The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Women’s Empowerment Group-2024

This post was originally published June 16, 2020.  Updated: December 4, 2023

Did you know that Thrive Lounge was not always... Thrive Lounge? 

In the very beginning, there was... 

no blog,

no inspirational emails, 

no Facebook group, 

no Instagram Live events. 

There was a handful of women, gathering together once a month to talk about the life changes we were going through and side hustle ideas we were attempting at the time. 

We wanted simply to learn and grow together. 

Years ago, I didn’t have any paid events. 

In fact, there was no way to pay us at all. 

We were fueled by the passion to create a community of women who just “got it.”

We wanted to be heard and understood. We wanted to have that feeling that we weren’t alone in our struggles. 

We were called “Meeting of the Minds” (MOTM for short) and we had the ugliest logo. 

Over time, the group got larger. Then it got smaller. Then it got larger again. 

Today, Thrive Lounge now serves 150K women per year through the blog, course, speaker events and online community of strong, supportive women. 

Starting a women’s group teaches you how to serve a community as well as bring people together around a common goal. 

In this post, I’ll share how to create a women’s group in your community, even if you’re just starting out with no online following, blog or email list. 

What is a Women’s Empowerment Group?

A women’s empowerment group is a community (in-person or online) where women can gather to share ideas, hopes, and challenges around a specific topic. 

For example, Thrive Lounge is all about living a purposeful life through a focus on your values and priorities and choosing your actions that align with those values. 

You can create a women’s group around any topic such as money, marriage, family, travel or even career choices. 

How To Build Your Own Local Women’s Empowerment Group

Determine what the purpose of the women’s group will be

While there are a million ways we can connect with each other through shared values and interests, you want to pick one core purpose of your group. 

Here’s why: If you’re trying to talk to everyone, you’re talking to no one. 

How would anyone know to join your group if you don’t choose a specific topic? 

For example: If I say this women’s group will focus on financial independence. Then you can guess that we’ll talk about getting out of debt, saving more, increasing our income or investing. 

You also know we will not be talking about fancy clothes, cars, and expensive travel. 

“If you’re trying to talk to Everyone, you’re talking to No One.”

— Thrive Lounge

By determining the direction of your group, you make it easy to for your community to choose to be apart of certain types of conversations to be influenced by those ideas and to be around people who are focused on this topic as well. 

Name your women’s group

Choose a name that aligns with your group’s purpose. 

I wanted to call this particular step out because I don’t want you to spend a lot of time here. We like to get caught up in finding the perfect name, creating the beautiful logo and planning what our “brand” will look like. 

Choose a name that works and move forward. It doesn’t have to be perfect and you can change it over time. 

(Like how Thrive Lounge used to be called MOTM.)

Choose a few activities you can do with your women’s group

To start, you’ll need a few activities to do at your first meeting. You don’t have to have a million ideas, conversation starters will do. 

Remember, in a women’s group, the leader isn’t the center of attention. Instead, you build a relationship together through sharing experiences, lessons and helping each other. 

Choose where you’ll start your women’s group. 

There are several ways to add members to your women’s group, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that you have to start somewhere. 

Here are a few ideas: 

Online: If you’re apart of any Facebook groups that have women you may want to network with or meet in real life then send them a message and invite them out. (This is how we got our first few members to join Thrive Lounge!)

Church: If you’re already apart of a women’s ministry or a church community, then you can invite those same people to begin meeting to focus on a different topic (whatever topic you chose for your women’s group).

Work/Friend group: As adults, sometimes the only place that we make friends is at work or school classes. If this is the case for you, then start asking those work friends if they’d like to hang out as apart of your women’s group.

Find new ways to grow and support your women’s group. 

As you continue to host events (either online or in-person) for your group you will learn what activities work best for your group and what topics are most popular. 

It is this learning about your community that will help you tailor the experience to their needs and create more resources to help them grow faster. 

Women’s groups allow women from different backgrounds to come together and support each other along life’s journeys. Creating one in your area will help you become more connected with the women around you and build impactful relationships that change lives.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

How One Decision Can Get You the Life You Want

My goal was to go to Med School, become ‘Doctor Martin’. 

Oh, I dreamed BIG, picturing how proud my family would be when I achieved what was expected.

I made checklists and followed them to the letter. Because that’s what you do, right? 

Yet something didn’t fit. Part of me knew I wasn't moving towards my values and desires. But I ignored that inner voice that insisted: 

“Chantl, you’re going the wrong way!” 

I was my family’s ‘future doctor’. My mindset kicked into action. “I can’t quit, I’m not a quitter!”

THIS mindset is what’s stopping us from achieving our true purpose.
Quitting can be the best decision you ever make. 

Because it’s a CHOICE to stop doing something you don’t love, you’re not good at, and doesn’t make you happy.  You can choose to put yourself first and make space for things that light you up and make your soul sing with joy!

If you find yourself setting goals and still not being satisfied with the outcome. Not getting anywhere, making checklists, but not ticking any ‘dream’ boxes...

… then I want to let you in on a little secret. 

It’s not about the goals game, it’s about the ‘decision-making’ pre-game! 

You can set and hit ALL the goals, but it’s all for nothing unless goals come from conscious decisions aligning strengths, values, and life desires.

I've worked towards goals that didn’t align with my purpose. Climbed a ladder in a direction I felt I ‘should’ go, following well-meaning mentors, teachers, and family. And ended up somewhere I had no business being! 

The biggest problem that comes up in conversation? The struggle to make the smart and sometimes tough decisions to get that dream life.

So, 2022, I’m officially canceling goal setting!

Instead, I’m going to teach you why decisions are so much better than goals and how to make the decisions to get on the right path to that dream life.

Not the life your parents want for you.

Not the path society tells you to take or those around you are on.

The path YOU want. Let that tiny inner voice scream it out loud!

THIS GOAL-SETTING GURU IS CANCELING GOAL SETTING

Goal setting has been the foundation of everything I teach. I’ve helped countless people create vision boards to get the life they want, and through uncertainty achieving more than they thought possible.

But this life-changing work has made me realize something I’ve always known but is now impossible to ignore. 

People don’t need help with goals! You know how to set them, write to-do lists, break things down into small steps, set a timeline, and so on. 

The problem I get the most emails about, the BIG thing people struggle with, and what stops most achieving women from moving forward toward their dream is ‘deciding’. 

WHAT THE ACHIEVING WOMAN NEEDS HELP WITH

So many women come to me saying:

“Listen Chantl. I’m a Mom, a homeowner, a wife. Trying to go back to school, get that promotion, do all the things.

I’m overwhelmed, drained, and don’t know what to do!”

If this is you, all the goal-setting in the world won’t help. It won’t balance all the things you’ve got going on, and won’t help in figuring out the way forward.

Instead, it’s time to make some hard choices and decide what you really want to do–and let go of the rest.

WHY DECISION-MAKING IS SO DARN HARD

Let’s be honest, the achieving woman wants to do a bit of everything.

Do our jobs, take care of homes, aging parents, and children. Help glow up the next generation to do better, be wiser. Help family, friends, even strangers!

We give to everybody else and there’s nothing left for ourselves. Then we try to do 10 different things at once and end up achieving nothing.

This is the blueprint of how NOT to get what you want out of life.

WHY MAKING DECISIONS WILL GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT

Without decisions, you can end up on the wrong path. Arrive at success, turn around and think: “Wait, what in the world happened, I don’t want to be here!”

Or create something that doesn’t fulfill you and end up with yet another thing that drains.

Or give time and energy to a space you don’t love.

I don’t want this for you. I want to help you decide what you want to achieve and what’s best for you. To make that choice with confidence because it aligns with your values and what you want out of life. 

YOU drive your desires. Not family expectations, influencers, or what some guru on the internet says. And definitely not because you’re told it’s the right time.

You know what I mean...

25? It’s time to get your life together!

30? It’s time to buy a house, get married, have kids!

Who said it’s time? It’s not time until YOU say it’s time! (Can I get an AMEN!)

Imagine how much you could achieve by trusting your gut, inner voice, and timing, and choosing what's right for you?

That’s why decision making is so much better than goal setting. It’s time to make a choice, my friend, a move forward with confidence.

Drop a comment below: What decisions have you been putting off?

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

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About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!

How to Stop Working Towards Someone Else's Dream

There was a time that I believed a man would save me from being poor. 

Sounds odd to say out loud, right? 

In my culture, it’s common to work hard, be smart… but also not-so-secretly be on the lookout for the prince charming who’s also a gym-obsessed doctor. 

He would have both a strong jawline and the means for you to shop nonstop, drive around in a range rover, and (of course) live in a giant house with 4 bedrooms even though your family would consist of you and your husband and maybe two kids. 

A husband-funded grandiose lifestyle was the dream... 

… and at no point in my life did I ever question it. 

As I got older and became a fan of pop/rap music, I would hear narratives of women having these coke-bottle body shapes and long hair…

… and as a result, these women should expect fancy bags and shoes from other money-making men rappers, basketball players.

The music today still reflects this by the way. 

So after college, I met a high-income earner who fit all my criteria - we began dating and moved in together. 

When it didn’t work out, I came to a realization the man-is-the-plan roadmap didn’t include: 

I had nothing to my name. 

I didn’t really have a job other than being pretty. I hadn’t gained many skills other than maybe learning how to cook and clean a home full of children. 

For years, I resented my family and my culture for embedding this idea that a man would save me. That I just had to be smart and beautiful and that was it. 

Why didn’t they teach me to be stronger? 

Why didn’t they teach me to be more independent? 

Why was a rich man ever the expectation for me - why was this “the dream”?

At that moment, I realized how risky (and disempowering) that dream was. 

If I spent all my time looking good to secure a husband that would take care of me forever, how would I ever build my own wealth? How would I ever find the joy of mastering a skill? How would I ever build my own power? How would I teach my daughter to own her own power? 

Well, I wouldn’t. 

And all of those things are important to me.

Those dreams (building my own wealth, finding something I could be uniquely good at, being powerful in my own right) were valuable to me.

A rich man, a giant house, and the ability to shop all the time for more grandiose items that I truly didn’t’ need was never my goal. 

It was a dream that made its way into my mind through social and cultural inputs, inception-style.

I wanted those things as a result of my surroundings, not my values. 

I didn’t have words to describe this phenomenon until a few weeks ago, but I learned from LaTondra Murry that it’s called a curated want.

What is a curated want? 

A curated want is a desire placed into your mind that is not your chosen path to pursue, but it’s a goal that society places upon you. This could look like: 

• You’re 18 and society tells you it’s time to go to college.

• You come from an immigrant family and your parents tell you that you have to choose either doctor, lawyer, or engineer. 

• You’re 25 and your family starts to wonder why you’re not married yet. 

• You’re 30 and it’s the right age to buy a home. 

• You’re married and your family is wondering when the baby is coming. 

These, my friend, are curated wants. They’re the things that we believe we want because someone else has decided that we should want this at this time in our lives. 

How do I know my dreams and goals are not my own? 

There is a tiny voice inside of you that knows the truth. This tiny voice nudges you to follow your creative impulses. This voice will tell you when something doesn’t feel right. 

Often, we learn to ignore this voice to move towards a future that someone else has already laid out. 

An example of this from my own life is where I spent several years studying to become a doctor just because I’m good at math though in my heart I’ve always known I want to be a singer. When I’m on a stage, my soul lights on fire and there’s nothing in this world like it. 

But I feared that “only a small percentage of people make it in that industry” and ignored my inner voice. 

You know when your path was not chosen by you. Admitting you haven’t been working towards your dream is the difficult part.

How To Follow Your Own Goals and Dreams 

Write Down Your Values

When you know what your values are you can begin filtering out goals that are not yours. Before you say yes to any goal, you can ask whether the goal is in line with your values.

Tune out the noise while goal setting.

Take a day away from social media and outside opinions when goal setting. No matter if you set goals yearly, quarterly, or monthly, you should take the time to take a step back from your devices to hear your inner voice and give yourself undistracted intention.

Imagine yourself accomplishing your goals. 

One way to know if the goal you’re currently pursuing is your own is to take a look at where that end goal will get you. Close your eyes and imagine yourself reaching the end of that goal. Where are you and are you happy with those outcomes? 

Sometimes you don’t even have to imagine it, there might be a good representation that you can look at as an example. If you’re working for a promotion in a large organization this could be easy because you can simply take a look at people at the level that you’re working towards. Do you like their lives? 

Maximize your time in communities that have the same values as you.

When I realized I value minimalism, I started to spend time with other minimalists. Because we all had the same values we could connect on issues of not bringing a ton of useless items into our lives and spending time with people we love - not working more to have more things. 

Spending time in communities with the same values will allow you to have people that “get it” around you. Your quirks will be understood and accepted in those communities and you may learn more ways to go deeper into your interests.

It’s quite common to take on the wants and desires of the community around you. Take a break to ask yourself whether your goals are your own and give yourself permission to course-correct when you need to.

Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party? 

1. Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.

2. Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts. 

3. Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.

---

About the author

Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!