DOVE AND JESS GET REAL AND GIVE GIRLS A SELF-ESTEEM REALITY CHECK!

I am ridiculously excited to announce the launch of a very important ground-breaking online event beginning Nov. 6th.
I have partnered with the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to create "The Reality Diaries"  at  www.doverealitydiaries.com.

Follow the lives of 4 teen girls struggling with 4 real self-esteem issues as I guide them through a transformation and an active online community of other teen girls cheer them on, give them advice, and weigh in on the dynamic issues impacting teen girls today. 

Whether it's beauty, boys or body image, this program will strip away the pretense and allow girls a chance to be real and encourage them to take their self-esteem back into their own hands. Hollywood has set the standards for unrealistic beauty and body ideals and now real girls all over the country are speaking out. And you can have your questions featured on the site! You can also write to each girl and read their blogs as well as see their video diaries chronicling every step of their journey over the next 6 weeks. We will also create two nation wide live chats on Nov. 27th and Dec. 18th that promise to be provocative and informative. And I'll be there every step of the way to moderate and facilitate this online community.

This is a beautiful risk and leap of faith for many reasons.

1. We are not going to fall victim to the flashy, alcohol infused 'reality' we see featuring many teens on TV. Our girls are real. And they are committed to making a change in their lives.

2. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund is dedicated to helping girls feel more beautiful in their everyday lives. This division is not product driven. It has been committed to raising awareness around self-esteem since 2004. And I can tell you from my affiliation with them - they walk their talk! To learn more go to www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

3. We are putting the power back into the hands of teen girls. They will help guide the content, ask questions, and be given a forum to speak out. So many times we need to listen to girls more than we talk to them.

4. We are putting a face on issues like body image, racial identity, plastic surgery, and friendships. This will be the forum to follow 4 girls who are going through very common issues to share their struggles with other teens allowing everyone to feel less alone.

5. We will uncover what is real vs. what is constructed in Hollywood’s standard of beauty.

6. We won't be 'fixed' at the end of the show. This is a 6 week journey to explore deep and important issues. We don't feel a need to wrap it all in a neat bow when we are done or fake an ending. We will all see how much progress can be made in 6 weeks and hopefully when we conclude we will all be a few steps farther along in learning to love ourselves and dissect the many messages coming our way.

I couldn't be prouder to be a part of this project. But we need YOUR help. Tell EVERYONE you know to visit doverealitydiaries.com
Visit it often. Post your messages. Download our tips and tools and resources. Oh and did I mention tell EVERYONE you know!
This event is ideal for girls between the ages of 12 - 20 but certainly is applicable for ALL girls and women as it will generate conversation about topics we all have experienced - peer pressure, Hollywood pressure, family pressure.

If you find yourself complaining because there aren't any relevant, empowering shows for teens on the web or on TV - here is your answer. And just remember, they don't produce the relevant, empowering shows unless there are eyeballs to watch them. So please support this effort - we can really band together and put a new face on teen issues and actually help a lot of girls out there!!

So mark it as your 'favorite page', tell everyone on your My Space and Facebook pages, and sit down and get to know Jordyn, Chelsea, Irene and Sydney as they experience their self-esteem reality check - at www.doverealitydiaries.com.  

See you there!!

Super Girls and Super Hungry

You know when you just meet people and you click instantly? Well that's what happened when I met with Kelly and Becca our featured Actionists this month and the co creators of Sisters 4 Change. These two dynamos have taken their personal and powerful experiences with sexual assault and turned it into a passionate outreach for college students and young adults to gain information, tips, tools and support. I urge you to read all about them and check out their website at www.uniteforchange.com  - they have some wonderful programs that could benefit your community or school.

Our featured reading selection this month comes from Allen Zadoff, whose poignant book "Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin" is a compelling read into one man's body transformation and life transformation. Allen writes with a passionate, funny, and honest voice and I think anyone who has journeyed through weight loss or food issues will relate to his work. Check it out!!

Special Thanks to our New Crew!

You know I always like to end with some gratitude and this month I find myself incredibly blessed to have a full house of creative producers, editors, and production assistants inhabiting our offices here in LA. Our new crew is on hand to make sure the Dove Reality Diaries are a rockin' success! Our office is a buzz with smart people working hard to make meaningful media! So thank you to Hedda, Dave, Corey, Stephanie, Neta-lee, Jeff, Steve and my sweet sis, Rebecca for supporting the vision and doing great work!!

With lots of love and light,
Jess

Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin

-Allen Zadoff

The larger-than-life adventures and hard-earned wisdom of a formerly fat man...

Allen Zadoff spent years reasoning that a big, healthy man should have a big, healthy appetite and that his rapidly increasing girth was nothing to be alarmed about. But by the time he hit 350 pounds at age 28, it became clear that what started out as a seemingly manageable weight problem was rapidly destroying his life.

Following years of see-saw dieting and guilt-inducing food binges, and desperate to find a new way of living that would make him thin, Zadoff had a breakthrough. Instead of employing the diet du jour and other weight loss fads, he began to focus less on what he ate and more on the physical and emotional underpinnings of what he came to understand as a disease. The pounds melted away, and in the process he gained a whole new life.

Sharing his incredible journey both up and down the scale with bite-sized portions of savory prose, Zadoff blends his personal story with surprising strategies for weight-loss success that engage the heart and mind rather than the calorie counter. Courageous, candid, wise, and often hilarious, Hungry is sure to inspire foodies and non-foodies alike to muster the power to change.

Quote from the book

“I finally sought help not to control my weight but to deal with the emotional turmoil that was lurking just beneath the food. Over the course of a year, more than 100 pounds fell from my body, and my thin life, the one I’d been waiting for since I was a teenager, finally began.  It was nothing like I expected. For starters, Calvin Klein did not call with a  modeling offer.  The gifts of the thin life, which I’d always assumed included a beautiful girlfriend, a great apartment, and a Labrador retriever, did not materialize. My life was not suddenly perfect. It was a lot more interesting than that. It turned out that losing weight was only the first step in a much larger and more amazing journey.”
                                                                                   --from Hungry

To learn more about Allen Zadoff please visit www.allenzadoff.com or his My Space page located at www.myspace.com/allenzadoff.

To purchase a copy of Hungry please visit Amazon.com.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- Winston Churchill

Connecting with Jess!

We are so excited to announce the launch of
The Dove Reality Diaries - a ground breaking online event facilitated by Jess.

4 girls. 1 expert. 0 boundaries.

Follow the lives of 4 teen girls as they battle 4 real issues and take their self-esteem back into their own hands. There are plenty of opportunities for you to weigh in, give advice, and ask questions - so visit www.doverealitydiaries.com and check it out!

Body Peace Project

Join the latest call to action as Jess and Seventeen Magazine invite you and your friends to sign the Body Peace Treaty - pledging to make amends with your negative body image and stop beating yourself up based on how you feel about your appearance.

All you have to do is go to seventeen.com and sign the treaty. Our goal is to have 1 million girls sign up!

_______________________________

November 8, 2007
Pennsylvania Governor's Conference for Women
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Click here for more information

December 11, 2007
The Massachusetts Conference for Women
Boston, Massachusetts
http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org

What's on Jess's mind...
Are you curious about what's on Jess's mind lately? Be sure to read Jess's Blog to find out!

If you or someone you know would like to be a guest blogger on Jess's blog, please send your blog entry along with a 2 sentence bio about the writer to info@withjess.com.

** The topics are open - just keep in mind the goal of the site and Jess's work is to promote conversation and action**

Jess is so 21st Century...
Check out Jess's My Space page to read her blog, send her a comment, and connect with other amazing people making a difference in the world!

Actionist™ Wear!

Remember to check out our online store! You can express your Actionism with t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers and there is much more to come. Click here to check it out!

Book Jess in 2007!

Book Jess for your upcoming events in 2007 now and receive $500.00 off the total cost of program fees. Send your email to rebecca@withjess.com to find out what dates are still available.

1. Someone who motivates and inspires people to take action in their everyday lives.

2. Someone of any age, race, class, and gender who wants to walk their talk out in the world and lead by example.

3. Someone willing to do what it takes to make a difference in their lives and in the world at large.

Our Featured Actionist™ this month is...

Kelly & Becca
Sisters 4 Empowerment

This month's Actionists are an unabashedly sexually empowered duo! Best friends most of their lives, Kelly Addington and Becca Tieder want you to feel comfortable and confident talking about “IT”, sex.  While in college Kelly was raped by a man she was dating. Only to learn of the assault when she found out she was pregnant. Devastated Kelly turned to her inner strength and best friend Becca for support and the journey of recovery began. Kelly recovered from her assault, but could not stop thinking about the countless other survivors who may not be as lucky as her, those who might not have a “Becca” in their life. Neither of these women were okay with that, so they got smart, began working and started moving. Telling their story of support and survival, and helping others by traveling full-time across the country to share their story and teach anyone who will listen how to prevent sexual assault, how to support a survivor and how to become sexually empowered!

To expand their reach in 2006 Kelly and Becca founded UNITE FOR CHANGE (www.uniteforchange.com) a leading anti-violence initiative. Today Unite for Change is the most comprehensive on-line resource related to sexual violence (and folks, they are just getting started). Unite for Change is an educational resource, a campaign and a place where activists can share their success stories. Recently, they added “Brothers 4 Change” and “Sisters 4 Empowerment” to the campaign. Honoring the great work that men and women are doing to eradicate the all too real statistic that 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted while in college.

Through their work as speakers and Unite for Change, they have had the honor of addressing thousands of students and community leaders (their goal is a kagillion times infinity) over the past few years, but Kelly and Becca say, that is not good enough. Until the lack of violence forces them into retirement these gals with work with anyone who wants to stand up and speak out against violence.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Kelly and Becca have shared their expertise and vision with Dateline NBC in a powerful expose of the realities and dangers of the date rape drugs, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, CNN Headline News, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and NPR. Recently CAMPUS ACTIVITES MAGAZINE printed a feature article highlighting the difference Kelly and Becca are making through out the nation. Recognizing their passion and determination, Business Journal’s across the country have profiled them as an example of people on the move!  Always willing to contribute in person, via phone or in print they have authored articles in numerous higher education and service publications. But Kelly and Becca will quickly tell you that the real rewards are from the survivors who approach them in private to discuss their story and seek personal guidance as well as students and community leaders that have been called into action after working with them. These are reasons they keep a suitcase packed and ready to go.

The vast majority of sexual assault incidences happen between two people who know one another. The good news is that often times this crime is preventable, if we are willing to talk about “IT”. Reducing the shame and stigma with all things sexual is a step in the right direction. Getting sexually empowered is even better. When we accept sexual empowerment in our lives, we define our own boundaries and assume responsibility for them. When we stop using inappropriate language and sexual slurs to demean anyone with sexual boundaries or orientations different than our own, then we are making a stand against sexual violence while helping our sisters and brothers through support and trust rather than through judgment and disbelief.

Every one of us can be a part of the solution. Kelly and Becca can never take away what happened the night Kelly was assaulted, but now they know how they could have prevented the assault. They want; no they NEED to share that information with you which is one of the many reasons Kelly and Becca are so incredibly honored to be members of Team Jess and a part of the With Jess posse.

If you are ready to take action, dance your Actionist shoes on over to www.UniteforChange.com or e-mail Kelly and Becca at info@kellyandbecca.com.

If you want to keep up with the sexually empowered duo check out their blog at http://kellyandbecca.blogspot.com/ or sign up for their funky fresh newsletter chock full of fun and safety tips.

If you want to bring Kelly and Becca to your campus or community click here.

Wanna be empowered with great ways to take action in your everyday life?

Ways to Take Action

1. If you’re at a loss for new words that make you feel positive, try writing down a wish list of traits you admire in others. 

2. This one’s simple but true:  Remember that everyday actions and relationships cause a ripple effect out in the world, so practice being kind, and ask someone else to pass it on

3. Assess your own belief system.  Discover if you’re taking on others’ viewpoints or giving yourself an opportunity to craft you won.  Try writing down an opinion inventory, which can be broad and basic, silly or deep:  what are your thoughts on friendship, political issues, or even doing the laundry?  You may be amazed to discover that you have different opinions than your parents or friends do.

Small steps of action can make a great change!

Also, be sure to check out the Ways to Take Action section of our web site.