Last Saturday, Paige and I attended a seminar run by The Esther Academy ‘How Do I Let It Go?” – Baggage and Relationship event, which took place between 2-6pm in a hall in Barking.
I didn’t really know what to expect attending this event. I thought I would be surrounded by broken hearted women all crying over an ex cheating lover… However, this was far from what the event consisted of. All of the attendees were given a card which had an emotion written on it and everyone had to stand up and talk about a point in their life where they had experienced that emotion.
Almost all of the attendees spoke about childhood and problems in their family affairs, with a few mentions of an ex partner. The hall saw plenty of tears, laughter and reconciliation. I was taken aback by how open and honest the attendees were, it goes to show the environment The Esther Academy managed to create! Props to them.
I found the event insightful and almost therapeutic. Being among so many women who also have their own battles, reinforced the idea that we are not by ourselves, someone out there has experience exactly what we are/have gone through. The majority of the attendees and the panellists made reference to God and although I am not a religious person, I wasn’t made to feel uncomfortable or uneasy about any of the exercises/their experiences. I will definitely be attending the next one, it was like attending a counselling session and leaving the event with light at the end of the tunnel.
Words: @TheRubyMaeMoore
I managed to catch up with 24 year old, visionary, founder and ceo Kamden Monplaisir, the lady behind The Esther Academy. Kamden is an advocate for young people, young women especially, and was recently asked to join in on a conversation regarding young people getting on the property ladder on BBC London radio a few weeks ago. Here is what we got speaking about:
How long has the Esther Academy been about for?
“The Esther Academy will be celebrating our 2nd year in August.”
Tell us about the name…
“I called the company after Esther from the Bible.”
What is your background?
“I studied for a degree at Bedford University in International Finance. After graduating, I went on to working in the corporate sector, which is where I currently work now. Over 2 years ago, I started mentoring young women and that is when I discovered the need for The Esther Academy.”
Future plans for The Esther Academy?
“We just want to continue growing and providing our seminars, workshops and programmes. We are also about to start running these workshops in schools which we are extremely excited about. We are also working on our next event, planned to take place in August, so stay tuned!”
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