Our Wednesday’s Woman for June 12th are three women doing incredible things in their communities.
Tracey Vega: Charley & Tracy Vega are the owners of Simple Self Defense for Women® an award winning company that promotes the personal safety of women through their PBS TV Show, Guest Speaking, DVD’s, and their very popular Seminars, Workshops & Professional speaking engagements. They specialize in self-defense for women from ages 9 to 91 with a focus on How to Simply Escape an Attack, NOT Stay and Fight! Charley & Tracy are the TV shows stars and hosts. (read more)
Chef Kirsten: Here is some information about me, about my 100 pound weight loss and honestly, just an opportunity for me to brag about my beautiful kids, family, friends and blessed life. I love food…everything about food. Planning menu’s, shopping for food and kitchen wares, reading about food, developing recipes, cooking and eating! I believe food is a gift, we should enjoy it! Making other people happy with the food I cook makes me happy. I grew up in a family that loves food also. My dad makes homemade pepperoni, sausage and jerky and did catering when I was younger. He was always making his pepperoni on the weekends or canning the vegetables he grew in his great little garden. The weekends he wasn’t cooking we were usually traveling around to ethnic stores in the Seattle area and trying new foods. We usually picked up at least one new and unusual food to try. My dad cooked dinner from time to time also, his food was always a product of throwing this or that into the pan and seeing what came out…it was always delicious, sometimes we didn’t have any idea what it was, but it was good! My mom was a good cook too, she did the majority of the cooking in the house, some of my favorites from her are her fried chicken, homemade pasta with Alfredo sauce and spaghetti with meat sauce. I thank my parents for always having a healthy dinner on the table and exposing us to new food cultures. We spent many weekends on the coast catching our own crabs and digging for clams. For so many people, these kinds of foods are a luxury…for the price of a license we caught our limits and feasted until we couldn’t eat another bite! It was glorious, these are some of the fondest memories of my childhood. We were taught to eat what was put in front of you, if you didn’t you weren’t going to eat. I appreciate that and I try to do the same for my children, I don’t allow them to be picky eaters, they have to try everything. We were not health conscious though, my dad grew up on a farm and dieting was not something that anyone ever did, you just eat! My mom was naturally very thin and didn’t have to worry about portion sizes. We had processed foods around a lot, things like chips and cookies, bagels. I was not blessed with my mother’s high metabolism though, and I stayed chubby through school. (read more)
Saidat has opened for the headliner Fergie. Made a music video for GoodLife Kids Foundation and on a weekly basis talks to hundreds of students and teachers. Whether she is speaking, singing or dancing, her message remains clear: One person can make a difference. Together we can change the world.
What began in 2004 as an idea for a classroom discussion has transformed into a high energy presentation that has been experienced by thousands of youth and community leaders in Canada and the United States.
A native of St. Paul , Minnesota, Saidat first developed a passion to help people find the dream in their heart through watching her mother care for her community by entertaining children in the neighbourhood through backyard activities and feeding them when they were hungry. Upon competition of high school, Saidat went on to attend seminary where she learned how to work with students at risk.
For the past 15 years she has been living in Canada working with youth groups, community organizations and schools to motivate each person to believe in their ability to affect change in their home, school and the world around them. In 2004 Saidat approached the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ontario with a violence prevention presentation that includes music dance and drama to drive home the message of anti-bullying. The program has been well received in over 1000 schools and community events
