If you know anything about Nancy Gale, JAMAH designer and founder, and the founder of the non-profit entrepreneurial program AMBITION, you know that she cares deeply about young people, their challenges, dreams and journeys. Her life mission, beyond building her American luxury design house, is leveraging her experience, network and successes to empower youth.
Several years ago, Michelle Rose Gilman, founder of Fusion Academy, which has more than 60 campuses across the nation and serves thousands of students, approached Gale and asked her to be part of her latest endeavor, The Wanderlust Warrior Project.
Project, book, workbook, the mission is to help young women find “their unique path and stay true to their heart,” to be “a community of authenticity and strength for young women ages 13 - 23” and to push back against “the myriad of both cynical and well-intentioned forces that conspire to quell curiosity and individuality among our tribe.”
Gilman’s concept was that each chapter of the book would take on a classic Warrior trait. Some traits would be obvious, like strength, confidence and intelligence. Others less obvious, like curiosity and kindness. Each chapter would contain practical, awareness-building exercises and interviews with real-life Warriors, women of prominence in diverse fields, such as entertainment, fashion, science and business. Women like Tamara Mellon, designer and co-founder of Jimmy Choo; Toni Ko, founder of NYX Cosmetics; Nancy Gale, founder of luxury handbag brand JAMAH and non-profit entrepreneurial program AMBITION; Katherine Ross, former senior executive at LVMH, Hermes, Prada and co-founder of re:la; Catt Sadler, three-time Emmy-winning journalist, activist and blogger, and Dr. Eva Nogales, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Gale jumped at the opportunity to participate in this important and empowering program.
Gilman would co-write the book with her husband, Peter Mikulecky and with therapist, Rebekah Tayebi. Conceived at the height of the “Me Too” movement, they envisioned the world through the eyes of all the female students with whom they’d worked over the years. They examined what was available in the world of “girl empowerment” and found much of it wanting. They saw the need for a message that dared girls and young women to dig deeper, to confront themselves by engaging the world, to put in the work of a Warrior.
They asked Gale to be the focus of the chapter “Honestly, Be Honest.” It opens with the quote, “The warrior accepts from herself and others no substitute for the truth. She does not shrink from raw reality.” This was the perfect place for Gale to tell her story of positivity and resiliency, her commitment to finding her own truth and to using her success as a platform for providing access to disadvantaged young people.
“I am thrilled to be part of this guide to self-discovery,” commented Gale. “It is such a great fit, as the motto of JAMAH is ‘Be who you are,’ which is also the goal for the students in my non-profit, AMBITION. The stars aligned on this one…. Please check it out, ESPECIALLY if you have a daughter!”
As a guide and workbook, The Wanderlust Warrior Project can be used by not only by girls and young women, but boys and young men as well. It also lends itself to group work within schools and organizations. Work is underway on a companion Facilitator’s Guide.
For more information, visit www.wanderlustwarriorproject.com.
Co-written by Michelle Rose Gilman and her husband, Peter Mikulecky with therapist, Rebekah Tayebi, The Wanderlust Warrior Project “encourages women to question everything, stay open to their own beliefs, think for themselves, and claim their power.”