Friends With Benefits:A Must for Every Woman

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS. I know what you're thinking. Friends with benefits are messy, situationships where someone catches feelings, someone plays it cool, and nobody wins. Usually meaningful friendships are ruined leaving fractured feelings for everyone involved. But guess what? The friends with benefits I am talking about is a female collective made strong by bonding, support, encouragement, emotional healing, trust, honesty, and mutually beneficial HEALTHY love. It's a relationship where you can be unapologetically you and find peace in knowing your friends are rooting for your wins and ready with a bottle of wine, a bomb playlist, and impromptu dance parties when your down.

Let me break this down for you. My bestie is a powerhouse. She is not just a mother, director, and active community resource but, she is also a masters degree holder in nonprofit administration, sits on countless boards and dedicates herself to educating college bound students on funding their education responsibly. She's my right hand. Now my left hand has managed million dollar hospital payouts in multiple regions, while leading a team of account specialist ensuring patients get the care they need and facilities get the funds they are owed. My tenacious left hand moved across the country to follow her dream of being a nurse, disposed of doubt and narcissism, evolved in her spirituality and self assurance all without skipping a beat.

With a right and a left like mine anyone would feel fortunate but it's the behind the scenes that has me loving my #FWB relationship.

In the last week alone we have video chatted to plan a financial aid informational for over 40 directors, helped study and plan for a nursing exam, collectively done a business outline for a new joint education venture, completed recommendation letters for each other( letting these credentials speak), all while sharing numerous laughs, arguments, and life lessons. Having female friends who not only pray for you, support you, and speak abundance and life into you at every turn is not just a gift but a necessity. Too often women are depicted as competitive, manipulative, and completely disconnected from each other and yet female collectives like mine are a lot more common than people realize and they are growing every day.

In the time it took me to write this I've discussed the multiple business dealings of my fellow Cleveland female #BossBabe who not only has a savvy business mind but also her own like minded collective, started following the blog of a fashionista whose individuality and beauty make a statement about being true to yourself, and exchanged information for a networking opportunity for women with vision. This was all done while we simultaneously secured the bag doing work that pays our bills while allowing us to build our dreams.

Gone are the days of letting men rule the world while women sit back waiting to be "taken care of". We are now monetizing our talents and leaving nothing on the table. #WomensEmpowerment is about so much more than rallies and slogans it's about creating real change that only happens when we come together and stop looking for a seat at the table and start creating our own.

I love my #FWB. You should get you some and experience a world where nothing is beyond your reach because the women to your left and right aren't holding you back instead they are lifting you up.