I am honored to win the 2016 Community Media Rika Welch leadership award for community impact; a testimony to the Guests who shared their stories on MidLIFE Matters. In addition, an 2018 interview I did with Judith Altmann, a Holocaust Survivor, won an award. In 2020 and 2021 two other awards acknowledged the content of interviews dealing with Child Sex Trafficking in CT and Non-Profit leadership. In 2023 MidLIFE Matters won First Place for a Profile Talk Show.Advice to Our Younger Selves
Friday, November 1, 2013 at 10:46AM 
A favorite part of my community tv show for women is at the end, when I ask Guests what advice they would give to their 25 & 40 year-old selves. The half-hour show, Mid LIFE Matters (www.wpaa.tv - Video on Demand) is designed for accomplished women to share their stories.
Guests are often wistful, sometimes strident -- 'Be Brave' - 'You are Beautiful' - 'One foot in front of the other' - 'Don't Flinch' - 'Don't let anything stand in your way' - 'Everything Changes'.
Anna Fels' remarkable book, Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women's Changing Lives paints a sobering picture of the cultural obstacles for women before they reach midlife. My advice is to make this book required reading for educators, parents and mentors. Maybe create a core curriculum course for high school girls about how critical it is to develop mastery and receive recognition over a lifetime.
Marriage and motherhood, in Anna's book, are shown to be powerful forces that often contribute to women giving up on the dreams of their younger selves. I think today girls are dreaming bigger, but the realities of the workplace and the homefront are still daunting.
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