She Stories Feature Friday - Valerie Giglio

SHE STORIES

EXCLUSIVE! EXCLUSIVE!

About She Stories

She Stories is a community of women that promotes self wellness, empowerment and the value of supporting each other You have overcome tremendous obstacles Telling your story brings healing for you and others There is empowerment in every story We are Real Women with Real Stories What started out as a storytelling night has transformed into a sisterhood From gatherings to giving back, we inspire and affirm the every day woman that she is brave and beautiful

Our Founder

In 2017, I decided to carry on the tradition of testimony service and share this amazing gift of storytelling from my elders to my tribe I provided a sacred space for women to share their challenges and victories so they can not only be empowered but through each story women would find a circle of support and empowerment Her story matters and the world needs to hear it -

Ehmandah Ramsey

She Stories has always been about women sharing their stories through storytelling. (Yeah, that’s me with a box of tissue) We believe there’s healing that happens when we share our stories. We all have one!

By sharing our stories, we prove that it’s possible to shift change through another woman’s journey, struggles, and triumphs.

Elevating women of all ages is powerful. Compassion and love speaks volumes. And when they’re combined among a community of bosses, we ALL thrive! XO,

Inthisissue FEATUREFRIDAY

It’s Women’s History Month and we’re honoring women’s contributions to history, the present, and our future.

It’s also Feature Friday, and we’re bringing you a queen who takes charge and makes things happen, even when others told her she couldn’t. Today, I bring you Valerie Giglio and let me tell you If you’re a fan of Retro Pop and Electro Swing music, you’ll want to check her out!

She opens up about how having a stroke brought her to a place where giving up may have been an option, but she knew she was meant for greater. Having to learn how to sing again opened up doors for her to develop a new sound and a new song.

VALERIE GIGLIO

I always love the diversity in the women we cover for Feature Friday Over years of sharing the stories of women with different backgrounds, different cultures, different dreams, and different journeys, I’ve learned that within all the differences, there’s unity and strength in all of us Today’s feature reminds us to keep going because there’s someone out there who needs to hear our message, or in Valerie’s case, her song

Valerie grew up in the suburbs just north of Boston where music filled her home, and from a young age, she was always singing and dancing. She taught herself how to read music and began playing the violin. Her parents would listen to Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Beatles. This would lay the foundation for her sound to take root, and as she got a little older, she listened to Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, and Madonna. “All sorts of 80’s music but I still loved the old standards from Ella, Etta, and Frank.” All the musical influences around her shaped who she would eventually grow into.

In 2014, Valerie recalls being a lawyer with her practice by day, and a singer performing in Boston by night She was flourishing in so many areas and helping others along the way. Later that year, she would suffer a stroke that left her entire left side paralyzed She had lost all singing abilities and spent the next few years in intensive therapy to learn to walk again, how to use her left hand and arm, and how to sing again, note by note. “It was a trying and scary time for me, but I had an extreme amount of determination to get this all back”

With the care and love of her husband, Mark, she‘s been able to gain most of her motor skills back. She was even able to attend the Grammy’s and walk the red carpet! But she also remembers having darker days when she would cry just yearning to have her old life back. Fast forward two years when she auditioned for Berklee College of Music and was accepted as a voice principal!

This was a major goal of hers that she was able to achieve, but she also knew this was an opportunity for her to bring awareness that you can be impacted by a stroke and still thrive in society and the community She has also used her story to write a book and became a legislative advocate for the American Heart Association and has committed to bringing change and awareness to stroke care.

And of course, with music wired into who she is, she even found a way to use her stroke to grow. After her stroke, Valerie wasn’t able to play the violin anymore and through Berklee, she was able to learn electronic production and sound design This took her music to a whole different level She’s found a way to blend her roots of jazz to the new sound of EDM. She now produces her own music and has turned her basement into it’s own sound studio.

Valerie is now committed to creating music she loves and gives back to her community through her legislative advocacy. She brings hope letting people know that just because you’ve had a stroke, you’re life isn’t over “You can rebuild your life and realize your dreams and even make some new ones along the way!”With all the work she does with others, she‘s had to remind herself that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it and doesn’t give up She’s grateful for every day she’s able to impact someone else

Life can definitely show us some cloudy days and even some terrential downpours, but Valerie is a reminder that the sun eventually comes through, sometimes brighter than it was before.

KEEP IT UP GIRL!! WE’RE WITH YOU!

“It was important for me to start living my life again, even with modifications.”

“YOU HAVE TO KEEP PUSHING ON AND GO FOR IT, BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DESTINY.”

@VALERIEGIGLIOMUSIC

You can check Valerie out on IG: @valeriegigliomusic Check out Valerie’s new album “Midnight at the Speakeasy!"

You can also read Valerie’s book, Singing In My Own Key: A Vocalist’s Triumph After Stroke

If you or someone you know would like to be a feature, let us know!

Her Shine

MY FAVORITE SONG:

Too many to count, Anything by Ella!

HOW I CULTIVATE SISTERHOOD:

By making time for friends and celebrating their accomplishments.

MY LEGACY:

That anything can be achieved.

MY INSPO:

The drive to achieve what some perceive as impossible.

Dealing and Healing Your Inner Child

Over the past year, I’ve done some intensive therapy in healing my inner child. And of course, for me, that usually involves tears, but the sense of relief that comes after I’ve given proper attention to something I’ve “gotten over” already. Between ages 9 and 12, I experienced alot of trauma, and only recently discovered that I’m not as “healed” as I thought I was And that in order for me to grow further, I‘d need to address some of those traumas again

I needed to speak to the adolescent in me who had just learned to cope with things and put them behind me. I needed to tend to the child in me that never found safety in other people. And the young girl who herself to different measure than she did everyone else. So my therapist gave me 5 tools to use when dealing with the young girl in me:

Spend quality time with yourself. Whether it’s taking a walk in nature, painting, reading a book, or playing music, dedicate some time to do something you enjoy. This will h elp you connect with yourself and your inner child.

Talk to your inner child. Listen to her and try to understand her needs Ask her questions and give her space to express herself

Offer unconditional love and acceptance. Acknowledge you inner child’s feelings without judgement and be kind to her.

Heal your past. Ackowledge and forgice yourself for past mistakes and hurtful experiences

Visualize a happy and peaceful future for your inner child. Imagine a positive future and keep focusing on it.

OUR SISTER ORG

Transitional Living for Women and Children

Home

Together We Are One home provides a safe, tranquil, structured sober living sisterhood atmosphere for the women and children to thrive.

We serve women that have become displaced or who are facing homelessness due to unfortunate circumstances such as divorce, health problems, loss of employment, addiction recovery, abandonment and other unexpected life circumstances

Together we are providing a safe space for women to go from surfing to thriving.

If you and your child are in transition and in need, contact TWAO.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. YOUR MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS MORE THAN EVER. IF YOU NEED CARE, PLEASE GET SUPPORT.

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We absolutely love sharing the stories of everyday women just like you! Every woman has a story to tell! In our community, we share our stories to uplift, inspire and empower women. Stories can be shared one on one, through social media and even through creativity.

Girl, we want you to know there’s healing power in sharing your story. Sometimes you may feel that there’s things only you could’ve experienced, until you hear someone else with a similar experience. You are not alone. Together we overcome.

Would you like to be a feature? Or do you know a woman who’d like to share her story at a live event? Let us know! Let's change the world together one story at a time. It’s pretty empowering!

Email: team@shestories.co www.shestories.co