Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/287250
14 brAvA mAgAzine | April 2014 ConneCt perSpecTive find the WhY felloW floWerS connecTS Women rUnnerS by emily leAS ORANGE. GREEN. PURPLE. ese are just colors until they are a given meaning. Unity. Courage. No excuses. Make them into a fl ower to wear in your hair, clip on your running shorts or on a race bib, and now you have a movement that connects women through a healthy platform. "I want to see a race where women are lined up by why—their reason for run- ning—not by how fast they are," says Mel Charbonneau, co-founder of Fellow Flowers, the business behind this nation- al movement to connect women through running, race expos and an annual De- clare it Day, a platform for defi ning a goal with the support of community. is vision started in early 2011 when Tori Sager, fellow co-founder, invited a group of girlfriends, including Charbon- neau, to train and run a half marathon with her. She gave each an orange fl ower for her hair on race day. e purpose of it was to unify the group, but through the training, they shared, supported and cel- ebrated their "whys" for running. At the time, Charbonneau and Sager were in similar spots professionally and emotionally—unsettled in what should've been dream jobs, raising young families and trying to balance it all. Char- bonneau ran a half marathon that Octo- ber on her birthday and across the 13.1 miles she says she "uncorked the crazy." "I'd been running with this orange fl ower in my hair for several months, and I really thought about what it meant," Charbonneau says. "It represents my story. And if it's me, it's you. And it's her and my neighbor. I texted Tori that night and said, 'I have an idea. It involves fl ow- ers, friendship and running. Are you in?'" It was a resounding "Yes" from Sager. But it wasn't easy to walk away from the stability of their current lives. "You have to be willing to let go of the security, and when you do that you phoTogrAphed by KrAKorA STUdioS Get inspired to champion your own goals—whether you run or not—with Fellow Flowers co-founders, Tori Sager and Mel Charbonneau, April 24 at DreamBank. 1 N. Pinckney St., Madison. dreambank.amfam.com.