This may be my first time publicly sharing a poem that I have written. As I write this, I picture the faces and think of the stories of the women in my life: my mother, my daughter, my best friends, and colleagues. In all honesty, I am in awe of the strength, courage and fierce persistence of all these women. All of you. I share this piece as a reminder to women that you are to be celebrated and honored daily, not just during Women’s History Month or on International Women’s Day. It is my hope and prayer that your days begin and end with the truths of your existence and that you are everything you want and need to be.
Here’s to the badass, nasty women, to the chingonas and the phenomenal women, being girl bosses that utterly destroy glass ceilings, leap over barriers, and take your rightful places in leadership and power. Here’s to you feeling and embracing those feelings on a daily basis.
“Feel”
I hope something or someone
made you feel incredible and invincible today
I hope something or someone
made you feel phenomenal and powerful today
I hope something or someone
made you feel beautiful and alive today
I hope something or someone
made you feel capable and endowed today
I hope something or someone
made you feel wanted and needed today
I hope something or someone
made you feel valued and respected today
If nothing else, if no one else
I hope that something
I hope that someone was you
Gary Hardie
He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, majoring in English, with a minor in marketing and is pursuing his MBA in Organizational Leadership and Sustainable Business Practices at Pepperdine University.
Hardie currently works as a Regional Manager for a non-profit educational service provider in Los Angeles providing extended learning opportunities in after school, intervention, outdoor education and summer programming.
He also serves as a governing Board Member for the Lynwood Unified School District Board of Education, the same district he attended school growing up.
His work and volunteer experience in public school settings has provided him with expertise in financial planning, budgets, organizational development, staffing, personnel, parent relations, grant writing and program development.