When Sandra Daiello, owner of Body Secrets Day Spa & Hair Salon (and my long time hair goddess stylist!) approached me this summer and asked if I could help her create an event that would fuse the strengths of both of the worlds of beauty and fitness together, and at the same time encourage women to seek their own innerconfidence and glow, I was beyond flattered. Outside of the fitness industry, event marketing defines my professional career and I have over six years experience in executing large industry & corporate events. I have always wondered, what is that one event that can be the next great thing? That would encourage strong women to lift each other up? What can we put together that would create a platform for women to speak up, show their worth, but still want to throw some makeup on and whip their hair back and forth from time to time?
As the result, Stay Strong, Beautiful was born. Our first event was September 27th at Body Secrets in South Windsor. We planned a girls’ night out concept at the salon, filled with beauty products, fitness challenges, raffles, and mini massage services, but then brought in the ultimate inspiration, my dear friend and team mate, Lori Ann Mancuso.
I don’t really know where to being with Lori. Inspiring is an understatement. Nothing I can really write here can describe how I feel about this phenomenal woman so I am just going to say this: Odds Breaker. Goal Getter. Beautiful Soul. She has gone through such tremendous obstacles and has overcome what life has thrown at her with an undeniable spirit. She went from being told she was never good enough, being told constantly that she was fat, to losing over 140lbs, beating cancer twice, and now runs marathons and competes in bikini competitions in front of thousands of people. Please tune in below to listen to a snapshot of her story:
The night was an incredible success. I can not thank everyone enough who came out to support us on our first Stay Strong event. All proceeds were donated to Child Help, a non-profit organization to help end child abuse. Please enjoy the pictures from the night, and stay tuned for more exciting event ideas and dates to build the Stay Strong community!!
Stay Strong,
Megaphone xoxo
