This is the first in a series of Entertainment for Grownups reviews that I plan to do. Here are three badass women you need to check out right now. And in honor of Mother’s Day, they’re all mamas.
Brene Brown – The Call To Courage (Netflix)
I’ve been a Brene Brown fangirl for decades. But the rest of the world is now catching up because shame and vulnerability have gone mainstream. Yup, all the way to Netflix where Brene’s new special Call to Courage released over the Easter holiday weekend is further testament to the power and necessity of this conversation.
If you’re not familiar with Brene’s work, she spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and is the author of five number one New York Times bestsellers. Her first TED talk on vulnerability went viral and has generated over 40 million views and her second Ted talk Listening To Shame has had 11 million views. Clearly something in her message is resonating.
If summarizing 20+ years of research and over 400,000 data points could possibly be done in a little over an hour, Brene does so artfully in her Netflix special. And the recurring theme across all of her research remains: choosing courage over comfort matters a great deal. Especially in a world and culture that is often defined by fear, scarcity and uncertainty.
Stress. Anxiety. Depression. Leadership battles. Failures. Tough conversations with colleagues. Relationship heartbreaks. There are many challenges that face people personally and professionally. Yet there are core practices that people can engage in to overcome these, and to live a more wholehearted life.
There is not one single person that I know that doesn’t NEEEEED to hear Brene’s message of choosing courage over comfort. I really hope you’ll check it out and tell me what you think.
Abby Wambach – WOLFPACK: How to Come Together, Unleash Our Power, and Change the Game
Abby Wambach became a champion because of her incredible talent as a soccer player. But she became an icon because of her remarkable wisdom as a leader. As the co-captain of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Champion Team, Abby created a culture not just of excellence, but of honor, commitment, resilience, and sisterhood. She helped transform a group of individual women into one of the most successful, powerful and united Wolfpacks of all time.
In her retirement, Abby’s ready to do the same for her new team: All Women Everywhere.
In her brand new book, WOLFPACK, Abby’s message to women is:
We have never been Little Red Riding Hood. We Are the Wolves.
We must wander off the path and blaze a new one: together.
Abby insists that women must let go of old rules of leadership that neither include or serve them. And she’s created a new set of Wolfpack rules to help women unleash their individual power, unite with their Wolfpack, and change the landscape of their lives and world: from the family room to the board room to the White House.
I will be buying this book for all of the “wolfpups” in my life. It’s a must read.
Beyoncé – Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce (Netflix)
A year after one of the most critically lauded festival performances in recent pop history, Beychella has landed on Netflix. This intimate, in-depth look at Beyoncé’s celebrated 2018 Coachella performance reveals the emotional road from creative concept to cultural movement.
Beyoncé had been scheduled to headline the festival in 2017, but pushed her performance back a year after becoming pregnant with twins. “Thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline Coachella,” she told the crowd at her comeback show.
The nearly two-hour show features dozens of musicians backing Beyoncé in the style of historically black college marching bands and traced “a lineage of Southern black musical traditions from New Orleans second line marches to Houston’s chopped-and-screwed hip-hop,” said the critic Jon Caramanica in The New York Times.
“There’s not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year, or any year soon,” he wrote. “It was rich with history, potently political and visually grand. By turns uproarious, rowdy, and lush. A gobsmacking marvel of choreography and musical direction,” Caramancia added.
I couldn’t have said it better myself! And you know it was great when Michelle Obama took to Instagram to share her appreciation in a post that has now gotten over 6 million views.
You can see all of my previous entertainment reviews HERE.
What were YOUR May favorites? What should I include in my next badass women review? Tell me in the comments below.
PIN IT!
