Character Development Archives - Kathleen Hassan

Stand Beside Her

I'm so honored to be a national partner in the Stand Beside Her movement, which encourages girls to support one another and help each other succeed. We were asked to create a video of our own #StandBesideHer story and here's mine. <https://youtu.be/rEnxYcaIdNA> Last week I spoke at an 8th Grade Girls Summit and their brochure had a picture of a mountain and I used that theme throughout my talk to demonstrate the journey from where you are to where you want to be and most importantly, it's not the goal but what it will make of you to achieve it. In other words - it's the climb. During my talk I referenced a Hindu Proverb that says, Help thy brother's across and LO! thine own has reached the shore. I told the girls that we need to change that up and say this instead: Help thy sister up [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-11-03T15:21:39-05:00 November 3rd, 2017|

You Are Here! But Where Do You Want to Be?

You are here! You know that map at the mall? The one you look at when you're trying to find Forever 21? In order to get there you have to know where you're coming from. It's the same thing in life. You can't get where you're going until you know the starting point. Last week was the final session of my brand new pilot program called Buried Treasure: A Girl's Guide to Discovering Inner Strength and Confidence. It's a social emotional curriculum that helps girls deal with their feelings and relationships more effectively so they can navigate the onslaught of pop culture that constantly sets them up for feeling like they're not good enough. This particular program was a six-week after school program, but will be adapted for a weekend retreat experience as well. The Buried Treasure™ curriculum was developed to help girls explore their place in the world, to [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-06-05T15:50:09-05:00 June 5th, 2017|

Perfectly Imperfect: Adele Models the Art of the Do Over

Thank you Adele! Last night during the Grammys, in front of millions of viewers, Adele modeled the art of the do over to perfection. She was singing a tribute to George Michael and a few bars into her rendition of Fast Love, she stopped and said, "I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him. Can we start over?" A collective gasp shot round the world. Then, as if realizing what she'd just done, she dropped an undeniable f-bomb. You might wonder, what's so perfect about that? Often times our greatest failures become our greatest life lessons, but try telling that to a teenage girl who is obsessed with perfection and will do just about anything to achieve that. There's an anxiety epidemic in our world today as our girls are bombarded with air-brushed images and unrealistic standards of beauty and perfection. To witness a pop culture icon publicly screwing [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T10:59:57-05:00 February 14th, 2017|

Grace Under Fire: Turning My Mess into a Message

Over the past twenty years as a professional speaker, I’ve had my fair share of speeches that didn’t go my way. But last week’s presentation to the National Charity League in San Antonio was an epic disaster. I was so excited because the NCL’s mission aligns so well with my message of fostering the mother daughter relationship and developing confident young women leaders, and 250 mothers and daughters would be there for my talk. Never in a million years did I imagine that weather would be a factor in traveling from Florida to Texas, but that day 50 mph winds prevented us from landing in San Antonio and we were diverted to Houston. My speech was at 4:00pm and it was already 12:30. As we sat on the tarmac, I kept telling myself, “God makes all things come together for my good,” even though things didn’t look so good. Then [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T11:02:22-05:00 February 6th, 2017|

You’ve Got What It Takes

Recently I flew up to Boston to attend the 30th Anniversary Gala for National Speakers Association of New England. They were honoring all the past chapter presidents and I was the 20th president. During my term, I actually hosted the 20th Anniversary Gala and people flew in from all over the country so I felt somewhat obligated and compelled to make the trip and attend... and I'm so glad I did! It's not often that we get an opportunity to look back and see our trajectory and career path and get to honor and give thanks for all the people who helped us on our journey. During the event, each past president in attendance got to share a story or most memorable moment of NSA-NE. However, we were told to keep our remarks to 90 seconds!! They should've known better... a roomful of speakers and one microphone - trust me - [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T11:54:50-05:00 May 22nd, 2015|

Perfectly Imperfect: Five Ways to Kick Perfectionism to the Curb

Have you ever felt like you just weren’t good enough? Most of us have felt that way at one time or another. But for many teen girls, this feeling is a chronic ache and is being perpetuated by a culture that celebrates the illusion of perfection. Beyoncé sings, "perfection is a disease of a nation" and tells us pretty hurts, yet how many girls are killing themselves to be just like her? Red carpet glamor and excessive photoshopping makes girls, and women alike, strive to be perfect and contributes to the ingrained belief that we are not good enough - just the way we are. This past spring I spoke at the Marin County Teen Girl Conference. Thirty teen girl ambassadors were planning the conference, selecting the speakers and choosing the topics. They polled girls in their schools and the #1 requested topic was how to deal with the stress of [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T12:17:22-05:00 October 13th, 2014|

Go Ahead. Make My Day! The Power of Compliments

Yesterday I was running into Whole Foods to get a Green Dream (sounds so much better than kale smoothie) and noticed a young woman in the parking lot wearing this awesome purple dress and really cool purple shoes. Without a moment's hesitation I said to her, "Girl... you are totally rocking that purple outfit today!" The guy she was with said, "I'm so glad you said that!" I was thinking that probably he had already told her the same thing and she didn't believe him, so I asked, "Why are you so glad I said that?" He went on to explain that she had, just moments earlier, commented to him how much she liked another woman's cardigan sweater and the boyfriend had said to her, "Well, why don't you tell her that?" But she told him she'd feel silly and that the other woman would probably think she was weird [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T12:19:43-05:00 October 8th, 2014|

Destination Unknown

Some people think that a destiny is a place - somewhere you’re trying to get to. Like the word destination, the place you arrive at when you go on vacation. But your destiny is not an actual place or somewhere to get to, it’s more about finding out who you really are and simply becoming that. Destiny is the hidden power within you that controls what will happen in the future. So it’s not so much about getting anywhere, but it’s about discovering that hidden power - the God force within, that will help you and guide you through life. Know this... There is NO "there"... There is only NOW. Any time you are trying too hard to get somewhere, or think that you should be somewhere else besides where you are in that exact moment... You are Not Here! God's grace and power can only be accessed in the [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T12:20:37-05:00 May 21st, 2014|

I’m Not Much – But I’m All I Think About: The Selfie Phenomenon

There's a war going on and the battlefield is in our own mind. We are in a perpetual state of conflict. Paradoxically, like an ego maniac with an inferiority complex... We desperately want to be loved and yet we hate ourselves. We suffer from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and yet we isolate. We want to be treated with respect and tolerance and yet we criticize and judge others. And I say "we" because I feel and act that way sometimes too. (and don't even think about denying the fact that you do too!!) All of these conflicted thoughts, feelings and actions - actions that completely contradict what we say we want - are amplified and magnified through social media. The "Selfie" Phenomenon Currently, the hashtag #selfie yields more than 31 million hits on Instagram. The Oxford English Dictionary named selfie Word of the Year and defines it as "a [...]

By Kathleen| 2017-03-07T12:37:38-05:00 December 17th, 2013|

Taking the Bite Out of “The Bitch”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “bitch?” The “b word” has so much negative connotation to it and our fear of being labeled as such often keeps us toeing the line and squashing our thoughts, voices and opinions. Last night I was working with a client who is a 2nd grade teacher and currently has a student teacher in her classroom. My client was describing all the ways that this neophyte was not performing up to expectations or the standards that she has set for herself and her classroom. But rather than being strong and assertive, she had slipped into a more passive-aggressive role and was allowing the performance of this student teacher to totally affect the mood and energy of the classroom. When I asked what was the block that was preventing her from being direct and laying it on the line for this young woman, [...]

By Kathleen| 2013-10-30T18:45:17-05:00 October 30th, 2013|