Show Me The Way: Path To Carnegie Hall Paved With Intentioning for Women’s Equality Day Concert Star
Issue 175 — August 23, 2021
I had so much fun interviewing pianist Marina Arsenijevic in preparation for Take The Lead’s Women’s Equality Day concert.
She talked about how, soon after she arrived in the United States, she told a group of families who like herself had immigrated from Serbia, one of seven countries that war torn Yugoslavia had split into that her dream was to play in Carnegie Hall.
Within a relatively short time, she had the opportunity to perform in that iconic hall.
You’ll have to join us on August 26 to learn the rest of her charming story. It speaks to the experience of so many immigrants to America, the challenges of learning the idiom of a new language, and the courage of a woman who knew her purpose, her talent, and her intention from the time she was a small child.
That intention was and is not just to be a great pianist but one who uses her music to foster communication and appreciation for diversity among all people. Marina is one of the “intentional women” profiled in my new book, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take the Lead for (Everyone’s) Good.
In fact, Marina is an archetype of such an intentional woman, inspiring my Leadership Intentioning Tool #2: Dream Up.
The pandemic that set so many women back in their careers — there are 1.8 fewer women in the workforce today than in March 2020 when COVID-19 put the world into a tailspin and one in four women with jobs is considering downshifting her career — Marina is Intentioning on steroids. With performance venues shuttered, she turned her home into a studio and has never been more productive, creating and producing music while growing her social media following to 549,000 on Instagram alone and generating millions of YouTube viewers.
In-person performance venues are slowly and cautiously beginning to open, so it will be a while before you can catch Marina in concert there.
But you only have to wait until Thursday, August 26 to enjoy the program that Marina, an internationally acclaimed, winner of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, has created especially for Take The Lead. Including two world premiers!
Here’s a sneak peek at one of them.
Each piece Marina chose relates directly to women’s equality and addresses the need for Take The Lead’s training and coaching programs to #putwomenatthecenter of the recovery from the pandemic that threatens to set women’s advancement back a decade.
We are determined not to let that happen. In fact, we’re redoubling our commitment to reach gender parity in leadership by 2025. You can be a key part of this mission.
You’ll also meet actor and activist, Rhodessa Jones Co-Artistic Director of San Francisco acclaimed performance company Cultural Odyssey and the Director of the award winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women.
And you’ll hear stunning performances by violinist Sonia Lee, tenor John Riesen, and the West Point band.
If that’s not enough to tempt you, each ticket comes with its own gift to you to commemorate the day and commit to helping women get back into the workplace on their terms and onward to parity.
See them here: https://www.taketheleadwomen.com/events/equalityday
And this just in: Door Dash has joined as a sponsor.
Each ticket purchaser will receive a $30 gift card so you can enjoy your favorite beverage and snack during the concert. Gather a few friends (safely), pool your gift cards, and voila — instant party.
Tickets are also great gifts of appreciation to your team for their hard work or as an hour of self care that only music brings. Have fun while helping raise money for a worthy cause.
It’s not Carnegie Hall. It’s better, because you can join from anywhere in the world.
Marina and I can’t wait to see you there!
P. S. Tickets start at $25. But if you or your company become a sponsor at the $1000 level or more, you’ll get to hang out with Marina and me virtually after the concert. And no matter the ticket size, you have our sincere gratitude.
P. P. S. Can’t make it August 26? If you buy a ticket now, we’ll send you the link to watch any time in 2021.
GLORIA FELDT is the Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker and expert women’s leadership developer for companies that want to build gender balance, and a bestselling author of four books, most recently No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she teaches “Women, Power, and Leadership” at Arizona State University and is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Tweet Gloria Feldt.