How it all started….

It was summer 2013 and I was embarking on a brand new life! I had just started Get Smart Mentoring with my former student, Alexa Maniaci and began my first job as an internal consultant.

Life has a way of bringing you the right minds and hearts at exactly the right time. The concept of Get Smart started because I had worked so closely with teenage girls for over 10 years. Through character, leadership, and service education I found out what made them tick. I knew how to reach them and empower them, and how to call them to grow.

As I started developing programs for Get Smart I met a man who changed everything I thought I knew about men. He cared about kids with the same fervor that I did, and his passion for making a difference matched mine. I never realized men could care and be committed in this way. How judgmental I had been!  I noticed myself opening up to letting my previous notions of men fall away. All of a sudden I couldn’t sleep. What was wrong with me?? BOYS need to be empowered too. Boys deal with stuff. Boys hurt. Boys get scared. My brainstorming began! On one hot summer day in July of 2013 I uttered the words “The Get Smart Guy.” I had no idea what those words meant or where they were going to take Get Smart, but I was willing to find out.

The Wheels Began to Turn…

In the fall of 2013 we did our first Get Smart Community Program. For 8 weeks I spent an hour each with a group of 7th and 8th grade inner city girls. As the girls came to their mentoring session I would watch the boys peek in. My heart would sink. They wanted to know what was going on! What were they missing? They would wave to me and I was done. My heart broke a little each time!

I began to talk to Alexa and the Get Smart Jr. Advisory Council about the concept of empowering boys and young men and also teaching women about men WITHOUT the context of dating or romance as the main focus. They loved it. We kept tossing ideas around and there was SO much energy around making some miracles!

Why the Get Smart Guy?

The world is full of both men and women. AND YES I know we need to empower girls. I love to empower girls! I just also think if we can empower both sexes to work, live, and communicate together it serves everyone and everything. Teaching women about men just to “catch” them is insulting to both men and women.

As a “guy’s” girl with my cadre of my precious male friends my life has been impacted by having GREAT men in it. I am SO lucky to have smart, loving, and compassionate men in my life whose friendships are so dear to me. I want all women to celebrate who men are, and I also want to teach men to respect and befriend women.

At the end of the day WE NEED EACH OTHER. Get Smart is dedicating a month usually reserved for romance and flowers to exploring themes that include men through our articles and social media messages. We’ll deal with fun stuff and tough stuff. It’s all an inquiry. From there we are working on developing programs that includes boys and men in the conversation.

It’s one conversation.

And to the great mind that inspired the Get Smart Guy — THANK YOU. You will always remain one of the finest men I know.

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR MALE BLOGGERS!

Two categories:

Young Men ages 15-25

Professional males, parents, and mentors of any age

TO apply please click here

For the remainder of the 2014 school year Get Smart is offering schools, parent organizations, and educators in the NY/NJ/CT metropolitan area a FREE 60 minute presentation entitled “Beyond Bullying: Get Smart about The Power of Words.” It is designed for EITHER CO-ED OR all female audience of either teens, college students, parents, or educators. Rather than focusing on bullying prevention, it’s aim is teaching personhood and empathy to change the way people think and see themselves and others.

Please inquire by emailing Stephanie Licata at getsmartcoach@gmail.com