Why?
The simple version of my why, is that I need this.
I need you, and I need us. My daily life is filled with so much joy, so many blessings, a whirlwind of successes and wonderful moments and circumstances. But within all of these amazing blessings, I found myself feeling very alone sometimes. I have a loving husband and three crazy awesome little nuggets, but it doesn't stop me some days from feeling like I've got no one who 'gets it.' The advice I often got from friends and family is to pray, attend church, etc. And I absolutely appreciate these options, and appreciate the advice and know that this is a solution for many, but here's the thing: those things didn't fulfill what MY soul needed and was searching for.
After months of self help books, spiritual education, self care activities, and A LOT of self reflection, I realized that what I was missing was THIS community. I needed someone to tell me it's okay that I fed my kids spaghettios and chicken nuggets for dinner, and that dry shampoo is ALMOST the same as actually washing your hair. I longed for people to teach me new things to gain self confidence and GROW. I wanted women to hang out with, IN REAL LIFE, not just on facebook. I wanted to take scary classes like self defense, but had no one to go with. I wanted to learn about women, ALL women, and hear about their journeys and their struggles and their successes! I wanted to learn FROM women, and prepare for things that perhaps I hadn't even realized will one day happen to me. I wanted to give back to the community and give others the resources to do so as well.
Most of all, I want to LOVE all of you amazing, strong, smart, kind, independent, beautiful women. (You ARE all of those things, by the way.) I want to build you up, I want to tell you how amazing you are. I want to be sure that you NEVER feel alone. I want to create an environment where we could be real, and honest, and not judged and just freaking love each other. Where you have all the resources you need to be the very best version of yourself.
So, now this dream of mine is here, and it's real, and it's changing lives; especially mine.
- Jess Denton // Founder of NEST
I need you, and I need us. My daily life is filled with so much joy, so many blessings, a whirlwind of successes and wonderful moments and circumstances. But within all of these amazing blessings, I found myself feeling very alone sometimes. I have a loving husband and three crazy awesome little nuggets, but it doesn't stop me some days from feeling like I've got no one who 'gets it.' The advice I often got from friends and family is to pray, attend church, etc. And I absolutely appreciate these options, and appreciate the advice and know that this is a solution for many, but here's the thing: those things didn't fulfill what MY soul needed and was searching for.
After months of self help books, spiritual education, self care activities, and A LOT of self reflection, I realized that what I was missing was THIS community. I needed someone to tell me it's okay that I fed my kids spaghettios and chicken nuggets for dinner, and that dry shampoo is ALMOST the same as actually washing your hair. I longed for people to teach me new things to gain self confidence and GROW. I wanted women to hang out with, IN REAL LIFE, not just on facebook. I wanted to take scary classes like self defense, but had no one to go with. I wanted to learn about women, ALL women, and hear about their journeys and their struggles and their successes! I wanted to learn FROM women, and prepare for things that perhaps I hadn't even realized will one day happen to me. I wanted to give back to the community and give others the resources to do so as well.
Most of all, I want to LOVE all of you amazing, strong, smart, kind, independent, beautiful women. (You ARE all of those things, by the way.) I want to build you up, I want to tell you how amazing you are. I want to be sure that you NEVER feel alone. I want to create an environment where we could be real, and honest, and not judged and just freaking love each other. Where you have all the resources you need to be the very best version of yourself.
So, now this dream of mine is here, and it's real, and it's changing lives; especially mine.
- Jess Denton // Founder of NEST