Women Have Been Changing the World Without Credit for Years. Shannon Watts Has Started a Movement to Change That
After graduating from college with a degree in journalism, I stumbled into a job in public relations. It wasn’t my dream job—I’d hoped to become an investigative journalist—but for nearly two decades, I spent thousands of hours promoting everything from corn ethanol to Craisins. Even though I was passionate about communications, I wasn’t that excited about what I was communicating. At the same time, I found myself in a marriage that hadn’t just stagnated but was souring. It was a low point in my life. I felt unmotivated, unfulfilled, and very … meh. At best, I felt like I was on autopilot and, at worst, as if I might be squandering my life.
It wasn’t until I was in my 40s, in the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut, that I realized my communications abilities—from creating a narrative to building a brand—had prepared me to become an activist. The shooting tragedy insulted my soul and moved me to make the Facebook page that would become Moms Demand Action, the world’s largest real-life laboratory for helping women find their power and their people. It was an incredible inflection point in my life: I discovered I had the skills to mobilize people on the sidelines and inspire them to act.
Instead of selling widgets, I was suddenly standing shoulder-to-shoulder with gun violence survivors and volunteers who wanted to protect people’s safety. My new work brought me a sense of fulfillment I never would have known if I’d stayed in my career. It connected me to both my power and my people. And it helped me uncover the formula to help thousands of other women do the same: when we combine our abilities, our values and our desires, we start fires in our lives and in the lives of others.
What you burn for may be as simple—or as significant—as having a hard conversation, asking for a promotion, going on a retreat, going back to school, volunteering in your community, having a child or deciding not to, moving to another city, ending a relationship, starting a new career, or putting an idea out into the world. But no matter what fire you start next, it will begin where all of your obligations—the “shoulds” you’ve been told you must complete before prioritizing your desires—end.
Society tells women we should conform, we should be selfless, we should stay small (literally and figuratively), we should be good, we should be nice, we should be grateful. Eventually, all of these insidious “shoulds” take root in our minds, becoming so intractable that we begin to believe they’re immovable facts of life. Our desires get hijacked by our obligations. But in a world that constantly expects women to fulfill their obligations, consciously choosing to embrace your desire is a radical, even political, act.
That’s why I wrote my upcoming book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age. I wanted to build a community of women from all backgrounds, beliefs, passions, and skills who will use this book as a catalyst to become Firestarters, women who choose to follow their desires instead of fulfilling their obligations. These women create bonds based on shared values with women who show up when looking for advice, a new job, or a group of like-minded people to fight for change. By going up against the status quo, they create a sisterhood that helps them test and hone their values, to be a part of something greater than themselves, and to find their fire. And if there’s anything we need right now in America, it’s a sense of purpose and belonging.
These kinds of communities are where the real change happens—in us and in the world, which is why I created Firestarter University, a yearlong program based on Fired Up that will show women how to turn their sparks into a flame in the safety of a supportive community of other women ready to do the same. Whether your fire is personal, political, or professional, Firestarter University will give you the road map to a more fiery life.
At a time when many of us feel helpless and lost, I want to empower women to see themselves as agents of change. If you’re looking around at the world right now with despair and disappointment, unsure of what you can do, or hopeful and curious about how you might make the change, choose to invest in your abilities, remind yourself of your values, and double down on fulfilling your desires.
Firestarter University will teach you the formula to ignite your fire and the practices to sustain it through discussions, teachings from some of the trailblazing women profiled in my book, and specific exercises designed to keep you accountable. You’ll identify the obstacles that have held you back and learn how to overcome them. You’ll reflect on where you are now and where you want to go. And with accountability, guidance, and encouragement from your new community, you’ll put the fire formula into action in your life.
No one is on earth to simply exist. If you’re living your life, day in and day out, feeling disappointed or uninspired or numb, you have a right— even a responsibility— to do something about it... right now. Every woman is a Firestarter. We all deserve to live on fire and explore who we are and what we want.
And given the state of the world, you have an opportunity—even an obligation—to know at the end of your life that you left the legacy of living a life that was true to you. To know that you truly burned.
Celebrate International Women’s Day with this two-book bundle. Pre-order a copy of FIRED UP here and receive another copy to gift to a woman in your life! Supplies limited.
Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action, the largest grassroots group fighting gun violence in the U.S. She's been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, a Forbes 50 over 50 Changemaker, and a Glamour Woman of the Year. Watts is an active board member of Emerge America, one of the nation’s leading organizations for recruiting and training women to run for office. Learn more here.
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