BADASS GIRLS

MENTORSHIP & COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES FOR PRETEEN & TEEN GIRLS 🤟🦄🦋😍

 

for parents

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dear adult who loves a preteen or teen badass —

I love your kid. I know how magical she/they are (maybe I haven’t had the honor of meeting them yet, but I know your kid is special -- hint: they all are, and I’ve worked with thousands of preteens and teens socialized as girls over the last 15 years).

I love her quietness (yes, everyone goes quiet sometimes -- even if your kid is usually the one talking), I love their laugh, I love the soft way she leans in to care for another kid who needs some love, I love the spark in their eyes, I love her spunk, I love how they dives in, I love her creativity, and I love this feeling that I get when I’m with a kid like them… that she’s exactly what the world needs more of: HER ALIVENESS.

I want to support her so that her light never goes out (or dims) in our slightly mad world. I want to surround them with an authentic, kind, courageous group of teens who have their back. I want to remind her of her own badass inner wisdom, no matter what.

What would your life have been like if when you were a teen your parent had gently (and strongly) supported you to gather in a circle of kids your own age, with a mentor big sibling, and there were real, kind, safe conversations about embodiment, using your voice and honoring the dreams of your heart? What if you had learned that you mattered that deeply? What if you had felt home in yourself as a teen?

That’s my dream for your preteen or teen (and I think it might be your dream for her too).

Here’s the big question we ask everyday at Badass Girls: what if there was a generation of teens socialized as girls who grow into adults without the same un-learning and healing to do as the generations before them? We’re inspired and devoted to collective evolution.

You too?

Love,

Eliza, Creator of Badass Girls

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“At Badass Girls, my girl found her voice in a new way. She feels heard, valued and encouraged by her circle. She belongs to herself.”
— Sheryl, mom of Lili, age 16
 
 

about ‘badass’

“BADASS”

adj. 1. fearless, authentic, and compassionate, Urban Dictionary

Do you think of ‘badass’ as meaning... like a leather-jacket-wearing rebel without a cause (or is that just my 60-something mom’s association with that word)?

Let’s update that. For my generation (and your teens’) ‘badass’ means: fearless, authentic, compassionate, courageous, embodied, and fierce. It rolls off our tongues to describe the people we look up to: the leaders, the ‘weird’ devoted passionate ones, the unapologetically real ones, the living-life-in-full-color ones, the big-hearted activists. I can’t think of a better word for our fierce, tender, kind community.

 
 
“Eliza taught my girl (in a way that I could not) that self acceptance, love and care are not only essential, but smart and cool.”
— Sarah, mom of Kathleen, age 18
 
 

our unique approach:

the mentorship model

Here at Badass Girls, our team isn’t therapists (though we love therapy), we’re mentors. Think of us as professionally trained big sisters.

Our experience is that most schools aren't adequately supporting preteens + teens to receive the life skills they need (meaning, tools for: emotional intelligence, body image, intimacy + sex, community + belonging), and that parents shouldn't have to do it alone. That's why Eliza created Badass Girls. We believe intergenerational community is the missing key: cool, wise, big-hearted young adult mentors that your kid adores, and you deeply trust. It’s a winning combination, right?

We’ve found that when given nourishing space to be themselves, preteen + teen socialized as girls (and all humans) naturally move towards wellness. Here’s one way to say it:

if a flower doesn’t bloom, we don’t say ‘oh, it’s a bad flower’ —

we change its’ pot and get it more sunshine/water. So, we’re here to be part of your kid’s nourishment plan. We believe the experience of belonging is an essential nutrient.

Our programs’ curriculum includes mindfulness exercises, emotional intelligence techniques, somatic tools, Qoya movement, group process in the circle, 1:1 mentoring, and the Mothering & Daughtering relational approach (we’re pretty into attachment). We place a special emphasis on the experience of being in a body, as our mainstream culture often strongly emphasizes a brain-focused approach to being a human.

Learn more about our BG Certified Mentors:

Our team of Certified Mentors goes through our Badass Girls programs themselves as participants, and then are trained intensively by Eliza and our training team (click here to learn more about our mentor training).

 
 
“At Badass Girls, my daughter is becoming her true self, beyond what I’ve been able to accomplish for myself over 50 years.”
— Aviva, mom of Lily, age 15
 
 

meet our founder: eliza

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Eliza [she/they] is a best-selling author, speaker, workshop facilitator, and professional big sister who keeps it real. Since the age of 15 she’s been teaching at workshop centers and conferences (like the Omega Institute, Esalen Institute, Kripalu Center, and the Emerging Women Conference) alongside leaders 4 times her age. She’s the co-author of the best-selling book with her mom, “Mothering & Daughtering: Keeping Your Bond Strong Through the Teen Years” (she wrote the sassy side for teen girls).

For almost 15 years, Eliza’s writing, speaking and teaching has called B.S. on the cultural stereotype that teen girls are selfish, mean, vapid, and image-obsessed. Instead, she gives voice to, celebrates, and creates spaces for teen girls’ sensitivity, wacky weird passions, feisty comebacks, fierce truths, tender hearts, sensual embodiment, and full-out, real-talk, whole, imperfect, ever-evolving self expression.

Eliza was trained as a Peer Educator for Planned Parenthood in High School, and was a consultant for Eve Ensler, (“Vagina Monologues,”) on her book for teenage girls: “I Am an Emotional Creature” (so you could say she specializes in making awkward & important topics cool & normal). Eliza graduated from Brown University with an undergraduate degree in Gender & Sexuality Studies, and is a certified Qoya movement teacher. Her deepest pride is her relationship with her self, especially her tender friendship with her own anxiety. She lives with her partner, Will, in Vermont.

Featured on

 
 

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Mothering a preteen or teen girl?

Oh, have we got the spot for you. Meet Mothering & Daughtering: all about thriving not just surviving with your girl (and Eliza’s first business baby — with her mama, Sil).