The Soulful Team
We are helping women feel seen, heard and celebrated for being their authentic selves. When women feel seen and heard, they know they matter; when women know they matter they do BIG things in the world, they take better care of themselves, they engage in healthier relationships, they stand up for what they believe in and they go after their dreams.
Meet Our Team
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Kristie Dean
Founder & Executive Director
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Christine McDonough
Operations and Marketing Manager
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Kaitlynn Norwood
Life Coach and Women’s Program Coordinator
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Lyn Fitzgerald
Soulful Girls Club Manager
Meet Our Board of Directors
Izzy Atkinson | President
“I would tell my 12-year old self that your vulnerability, uniqueness, and vibrancy are your greatest gifts and to never apologize for taking up space and being who you truly are.”
Meg Wheeler | Treasurer
Hope Palladino
“I’d tell my 12 year old self that one day you will know you are beautiful and worthy of the world regardless of your size, accomplishments, or your own emotional needs. Never let anyone take away your light.”
Katie Warsofsky
"I’d tell my 12 year old self that her voice is a tool that should always be used and never hushed because of other people’s insecurities. I’d tell her, you won’t be everyones cup of tea but you’ll find your people. Look for the good in everyone. You are loved and not alone."
Emily DeMariano
Where this all began…
from founder, Kristie Dean
I remember it vividly, it was a rainy day in the summer of 2019 when I found myself parked in my car at CVS, leaning into the steering wheel, crying uncontrollably.
There was nothing special about that day. I had just gone on my daily “sleepy ride” trying to get my two daughters under 2 to take a nap, when I had a devastating realization out of nowhere. Like a slap in the face, it hit me. I didn’t know who the hell I was. I was a mom in my 30s and I didn’t know what I liked, what I wanted, or how I got to where I was. Everything was “fine” but something was seriously missing. My whole life was like a blur before me. Images of me always doing and being what I thought I was supposed to do or be for others, raced through my mind. Me, always morphing myself to make others comfortable or proud and never speaking up for myself in moments that I should have. At that moment it all washed over me. I felt pathetic, lost and exhausted.
But I also had something shift within me that day. I was fed up with my own bullshit.
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Tired of excuses and playing the victim. I decided that night that I had to pull up my big girl pants and take some action to figure myself out. I decided I was going to start becoming the woman I knew I could be, a woman my girls could look up to, who I’d actually want them to emulate.
The following week, I started a creative project with no end goal in mind. I reached out to women I knew from different parts of my life and asked them a series of introspective questions, and then I met up with them for a photo shoot where I asked them to just show up as themselves. I put their answers together into a cluster of truth and shared these stories and powerful images on my new instagram page.
Soul Stories, our ongoing documentary was born, and for the next 2 years I shared a woman’s Soul Story every single week.
The project allowed me to connect deeply with other women, learn about different lived experiences and discover who I am in the process. Every week was pure magic as I watched a woman stand in her truth and be celebrated by loved ones and strangers alike, not for a promotion or for losing weight, but for being her whole self which included not just the highlights but also the messiness of the human experience that we can all find ourselves in.
The Soul Stories documentary continues to highlight and celebrate women of all ages and backgrounds. This project has been healing for so many people but it also changed my life.
It healed me and put me on the path to becoming the woman I am; a woman I’m really proud of. Since incorporating into a 501c-3 we have grown. We have thousands of online followers, a physical space and many programs that support women and girls. But at the heart of everything we do is the same original mission that pushed me to create Soul Stories; to create a space where women can be seen, heard, and celebrated for being their authentic selves. Because when women feel seen and heard they know they matter, and when women know they matter they do big things.
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SOULFUL GIRLS
Empowering girls ages 7-18 to embrace their innate worth and unleash their true potential.
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SOULFUL GIRLS CLUB
An empowering community just for teenage girls with intellectual and developmental differences.
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SOULFUL WOMEN
A place for women to step into their truth and unleash their potential.