Testimonial Tuesday: Danielle!

My Girl Talk journey started after attending Thirty-One’s National Conference this past year.  While listening to the founder and CEO of Girl Talk, Haley Kilpatrick, speak during general session, I was overcome with so much emotion that there was not a  doubt in my mind that I was put there for this very reason. I remember turning to my best friend, crying while saying, “This is my AH HAH moment, this is what I’m meant to do.” I knew then I needed to share this program in my hometown, not just for the young girls but for myself as well.

I have two daughters in Junior High that have both experienced so many of the “drama” topics that Girl Talk covers in their curriculum and I knew this was something that could help my girls become strong and confident young ladies. I am the mom at the school each time there’s bullying-type incident and last year I was told by the school and other parents that teasing, name calling, etc is not bullying.  But my daughter coming home in tears and feeling horrible tells me that it is a type of bullying. I have always wanted to inform our girls, parents and schools that there is more to bullying than just physical and threatening abuse. Knowing that Girl Talk will cover topics from bullying, texting and driving, developing leadership skills and learning the importance of community service, I knew in my heart that I had to start this program.

Needing a strong high school leader to get this chapter going, I posted on social media about my mission. It didn’t take long before I was contacted by several people with referrals of young ladies who would be amazing leaders.  Mothers of junior high girls contacted me to see if they could be a part of it as well. I was also contacted by a good friend, and Thirty-One sister, Erin Courville, who decided to join me as an advisor and I feel so blessed to have her on this journey with me.  

After getting approval to start our Girl Talk of League City chapter, I felt like I had won the lottery!  I have never been a part of anything like this before and I couldn’t believe that someone like me could have this kind of opportunity. The opportunity to encourage young women to just be themselves, to be true to who they are and know they do not have to change for anyone, is one of the best opportunities that I could have ever come across!

We had Girl Talk of League City’s first official meeting on September 30^th, 2013.  We had two advisors, two leaders present and five girls.  Since then, we have had two more meetings and we have a little more than doubled in size! I have such a passion for Girl Talk that I just have to share with everyone I know. 

I wanted to know who to contact to get into the school system, and so again, off to social media I went.  I found out that I went to high school with someone who is now the program director for a local school and I met with her about Girl Talk.  Her school is now going to implement Girl Talk into their school during school hours for the lower income students who may not have transportation before or after school for extra activities! Since then, I have contacted six other local schools about the Girl Talk program who are all extremely interested in offering it. We are in the works of starting several more chapters in our community as well.  I am helping each school set up their own chapter and I will remain an active volunteer of each one and continue to be the advisor for Girl Talk of League City!

To try and further spread the word of Girl Talk through League City, we have entered a float in the city’s holiday parade in December. We will be throwing candy and handing out flyers to the city in hopes to reach more young ladies. We have also contacted local papers about doing a story for us. The more girls we can reach through Girl Talk, the more the likely that the “drama years” won’t be so bad.


I want these young girls to realize they aren’t alone and there’s a place in this world for each of them.  I want them to be true to who they are, stand up tall, and be strong and confident young ladies. I want to help develop the leaders they can be or even followers who can follow the right crowd.  I want them to know that just being themselves is COOL! During our last Girl Talk meeting, I started seeing the impact on these girls and I was crying tears of joy.  What better reward than to see what you’re doing making a difference.  I feel more than blessed to have this opportunity and I thank God each day for putting Thirty-One in my lap so that I would be connected with Girl Talk, Inc.