Creative Babes Cleveland Founders Are Helping Women Empower Each Other

Who runs Cleveland? Creative Babes. Founded by Gia Paulovich and Alexis Rosen, the Cleveland chapter of Creative Babes provides a space for connection, attentiveness and deep social change by hosting quarterly meetings with women leaders that encourage discussion on growth and vulnerability. Every month pre-pandemic, the Cleveland organization featured a keynote speaker, or “top notch babe,” followed by a mingling event. While this practice has recently been suspended in lieu of occasional virtual events, Creative Babes’ core message of showing up and listening are perhaps needed now more than ever as Paulovich and Rosen champion inclusivity and understanding. In honor of International Women’s Day, the team shares advice for empowering the women in your life and gaining self-confidence through being open and vulnerable.

Getting there is the first step. It’s important to show up and allow yourself to be vulnerable. For Paulovich and Rosen, coming to an event alone is an accomplishment, let alone mingling and sharing. “A lot of times, just showing up can be scary,” says Paulovich. “Being vulnerable enough to show up, first of all, is something we appreciate and it’s something that people can get out of it.”

Be ready to listen to other’s. According to Paulovich and Rosen, storytelling offers different modes of representation and each person’s story is connected through the shared human experience. “I feel like that is a space of empowerment,” says Rosen. For those who feel isolated, storytelling is a place to identify with someone else’s lived experience. At Creative Babes’ events, the speakers will often connect with attendees of similar interests and build connections through their shared experiences. “It’s like [she] is right here and if you want to reach out you can,” says Rosen. “That’s empowerment in its own way.”

Come as you are. Paulovich and Rosen stress that growth has to begin somewhere, and that no one should be afraid to start. All are welcome to join in Creative Babes’ events. “We together have molded the language to make sure we are as inclusive as we can be for what our mission is and as simplistic as we can be,” says Rosen. They keep things straightforward and simple so that anyone can join in with ease. They apply this philosophy to life as well. To grow in anything, we must first come as we are.

Self-empowerment also comes from empowering others. Motivating and uplifting close friends or relatives can create a sense of community and connectivity. “It comes back to paying attention and listening to those who are important to you in your life and, if they are vulnerable enough to share something, recognizing that and showing that you’re there and you’re listening,” says Paulovich. “I think it’s important to do that, whether that’s through a like or a comment or a phone call, which is much more meaningful for me.”

Ground yourself in what you know. “Sign an internal grounding mantra in yourself that you can rest in and come back to,” says Rosen. “I think it’s also really having honesty in who you are and finding acceptance through that that brings so much [peace].” Though finding a grounding mantra might sound like a daunting task, Rosen and Paulovich emphasize that life is a flexible and evolving journey, so mantras should accommodate that. “As a woman, it’s not like, ‘Oh, I found the key to the lock and now I am forever experiencing this sense of confidence.’ It is an ever-evolving thing and as you go through changing seasons of life it also shifts with you,” says Rosen.