Kind Words from Cookie Cookie Ice Cream
For the last 15 weeks, I have had the pleasure of facilitating the Inglis Impact Accelerator, a business accelerator aimed at supporting disabled entrepreneurs and businesses that improve accessibility and inclusion.
Program and process planning is my jam, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created — but something remarkable has happened in the cohort that we couldn’t have planned or controlled. The entrepreneurs in the cohort are absolutely incredible. They show up as their full selves and are generous with their self-disclosure and support of one another. The way they’ve participated adds so much value to the program that we couldn’t have predicated (and that will be difficult to measure).
Here’s an email that Connie Feda, owner of Cookie Cookie Ice Cream, shared with the group after we all met in person for the first time:
Good Morning Fellow Cohortians,
Yesterday was a great experience. This morning one of the women who works next store brought me a pack of POSITIVE AFFIRMATION stickers. She said it reminded her of the store. They reminded me of you and your support these past weeks. My favorites include:
FAITH OVER FEAR
THE FIRST STEP IS SAYING YOU CAN
NO ONE IS YOU AND THAT IS YOUR POWER
I ACCEPT MYSELF AS I AM
SOMETIMES JUST A STEP FORWARD IS ENOUGH
Thank you all so much for sharing your stories and your perspectives. Looking forward to seeing all of our dreams burst into reality.
Connie
To top it all off, Connie shared some kind words with me about the impact that my facilitation has had on her. She is the picture of why I do what I do:
Image description: The image features a testimonial for Shannon Parris Consulting that reads, “What folks are saying about Shannon Parris Consulting.” Below the headline, there’s a quotation that says:
“I feel less intimidated by the challenges in front of me than I did before. The level of confidence I have now is dramatically different — and people are noticing it here.”
The testimonial is attributed to Connie Feda from Cookie Cookie Ice Cream.
On the right side of the image, there is a photo of Shannon Parris standing next to Connie Feda. Shannon, dressed in a bright magenta dress, smiles warmly with her arm around Connie, who wears an apron and a pink shirt. The background shows a kitchen environment, Connie’s ice cream business, adding context to the testimonial.
