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IVIVVA (ih-vee-vah) created by Lululemon Althetica threw coast to coast summer festivals and hit San Francisco on Saturday July 23rd at the City View Metreon Private Events Space. I had no idea what to expect, as this was the first time I’ve ever heard of the event geared towards empowering young girls. I attended with my daughter. Ivivva Coast to Coast Summer Festivals create experiences to connect young girls through active movements. Their event is also structured to inspire and encourage them to dream big thru stories of other young girls.
We arrived just in time to hear the inspirational stories from the young girls chosen to speak to the crowd of young girls attending the empowerment event. Zylah was the first to begin. Her story included personal details of losing her 2 younger sisters at the age of 4 and again at age 10. She spoke about staying strong and having faith to get thru those difficult times. Zylah shared her career goal of becoming a neonatologist and her educational goal of wanting to be accepted into medical school at Stanford University. She even outlined her process to achieve her endeavors for the girls to hear which included: focusing on getting good grades, working on her golf skills in order to get a college scholarship, and time managing her social time with friends to ensure she reaches her career/educational goals. Zylah ended her story with a quote, “It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can achieve your dreams and make a change in the world”. As a mother to a daughter and an adult woman running women supporting women events, I was so moved by this young woman and so amazed at the young lives she was inspiring with her story. Her willingness to share it in the hopes of it motivating the young girls in the crowd to strive for their goals regardless of the obstacles they face is one act we rarely see from young girls.
As a mother I know first hand how hard it is to raise a confident, goal-oriented young lady in a world where media is constantly pushing out images and stories that focus more on their appearance rather than what’s in their minds. This event was refreshing to attend and such a necessary event for our young girls to be able to partake in. I can talk non-stop at my daughter and show her various way to make a social impact in the world, but it’s not as impactful as her hearing it from another girl within her age group. Having more girls like Zylah and Ivivva events motivating young girls to have goals and discussing different processes to achieve those goals, is what will inspire our daughters to make a difference in this world. These are things that make a big impact in a young girl’s life. Seeing and being exposed to these types of events will increase more goal-oriented, education focused, healthy active living young girls. Versus young girls constantly on phones and ipads reading the latest trashy celebrity gossip, hiding eating disorders, or harming themselves physically to be beautiful like the perfect photo-shopped models on the covers of fashion magazines. Events like these not only empower our young girls towards a positive path, it also supports parents like myself who work hard everyday to raise a daughter that will make a difference in the world. We need more girls like Zylah and events like Ivivva Coast to Coast Summer Festival.
The Ivivva event was structured for girls aged 6 – 15 years of age and included so many great activities led by young girls and inspirational women led companies. My daughter got to partake in a POUND party with the other 400+ young girls that attended. She received a tribal temporary tattoo, shopped for Ivivva clothing, tasted all kinds of goodies and even stood in a group picture taken by a drone! This was an event my daughter and I will never forget. She’s already asking for the next one! I thank Zylah for her inspirational story and Ivivva for putting on a fun, inspirational and impactful event that touched my heart and inspired my daughter.
