New "That's What She Said" Comes to Quad Cities
A brand-new event next March is a big deal. That’s what she said — literally.
Based on a national movement that started in Illinois, three Quad Cities women’s organizations are partnering to bring “That’s What She Said” here, March 8th, 2024 to the QC Waterfront Convention Center, Bettendorf. It will be part of the YWCA’s “Champions of Change” conference, and that date was also picked since it’s International Women’s Day.
The day will feature women business owners, said Amy Schaefer, empowerment director of YWCA of the Quad Cities.
“We really want to make it a full, empowering day for women, so if you come just in the morning or just in the evening, you’re still leaving empowered,” she said Thursday.
The She Said Project started as a one-night event and has grown into a vibrant, national community of women supporting other women, “a community we wanted to bring to OUR community so that we can continue to find powerful ways to be connected to each other,” says a press release about the QC event.
“There are no rules about the kind of stories you can share — it can be anything at all that you believe the world needs to know about who you are, about what you do, or about the way you do it,” it says. “You DO NOT need to be a professional speaker to apply to this event. We will provide all the help you need to prepare for your night on the stage.”
“That’s What She Said” (typically featuring 8-10 inspiring female speakers) started in 2013 in Champaign-Urbana, and after annual events there, it grew to Bloomington, Ill. in 2019 to a packed house. 2022 included live events in Champaign-Urbana, St. Louis, Allentown, Penn., Peoria, Bloomington, Ill., Faribault, Minn., Chattanooga, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C. The next event is scheduled this September in Indianapolis.
A passionate trio
The three groups teaming up here are Junior League of the Quad Cities, the YWCA and The Beautifull Project.
Junior League is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
The Beautifull Project is a storytelling collective inviting women back to their bodies and into a world where we belong with substance and with strength.
As the only QC group uniquely delivering services by women and for women, the YWCA works to empower women by helping them overcome the barriers they face. That means overcoming obstacles to truly achieve the health, happiness, and financial security that leads to confidence and dignity.
Junior League president Jennifer Davis said Thursday that a QC member had attended a “She Said” conference pre-COVID and recommended it for the area.
“We investigated this a little more and it seemed like a good fit for us,” Davis said. “This is something different and people will be talking about it for the foreseeable future after they attend.”
At each event, there are 8-10 women featured, typically speaking about 5-7 minutes each. Beautifull Project founder Sarah Stevens said the topics don’t have to relate traumatic experiences.
“In fact, just being alive is hard and if you’re present to it, it is transformative,” she said. “I think that’s really the point of inviting not like headlining speakers, but ordinary people to talk about the lived experience they want to share.”
Ordinary women talking about the extraordinary
One reason for potential speakers to submit video samples is to hear from people they don’t know, Stevens said. “It’ll be powerful to not have the standard people on stage,” she said.
The talks can be about something great a woman is proud of (not 10 trauma stories).
Stevens said they’ll choose speakers based on the content of their story, not the style or presentation of the speaker. They hope to have women represent a variety of ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds.
Davis asked Stevens to have the Beautifull Project be involved, since it’s a storytelling collective.
“The whole point of founding and expanding the Beautifull Project for me was, one of the lines I used over and over was ‘Ordinary women telling extraordinary truth’,” Stevens said.
“It’s the exact same concept,” she said of “She Said.” Stevens wants to help women develop their stories, which is very meaningful for her.
“Part of the thing that holds people back so often is their fear in the atual experience of presenting,” she said. “I know how to do it, so I want to help build that confidence in people.”
Stevens gave a TEDx talk in Davenport in April 2019, called “Stripped: The Art of Being Seen.” She had started Beauifull Project the year before.
“At the core of it, it was my own story of learning to accept the parts of me I thought were too big and then inviting other people to do the same thing,” she said Thursday.
The project website says it’s a “space for us to heal, to be filled, to believe that we are worthy of love and belonging regardless of the size of our bodies or the strength of our spirits.” It is a virtual forum; you can read its blog HERE.
“Yes She Can”
Davis said Junior League has a strong partnership with the YWCA. The past two years, they’ve done a hygiene drive to benefit the YWCA Empowerment Center on River Drive in Davenport. Junior League is also a sponsor of the “Yes She Can” series. Schaefer of the YWCA noted that monthly series features panel discussions (such as nonprofit leaders) and single speakers. Stevens has spoken for that series.
“That’s What She Said” is more a larger conference with multiple speakers, compared to “Yes She Can.”
Stevens said if there’s a good response to the event, there may be an online presence formed for those interested, to connect during the year between events.
The She Said Project grew more inspired at the vast number of women with amazing stories to share, they expanded into a blog, podcast, a book, and virtual shows that connected women from many different communities.
The She Said Project is also committed to serving the communities that host “That’s What She Said” events, and require that a percentage of ticket proceeds support local nonprofit organizations.
Women interested in speaking at the 2024 inaugural event should attach a short video pitch (no more than 3 minutes) to the online application. There are no rules about the kind of stories you can share — it can be anything at all that you believe the world needs to know about who you are, about what you do, or about the way you do it. You should apply by HERE.
For more information, email [email protected].