what drives me, like just these amazing stories. We talked to a woman yesterday who has suffered decades of abuse and setbacks and bad marriages and unsupportive family members, and she's thriving.
And it's and she's out there coaching other people so that they can get past their challenges. And it's just so inspiring. And I just want to share that with everyone.
JULIE: Yeah. You know, I think that you alluded to where you have been marginalized, and I think that for many of us women, we don't realize that that has happened to us. We don't realize that there are spaces where we're still not looked upon as someone who can be an equal in. And currently we keep seeing some of the areas in which women have made progress, kind of take a couple steps back.
You alluded also to the three pillars. I want to talk about the three pillars, but before that, what is the biggest catalyst that or your own personal struggles or journey that made you do this leap to creating this platform or to creating the membership, to creating a space for us to thrive together?
NANCY: I think that it was, you know, we all came out of COVID and we the world became so isolated, you know, and I'm an introvert. I love my alone time. I, you know, I thrive on it. But even I was feeling like, wait a minute, I need people, you know, I need human contact again. We were so isolated for so long.
And I think and we we came out of COVID and we're back to normal, but we're still a very isolated world now. I think we Laura, we all learned during COVID how much we can do on our computers in our homes. We're not going out in the world as much. And I just crave community, you know, And I think a lot of people do. And so to me, I think that was the biggest catalyst was knowing that we all we all need each other, you know, and we're being separated more and more and more and more.
So let's come back together. And this is a good way to do it. And we're still online and still virtual and, you know, you can participate as much or as little as you want, but we're here and we're here to build a community with all of you.
JULIE: Yeah. Amy, do you have anything to add on that? Because I think that this is such an important part of this conversation.
AMY: Yeah. I think the other end of it is it also technology based like we're living in a world where everybody's using a AI to generate their content and to streamline in their online presences. And this is a space where the robots aren't going to win, like we're going to tell real stories of real, real women. We're going to let them tell their own stories, which if you talk to most women from marginalized communities, what they like about the Fashionistas Project is we don't I don't come on here and say, this is what it's like to be a black woman.
I have no idea. You know, and but we give women from different groups a space to tell their own stories and to share what their issues are unfiltered in any way. So, you know, I think this is going to be a place where people can come for authenticity and messiness and real, you know, just real connection and communication that's really important to us.
JULIE: Sorry, real connections are the thing that we all really strive for. And I know that certainly for many of us, our world was definitely redefined through COVID. And I think that creating the spaces where we can really connect with people that are not only like us but unlike us is very key because it makes us understand better what somebody else is walking through.
It also helps us lift each other up because I may have the tools, the gifts that maybe somebody else doesn't, and I am sure that I'm going to be a part of this community and I already have. I get so much from the individuals that support me or share something with me or teach something that I didn't know. And I think that this is one of the things that we all crave, is that connection in in help and being individuals, but yet being a part of something.
AMY: Yeah, and Nancy and I had this Oprah moment in December where we spend a whole year rebranding and really focusing in on who are you? We're serving and what our mission is. And it wasn't till December of last year that we realized the thing that makes all the women and non-binary people in our community so unique is that if you get on a phone call or an interview, you know, an email exchange with any single one of them, the first thing they'll say to you is, What can I do to support you?
Yes, they are coming here for something of them, for themselves, to gain knowledge, to make a connection and to propel their business. But every single woman, that's a core Passionista. And we know this is going to be true of the new members. They're also here to support each other and to see how they can be of service.
And that is so important to us and it's so unique. This is not a typical business networking community where it's all about promotion, promotion, promotion. We want everybody to promote their projects or their causes because we want them to have exposure. But we don't want anyone to feel sold to, and we just want everybody here to know. Everybody that's coming is coming partly because they want to be there for you, too. Just like a good sister.
JULIE: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I know that this is the type of space where people are going to thrive. I've also been privileged enough to see the work in the back office, in the back of the house, to know that you're really looking to create a space like no other. And yes, there's going to be opportunity to connect.
There's going to be an opportunity to network, there's going to be an opportunity to grow together. But more importantly, it's an opportunity to create a movement. And I really do believe that this is the sisterhood, is the movement, because we're we're ladies and sisters here. There's one thing that we all experience, and I'm sure this is part of the journey for you.
I'd love to hear. How have you been able to overcome your mindset, your imposter syndrome, some of the things that kind of knock us down in sabotage our efforts. And what did you do to overcome them and why was it important for you to do this work?
NANCY: Wow, that's a big one, I think. And this is going to sound like I'm just pushing the sisterhood, but I think it's because we have each other. I think it's because when one of us is feeling like, What are we doing? I don't know how to do this. You know, the other one is our cheerleader. We're each other's biggest cheerleaders and support.
And people like you, I mean, you have you know, everyone we've met in this community, we started it to help other people. And I cannot tell you how much it has helped us, you know, And that's the beauty of it all. Like, we didn't think we could do this a few years ago. And, you know, I think the other thing is just reminding ourselves that we're bad ass.
Like, you know, we may not have known how to start a community, but Amy ran a postproduction and visual effects department at one of the biggest movie studios in the world, and she was the first and youngest woman to ever do it. She's a bad ass and she can do anything she puts her mind to. So and I and I just think we have to, you know, any negative self-talk or self-doubt we have, we just have to remind each other of all the things, the amazing things we've done already and what we're going to be able to accomplish moving forward.
AMY: And this is part of the sisterhood. I will cry. I will cry. It's inevitable. So just putting it out there in the first interview, that was very nice. Nancy.
NANCY: Thank you. You're welcome.
JULIE: You know, one of the things that you just said, Nancy and Amy, this is the typical reaction we have as women, right? We are complimented. People say, look at you, cheer you on. And yet it's a challenge for us to accept graciously. It really is something that I am hoping that we can continue to build in the membership for other people.
I noticed what you just did, Nancy, is something that I called. And of course, it's not like I didn't coin this phrase is believing mirrors. And I know this the membership in the sisterhood is what it's going to provide to everyone that's here, a believing mirror, the person that's going to reflect to them their goodness, their greatness, their gifts.
And we'll cheer them on, even if they haven't been able to see that they can accomplish it, they will have all of that. So I think that that's one of the biggest things that we can expect to see from each other is these believing mirrors. Now, what is the bigger.
AMY: I say one other thing. Yeah, go for it. That's why we have the Wall of Women's Wins, which no matter what membership level you're at, you can you can go to the wall of women's wins. We started posting on behalf of people when when we were kind of just setting things up. But we want everybody to go there on their own and post.
When you have something you want to celebrate, we want you to go there and post about it so that we can all applaud you for that success. And it can be anything from our friend Rebecca Coakley, who had a billboard in Times Square on New Year's Eve with Sephora to us saying, We're taking two weeks off for Christmas because we need a break and this is not something we normally do, and that's a win for us to make that decision.
So we really feel like if one of us wins, we all win. So go there and share. You can share all the time. You don't have to only share once and then never share again. Tell us about your wins so that we can cheer you on, but also so that we can be inspired by the successes that you are having to continue to thrive for ourselves, you know, to achieve for ourselves.
NANCY: And post there and go there and just scroll through and see all the amazing women in this community already. It's mind boggling and really inspiring. .
JULIE: You know, this is one of the things that finding the evidence is that we're doing it because we don't always believe it in the wall of wins is definitely a place where we're going to be able to see what is possible not only for ourselves but for each other. As we continue to do this work together. What is the most significant barrier that females have right now?
AMY: Don’t even get me started…
JULIE: But yeah, so so I think that, you know, and by the way, I am sure that we can pull everybody in the universe and they would have a different answer.
AMY: But to leave your thought in.
JULIE: Your thought in the chair.
AMY: Honestly, I think our biggest barrier is that there's this perception that women are equal and that things are going great for women. And yes, as that ‘70s ad campaign used to say, We've come a long way, baby. But again, women get far less venture capital funding. I mean, not even in the it's embarrassing to say how little 2% for, you know, white women of venture capital funding.
Women aren't still 90% of the time on the golf course with the guys having the important business conversation when the meeting is over, you know, our rights are being stripped away by the Supreme Court and everybody else. And the threat to what is going to happen to us in potentially nine months is getting more and more intense. And and we're isolate it like Nancy was saying, COVID really is a long term thing that's isolated.
A lot of women. And the women in this community tend not to be C-suite women who have a huge infrastructure behind them. So I think that especially and we love men, this is not a space where we're going to bash men. But I do think a lot of men see that women are working and they're, you know, doing well and they see that women are, you know, hanging out with their friends and they look happy.
But I think there's this perception that we're, you know, further along than we are, and we're still not equal in the eyes of the Constitution of the United States of America. So that, to me feels like the biggest barrier. And I think that as a result, like I can speak for myself, I had this great career. I rose really quickly through the ranks and there was a lot of weird stuff.
Not me too stuff, thank God, but just stuff that held me down.
That I didn't even realize at the time and I didn't acknowledge for years because I thought, Well, look at me, I'm 30 years old and I'm the vice president of post-production at Warner Bros. Women have equal rights. This is great. What's everybody complaining about? But then when you start to really step back and peel away the onion, it's like, that was messed up, that that happened.
And if we talk about it, we seem like we're complaining, but if we don't talk about it, it's never going to get better. So we need to get over ourselves and tell the real stories and not feel like we're burdening people with those stories. And everybody, especially men, need to wake up and be our allies and help make sure that we are actually equal.
And especially women of color, women with disabilities. Because the horrific treatment of especially women with disabilities is in people with disabilities. It's beyond belief. So we have a lot of educating to do and reminding that it may look rosy, but there's a lot that needs to happen. Still not to be Debbie Downer.
NANCY: That’s what I was going to that's what I was going to add to that conversation is that we don't know what we don't know. And I think that's why it's really important to bring different groups of women together so that we can share the challenges because, you know, like Amy said, the disability community, you know, I as a woman who has who is an able bodied woman, I don't know what they go through on a day to day basis.
I don't know the ins and outs of it. And every time we talk to our power specialist, Selene Luna, she educates us a little bit more on these horrific things like women, people who work at Goodwill that with disabilities get paid $0.22 an hour, $0.22. Let that sink in $0.22 an hour. You know, and I didn't know that.
No one knows, you know, so so it's it's the education and awareness that we really need to combat all of these things. And I think that is that's the biggest stumbling block, I think is we don't know what we don't know and we need to be more educated about it all.
AMY: We have a couple awesome comments from Lauren and Lauren says, We have been programed to seek validation outside of ourselves, to compare ourselves to others, but also be quiet, but also be confident, but also not brag about ourselves, but also be successful, but also be humble. And the story of feeling like we should just be grateful for breadcrumbs.
And then Cathy said, Women need spaces that are safe, non-judgmental, and supportive and encouraging. We can't wait for someone else to do something about it. So that's why we're here.
JULIE: So much, so much wisdom in the comments. You know, I, I think back and a little bit of what you said, Nancy, if I did not grow up with a grandmother that had a disability, I wouldn't know how difficult it is for someone who had a leg amputated to climb some steps, you know, when there is not a ramp in the same way, I don't know what someone that didn't have some of the advantages that I had goes through on a daily basis.
So it's very important, you know, that we share the stories. This is the one thing that I believe we as humans gravitate to the story and there is power in the story, in giving voice to the different perspectives is important. And it's not about converting to one frame of mind. I think that is coming together in a place where we can share our story and also be open to embracing that.
Somebody else may have a different story, but yet we can still support, love and uplift one another as we do life together. So I think that this is the space that I know you've created so far with all the events that I've been a part of through your podcast, but also with now with the sisterhood that you are launching.
So I am excited for this and excited in the way that individuals will thrive through this. Tell me who is not this membership for.
NANCY: Who is it not for?
JULIE: Yes, Who is not for? Because I think that there there are going to be individuals who would like to join in. I want to be clear that there are so many benefits, so many wonderful things that we're going to have and we are going to be a part of. But there's always that person that maybe this is not your people.
You’re not going to be everybody's cup of tea, Right? This is the lesson we all keep learning. So I want to I wonder if there is one person or individuals or groups that maybe they they this is not their place.
NANCY: The first thing that pops into my mind is someone who is close minded. You know, I think somebody who is not open to someone else's point of view and becoming more educated about things they don't know. And and also somebody who is just in it for themselves. This this is about growing together and helping each other and supporting each other. So that's that's what pops into my head.
AMY: Yeah, that was my first thought too. I mean, it's funny, I think we, we had been saying it's not for the big executive women, the C-suite women, until we started to talk to women who are in more corporate jobs and realized that a lot of women in those positions feel really isolated because they have to keep up the facade that everything is perfect and that they're 100% in control of everything at all times.
And it's actually is a good space for them because they can just be themselves and they can ask for support without judgment. But I agree with Nancy. This is not a if you are not tolerant of LGBT. Q Plus people, if you are closed minded about people of different races or faiths, if you if you can't engage in a debate about a sensitive topic, respectfully.
JULIE: Respectfully and respectful debate, love that.
AMY: We're open to hearing everybody's opinion about both sides of a legitimate topic. And there's obviously a lot of sensitive stuff that's going to come up in here, especially since we're talking a lot about social impact, You know, and it's going to be a tricky year with an election. We are we are welcoming to everybody and their perspective. As long as they treat everybody with respect and are willing to hear the other side politely.
And if there's there is a zero bully tolerance, there's zero racism, sexism, anti, you know, disability and any of those isms, all the isms that are the negative isms, there's a zero tolerance for that. We We respect people here.
JULIE: Yeah, I envision the membership in the sisterhood as the safe place in the middle of a storm, in the middle of maybe our entrepreneur journey, our corporate journey, our relationship journey, our world where, you know, things can be so polarized, rising. I envision this to be the safe place where we can come in. We're all the same, and we're all loving and uplifting of one another.
That that's one of the things that I know from knowing both of you that can be expected. I have something that drives me in my business as a business owner, and that comes, you know, not only from my upbringing, but my experiences as well. I've heard the phrase we all need roots and wings, so I'd love to know what are your roots and what are your wings?
AMY: Wow.
NANCY: I think for me it's the same thing. It's my family, you know, I'm my my family is everything to me. And, you know, my sisters, my brother, even all of my family that's no longer with us. They're everything to me. And they give me wings. Like, that's why I feel like I mean, from the time our parents taught us, we can do anything we want to do and supported every crazy dream and silly thought we had and never discouraged us through our family members that are cheering us on with the sisterhood like they they're my wings too.
AMY: Did you ever know you were my hero? I had to do that. I was going to start.
NANCY: I love it.
AMY: I agree. I mean, I self-care. I mean, our roots are absolutely our ancestors and our especially our mother. And our mother taught us Your brother and your sisters are your best friends. No. What happens? Don't forget it. That's the most important lesson in life. And it has carried us through every single up and down that we have had. Not just Nancy and I are have an especially tight bond, but our sister Lisa is here today.
Our sister Beth is part of the membership. Our brother probably feels horribly excluded because he's a boy. We're going to have to like give him a fake identity and let him slip in.
But, you know, that's the roots that will always ground us and that are the the seed that was planted to make this happen. And yeah, the wings are the wings are family, real and chosen. So it is the Harringtons and Barbosa is, you know, the Johnsons and the Etzioni is it's all of our extended family, Lockhart's, all of our extended families.
But it's also the sisters that we have found along the way who lift us. I mean, there are many times in the building of this including like, what platform do we use, What do we do where you were, the wind beneath our wings. So, you know, it's it's the family chosen and and boy yeah.
JULIE: Family, you know, is and I see that in the chat. Carolyn says you may not like them all the time, but definitely love them all the time. And I think that, you know, it is true. We we have individuals that are part of who we are and know our history and we can fall back on that. But it's also beautiful.
And I believe through The Passionistas Project is the sisterhood, we're going to find the additional family that will be like minded in in our journey, be supportive and help us and maybe teach us something because I believe that that's the other thing that we're here to touch the lives, create a ripple effect, and teach each other well.
AMY: This is a spider web of women that showed up today from you to Lauren, Lauren Best and from me and Warner Bros. to Carolyn and May Chandran and through her daughter, Sashee, who we interview. And Mae introduced us to Katie Chin. Like, it's just this is this has been an organic spider web that we started when we asked people to nominate other guests to be on our podcast.
And it has been the key to the success of this whole thing is we would never have met any of the women that we know. Very 10% of the women we know now, had we not been graced with everybody introducing us to the other important people in their lives, we try and do that. We pride ourselves on making connections for people, but we really want to do that in this sisterhood is really make sure that if you join and we know somebody that you should connect to, we're going to let you know about them and make sure that you guys are aware of each other.
JULIE: I love that. You know, connection is one of my favorite things. And for those who can't see it, it's on my wall. It's I see it every day, connection, connection. Because we can't be the only person that does something. I I'm a firm believer that when we bring our gifts and we pour them into this mixing bowl with your gifts and somebody else's gifts, that gift of alchemy happens and it changes.
So I think that, yes, Kathy collaboration over competition is very important. Tell me a little bit about your values and the values of the membership.
NANCY: You take that one, Amy.
AMY: Yeah, I mean, I think we've touched on it. I think that we are are rooted in authenticity and in trust. You know, we, we it's interesting, we talked to a woman earlier this week who had been part of one of our summits, and she had come into the summit based on somebody else. Somebody else brought her in.
We never met her. We feel like we know her because we've watched her speak now at a couple of events for us. But we never actually had had a conversation. And she was like, I want to kind of get to know more about who you are before I commit to doing this thing with you, this project with you.
We're like, That's totally fair. You know, here's who we are. We we want you to know that you can trust us. We want you to know that we value the hard work that you do because nobody works harder than Nancy and I. We have this shared work ethic that all my siblings have that our mother taught us, which is, you know, you don't do your homework assignment the night before you get it done the day they assign it to you.
So we have this intense work ethic that, you know, we are committing to our members, that we are going to work really hard to be here for you and to bring you quality content that improves your life. We're loyal. You know, we.
We have gone through thick and thin together. Sisters, don't walk away from sisters. And we're not going to walk away from our members. If somebody if we have a disagreement or different opinion, we're not going to walk away from you again. If you can engage respectfully about it. We want to talk it through. And we just we really value everybody being able to be who they are.
You know, we and to learn from women about what their what it's like to walk in their shoes and to put that out to everybody else in the world, that's really at the core of all this and and ultimately support, you know, we want to support you. We want to see you succeed in whatever it is you're trying to achieve, whether that's your business goal, whether you're just trying to get through a hard time personally, whether you want to get more involved politically, but you don't know where to begin because it's really overwhelming.
We want to give you resources to help make those things happen and to be here for you along the way when you stumble. Because we all stumble and to cheer you on when you have the success. So those are it in a nutshell, I guess. Did I miss anything, man?
NANCY: No, that was perfect.
JULIE: So I am building this. This collaboration in this space for all of us. You've created different spaces within this space. Let's talk a little bit about that. Walk me through what can we expect when we first log into the sisterhood? What are the spaces that we should pay attention to?
NANCY: All right. We'll try to do this quickly because there's a lot when you start, there's a start here. Page So when you first come, go there and it'll walk you through what all the spaces are and explain them to you. There's an introduction page so go there, introduce yourself and tell us. We ask you a few prompts in there about where you're from, what you know, something fun about yourself, but then go through again and read the other posts and comments and get to know the other women in the community while the women's wins.
We already talked about just celebrating each other and the we have a calendar of events. So every week we're going to do this. We're going to do a live podcast where members can come and comment and and take part in the conversation. We're going to do monthly office hours, We're going to do monthly new member meetups. We'll have other special events and we also in that calendar will be listing events that members of the community are hosting.
So if you have an event as a member that you to promote, we will put you in a calendar. So those things are all open to everybody who joins the community. And then if you upgrade to a premium membership, I think the biggest thing is you get access to our power, fashionistas and jewelry. You are one of them.
And we have right now we have eight and the community will be growing. But it's an amazing group of experts and the superstars of our community. They're just all rock stars and they all have something different to to impart on you some amazing wisdom. And they will be the ones who are providing the classes and the workshops and courses and things like that.
So we have and then one of the spaces is the Pasisonsitas PhD, which is our learning community. So you can go there and watch videos at your own pace on again, all of the different pillars. We're posting a new one every single week. I forgot to mention in the free the freemium level, there is a there is a learning community there as well, and it's called Passionistas Primer and it's rapid learning.
So there are quicker videos, but there's still new content every single week, and then there's a peer to peer networking space where you can go and connect directly with the other women in the community. And we give prompts every day about different topics.
AMY: So and that's in the premium.
NANCY: That's a premium level. So it's it's just super exciting. There's just so much.
AMY: And one other thing is we turned our Power Passionistas Amy and Nancy Harrington space into a free space that everybody can see, regardless of your membership level. If you go to the homepage of the community every day and start there and look just through the feed, you'll see posts from us that will encourage engagement with free, free members and the premium members so that even though the peer to peer networking is in the premium level, we still want you to feel your voice is heard, Your being able to get feedback.
You're getting a spotlight even if you don't have the premium membership. The other thing I'll say in terms of what Nancy was just saying about feeling overwhelmed, and I know whenever anybody says to me like I have a new place, you just have to come here. And, you know, it's like, I don't want to do another thing. We chose Circle, because if you look at it, it looks just like Facebook.
You just have to think of it as Facebook without all of the photos of sandwiches and cap means it is laid out exactly like Facebook. Everybody's the spaces as they're called, are just like people's Facebook pages or people's Facebook groups. And once you get that in your head, you comment the same way. You can like things the same way.
It's super easy to use. So don't let the learning a new platform thing freak you out. We purposefully picked something that you already are 95% there with.
JULIE: Yeah, we are all beginners. And by the way, I want the listeners to come in with that knowledge that we're navigating all of this as a sisterhood together for the first time. It's and anything that is new, we're always going to be a little apprehensive and it's okay to feel like that. And just remind yourself, normalize. Notice that you're thinking my God, I'm thinking this is overwhelming.
I'm noticing that I don't know if I'm going to like it. I have a lot of different thoughts. Is this for me? It is for you. Give it a try. Be willing to do a little bit, maybe 1%. Everyday you go into a different space, you check out you comment on somebody because you are going to connect. And the content in here is so rich.
That is going to resonate with every part of of who you are, what you're doing. And you will see that in Lisa. You're right, Baby steps. You couldn't have said it better I.
AMY: Baby steps, Bob.
NANCY: Amy and I are an email or a DM away. If you have any questions. Just reach out and we're happy to walk you through it on a zoom or give you a phone call or an email, whatever, whatever you need. We and there's a video on there on the site that walks you through every page of the platform. So if you want to just, just watch that on your own time, you can do that as well.
AMY: Yeah. And all of our contact info is in the start here section. There's a contact post, so just go there if you need us or DM us directly to our account. We have individual accounts. We also have an Amy, Amy and Nancy Harrington account.
JULIE: So very good, very good. I would be remiss if I did not mention our friend. And again, you know, the gift of the Internet brought this person to our life. Tell me a little bit about Passionistas Patron and Danay Escanaverino.
AMY: Escanaverino. Well, you know, and we know, but for those who don't know, Danay Escanaverino is a rock star. Thanks to Julie and Dali Rivera. We met Danay in 2022 through her group, online group Amigos. And we we gave her an award at our annual Passionistas Persist Award because Danay has built an incredible online community for Latin, Latin and Latin people.
She really bolsters them in their business opportunities and reminds the world what a huge buying force that community is. And for people in that community not to underestimate their power. So we thanks to Julie became we collaborated with and I we spoke once a week on LinkedIn. We did a monthly event for her interview, event for her. Danay also owns an incredible media company called LunaSol, and within that is a company called MiraClick, which is an affiliate marketing website, and Danay is the person that we are doing our affiliate program through.
So once it's set up, which is going to be in the next month probably for or a little longer for members, you'll be able to share your own affiliate, link with your friends, get them to join. If they join as a paid member, you will get a commission off of that, that membership for as long as that membership runs.
So again, going back to this concept that we're going to make this huge, this is going to be a big the driving force and we want you to succeed along with us. So if you're a member and you bring in members, you going to get rewarded for that for the length of that time that a person is a member.
And, you know, we looked at other affiliate programs and we found it super daunting and confusing and we didn't really get it. And then then I reminded us what she does for a living and it was like, okay, this is again, a safe place to land with an incredible company there. They've got their act together. So well, if you're looking to start an affiliate program we couldn't recommend the more and and Danay is just an amazing, amazing human being. And we're so thrilled that she is one of our Power Passionsitas. So thank you for that introduction.
JULIE: Yeah, one of my favorite people as well. I have watched you grow and expand and dip your toe in so many different directions. I am excited to see what more is coming. What are the lessons that we're starting to wrap up now? What are the lessons that you've learned putting this membership together, outreaching to others, building a sisterhood? What are the lessons that you've learned that you carry with you forward?
NANCY: I think as an introvert and as a shy person who is nervous to get on phone calls with people, I have learned that getting on calls with any of these women is invigorating and exciting and it always lifts me up. And so I'm no longer afraid of the phone call or the zoom call or the interview. And and I think that that is is a really big learning experience for me, because if you had told me ten years ago, this is what I'd be doing every day, I would have told you there's no way. So I think that's the biggest one for me.
AMY: Yeah. And I think for me it's it's spirals off of that. Like every time we talk to someone. I am so excited at how they're responding to the community because they want connection. They're hungry for connection and for sisterhood. And so there's women that are signing up and that are telling us they're going to sign up as soon as we get them.
The link are women that we are so excited for you all to meet, and we are excited for you for them to meet you. We obviously this is in its origin stage. We know most of you, not all of you that have started to join. And we can't wait for you to know each other and to share with each other and to bring in more people so that they get to know you and support you and you can support them.
Like it's just every time I see another name pop up, I'm like, she's going to wait till they know. Wait till they heard about her. You know, Annmarie signed up today. Wait till everybody hears what Annmarie is doing to help women with autoimmune diseases because she has lived that experience and she can help from a perspective of someone that's been through it, like who doesn't want to get to know.
And she's awesome. She's just a fun, lovely. You just want to hug Annmarie every time you see her on Zoom. I've never met any of you in person, but you. How can you not fall in love with Anne Marie? So Annmarie is here, and I can't wait for everybody to meet her. Mae. Lauren. Lisa. You know, Mae.
AMY:
Mae. When I saw my children's name, you know, here I go again. Like, it just. It was thrilling, you know? So I'm just excited for you all to know each other.
JULIE: And by the way, you made mention that I am a Power Passionista, but I want to make mention that Catherine Gray, Crystal Lynese Walker, Dr. Melissa Bird, Jess Craven and Kylee Stone, Lauren Best and Selene Luna are also some of their other Power Passionistas. And you know, that imposter syndrome creeps in when I see myself in the company of these giants, in what they do, in the impact that they're creating in this world.
So I am I am honored that you've curated this space for all of us to learn from each other. So let's ltake one word. I like the one answers What is the one word that will describe the legacy that this sisterhood will leave for others?
NANCY: No, it's so corny, but I got to say it, love, passion, love it. Passion. Let's say passion. Passion.
JULIE: Amazing. What about you, Amy?
AMY: Power was the word that popped into my head and not in that patriarchal way, but having us all having the power to make the change, to do the thing, to be what we want to.
JULIE: Absolutely. Well, I am incredibly honored that you gave me the opportunity to interview you, to really distill what the membership, the sisterhood, is going to be like and to deep dive into the process and what we can expect. I think that everyone who is listening to this needs to not think about it. Jump in, join us, come have the fun.
JULIE: I hope you know that if you don't join, you're going to be missing out on a wonderful sisterhood, a place where you belong, and when you can always find the passion, the love the power to go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
NANCY: Thank you so much, Julie. We love you.
JULIE: Thank you.
NANCY: Everyone who was here live today. And thank you for everyone who's listening later. And until next time, stay passionate
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