Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoe Kromer
Hi Zoe , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
As a young girl and into my teen years, I had my fair share of struggles when it came to accepting and loving myself for who I was. I struggled with disordered eating, negative self talk and comparing myself to my friends or to girls I would see online. I often felt shame about my body and I desperately wanted to to look, be and feel different. This wasn’t due to any fault of my parents, I come from an immensely supportive and loving family, rather it was a byproduct of living in a culture that directly profits off girls and women feeling insecure.
When I was 17, everything began to change as I was introduced to the practice of Yoga which helped me appreciate my body for all of the things it allows me to EXPERIENCE in life, instead of judging it for how it looks. My relationship to my own self began to soften and heal. I began to see myself through the eyes of compassion, isntead of critisim. I also learned how to listen to my intuition and trust my body.
At 18, I started hosting self-love and positive body-image workshops for young girls through a non profit organization called Embody Love Movement. I found a huge passion for planning events that allowed girls and women to get together to talk about the things that aren’t talked about nearly often enough – including body image, self love, social media and the impacts it has on how we view ourselves, comparison between women, jealousy and so much more. In those spaces, I awoke to a lifelong calling of mine.
Fast forward 8 years later, I’m rediscovering that calling in a whole new way. While my events have changed and evolved a lot since then, the heart of the matter remains the same. I am deeply passionate about creating intentional events for women to gather, heal, connect, learn from one another and most importantly, learn to love and accept themselves in deep, radical ways. I host retreats, events and women’s circles around San Diego and hope to be expanding to other cities, states and countries soon.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like anything worth doing or having in life, it didn’t come without obstacles and hard to swallow lessons. In fact, I am still very much faced with those on the regular. It’s part of the journey! I would say the biggest obstacle I’ve faced learning to be okay with being misunderstood or disliked. As someone who has historically been a bit of a people pleaser, this is challenging!
I’ve learned that in life, when you go after your dreams or make waves in the world, you will undoubtedly upset people along the way. I’m mindful with where I put my energy and what I take onto my shoulders as my own. It is not my responsibility to micro-manage people’s opinions on me or the work I do in the world. My responsibility is to continue growing, evolving and becoming the best, most aligned version of myself day by day. That’s all I can do!
As you know, we’re big fans of The Great Goddess Gatherings. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Great Goddess Gatherings is an event business that specializes in curating intentional, healing and creative events for women of all ages to gather together and remember the goddesses they are! We host women’s circles, single day events and multi-day retreats. Many of our events and retreats include activities such as yoga, meditation, group support circles, nature immersion, creative art projects, journaling and so much more.
While each event has it’s own theme or focus, the general purpose of our events is to support women on their journeys of loving, accepting and believing in themselves. We also place an emphasis on healing the sisterhood wound, encouraging women to gather and connect with one another on deep levels – to help women realize that we are stronger when we band together. Our events help women understand that we no longer need to operate off the idea that we must compete, shame or belittle other women in order to feel seen.
The Great Goddess Gatherings believes in a world where all girls and women KNOW, in their core, that they are beautiful, brave, brilliant and worthy exactly as they are. We believe in a world where women uplift and support one another because they know that another woman shining her light does NOT dim her own, it only makes her own light stronger. We believe in a world where women are supported, empowered and honored.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Without a doubt it is becoming more and more popular to see women’s healing events, circles, retreats etc and I am so thrilled about that! We need more spaces like this and that is why I am passionate about creating them. The divine feminine is rising all around the globe and it is SO cool to see!
Pricing:
- our events range from $40-$500 depending on the event
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Gizelle Lopez
