"As a woman I understand beauty. I understand what beauty is outside of myself and inside of myself. I was influenced in the past by societal standards and trying to fit that certain mold. But there's nothing more beautiful than knowing who you are. No matter what you are beautiful." - Maya Valentine is studying to become a journalist.
Martha Lopez
"Many women don't have the opportunity and privilege to live and work in the United States. I thank God that I am able to be here and help my family back in Guatemala. My life is blessed because I am a mother. I am working here so that my son has the opportunity to go to school so he can succeed and achieve his goals. His father died while I was pregnant with him and I wanted him to have opportunities, so I came here to the United States. My son has lived with my parents, his grandparents since he was 5 years old. I haven't seen him since I left and I still think of him as my baby but he is 18. He is a young man now." - Martha Lopez lives in Los Angeles and is employed cleaning houses.
Kalin Angelica Flores
"Being a woman allowed me to learn to love myself and others the way I do. I feel like I got a lot of resistance from other people about how I should love myself and love other people, but I was right all along." Kalin Angelica Flores lives in Los Angeles.
Lauren Kearney
"When I was four years old I wanted to play soccer with my brothers but I was wearing a fancy pink dress. My mother said I could play soccer with the boys, but I had to change clothes. I wanted to do both - I wanted to wear my dress while playing soccer. Instead I stayed in my dress and watched them play from the sidelines. Then, when I became a mother, I became the hero of my own story. Being a mother made me brave and not afraid of anything. I went from being an introvert to talking to strangers, talking to everyone and being an advocate for my daughter. If I hadn't had my daughter and told her bedtime stories I would never have written my book, Ellie Bixby and the Window to Darvlian Orpth" Lauren Kearney is an author and mother living in Los Angeles.
Danielle Gentile
"I don't often think I am taken seriously in the workplace because I am a woman. I work in management and I find that men who are older than me do not like me delegating to them." - Danielle Gentile #LosAngeles #Gatsby #womenwholead #damnrightIatetheapple
Marilyn Adams
"Twenty five years ago my husband was stabbed and killed. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then two years ago my fiance died from diabetes. And then Frank came into my life. He came to help me at my house and now we are married. He keeps me happy, keeps me smiling and brings me to the beach everyday and we collect shells." - Marilyn Adams lives in Los Angeles.