This past Saturday, September 17, local organization Our Girls Rock Too!, Inc., hosted its annual Girls with Goals Conference to empower their enrolled girls in achieving their career and personal goals through hard work, determination, and self-belief. The event was held at the Statesboro Family YMCA.
Our Girls Rock Too! is an organization created to encourage and support local young ladies in cultivating a more positive self-image and self-esteem. They also provide opportunities to their member girls in growing their various talents and interpersonal skills towards helping them achieve success in their greater lives.
The event was filled with many empowering speakers, and two of the speakers we were able to catch up with during the conference sessions were Gabby Coes and Dominique Mays.
Gabby Coes was the youngest of the scheduled line-up of speakers and led an exciting presentation. It included many interactive segments in which she guided her peers in business brainstorming. Gabby herself sells homemade bracelet jewelry, scarves, and baked goods. So, she was the perfect young spokesperson to lead the groups of girls in imagining different business plans to see which would be a successful venture to begin in the future.
Dominique Mays is the owner of Niquè Larinda, a hairstyling business which she operates inside Brow Baby Salon & Brow Bar in Statesboro. Her impassioned speech still rings clearly as it did on Saturday morning. Dominique spoke on the importance of following your heart's passion and life’s purpose. She expressed that the determination and perseverance required when following one’s dreams is no easy feat. But the consistent efforts of hard work become worth it, as the positive results start showing up over time.
She stated that she can see clearly that she is walking in her purpose daily at the salon, as the “women feel more comfortable and confident in who they are” once they see the result of their hair. Dominique pockets this as the surest form of confirmation that she is walking in her purpose successfully and is making an impact in the lives of her clients once these golden moments occur.
Our Girls Rock Too! is a growing and dynamic organization open to all young girls of all ethnicities, sizes, and beliefs, ages 7-18. The mission of OGRT is to encourage young ladies to become comfortable in their own skin and to love themselves through various exercises.
Their organization continues to offer many yearly conferences, workshops, and experiences for young girls to be surrounded by the necessary tools and resources to become the best version of themselves.
The OGRT committee includes founder and director Stacey Grant, along with Veronica Cheers, Ros Roberson, Alicia Gibbons, Erika Whiters, Rosaland King, Connie Presas, Leighanna Massey, and Brittany Fields.
The 2022 conference was sponsored by Jimmy John's, Platinum Landmark Realty, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro, Fostering Bulloch, Statesboro Family YMCA, Hill's Mortuary, Vizionary Impact, Dr. Renata Jallow, U.S. Hair Too!, Farmer Joe, Statesboro Foodbank, Rosaland's Cleaning Service, and Dream Breathe Travels.
If you are interested in learning more on how you may enroll your young ladies in into this program, please submit an application online at www.ourgirlsrocktoo.org, or reach out to Grant directly at (912) 690-3398 for more information.