I had the amazing opportunity this past weekend to participate as a vendor at Bright Pink's signature fundraising event, FabFest 2014.

I participated as a fundraiser in the all-day fitness event last year, and really loved the organization's passion and goal of enlightening and empowering young women to be proactive with their breast and ovarian health.

The team I worked with was exceptional, the energy at the event SO powerful, I was still vibing on it all day yesterday. Everyone who participated was affected in some way either personally or had a loved one affected by breast or ovarian cancer. These women came to sweat, support each other, and educate themselves on how to better detect and prevent these diseases from happening.

What is Bright Pink?

I LOVE this organization because Bright Pink is the only national NPO focusing on the prevention and early detection of breast and ovarian cancer in young women, while providing support for high-risk individuals.

They have amazing outreach and education programs for both women and medical affiliates, including some fantastic resources on their website.

Check out Tools to Be Proactive and take a quiz to determine your Risk Assessment for Ovarian and Breast Cancer here >>



I just took mine and was excited to see all of the great resources throughout the quiz that enforced healthy diet and lifestyle - including specific cancer fighting foods and nutrients like Vitamins D, A and E for breast and ovarian cancer specifically.

I also really like their approach of encouraging women to speak up if they don't feel their issues are being evaluated enough or to demand more information from their doctors. Read more about Bright Pink here...

What is FabFest?

FabFest is Bright Pink’s signature mission focused fundraiser where hundreds of women gather for a day of fitness activities, wellness seminars, life-saving breast and ovarian health education and more. It's kind of like a race or marathon (sponsors, donations, fundraising) but instead of running a 5k, these ladies came in for a full day of getting their sweat on with yoga, barre, pound and other signature fitness classes from Chicago's creme de la creme of instructors.

Image courtesy of Bright Pink's FB page

This year, Bright Pink tapped renowned yogi Kathryn Budig to headline the event with a special Aim True practice to kick off the day.

She shared that one of her close friends had just been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last few weeks. It's scary - it's terrifying - she said. But we have to move past the fear, and onto the fight and being positive that this can be beaten.



Kathryn is truly an inspirational speaker, talented yogi and just all around authentic and genuine person. Take a class of hers on Yoga Glo and you'll see what I mean.

My Experience

So what the heck was I doing there? Great question. In addition to fitness classes, the event also offered other wellness services - everything from bra fitting to nail painting, hair braiding to psychic readings - including goal coaching sessions.

I attended under my new venture, FitGirl Wellness which is my offshoot for health coaching & yoga from this blog, the Fit Girl's Kitchen ;)



I am no stranger to tradeshows, setting up booths, working the room and putting together print materials. When I left my last company, I did a little dance. No more conferences! No more booth setup and teardown! I truly never thought in a million years I'd be rolling out another sign.

Six months. Apparently some weird part of me missed it.

I posted this on my instagram account that morning, because it took the words right out of my mouth:


I had such a rewarding experience talking to many of the participants there, meeting other instructors and learning a little bit more about myself and what I want for this new venture.

My booth offered a goal setting exercise designed by IIN called the "Circle of Life" - in which you rate your level of satisfaction on different areas of your life under topics of career, physical wellness, relationships and spirituality.


I had so many inspiring conversations with people regarding career aspirations, cooking, and my favorite being one woman who began our conversation with her guard totally up. She rated her career success - high powered finance field - as very satisfactory. Joy, creativity - low.

I asked her what made her feel creative, what made her feel alive - and she brightened. "You know, every day after work, I used to come home and play the piano for 20 minutes. And that brought me such happiness."

There's one of your goals, I told her. You don't have to do it EVERY day, but try 3 days after work each week, I will play the piano for 20 minutes.

"I'm going home after this and that's the first thing I'm going to do!" she said. She thanked me and floated away smiling.

And that to me is everything.

Thank You

A huge thank you to Bright Pink for allowing me to join the event as a vendor this year! Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for their latest activities or for more details on how to get involved.


Donations are still being accepted for FabFest 2014 until October 7th if you are so inspired to contribute. (My girls from Jugs & Kisses are currently in 2nd place so you can help them out here or donate to the overall campaign here.)

And now, onto the next adventure...

xo,

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