Star’s Attraction

A Girl’s Discovery of Inner Power

It’s the story of a girl named Star who has an exciting dream she would like to pursue, but gets intimated by those around her that say her dream is "too big." She gets discouraged and starts to believe the critical things others say about her, until one day, she is visited by a mysterious horse, and of course, her Heartlight Angel, who help her realize that anything is possible, as long as you believe…

Scheduled for release in summer/fall 2010, pre-orders will begin in several months. Stay posted for other sneak peeks as my illustrator Dawn Pitre continues to do her magic…(and if you like horses, you’re going to love this book!!!)

Excited and honored to launch the new Teen Program with the Compass Personal Development Network! Through their unique MAPS programs, a teen can coach with me for a few minutes a day, and for only $19 a month! We’ve developed three powerful month-long programs, you can check it out by visiting www.mylifecompass.com/debragano and click on the TEEN tab in the upper right hand corner. Be sure to watch my video! Give the lasting gift of self-esteem to a teen this Valentine’s Day!

Beauty’s Secret…from the Inside Out

 Your hosts for this empowering show are award-winning author, self-esteem facilitator, & international model/actress Debra Gano (Founder & CEO Heartlight Girls), and award-winning producer, wellness intuitive, & quantum healer Tcha LaPlaca (Founder & CEO Indigo Blue Creations). Every other week, they invite you to become true to yourself and in love with who YOU are!  Join them, along with inspirational, nationally-known guests, for lively and real conversation for adults and teens.

 Upcoming Features Include:  

Unfortunately this behavior filters down into our schools with the increasing popularity of "mean girls," and that’s why I am so passionate about getting out there and reaching these girls. It was challenging to handle all this as an adult as a model, but it breaks my heart to see it happen with our young girls today!

More on that at a later time…for now, here is a call to action to help stop a contributing factor to our girls’ obsession with thinness. Filmmaker Darryl Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry. He needs us all to join the boycott! Here’s the link to sign up for the boycott and learn more about Roberts’ campaign: join the boycott

Also, here’s an excerpt from Eating Disorders Blogs: There’s a storm brewing!  Ralph Lauren’s photo-warped ads have been outed, but he keeps making more, and that’s gotten filmmaker Darryl Roberts hopping mad.  Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry.

He needs us all to join the boycott BEFORE FRIDAY, December 11.  Here’s why, in his words: "This is only going to take a few minutes, I need you to sign up for the boycott on our Facebook page. Ralph Lauren needs to see how many of you support the boycott and it needs to be at least 10,000. If we don’t reach 10,000 then this particular movement will be discredited by Ralph Lauren. We need 10,000 people to sign up by Friday. Forward this to everyone you know asking them to sign up before Friday. Call them back and make sure that they did it. We have to create a viral grass roots movement. Write comments on the Facebook page. Let Ralph know how you feel. Trust me they will monitor our page heavily."

And if you need a bit more incentive, consider this, also from Darryl: "As you may or may not know, Ralph Lauren is designing the outfits for the Winter Olympics ceremony for 2010. Athletes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here is a picture of a real Olympic Skier. Her name is Emily Cook:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1432.jpg?a=1102872102420]

Now, here is a Ralph Lauren sketch that obviously shows his vision and design for this years Olympic Skier:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1431.jpg?a=1102872102420] The drawing looks just like the ridiculous ads he’s been running. Why am I not surprised. He must be stopped!"

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The theme for the 2009 YAL Student Short Story Writing Competition is, “Making the World a Better Place.” Fourth and fifth grade students of the Cherry Creek School District in the Denver area were invited to submit a short story or artwork expressing this inspiring theme, and winning stories and art will appear in a book by this title to be published by the CIPA Education and Literacy Foundation later this year.

With so many great stories submitted, the judging was challenging!Story winners have been selected and are listed below (artwork winners are currently being determined and will be announced shortly).  A big Thank You to ALL who entered - your participation in this contest really DID help "make the world a better place!" Keep writing……and students in other school districts, stay tuned - your turn is next!

This summer, YAL finalists, parents, and teachers, were brought together for a writing workshop conducted by Debra Gano, author Penny Holguin, and editor Faye Quam Heimerl. The goal of the workshop was to fine-tune the stories and give writing tips to the students prior to submitting their final entries.

CONGRATULATIONS STORY WINNERS!

Buffalo Trail Elementary Schol

Elizabeth Berrington

Canyon Creek Elementary School

Emily Eads

Challenge School

Stephanie Bang, Calista Bowen, Tessakiree Garber, Jewell Humphrey

Cimarron Elementary School

Duaa Qamar

Coyote Hills Elementary School

Makenzie Hendon, Jessica Kantra, Jaime Paterson

Dry Creek Elementary School

Avery Blackman, Edwin Bosch, Morgan Jenney, Hailey Natvig, Arianne Pusey,  Kayla Rondinelli, Emily Webb, Madison Weber

Heritage Elementary School

Libby Garaghty

Indian Ridge Elementary School

Sophie Goodwin

Peakview Elementary School

Jane Higa, Lizzie Hoelscher

Sagebrush Elementary School

Leah Gibson, Josiah Kim, Alyssa King

Sunrise Elementary School

Raeshonique Luarks

Village East Elementary School

Helen Lee,  Tanzilla Purnota, Gavin Woldu

Congratulations again! You did a great job and will soon be published authors!

 Please leave a comment below,

we would love to hear from you!

"IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS!"

Self-Esteem Empowerment Workshop

Presented by Bestselling Author & Model/Actress

Debra Gano

Learn to overcome your negative self-talk and the need for external approval, and instead move into positive self-love and acceptance to see your true worth!

 Debra Gano comes to Arizona to deliver this empowering and interactive workshop, teaching self-esteem principles "from the inside out." Adults & girls appreciate Debra’s open and amusing style as she discusses unhealthy media, critical peers,  inner beauty, and the importance of connecting to your true essence. You will walk away with a greater sense of self-worth and confidence, feeling more empowered and resilient to withstand life’s challenges.

WHERE: New Vision Center

www.HeartlightGirls.com & www.DebraGano.com

( To see Filippa’s appearance on the Today Show and to read more, click here )

In speaking to young girls about the current and harmful trend of "mean girls" and bullying, I often admit  how well I can identify with what is going on due to my years in the very competitive modeling industry and some of the experiences I had with mean girls. Just like the girls who bully other girls today in our schools, the bullies of the modeling industry did so due to low feeling of self-worth. The modeling industry is brutal on a girl’s/woman’s self-esteem…can you imagine being a size 4 or 6 and constantly told you are too fat? As models, we would get criticized on a daily basis for one physical "flaw" or another. I learned from the bottom up how to build my self-esteem, and that’s why I’m so passionate about teaching it to others through my speaking and books at Heartlight Girls!

I believe the fault lies with the designers and advertisers who put tremendous, unrealistic pressures on the models, which in turn, filters down to the young girls who want to emulate these models. Thank you, Filippa, for speaking up. If enough of us speak up, the world will pay attention! Would love to hear your comments too, please leave one below!

One thing I never quite understood in the modeling industry was the way top designers "demanded" they have super skinny models. Yes, I know they create their designs in "sample" size and clothes photograph better on a more lean figure, but lean and healthy is one thing…emaciated and skeletal is another. When working in the bigger markets, it was constantly chirped in my ear from my agents to "lose weight" (I was a size 6)…there were designers I just could not work for because I was "too big" and refused to starve myself. I made many sacrifices to work in that industry, but my health and life was not something I was willing to jeopardize.

The ironic thing is that consumers do not appreciate the super skinny the way the designers do. So often after a fashion show I would hear women in the audience commenting how they simply cannot relate to the bone-thin models and therefore had no interest in the clothes. By designers pushing the envelope they way they did with this Ralph Lauren ad, they lose our respect, especially as we as women become more empowered in our true beauty, and concerned for our girls as they face dangerous pressures we never even imagined facing in our vulnerable years. I guess that’s why after years and years of being in that industry I felt compelled to do something proactive and founded Heartlight Girls, teaching girls that "it’s what’s inside that counts!"

This is a great excerpt from: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480/): The U.S. isn’t the only place where advertisers are feeling the public backlash over retouching claims. Overseas, a recent Olay ad featuring a virtually wrinkle-free 59-year-old Twiggy caused such an uproar in the UK that the British Parliament recently proposed outlawing retouching in advertisements aimed at teenagers. The movement was initiated by the nation’s Liberal Democrats, whose leader on the issue, Jo Swinson, said:

"Today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women’s appearance has got out of hand - no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."