COME JOIN US FOR A DIALOGUE! GET READY FOR SOME MEANINGFUL AND INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR FELLOW BOOK CLUB MEMBERS.

Take The Lead Book Club is a venture where we hope to educate ourselves by reading, writing, watching and listening. We strive to continue learning every day so that we can better understand the world around us, to help achieve our ultimate goal of gender parity. Each month, you can plan on a diverse and inclusive list of featured books, movies and podcasts, as well as impactful discussions. 

Members of the Take The Lead Leadership Council are invited to attend all Book Clubs at no charge.

About the book:

In this honest and tender collection of essays, award-winning memoirist Michele Weldon asks what it means to be a mature woman seeking a life of purpose and meaning through work, family, and relationships. Facing ageism and invisibility within popular culture, Weldon examines the effects of raising children, striving for applause, failing expectations, forming new friendships, reconciling lost dreams, and restoring one’s faith. With sincerity and humor, she unwraps family traditions, painting classes, lap swimming, dress codes, and career disappointments. She addresses white privilege and her evolving understanding of racism. And she asks crucial questions about mortality, finding connection in writing and stories.

Frank, eloquent, and daring, Weldon dissects the intricacies of life, journeying toward self-discovery as a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Readers of any age or gender will recognize the universal experience of learning to accept oneself and asking essential questions—even if there are no easy answers.

(Take The Lead is an Amazon Associate and earns through qualifying purchases.)

Lesley Jane Seymour is a media entrepreneur and founder of CoveyClub, a new club for life-long learners launched in February 2018 (Covey is a small flock of birds). CoveyClub allows women 40+ to bond over issues of interest and concern through webinars (Coffee & Conversation) or topics in the CoveyClub blog, which is written and produced by the best journalists around the world. 

CoveyClub also hosts weekly podcasts with women reinventing themselves (The Reinvent Yourself Podcast) and an app (CoveyConnect) where women can connect and talk with each other about similar interests. From 2008-2016, Lesley served as Editor-In-Chief of More Magazine, the leading lifestyle magazine for women over 40 with a readership of 1.5 million. She was also the Editor-in-Chief and Social Media Director of More.com, which attracted over 12 million monthly page views and 600,000 unique visitors. Before taking over More,Lesley served as the Editor-in-Chief for Marie Claire, Redbook, YM, and Beauty Director of Glamour, and copywriter and senior editor at Vogue.

Michele Weldon is an award-winning author, journalist and emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University. She is the author of six nonfiction books, including her latest, Act Like You’re Having A Good Time: Essays. She has contributed chapters in seven other books. 

Her first book was I Closed My Eyes, a memoir on her experience with domestic violence. Her other books include Writing To Save Your Life: How To Honor Your Story; and Escape Points, a memoir on raising three sons alone and surviving cancer.  Her essays have appeared in New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, TIME, OZY, The Guardian, Slate, Chicago Tribune, Better, Forbes, USA Today, More.com, NBC Think, Narratively, Cosmopolitan and more. 

A senior leader with The OpEd Project since 2011, she has led Public Voices Fellowships at Northwestern, Stanford, Princeton and Brown universities, the Ms. Foundation,  Center for Global Policy Solutions and Urgent Fund Africa. She is the award-winning editorial director of Take The Lead, a women's leadership initiative. She serves on the advisory boards of Global Girl Media Chicago, Sarah’s Inn, Beat The Streets Chicago, Between Friends and Children’s Foundation.