Inspirational Leaders

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It’s been a few days (maybe a whole week!) since we met here on the blog. I’m citing the image above from Vanessa Corral, of all the lovely ladies from our Confident Spring Style Fashion show, as the evidence of my “hall pass”. (kidding, not kidding) Pulling off a fashion show at that level, as one of our regularly scheduled events was, in every way, more than we could actually handle. It was a wild, hair-brained idea on my part. Just picture me as Thanos, saying “I am inevitable!” and snapping his fingers. . . if you saw Endgame, you know what happened next. (If not, you’re not missing much. #boys)

Of course, I do not think for one second that I am inevitable.

But this time, I had this wonderful vision, that would typically take a team three to four times the size of ours, eight months to a year …

Leading a Girls Night Out once a month requires more behind the scenes effort than most people realize. Especially our brand of GNO, because it’s really more like a mini-retreat, entertaining workshop, TV talk show style interview, and a done-for-you dinner with girlfriends, all rolled into one. There are what seems a million details and logistics to coordinate, on top of the heart of it all to reconnect busy women to inspire joy and courage. Even so, you would think that since we’ve done it every single month for three years, we would have it down and it would run like a well-oiled machine.

To a certain extent we do, and it does.

But somehow, the cascade of surprises on event day never cease to amaze. Most often my best laid plans for a relaxing day of finessing the content for the evening, and taking time to actually make myself at …

by Crystal Gornto Community Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself The Journey Through Life 1 comment chat

This is me in 2014, at our very first-ever HeartStories event. In some ways, it feels like an entire lifetime ago and in many ways, that’s true. Especially for me, and the person I’ve become on this journey. I’ve worked harder, longer hours than I ever dreamed possible. I have sacrificed more than I ever thought I would. It certainly feels I’ve learned more in the last six years since I began HeartStories, than I had my entire life, up until that point. In fact, “learning” was something I would have put in a bucket of “have to do’s” instead of the bucket of “get to do’s”, like I do now. Now, I crave more time to invest in learning and personal development.

In fact, so much so, that yesterday, it showed up in a perfect collision of several different inputs into my life.

You may remember that at one of the …

by Crystal Gornto Female Social Entrepreneurs Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Loving Yourself Our Story Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

It’s officially spring break in Texas, which means mamas everywhere are doing all the things. They run the gamut of family trips, mission trips, staycations, squeezed in experiences, to simple strategies for keeping kids safe and alive while mama continues to fulfill her grown-up adult responsibilities. I’m somewhere in the middle all of it. Since we snuck in an early long weekend trip, the boys are finding fun ways to entertain themselves at home, while I’m trying to find times to be fully present and engaged, while also catching up on all the things I got behind on during our trip.

It’s the ever-shifting of the “mama priorities”.

A fun new activity for us this spring break is playing Texas Hold’em. Our new neighbors (who are not from Texas) taught the boys how to play one night, a month or so ago, and they’ve loved it ever since. So much so that they were …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

At the “BraveHearted Cookie” GNO Thursday night, this incredibly strong and brave sister Regan, shared a story with all the women about one summer in college when she volunteered at a teen adventure camp. The last week of camp they set out white water rafting. She had all twelve of her kids in the raft when she saw the other boats were all flipping at a certain point in the falls. The lead guide instructed her that if she didn’t want her boat to flip she needed to get all the kids to the front of the boat, paddle hard, and aim the boat to HIT THE ROCK HARD!

It seemed counter-productive, but Regan trusted that the guide understood exactly what needed to happen.

She knew the kids in her boat. She knew they were strong enough to do it and that they would be brave enough to hit that rock hard. …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

These two don’t look like anyone you’d want to meet in a dark alley. On a dance floor, yes! But anywhere else, you’d surely go running for the hills. This is my friend Regan Frizelle, standing with me at our HeartStories GNO 1st Birthday Bash, which we hosted 80’s Style with the help of Big D Party Rentals. The entire party was an invite for the ladies to get dressed up in their best/worst eighties garb, let their hair down, and have a great time. I was not at all surprised when this beautiful lady showed up rocking stirrup pants and a painted units top, complete with a lovely perm-on-top/straight-on-bottom mullet. It took courage.

And Regan has it, in spades.

But it’s not just the kind of courage you need to take a deep breath and jump off the high dive the first time. Regan practices a very different kind of courage consistently. …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

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The gift of authentic connection

Learning to rest, not quit

The Queen of Hearts

Aim for the rocks!

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