By Crystal Harrell
The Women Leaders Forum (WLF) will be hosting a renowned panel of local experts at their February installment of the speaker series, “Let’s Interact,” to discuss ideas on ways to balance work, family and love in these challenging times.
The event will be held at the Classic Club in Palm Desert on February 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. where attendees can hear from special guests Rancho Mirage Family Therapist Carol Teitelbaum, LMFT; Sylvia Ann Trapuzzano, Psy. D. LMFT, Therapy in the Park; and CEO & Founder of Cyber-Dating Expert Julie Spira. A Q&A session will follow after the speakers.
“I think it’s important for women to hear stories from other women; how they started, what their journey is like, their success, failures, and expertise. We are giving women leaders a platform to inspire and educate others. I’ve also seen new friendships form, and old friends reconnect. We are better together. Our motto for the series is to reconnect, reengage, and reimagine,” stated Laurilie Jackson, the Women Leaders Forum Board Member and Events Chair for Let’s Interact: A Speaker Series.
Carol Teitelbaum is a licensed marriage and family therapist and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education, educational psychology, counseling, and guidance, both from California State University, Northridge. Teitelbaum received her licensed in 1985 and has had a private practice in the Coachella Valley since 1999. She offers group and individual therapy for trauma, mood disorders, anxiety reduction, stress reduction, grief, and relationship counseling. She is currently President of The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists/Desert Chapter.
Sylvia Ann Trapuzzano has over twenty years of experience in the field of counseling adults, adolescents, and couples, and brings expertise in a variety of areas and truly loves the work she does. She offers clients traditional office sessions, and for those who are willing to embrace and trust the concept, she finds that sessions under an open sky result in a more intimate sharing of inner feelings. Trapuzzano will help teach you how to change your relationship, life, and whole being into a happy and healthy person.
Julie Spira is America’s Top Online Dating Expert and the founder of “Cyber-Dating Expert.” As an early adopter of internet platforms, she has been coaching singles on finding love online for over 25 years. Julie is a frequent guest in the media and her dating advice has appeared in over 1,500 stories, including ABC’s Nightline, Good Morning America, E! Entertainment, Today Show, Cosmopolitan, New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. She is also the bestselling author of The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. She was awarded “Best Dating Coach of the Year” at the iDate Awards, the dating industry’s most recognized awards ceremony, which celebrated her for her excellence in navigating love.
Reservations for the speaker series are required by visiting the WLF website. Attendees are welcomed to enjoy dinner and a complimentary glass of wine with the ticket price of 35 dollars for members and 55 dollars for non-members. Proceeds will directly benefit the Young Women Leaders Scholarship Program, which helps Coachella Valley teens attend college. This event is sponsored by Wildest Restaurant + Bar.
Founded in 2001, the WLF is a dynamic, diverse, non-partisan Coachella Valley-wide organization that provides leadership, mentoring, and educational opportunities to women of all ages and connects members in the Coachella Valley and worldwide. WLF contributes to the empowerment of women in the Coachella Valley through its programs including Let’s Interact, Young Women Leaders, WLF Book Club, and a WLF Scholarship Program.
“It is the goal of our speaker series that each of our attendees and members walk away with three new and essential tools in their tool chest. We wanted to focus on skill building and inspiration. Everyone is coming out of the pandemic making life-determining decisions and we really felt that we needed to be there for them to provide strength, inspiration, and real life skills,” said Jackson.
For more information or to get tickets, visit www.wlfdesert.org.
