May’s Speaker: Shawndra Russell will talk about her entrepreneurial journey and why she now has a passion for supporting women in unlocking their mad genius and building their legacy—and disrupting male-dominated industries along the way.

From the organizer: Networking - The way you always hoped it would be!

No one is positioning themselves to be the loudest voice in the room.

No competition.

Simply, a group of women who support each other, and by doing so, they grow personally and professionally.

Only one business type is represented at each meeting - RSVP Required - email to missy@missyfrischcoaching.com

We'd love to have you join us at our next Flourish meeting! In April we made some great connections and Christy Bell did an awesome presentation on long term care insurance. If you know anyone who could use help with that type of planning, Christy is passionate and knowledgeable on the issue and can be reached at csbell@ft.newyorklife.com.

This month we are trying something new and moving to Zillicoah Brewing with the hope that the weather cooperates and we can find a nice outdoor spot to meet! (They do have covered space we can use if it rains.) If downtown parking has kept you away - Zillicoah has a huge private lot. 

Please email missy@missyfrischcoaching.com to check availability to register your business. The purpose of this is to make sure we only have one business type represented each month. This goes a long way in creating a non-competitive environment that makes our meetings relaxing and enjoyable for everyone. Thanks so much and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Looking forward to connecting with you all soon! 

Cheers,

Missy

Every week on Tuesdays from 9-10am, women leaders who are ready to fully step into their elderhood —regardless of age—are invited to join our Elderhood Club. This group will give members all kinds of ways to present, connect, and discuss their role and responsibilities as elders (aka leaders) in our community.

The format and location will vary for these Tuesday Coffee Clubs, and we welcome creative ideas, activities, or if you just want to share your story to realizing you’re in your Elderhood and/or how you got here, please reach out to claim your date as our Featured Elder.

First Tuesdays: Mad Genius Studios, 121 Sweeten Creek Road Suite 20 Asheville NC 28803 (share your story!)

2nd Tuesdays: Asheville Sports Club, (we’re playing Pickleball!), 137 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

3rd Tuesdays: Pechakucha Presentations, Mad Genius Studios (1-2 Presenters)

4th Tuesdays: HarmonyAVL+media, 936 Tunnel Road Asheville NC 28805 (video presentations, all are welcome)

Free for members. $10 for non-members.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

May 7: Shawndra Russell, owner of Mad Genius Studios and HarmonyAVL+media, co-founder of InvestHER Asheville, and consultant for startups including Women in Trades Hub, shares the biggest lesson she’s learned in her leadership journey.

May 14: Lesley King Career Empowerment Coach. I help people figure out What’s next in their career or life.  Once you know what you want, you can make it happen.  https://lesleykingempower.com/

May 21: Natalie Micale, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, https://nataliemicalecoaching.com/. She’ll be talking about her journey as an executive turned entrepreneur with unmedicated ADHD due to a heart condition.

May 28: Dr. Susan Clark, UNCA

Free

Come mingle, connect, sip and relax for our monthly gathering with other fabulous women!! Women & Wine AVL is a monthly group brought to you by Rustic Grape Wine Tastings and typically features a short speaker presentation from a local woman entrepreneur.

Location: Urban Orchard has fantastic house ciders, artisan wines, and NA drinks to enjoy.

Every 2nd Tuesday, Asheville’s only Lean In Circle meets to empower a curated group of women. If you would like to inquire about joining, please email Circle Leader Diana Gibson at dgibsoncoaching@gmail.com.

The fabulous Dr. Laura Jurgens , a local sex, relationship, and embodiment coach, will be leading us in some nervous system and more work to help us become shameless. How would it feel to be free of shame about your body and appearance? If you’d like to get closer to that, join us for this special community-building, de-shaming series. It is time to shed the baggage we all carry from a misogynistic culture.

These events are specifically for people who identify as women. We’re going to do embodied and connection-based exercises to release shame around our bodies and looks. Activities will include somatic, mindset, and connection-based exercises that release shame in the mind and body. You will shed judgment about yourself and others. You will tap into some parts of yourself you may not have met before. You will leave feeling more free, more accepted, more resourced, and more connected. 

Bring your authentic self, a notebook and pen/pencil, and willingness to be honest with yourself, to listen to others with empathy, and to challenge your old habits and judgments with compassion. Wear comfy clothes as we will be sitting on meditation cushions.

This series is led by dual-certified somatic relationship & embodiment coach Dr. Laura Jurgens. 

Free, limited to 12 participants. Must RSVP through this link or email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com.

In this half-day workshop, serial entrepreneur Shawndra Russell will teach about how to put more of you into your brand through community building, social media, and increasing your visibility. You will gain insights about how to better serve your clients and be more authentic through your digital marketing and leave with a plan on how you want to and will show up for your brand for the rest of 2024 and beyond.

$60 per person, limited to 10.

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/883029614347?aff=oddtdtcreator

Every third Thursday, the 51st chapter of The Real Estate InvestHER meets with a featured speaker or activity to help women live financially free lives. https://www.investherasheville.com/events

This is a special event where we will be hosting a roundtable discussion about the barriers that hold women in our community back. Brunch will be served and this is an invite-only event in collaboration with Faith Bischoff, NextGen Case Manager, Youth Services at Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina. 5 spots available, so please email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com to secure your spot.

Free

Every month, we will host a craft night as we think all women entrepreneurs need a little crafting in their life to get our of their heads and use our hands while we talk a little business including wins and frustrations! We will learn from Georgette Blackford, Business Manager for Mad Genius Studios and self-taught crafty woman extraordinaire. Georgette will be teaching us how to reupholster a chair. Bring a chair that needs more padding and a fresh new outside.

$15 if you bring your own materials, $25 if you want to use our scrap fabric.

Free for members if you bring your own materials.

Every week on Tuesdays from 9-10am, women leaders who are ready to fully step into their elderhood —regardless of age—are invited to join our Elderhood Club. This group will give members all kinds of ways to present, connect, and discuss their role and responsibilities as elders (aka leaders) in our community.

The format and location will vary for these Tuesday Coffee Clubs, and we welcome creative ideas, activities, or if you just want to share your story to realizing you’re in your Elderhood and/or how you got here, please reach out to claim your date as our Featured Elder.

First Tuesdays: Mad Genius Studios, 121 Sweeten Creek Road Suite 20 Asheville NC 28803 (share your story!)

2nd Tuesdays: Asheville Sports Club, (we’re playing Pickleball!), 137 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

3rd Tuesdays: Pechakucha Presentations, Mad Genius Studios (1-2 Presenters)

4th Tuesdays: HarmonyAVL+media, 936 Tunnel Road Asheville NC 28805 (video presentations, all are welcome)

Free for members. $10 for non-members.

Join us if you’re interested in learning more about becoming a Pechakucha presenter for the quarterly gatherings that bring 100-150 people together to witness 7-9 presenters do 20 slides X 20 seconds, or if you’d like to be the solo presenter at one of our future Pechakucha Coffee Club gatherings (maximum 30 guests), please come to learn more over coffee.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

May 7: Shawndra Russell, owner of Mad Genius Studios and HarmonyAVL+media, co-founder of InvestHER Asheville, and consultant for startups including Women in Trades Hub, shares the biggest lesson she’s learned in her leadership journey.

May 14: Lesley King Career Empowerment Coach. I help people figure out What’s next in their career or life.  Once you know what you want, you can make it happen.  https://lesleykingempower.com/

May 21: Natalie Micale, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, https://nataliemicalecoaching.com/. She’ll be talking about her journey as an executive turned entrepreneur with unmedicated ADHD due to a heart condition.

May 28: TBD

Free

Every month in collaboration with HarmonyAVL+media, we are co-hosting the monthly Asheville Design District meetup for members and prospective members. We will hop around to different businesses in the Design District to show our support and talk about how we can amplify and grow the District and how we can support our growing community. May’s meetup will be at 7 Clans Brewing.

Led by Shawndra Russell, a social media educator for more than 20 years and former Digital Marketing Manager for top brands including Snyder’s of Hanover and Savannah Taste Experience, which became the 2nd-most booked food tour in the world under her helm.

Here’s what to expect:

• Get all of your social media questions answered in a fun, creative, and no-such-thing-as-a-bad-questions environment of women

• Create your personal digital marketing infographic

• Get clear on what channels you want to use and why and who you want to reach there

• A boatload of content ideas

  Mad Genius Studios Members: Free

  Non-members: $25

• Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/883019494077

  Maximum 8 participants

One of Shawndra’s favorite regular events! Join the Empowerment Collective to connect with like-minded women and engage in empowering conversations that will leave you feeling inspired and uplifted. https://www.linkedin.com/company/empowerment-collective-avl/

Every week on Tuesdays from 9-10am, women leaders who are ready to fully step into their elderhood —regardless of age—are invited to join our Elderhood Club. This group will give members all kinds of ways to present, connect, and discuss their role and responsibilities as elders (aka leaders) in our community.

The format and location will vary for these Tuesday Coffee Clubs, and we welcome creative ideas, activities, or if you just want to share your story to realizing you’re in your Elderhood and/or how you got here, please reach out to claim your date as our Featured Elder.

First Tuesdays: Mad Genius Studios, 121 Sweeten Creek Road Suite 20 Asheville NC 28803 (share your story!)

2nd Tuesdays: Asheville Sports Club, (we’re playing Pickleball!), 137 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

3rd Tuesdays: Pechakucha Presentations, Mad Genius Studios (1-2 Presenters)

4th Tuesdays: HarmonyAVL+media, 936 Tunnel Road Asheville NC 28805 (video presentations, all are welcome)

Free for members. $10 for non-members.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

May 7: Shawndra Russell, owner of Mad Genius Studios and HarmonyAVL+media, co-founder of InvestHER Asheville, and consultant for startups including Women in Trades Hub, shares the biggest lesson about choosing vs. being chosen that she’s learned in her leadership journey.

May 14: Lesley King Career Empowerment Coach. I help people figure out What’s next in their career or life.  Once you know what you want, you can make it happen.  https://lesleykingempower.com/

May 21: Natalie Micale, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, Executive Coaching & Leadership Consulting, https://nataliemicalecoaching.com/. She’ll be talking about her journey as an executive turned entrepreneur with unmedicated ADHD due to a heart condition.

May 28: Dr. Susan Clark, UNCA

Free

Join fellow bold-thinking, big-hearted, badass women for a transformative workshop of experiential learning, growth, connection, & collaboration. In fun, experiential ways, we will show you how to harness your menstrual cycle superpowers to build bold visions without burning out. Discover how the cycle holds the keys to accessing flow, clarity, & creativity to elevate your impact without sacrificing your body and wellbeing. Learn how to free up valuable time and build your business cyclically, whether it's at the seed stage or a fully blossomed business. Proceeds go to our impact-driven startup: Womb Wise Collective. We are a growing ecosystem of women and teens living, learning, & leading in synergy with our wise wombs & powerful menstrual cycles to elevate our impact on the world. 

Tickets: $60 

Timing: 2 hours 

Limited to 20 spots.

This is a special event where we will be hosting a roundtable discussion about leadership, feminism, the future, and the legacies we are leaving behind. This brunch will be co-lead by Randee Brown, editor of WNC Magazine. Brunch will be served and we will be filming this as an episode for The Legacy Project. Each participant will have access to the recording and photos to utilize for their own purposes. Only 5 spots available, so please email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com to secure your spot.

Free

Every quarter, Pechakucha Asheville hosts a Pechakucha evening. Learn more and watch previous presentations at https://www.pechakucha.com/communities/asheville.

Every week on Tuesdays from 9-10am, women leaders who are ready to fully step into their elderhood —regardless of age—are invited to join our Elderhood Club. This group will give members all kinds of ways to present, connect, and discuss their role and responsibilities as elders (aka leaders) in our community.

The format and location will vary for these Tuesday Coffee Clubs, and we welcome creative ideas, activities, or if you just want to share your story to realizing you’re in your Elderhood and/or how you got here, please reach out to claim your date as our Featured Elder.

First Tuesdays: Mad Genius Studios, 121 Sweeten Creek Road Suite 20 Asheville NC 28803 (share your story!)

2nd Tuesdays: Asheville Sports Club, (we’re playing Pickleball!), 137 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

3rd Tuesdays: Pechakucha Presentations, Mad Genius Studios (1-2 Presenters)

4th Tuesdays: HarmonyAVL+media, 936 Tunnel Road Asheville NC 28805 (video presentations, all are welcome)

Free for members. $10 for non-members.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

June 4: Dr. Tonya Portis, Nutritional Expert

June 11: Lilly Field, Menstruation Expert

June 18: TBD

June 25: TBD

Free

Welcome female identified people who work in traditionally male industries. This is an intergenerational group learning from those who came before, and lifting up the new women in the community. We host free monthly meetups to connect, refer business, and learn. https://www.meetup.com/asheville-women-in-trades/

We know non-profits have boards, and we have all joined a few masterminds, read some small business books, and try to constantly learn. But the truth is, sometimes you need outside perspectives to get clearer on where you want you and your business to go. Let us help by curating a boardroom of badass women to help think through your next business moves. Everyone will have reviewed your brand and your intake questionnaire prior to our boardroom meeting, and we will dig into your most pressing concerns, think through your expansion and potential new income streams, and brainstorm the shit out of ways to grow your business.

Because as The Entrepreneurial Myth teaches us,

“Simply put, your job is to prepare yourself and your business for growth. To educate yourself sufficiently so that, as your business grows, the business’s foundation and structure can carry the additional weight. “And as awesome a responsibility as that may seem to you, you have no other choice—if your business is to thrive, that is. “It’s up to you to dictate your business’s rate of growth as best you can by understanding the key processes that need to be performed, the key objectives that need to be achieved, the key position you are aiming your business to hold in the marketplace. “By asking the right questions, such as: Where do I wish to be? When do I wish to be there? How much capital will that take? How many people, doing what work, and how? What technology will be required? How large a space will be needed, at Benchmark One, at Benchmark Two, at Benchmark Three?

“Will you be wrong at times? Will you make mistakes? Will you change your mind? Of course you will! More often than not. But, done right, you will also have contingency plans in place. Best case, worst case. And sometimes you will simply fly by the seat of your pants; you will go with the flow, follow your intuition. “But all the while, even while you’re guessing, the key is to plan, envision, and articulate what you see in the future both for yourself and for your employees. Because if you don’t articulate it—I mean, write it down, clearly, so others can understand it—you don’t own it! And do you know that in all the years I’ve been doing this work with small business owners, out of the thousands upon thousands we’ve met, there have only been a few who had any plan at all! Nothing written, nothing committed to paper, nothing concrete at all.”

Cost: $1500. If you’re willing to share the boardroom table with one other woman entrepreneur, we encourage you to recruit someone to invest in this exceptional brainstorming and brand-informing experience with you and each of you would get a dedicated 1.5 hours.

From the organizer: Networking - The way you always hoped it would be!

No one is positioning themselves to be the loudest voice in the room.

No competition.

Simply, a group of women who support each other, and by doing so, they grow personally and professionally.

Only one business type is represented at each meeting - RSVP Required - email to missy@missyfrischcoaching.com

We'd love to have you join us at our next Flourish meeting! In April we made some great connections and Christy Bell did an awesome presentation on long term care insurance. If you know anyone who could use help with that type of planning, Christy is passionate and knowledgeable on the issue and can be reached at csbell@ft.newyorklife.com.

This month we are trying something new and moving to Zillicoah Brewing with the hope that the weather cooperates and we can find a nice outdoor spot to meet! (They do have covered space we can use if it rains.) If downtown parking has kept you away - Zillicoah has a huge private lot. 

Please email missy@missyfrischcoaching.com to check availability to register your business. The purpose of this is to make sure we only have one business type represented each month. This goes a long way in creating a non-competitive environment that makes our meetings relaxing and enjoyable for everyone. Thanks so much and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Looking forward to connecting with you all soon! 

Cheers,

Missy

Vino & Vulvas is a series of live events in Asheville, NC. It creates a space for education, curiosity, and pushing the conversation of sex past limits of heteronormativity, gender binary, white normativity, and vanilla normativity.  We are a group of pelvic health specialists, sex therapists, sex educators, drag queens, burlesque dancers, and comic book artists who will be having panel discussions with time for questions on a  plethora of topics centered around sexual wellbeing. 

We provide an open space for talking about challenging topics that are often taboo. We meet in a public venue to get out of the shadows and create an open community where all of us (women, men, genderqueer, trans, gay, straight, bisexual, experienced, newbies, kinky, vanilla, young, mature, all races, etc.) can laugh and learn more about our sexual selves. We can start to bridge the gap between sexual healing practices, medical sexual health, and sex therapy. It's sure to be an exciting journey. Have a glass of wine, a beer, a cup of coffee, and dinner, and enjoy some edgy, inclusive, and informative conversation. I hope you join us!

Vino & Vulvas is always open to all genders, ages, orientations, and races. We strive to be as legitimately inclusive as possible… but we’ve always got blindspots. We’re doing our best and learning all along the way. Know that when you come to V&V, we’re trying hard to avoid heteronormative, cis-normative, white supremacist, sex-negative, patriarchal bullshit. Occasionally we don’t get it exactly right - but we’ll learn and move forward.

Buy tickets and learn more at: https://www.vinoandvulvas.com/.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

June 4: Dr. Tonya Portis, Certified Nutrition & Fitness Coach, Best-Selling Author, and Founder of https://rawnaturalellie.com/.

June 11: Lilly Field, Menstruation Expert

June 18: TBD

June 25: TBD

Free

Every month on the 2nd Monday, we will host a self-care experience at Mad Genius Studios as we aim to support all lady entrepreneurs holistically, and we know that self-care is vital for us to continue to serve others well. Stay tuned for details about who will be leading us this month!

Free for members. $15 for non-members. Maximum 10 participants.

This is a special event where we will be hosting a roundtable discussion about leadership, feminism, the future, and the legacies we are leaving behind. Brunch will be served and we will be filming this as an episode for The Legacy Project. Each participant will have access to the recording and photos to utilize for their own purposes. Only 5 spots available, so please email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com to secure your spot.

Free

Every 1st Tuesday, We will host a PechaKucha-style presentation followed by conversation. April’s PechaKucha will be presented by Shawndra Russell on the topic of Choosing Vs. Being Chosen. Two more presenters are welcome to create their own PechaKucha presentations to round out the morning. Learn more about Pechakucha presentations at: https://www.pechakucha.com/communities/asheville.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

June 4: Dr. Tonya Portis, Certified Nutrition & Fitness Coach, Best-Selling Author, and Founder of https://rawnaturalellie.com/.

June 11: Lilly Field, Menstruation Expert

June 18: TBD

June 25: TBD

Free

The fabulous Dr. Laura Jurgens , a local sex, relationship, and embodiment coach, will be leading us in some nervous system and more work to help us become shameless. How would it feel to be free of shame about your body and appearance? If you’d like to get closer to that, join us for this special community-building, de-shaming series. It is time to shed the baggage we all carry from a misogynistic culture.

These events are specifically for people who identify as women. We’re going to do embodied and connection-based exercises to release shame around our bodies and looks. Activities will include somatic, mindset, and connection-based exercises that release shame in the mind and body. You will shed judgment about yourself and others. You will tap into some parts of yourself you may not have met before. You will leave feeling more free, more accepted, more resourced, and more connected. 

Bring your authentic self, a notebook and pen/pencil, and willingness to be honest with yourself, to listen to others with empathy, and to challenge your old habits and judgments with compassion. Wear comfy clothes as we will be sitting on meditation cushions.

This series is led by dual-certified somatic relationship & embodiment coach Dr. Laura Jurgens. 

Free, limited to 12 participants. Must RSVP through this link or email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com.

Every third Thursday, the 51st chapter of The Real Estate InvestHER meets with a featured speaker or activity to help women live financially free lives. https://www.investherasheville.com/events

This is a special event where we will be hosting a roundtable discussion about the barriers that hold women in our community back. Brunch will be served and this is an invite-only event in collaboration with Faith Bischoff, NextGen Case Manager, Youth Services at Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina. 5 spots available, so please email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com to secure your spot.

Free

Every month, we will host a craft night as we think all women entrepreneurs need a little crafting in their life to get our of their heads and use our hands while we talk a little business including wins and frustrations! We will learn from Georgette Blackford, Business Manager for Mad Genius Studios and self-taught crafty woman extraordinaire. Georgette will be teaching us how to make adorable, light, and portable ottomans.

$15 if you bring your own materials, $25 if you want to use our scrap fabric.

Free for members if you bring your own materials.

Every Tuesday, we will have a guest speaker share their story to leadership. Bring your own lunch and learn (we’re actively looking for sponsors, so stay tuned) from local leaders in a casual, conversational setting. If you have a slideshow featuring some of yourself growing up into the leader you are today, we certainly welcome that!

June 4: Dr. Tonya Portis, Certified Nutrition & Fitness Coach, Best-Selling Author, and Founder of https://rawnaturalellie.com/.

June 11: Lilly Field, Menstruation Expert

June 18: TBD

June 25: TBD

Free

Every month in collaboration with HarmonyAVL+media, we are co-hosting the monthly Asheville Design District meetup for members and prospective members. We will hop around to different businesses in the Design District to show our support and talk about how we can amplify and grow the District and how we can support our growing community. June’s meetup will be at Village Pub.

This is a special event where we will be hosting a roundtable discussion about leadership, feminism, the future, and the legacies we are leaving behind. Brunch will be served and we will be filming this as an episode for The Legacy Project. Each participant will have access to the recording and photos to utilize for their own purposes. Only 5 spots available, so please email madgeniusstudios@gmail.com to secure your spot.

Free