About Town

May We Celebrate Women Supporting Women This Month

On a chilly Sunday morning last month, surrounded by 30 women, I rested on a sun-soaked patch of artificial turf in savasana at Equip Sports in Novato. Observing the brilliant blue sky, palm fronds swaying in the breeze, I felt deeply relaxed after a Yin Yoga class topped off by a symphony of tones and frequencies masterfully created by a woman trained in the art of sound healing. Longtime friend and former colleague Jen Marples was next to me in her signature hot pink puffy, equally blissed out. As we began the reentry into the day, she asked, “What happened to you? The Mimi Towle of two years ago would have been fidgeting, rolling her eyes and sneaking a glance on her phone.”

“I guess the pandemic,” I answered, watching a pair of white-breasted nuthatches flit about the yard. Jen, too, has been transformed by the pandemic. For 12 years, she owned a San Francisco-based public relations firm. She then coached women on life and work, and now has emerged from lockdown with an eponymous podcast (read about it on page 24), and is on a mission to inspire and champion midlife women with the rallying cry: “You’re not too f***ing old to do whatever the F you want!” She continues to coach women, is a motivational speaker, and tells me she’s going to empower more than 1 million women. She was the reason I was there, so I added, “just like you.”

We were at a Yin Yoga retreat created by Ellie Dominguez of Ellie’s Essential Oils. Formerly an elementary school teacher, our hostess started the morning off by saying, “Two years ago, if you were to tell me that I’d be standing here selling essential oils and hosting an event featuring something called ‘sound healing’ I would have thought you were crazy.” We all laughed, and she explained her own pandemic pivot. A mother of two boys under 11, both with ADHD, and sober, she had to find something to support her through the stress of motherhood, and discovered the power of what she refers to as the original medicine — essential oils. For instance, rose oil helps with opening up your heart chakra, rose geranium is incredibly hormonally balancing and sandalwood is grounding — all found in her High Heart Blend, which we all got in a goodie bag. Ellie orchestrated the day with women in her life, yoga by Nance Leombruno, sound healing by Jodi McLean, facials by Katharina Simkins, lunch catered by Dee’s Organics, and dessert by her former 5th grade student Alaina Prichard of Wildhope Kitchen.

Another fun connection was running into a friend from college, Caroline Nelson, now a real-estate rock star with Compass. I walked in alone, happy to recognize her smiling face, and her gaggle of girlfriends were open, warm and welcoming, sharing stories of what brought them to the event. Another heart-warming connection was finally meeting Kelsey Grady in person. I’ve been emailing with Kesley for over a decade because she has a PR firm specializing in local high-tech companies — as in, she introduced me to Nextdoor, and I started the platform in Strawberry (that long). She shared her story about how an ad about pediatric brain disorder in Marin Magazine helped her family when her 2-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She’ll be sharing her story in the October issue, as she is now volunteering her time to Pediatric Neuro Oncology Consortium (PNOC), and is forever grateful to their services.

This event, the women who rallied to attend, and the women who provided services are just a microcosm of amazing people in our community who either have the courage to start a small business, or the ability to support these types of events. And to top off the feel-good vibes, Ellie donated $600 (proceeds from our tickets) to Equip Sports, a Marinbased 501c3 focused on building athletic performance and social impact programs. In this issue, we celebrate women here in Marin and beyond living their best lives. We’d like to hear from you if you’ve made a positive pandemic pivot, so tag us @marinmagazine, when you’re visiting or supporting a women-led business this month.

CONNECT!

Yin Yoga retreat at Equip Sports in Novato

editorial@marinmagazine.com Mimi Towle, Editor at Large

Want to know more about impactful women in our community? Scan here to get inspired: