Let’s Spill the Tea, a leading nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the bond between mothers and daughters, will be hosting its annual summit on September 28, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Valencia College West Campus, located at 1800 S Kirkman Rd, Orlando, FL 32811.
Founded in 2013 by Monica and Monique May, Let’s Spill the Tea has a long history of fostering meaningful conversations and strengthening parental relationships. This year’s summit features an array of engaging breakout sessions designed to address a variety of important topics. Workshop topics include:
- Be THAT Girl: Online and In Real Life – Navigating digital and real-world spaces with confidence.
- Dating Do’s and Don’ts – Essential advice for healthy and respectful relationships.
- Fly Girl Ish: Creating and Maintaining a Beauty Regimen – Tips for developing a personal beauty routine.
- Inside Out: Managing Emotions and Big Dreams – Strategies for emotional well-being and achieving goals.
- Big Bank: Planning for the Future – Financial planning tips for a secure future.
- Can We Talk: Healthy Communication Through Conflict – Techniques for effective and respectful communication.
- Securing the Bag: Career Support for Parents – Guidance on supporting career development for parents.
What began as a conversation over 20 years ago has evolved into a nonprofit organization that has positively impacted the lives of teenage and young adult women aged 14-21.
“We kept our parents on a pedestal, thinking they could never do wrong,” Monica May explained. “They never discussed their past or the mistakes they made. They also didn’t talk with us about life in general. Forget talking about the birds and bees or what choices were available in terms of career. So, I figured if I kept an open relationship with my daughter and told her about my past and helped chart her life course, she’d make better choices – and it worked.”
Monica, who has made quite a name for herself in the Central Florida community, went on to state that the idea for her nonprofit and the summit came to her years ago.
“This all started one day when I spoke to a group of girls at a home for teenage pregnant girls,” she said. “I shared my life story – in the third person – from the time I was 12 years old until that particular day. I read it as a letter and no one in the room knew that I was talking about me. The girls’ eyes were like saucers, but the adults in the room could relate. The emotion was even higher at the end when I revealed that the person I was talking about was me and, at the time, the producer and host of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. I tried it again in a room full of mothers and daughters and received the same result, girls in disbelief but moms could relate. So, I figured if I could get moms to open up the same way it would not only help their daughters and take themselves off that proverbial pedestal, but it could be even cathartic for them.”
And the rest was history.
“We came up with the slogan, “Let’s Spill the Tea” since our grandmothers used to sit in rocking chairs and gossip, which means tea. Girls have all the “dirt” on their friends, which is tea,” Monica said. “The Tea is conversation and it just seemed like a natural title for the workshops we intended to do to bring moms and their girls who were in that adolescence to young adulthood together.”
The summit is open to all interested parties, and registration is encouraged. For more information or to register, please visit letsspillthetea.org or contact the organization at [email protected].
