This is Girl talk
Women today are facing a crisis of self-worth. In 2012, our founder, Julie Larkin, discovered heartbreak, shame, and self-harm in a female college residence hall. After witnessing hundreds of women feel alone, unworthy, and unloved, Julie began Girl Talk as a way to provide solidarity, friendship, and hope. Girl Talk is a sisterhood of self-worth. Through programs of personal storytelling, deeper conversation, and authentic friendship, we inspire women of all ages to recognize and radiate their true value. Girl Talk reminds every woman that: You are enough. You are worthy. You are loved.
It began with a Crisis…
I raced across campus, trying to quell the fear I felt after hearing the news of Rachel.* My Rachel. The resident I had come to know and love over the past few months with every stroll around campus, every conversation we had shared about family, homesickness, goals and dreams. She was an artist. A writer. A generous friend. And now, here I was, running to her bedside at two in the morning because she felt unworthy to live. Ugly. Unwanted. And alone.
The pills lay on her nightstand (untouched, thank goodness) and our chaplain and campus police gathered all around the bed. Her roommates sat cross-legged and scared on her floor, as I laid beside her in her bed. As I sat there, holding her, stroking her hair, wiping away her tears – my mind couldn’t help but race uncontrollably. What caused this beautiful, smart, talented 18-year old to attempt to take her own life? Didn’t she know how valuable she was? How much she was loved? How beautiful and special she was? Sadness set in as I realized that she really didn’t. She felt completely alone and unlovable.
The reality was, however, that she was extremely loved. She just didn’t feel it. And I realized, neither did many of the girls on her floor. They were all feeling ugly, unwanted, and alone. I was sad to discover the multitude of lonely echoes down the hallway: No one else understands. I’m the only one. Holding Rachel that night I decided: I just simply had to find a way for these women to know that they were worthy of love…
A Sisterhood of Self-Worth
In March of 2012, with the help of my friends, I decorated invitation after invitation with more glitter and bows than my fingers knew how to tie. We ordered dozens of Red Velvet cupcakes, and advertised through the halls that this was a chance to "talk about boys" and eat chocolate!
Over forty women showed up that night in comfy slippers and pillows ready for some "girl talk." Feeling extremely nervous and excited all at the same time, I began to share my story. I told the girls about the guy I continued to be crazy about even though he made me feel worthless. I told them about my best friend who abandoned me for a new set of friends. I told them about the moments in the morning when I would wake up, look in the mirror, and desperately wish I had someone else's skin. I shared with them my pain, my rejection, my utter “unlovability”...
I also shared my happiness. How I was so grateful to have incredible women and men in my life who I looked up to. The deep peace I had at knowing I am infinitely cherished. The love I felt from my friends and family even when I didn't always know how to love myself. I reminded the girls that they were always GOLD - no matter how ugly or lonely they felt, no matter what experiences they had been through, no matter what society was telling them. They were beautiful, loveable, and not just enough...but more than enough. Priceless. At the end of the night, I sat back with the same feeling of exhaustion and satisfaction you get after finishing a final -- I thought it was over. But before my residents left, they all asked me…
"So, Julie...when's the next one?"
- Julie Larkin, Girl Talk Founder
