10 Years….. What a Milestone
2023 marks 10 years of producing “That’s What She Said” shows in Champaign-Urbana, IL. On February 25th, 2023, that was celebrated on stage in our flagship community with another showcase of 9 strong, powerful, brave women sharing their stories.
But the show that graced the stage this year was not the same event that it was on that fateful day back in October, 2013. That’s What She Said has grown, changed, and evolved to be even more relevant in 2023. We have tried so many different things, learned what would work better and what didn’t work at all, and continued to improve on our methods, our strategy and our production.
When we say that “every woman has a seat at the table,” we truly mean it. We strive to represent as many different voices as possible, sharing different perspectives and viewpoints and experiences. We are not here to “take sides” or push anyone’s agenda. We are here to be a safe and empowering space for women – all women – to take a chance on themselves and be truly heard. And the women who appear on stage are from the community where the show is performed. We do not take our show “on the road”, but instead work very hard to build up each community and each regional producing partner to cast their show
That’s why every show is unique. And every show is personal to the community it appears in. In addition to sharing women’s stories, we are building up local businesses, contributing to local nonprofits, and building a community of women who truly support each other. Just take a look at the growing communities of That’s What She Said Columbia and That’s What She Said Danville.
And if you pay close attention, you will realize that each woman who stands on our stage is challenged to always be the leading character in their own story. That they speak in first person as much as possible and they give themselves permission to talk about themselves. This is a much harder task than you would realize. Just ask any woman who has performed in a That’s What She Said show.
It is not the performer’s job to tell the audience what they should take away from their experience. It is only their job to tell the story. Each audience member gets the gift of relating to the stories in their own way and taking from each woman’s performance exactly what they needed to. We give the audience permission to think, reflect, relate, and feel emotions right alongside the women on the stage. Each experience in the audience is as unique as the person watching.
These ten years have been an incredible journey. We are celebrating over 200 women that have appeared on stage in a That’s What She Said show. We have contributed over $50,000 to nonprofit organizations in the communities where we have shows. We are launching our teen empowerment program in new communities and our publishing company was created to release our first published collection of women’s stories “from the Stage to the Page”. And we are just getting started.
Thank you, for an incredible decade. Let’s do this!