Today, singer-songwriter Ilana Harkavy is sharing her story, passions, and life lessons with all of us. I’m so grateful Ilana reached out to me by following me on Twitter so I could be introduced to her awesome music and the Just.Girl.  project – a fiery musical movement that empowers girls to embrace their passions, be blatantly honest, and take ownership of their individual struggles. After checking out her work, I had to invite her to be a guest speaker at The Self-Discovery Retreat to encourage us all to rise to our platforms & shine!

How can you empower your friends to reach their full potential? How important is it to cheer them on along the way?

Ideas come to me at random times. These were the thoughts that crossed my mind late last week. I wrote the rough draft for this post from the waiting room of an opera company, where I was standing by while my friend was auditioning. Listening to her sing, I was reminded that following one’s dream can be hard; so it is important to have cheerleaders along the way.

My friend, Shantelle Przybylo, is an opera singer who travels throughout the world. She came all the way to British Columbia from Washington, D.C., to sing live in front of the opera directors.

During my childhood, the lyrics of Raffi Cavoukian (a.k.a Raffi, the children’s singer) influenced me a lot.  Therefore, I was delighted when I randomly encountered him recently at the Salt Spring Island Market. I took the ferry over to the beautiful Salt Spring Island with some friends to check out the Saturday Market.  Downtown Ganges (the main town) is packed with local vendors displaying their crafts.  While I was wandering around, a friend pointed out Raffi selling his books and CD’s. 

Jesse Ruben is a Philly-bred singer/songwriter currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He has independently sold over 10,000 albums, gotten song placements on TV shows such as One Tree Hill, Degrassi, and Teen Mom and toured with some amazing artists including Jewel, KT Tunstall, Rick Springfield, and Hanson. His song “We Can” is in regular rotation on the XM/Sirius Coffeehouse channel, which called him “the next generation of singer/songwriter”.