She Talks
MAGAZINE
BOLD GOALS.
FRESH STARTS.
COLLECTIVE STRENGTH.
FEATURE: MOM’S RISING
JANUARY 2026
VOL 3 | ISSUE 1
THE POWER OF
SABBATICAL
WELLNESS
WITHOUT THE WHIPLASH
THE PERMISSION YOU'RE WAITING
FOR IS COSTING YOU WEALTH
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CONTRIBUTORS
Editor-in-Chief
DR. JULIE DUCHARME
Cover Layout and
Magazine Design
DR. JOSHUA DUCHARME
Contributing Writers
WENDY WATSON
KAREN GREY
SONJA ROHN-BUDREAU
DR. JULIE DUCHARME
AMANDA TAYLOR
KAREN WEAVER
LISA E KIRKWOOD
KARINA SOLOMAN
WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES
MIDNIGHT… YOU’RE STILL YOU (AND
THAT’S THE MAGIC)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE PERMISSION YOU'RE WAITING
FOR IS COSTING YOU WEALTH
FEATURE: MOMS RISING
19
35
12
24
40
BUSY VS. PRODUCTIVE: SAME
ENGINE, NEW PAINT
WELLNESS WITHOUT THE
WHIPLASH
WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR
WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’RE BEING
CALLED INTO YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
47
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
30
THE POWER OF A SABBATICAL:
WHY WOMEN LEADERS NEED
SACRED PAUSE
50
GABRIELLA POMARE
THE COURAGE TO BEGIN AGAIN
52
FROM THE EDITOR
Founder, Lead and Empower Her She Talks
Dear She Talks Family,
There is something sacred about the beginning of a new year.
Not because a clock strikes midnight or a calendar flips but because it quietly asks us a question:
Who are you becoming next?
Not who you were last year.
Not who you think you’re supposed to be.
But who you are bold enough to step into now.
At She Talks, we are stepping into this year with intention—anchored by three powerful truths:
Bold goals.
Fresh starts.
Collective strength.
Bold goals don’t mean reckless leaps or unrealistic pressure. They mean allowing yourself to dream without
shrinking the vision to fit someone else’s comfort level. They mean choosing courage over convenience.
Growth over fear. Alignment over approval.
Fresh starts don’t require erasing your past. They invite you to honor it—and then build forward with
wisdom. Every experience you’ve lived has prepared you for what’s next. You are not behind. You are
becoming.
And collective strength?
That is the heartbeat of She Talks.
This movement was never about one woman rising alone; it has always been about women rising together.
When one woman speaks up, another finds her voice. When one woman steps forward, she clears a path for
others behind her. When we link arms, our impact multiplies.
This year, we are calling women to stop playing small with their gifts, their leadership, and their influence. To
set goals that stretch them. To begin again where needed. And to remember they were never meant to do
this alone.
As you turn these pages, I invite you to reflect:
What bold goal is asking for your yes?
Where are you ready for a fresh start?
And how might your strength—combined with others—create something greater than you imagined?
This is not just a new year.
It’s a new chapter.
And we’re so honored to write it with you.
With gratitude and belief in every one of you,
Australia
Experience
SHE TALKS
GET TICKETS @ LEADANDEMPOWERHER.COM
SYDNEY | FEB 26, 2026
...You’re Still You
(And That’s the Magic)
strikes
When theClock
BY DR. JULIE DUCHARME
et’s talk about the real damage Cinderella did
to women everywhere.
Somehow, we’ve all subconsciously decided
that when the clock strikes midnight on New
Year’s Eve, we’re supposed to magically
transform—just like her.
But here’s the truth no fairy godmother
ever told us:
At midnight, Cinderella didn’t become
better. She just went back to being
herself.
And spoiler alert—she was always
enough.
New dress.
New life.
New level of motivation.
Possibly new abs.
MIDNIGHT
SHE TALKS | 8
Every January, women are handed this unspoken expectation that at 12:00 a.m., everything changes.
We’re supposed to wake up transformed:
More disciplined
More confident
More put together
More “on top of it”
But let me be honest—I’ve crossed into plenty of New Years at midnight holding a sparkly drink, wearing
shoes I regretted immediately, and already wondering why I stayed up this late.
And guess what?
At 12:01 a.m., I was still me. Same heart. Same calling. Same sense of humor. Same coffee dependency.
No glass slippers required.
Midnight Is Not a Makeover Moment
Somewhere along the way, we decided growth only counts if it looks dramatic.
If there’s no grand transformation, no overnight success, no visible glow-up, then we must be “behind.”
But Cinderella didn’t become worthy at the ball.
She didn’t earn her value because she wore a gown or caught a prince’s attention. Her worth wasn’t
created by a moment—it was revealed through it.
And the clock striking midnight didn’t take that away.
The Real Fairy Tale We’ve Been Sold
What If 2026 Is About Remembering,
Not Reinventing?
What if this year isn’t about trying to outrun the clock? What if it’s about stepping fully into who you
already are—without the pressure to perform, prove, or pretend?
2026 doesn’t need a new you.
It needs a more honest you.
The woman who:
Stops shrinking to fit rooms she’s outgrown
Stops apologizing for wanting more
Stops waiting for permission to live boldly
And yes—the woman who knows when it’s time to kick off the heels and go home.
SHE TALKS | 9
My Very Real 2026 “Resolutions”
(No Fairy Godmother Required)
Here’s what I’m committing to this year:
I will stop chasing perfection—it’s exhausting and honestly not that fun.
I will trust my intuition more than outside opinions.
I will stop explaining my boundaries like I’m on trial.
I will rest without calling it “earning it.”
I will laugh—especially when life feels a little chaotic.
Because magic doesn’t come from transformation.
It comes from alignment.
Here’s the part of the Cinderella story we don’t talk about enough:
Even when the magic faded, she didn’t lose herself.
She went home, yes—but she went home knowing who she was.
And that’s what I want for every woman stepping into 2026.
Not pressure.
Not perfection.
Not a forced glow-up.
Just clarity. Confidence. And the freedom to be fully yourself—glass slippers
optional.
The Clock Struck Midnight…
and You’re Still Powerful
Happy New Year, She Talks family.
May 2026 be filled with purpose, laughter, and a
whole lot of magic—no midnight deadline required.
SHE TALKS | 10
Your strength has a story.
And it deserves to be told.
The She Talks Anthology:
Strength Edition is a
collaborative book
featuring women who
have risen through
challenge, resilience, and
unwavering belief in
themselves.
If your story includes
courage, growth, grit, or
transformation—this is
your invitation.
Submissions now open
Add your chapter. Own your strength.
Busy vs
Productive
BY WENDY M WATSON
For years, women have been encouraged to stop saying
they’re “busy” and start saying they’re “productive.”
Busy sounds chaotic, overwhelmed, reactive.
Productive sounds intentional, empowered, in control.
At first glance, the shift feels liberating. As if changing
the word might change the experience.
But beneath the language upgrade, something
important remains untouched.
Both busy and productive still locate worth in output.
Same engine. New paint.
The problem with “busy”
“Busy” became a cultural shorthand for exhaustion. It
implied a lack of boundaries, a life being pulled by
demands rather than shaped by choice.
So we rejected it. Rightfully so.
No one wants to feel owned by their calendar or
swallowed by obligation. Saying “I’m busy” often felt
like a confession, or worse, a badge we wore without
questioning why.
The solution, we were told, was productivity.
SAME ENGINE,
NEW PAINT
SHE TALKS | 12
Why “productive” felt better
Productive sounds cleaner. More evolved. It implies
intention instead of chaos. Mastery instead of
overwhelm.
“How was your day?”
“I was productive.”
The phrase reassures both the speaker and the listener.
It offers proof. Evidence that time was well spent. That
effort mattered. That value was created.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Productive is not the opposite of busy. It’s the refined
version of it.
Busy says, “I am demanded.”
Productive says, “I am valuable.”
Neither asks, “Am I alive in what I’m doing?”
The hidden contract beneath both words
At the nervous-system level, busy and productive are
siblings. Both orient the body toward performance,
measurement, and external validation.
They reassure us that we are:
contributing
useful
relevant
justified
And that reassurance matters more than we like to
admit.
From the dawn of human history, survival depended on
doing. Gathering food. Tending fire. Protecting the group.
Movement meant safety. Contribution meant belonging.
Over time, that survival instinct fused with identity.
Doing didn’t just keep us alive.
It told us who we were.
So when modern women slow down, even when life
allows it, the body doesn’t experience stillness as
neutral. It experiences it as risk.
This is not weakness. It’s wiring.
Productivity as regulation, not ambition
For many women, productivity isn’t about achievement. It’s about regulation.
Creation brings relief.
Completion brings relief.
Recognition brings relief.
This is where dopamine enters the picture. Not as a villain, but as a coping mechanism.
Dopamine rewards action and outcome. It temporarily quiets discomfort. It reassures the nervous
system: You’re okay. You matter.
So when productivity drops, the discomfort rises.
Rest doesn’t feel restful.
Stillness doesn’t feel safe.
Unstructured time feels unsettling.
Not because something is wrong, but because identity has been tethered
to output.
The rebrand that didn’t free us
The shift from busy to
productive was well-
intended. It helped people
organize their time. It helped
them feel more intentional.
But it didn’t heal self-worth.
In fact, it often reinforced it.
Now even rest needs
justification.
“I wasn’t doing nothing.”
“I was productive in a
different way.”
“I rested on purpose.”
See the trap?
When rest has to earn
legitimacy, nothing has
actually shifted.
The doorway most women
stand near
Not all women relate to this conversation
the same way.
Some are deeply invested in productivity
as identity. Stillness feels threatening.
Truth feels invasive.
Others have already stepped beyond it.
They no longer need output to validate
existence.
But there is a large group standing
somewhere in between.
Women who are just near the doorway.
They feel the tension. They sense that
their life might be truer, freer, more
spacious on the other side of constant
doing.
They want that freedom.
And they are afraid of it.
Not because they are weak, but because they
are honest.
They ask quietly:
Who would I be without my usefulness?
What would surface if I stopped?
Would I still matter if nothing needed me?
Would I recognize myself?
These women don’t need to be pushed into rest.
They need to feel safe enough near stillness to
approach it.
Flow exposes the illusion
Flow state tells the truth productivity never
could.
Flow is not efficient.
Flow is not measurable.
Flow does not perform for approval.
In flow, time dissolves. Effort softens. Presence
replaces proof.
SHE TALKS | 15
And that’s precisely why flow cannot be used as
a badge.
The moment we try to measure it, we kill it.
Which is why the busy vs. productive debate
misses the point entirely.
The real axis is not chaos versus intention.
It’s compulsion versus coherence.
A person can be highly productive and deeply
misaligned.
A person can appear unproductive and be
profoundly alive.
A different question entirely
So perhaps the real shift is not linguistic at all.
Perhaps instead of asking:
“How productive were you today?”
We ask:
“Did you feel like yourself today?”
That question cannot be gamed.
It cannot be optimized.
It cannot be justified with metrics.
And it leads somewhere quieter. Deeper.
A Different Engine Entirely
The truth is, productivity itself is not the enemy.
Creation is natural. Contribution is human.
Movement is life.
The problem is when output becomes
permission to exist.
Changing the word from busy to productive
doesn’t dismantle that contract. It simply makes
it more socially acceptable.
Freedom doesn’t come from a better label.
It comes from remembering who you are before
you prove anything.
And for many women, that remembering doesn’t
happen all at once.
It happens slowly. At the edge. Near the doorway.
Where nothing is demanded.
Nothing is rewarded.
And something essential is finally allowed to
emerge.
Invitation
So perhaps the invitation isn’t to do less or do
more.
Perhaps it’s to listen differently.
The next time someone asks how your day was,
instead of answering with “busy,” “productive,”
“great,” or even “okay,” try choosing a word that
reflects how you were, not what you completed.
Busy
Productive
Purposeful.
Meaningful.
Fulfilling.
Present.
Alive.
SHE TALKS | 16
with purpose and meaning,
Wendy M Watson
Initiator of Transitions™
Embodiment Architect™
Founder of WMW International
Connect with Wendy
And then notice what happens.
Notice how your body responds when you answer
that way.
Notice how the conversation shifts.
Notice how the other person often pauses—just
for a moment—to find a new response.
That pause matters.
It’s the sound of a familiar script breaking.
The sound of someone stepping, however briefly,
out of performance and into presence.
This isn’t about changing your pace or proving
your worth in a more enlightened language. It’s
about letting your words point back to something
deeper than output.
You don’t have to cross any threshold today.
You don’t have to abandon ambition or effort.
You don’t even have to change anything at all.
Just try telling the truth from a different engine.
And see what emerges.
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Wellness Without the
Whiplash
BY THE SHE TALKS TEAM
January has a way of coming in loud. Suddenly, every headline is telling us to fix ourselves, every scroll is
offering a “reset,” and every plate is supposed to look like punishment for enjoying the holidays. But
what if this year didn’t start with extremes? What if wellness wasn’t about cutting everything out, starting
over, or proving discipline—but about easing back into routines that actually support real life? Wellness
Without the Whiplash is an invitation to begin the year with intention, nourishment, and balance—
choosing foods that feel good in your body without sacrificing joy, flavor, or the moments worth
celebrating.
SHE TALKS | 19
This refreshing spritz delivers celebration
without excess, keeping calories low while still
feeling festive. Citrus adds brightness and
hydration, making it a perfect swap for sugary
cocktails that can leave you feeling sluggish.
Ingredients
Sparkling water
Fresh grapefruit or orange juice (1–2 oz max)
Lime wedge
Mint or rosemary
Tip: Add a splash of apple cider vinegar for
metabolism support (optional).
Citrus Reset Spritz
SHE TALKS | 20