BY CATHERINE CASSIDY This is a great passion of mine. I left the crazy busy world of corporate Fashion because of my need to really make a difference and affect the lives of women. It really goes back to my time working at Nordstrom while in college. It felt really great being able to help a woman who was not at all looking forward to shopping for an outfit for an event, yet by the end of our time together she was actually pretty excited to go show off her new look.

This was the beginning of my experience with empowering women to feel amazing about themselves.

Of course, I had no idea at the time that’s what I was doing.

Have you felt the movement in this past year of Women Empowering Women? It’s been brewing for a while, but we’re seeing it come to the forefront now.

What I love is the beautiful transformation it’s allowing for women. First we were the happy homemakers, then we were so focused on our career and now we’re moving into the era where we’re balancing both … always working on doing it with grace and ease.

The beauty of it is that we can have it all. Even more beautiful, is that we’re realizing that we’re not doing it on our own. We can’t.

This is how women are empowering women. We are stepping into our true feminine power. And we’re doing it with the support of a community of women behind us. I know I am. And I know I couldn’t do it any other way.

If you’re looking for more inspiration to this, I encourage you to revisit my posting of the keynote speech at the USC Women’s Conference by Gayle Garner Roski.

Even more, this is a global movement. Women in the states are working SO hard to empower and enrich the lives of women in developing countries. Fair trade is a huge part of it. You may remember the interview I shared with Erika Mosebach of Global Daughter. I am so passionate about supporting her business because Global Daughter is giving women in Nepal an opportunity to support themselves and their families. All it takes to support these women is purchasing their fair trade items. It’s beautiful simplicity.

The final piece of women empowering women is YOU. We are so lucky to be naturally supportive of each other. What woman doesn’t give SO much of herself for others. However, we’re also realizing that it’s OK to do things just for ourselves. Wow. I think that’s huge.

So I put two challenges to you for this week:

1) What are you going to do to empower another woman? How are you going to offer your support?

2) What are you going to do for yourself? To empower yourself? What will make you feel absolutely fantastic about yourself?