• Do you yearn for more real life connection and community in your life? 

• Do you desire to facilitate groups in a way that feels deeply nourishing, soulful and full of purpose?

• Do you wish to make a contribution to the world, and be part of a larger movement? 

• Do you long to feel empowered and graceful in your leadership, and as a facilitator?

• Do you want to transform the lives of other women? 

Training to Facilitate women’s circles with Sister Stories could be for you. 

ONLINE FACILITATOR TRAINING NOV 2020-JAN 2021

As 2020 draws to a close and the promise of 2021 beckons, we are inviting skilled, empathetic women to become facilitators of the circles and pioneers of a global network of women doing Circle work. This is an opportunity for you to step into your feminine leadership, to become a lighthouse for other women in your community and to take the gentle yet bold step of leading women in circle.

We are building a global community, and issuing the call for compassionate and committed souls to join us on this road to creating spaces where women can tell their stories and share their experiences freely.

We believe in the value of real life communities designed to meet the needs of the local area. The way a group gathers in London, for example, will be very different to the way a group gathers on the Isle of Arran or a town in Iowa, and we encourage facilitators to create their circles to best suit their local area.  In a time of social distancing, we hold circles Online and where local guidance allows, socially distanced circles, meaning you can connect with your local community in the flesh as well as hold space for women all over the globe.

This training provides the foundations for deep, rich, connection in real life and online.

At the end of an extraordinary year, this 3 month training programme will take your hand, walking you over the threshold of 2020 into 2021 with new skills, a new depth of understanding of yourself, new connections and the possibility to infuse 2021 with real purpose and magic.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN  

Stepping into circle leadership is a journey of inner and outer transformation. Dazzling in its simplicity, and daunting in its complexity, holding space for a group of women takes skill, compassion and courage.

The facilitator training is designed to give you the practical & emotional tools to step into circle leadership and bring Sister Stories to your community and connect to new women.

You may be experienced in leading or attending women’s circles or you may never have sat in circle but are brimming with curiosity; this training is designed to support both those who are brand new to circles and those who are looking to deepen their circle leadership practice.

The training provides a clear framework for facilitating circles and connects you to an invaluable support network of women also doing this work. By the end of the training, you will be qualified to lead Sister Stories circles and will have the tools, both practical and emotional, to do so. 

It’s important that the experience doesn’t end there: you will be welcomed into a global network of Sister Stories facilitators so your onward journey into circle work feels supported and you have a rich and diverse peer network from whom you can learn.

With your hand being held every step of that way, this course will: 

• Qualify you as a certified Sister Stories facilitator. By the end of the 3 month group programme, you will emerge ready to lead your very first circle. 

• Teach you the purpose of Sister Stories, its values and beliefs and place in the ancient lineage of women’s circles.

• Connect you to transformative power of women’s circles and their healing power in this moment of global turbulence. 

• Teach you to prepare for, structure and deliver Sister Stories women’s circles.

• Support you to step into your unique leadership qualities and individual approach to facilitation so you can make a big impact in the lives of the women in your community. 

• Create a space for you to ask for the support you need and offer the support you can give to others, enjoying the reciprocity of an active learning community. 

• Motivate & support you to create a personal action plan for starting and sustaining your own circles, ensuring you have all the support you need to do so. 

• Give you access to all Sister Stories branding materials, example copy, a bank of original images, posters & leaflets to market your circles so you can hit the ground running with your circles. 

• Provide 12 months of support through access to monthly Community Calls led by Gemma, open to all Sister Stories Facilitators and a great way to learn from other women leading circle as well as bringing all your questions, celebrations and anxieties. 

• Give you access to Guest Mentor calls.

How you’ll learn:

• Lifetime Access to Sister Stories Academy- an online platform with video lessons, workbooks, reflection exercises and action plans to give you the in depth knowledge you need. With 6 core modules to walk you through every part of your Sister Stories journey, you will have all the tools you need to 

• 7 Group Zoom calls with Gemma Brady, Founder of Sister Stories. This provides the backbone of our learning, connecting us as a community and allowing us to forge supportive connections that will be invaluable throughout your circle leadership. Each call will relate to a core module,  providing a combination of practical facilitation guidance, emotional support to stepping into your leadership and community building.

• Immersive Circle experience- through attending circles led by Gemma, you will connect to the power of this work and immerse yourself in it, allowing yourself to deepen into your own practice.

• Ongoing support from Gemma & the existing Sister Stories community in the form of monthly group calls, Facebook community and more. 

Our core modules include:

• The Journey- preparing yourself to become a facilitator, setting our agreements as a group, a live Welcome Circle on Zoom. 

• Vision and Values- connecting you to your bigger vision, the mission of Sister Stories and the power of women’s circle. This module dives deep into your desire to bring women’s circles to the world, will inspire you to hold a vision for yourself and others and will fill you with awe and excitement at the path that lies ahead.

• Tradition of Circle- it is important to honour the circle lineage that has come before. This module will ground your facilitation practice in very practical understanding of different types of circles and how your work as a Sister Stories facilitator will inspire a new group of women to come to women’s circles. 

• The Ritual of Circle- With strong foundations of learning laid, in module 4 we move into deepening your understanding of the content and structure of a Sister Stories circle, the important rituals you should undertake before facilitating and how to create the most warm, welcoming space you can to make women attending your circle feel like they are being wrapped up in a magical embrace. 

• How to Hold Space- you’ve gathered your women, you’ve bought the beautiful candles and flowers to decorate your space- now it’s time to learn how to hold space throughout a circle. From wobbles in self confidence to learning how to deal with difficult or unexpected situations that arise, this module will help you to connect to your innate wisdom and power as a facilitator, combining nourishing inner work and transmuting that into a very practical application.

• Activating your Circle and Creating Impact- Now is the time to get ready for your very first circle! This module will cover business and branding, how to set up your ticket sales, how to spread the word about your circles. We will close our final call with a circle of commitment, declaring our intentions, being supported and celebrated by the group and taking this magical work out into the world. 

• A BONUS BRANDING & MARKETING LIVE ONLINE WORKSHOP

• HOW TO HOLD ONLINE CIRCLES BONUS WORKSHOP

• INVITATIONS TO REAL LIFE MEET UPS

When are the training sessions?

At the heart of our learning is community. This is delivered as a live programme across 6 weeks with a group of other energetic, enthusiastic and heart-led women. We are stronger together and learning as a group will transform your experience from being a solo-slog to a nourishing & supportive journey that means you’ll graduate from the programme with a full heart, buzzing brain and ready to get your first circle up and running.

Each week, we will meet on Zoom, with replays of the calls available immediately after. We recommend that to get the most out of the programme, you attend as many of the live calls as possible. This is a training which requires devotion and action- the more you show up and contribute, the richer your experience will be and you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of running thriving circles in your community. The calls are held from 7:30-9:30pm (GMT) on the following dates:

THURSDAY 19TH NOVEMBER

THURSDAY 26TH NOVEMBER

THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER

THURSDAY 10TH DECEMBER

THURSDAY 17TH DECEMBER

THURSDAY 7TH JANUARY

THURSDAY 14TH JANUARY

THURSDAY 21ST JANUARY

You will be given a variety of date options for your immersive circle experiences and the bonus workshop dates will be announced in early November.

If the idea of learning to run your own women’s circles is calling to you, if you want to join a community of women doing so and be guided every step of the way, find out more here and download our free PDF on How To Run A Women’s Circle: 

WHAT IS SISTER STORIES?

SISTER STORIES INVITES WOMEN TO EXPERIENCE THE DEEP CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY THAT ARISE WHEN WE SIT IN CIRCLE AND SHARE THE TRUTH OF OUR EXPERIENCES TOGETHER


The format is simple: we facilitate women gathering in circle around the world. Together, we soften into sharing a story or feeling that wants to be spoken aloud.

This is the ancient made modern. 

Under skies, under stars, in living rooms, around kitchen tables, women have gathered for millennia. Our community offers a simple, powerful reimagining of this practice.

WHO IS SISTER STORIES FOR?

Sister Stories is for those who long to feel a deeper sense of connection in their lives. For those who are curious about what it would mean to awaken an ancient remembering. For those who want to come together in deep communion with others, and develop a close-knit community where they live.

For those who want to experience something that all the rushing, pushing and competing of the modern world has buried within us.

For those who want to discover themselves afresh.

For those who value connection, community and compassion.

For those who don't know what they need, but suspect there is a shift to be made.

BELIEFS AND VALUES

• We are committed to creating real life spaces in which the mask can come off, a sense of competition and comparison is left at the door and the soul can breathe a little sigh of relief.

• We believe in collaboration, not competition.

• We believe in community, connection and compassion.

• We are committed to building a network of leaders who are working to strengthen and empower their communities through creating spaces in which women can gather to connect more deeply to their true selves.

This training is for you if:

• You feel strongly called to facilitate sisterhood & want to make an impact in the world. 

• You want to benefit from the existing Sister Stories reputation and brand by becoming a licensed facilitator

• You are ready to say ‘yes’ to an opportunity that could transform both you and the community you live in.

• You value a supportive, nurturing environment in which to take the leap and grow.

• You feel aligned with our mission, and have some experience of creating space for compassion, community and connection.

• You are not afraid to ‘do the work’ and are committed to taking the action needed to get a successful Sister Stories circle up and running in your community. 

• You are committed to developing yourself, your feminine leadership and are looking for a space in which to be held while you defy your own expectations of what is possible.

• You have some experience of holding space. What this experience looks like can take many forms. Our current facilitators come from a wide range of backgrounds from yoga teachers and coaches to filmmakers, charity sector workers and corporate backgrounds. 

• You absolutely love the idea of being on a journey of creation, depth, adventure and purpose alongside a group of fabulous women.

• The training is designed for those who are looking to lead circles but is also a healing journey in itself. Women who attended the previous trainings found it was a bigger journey of self discovery and coming home to themselves. If you are curious about whether the experience is for you and want to hear first hand what it involves, we can connect to you to women who have trained previously. 

This training is NOT for you if:

• You do not thrive in group environments and prefer 1:1 learning. This experience is designed to be enriched by taking part in community and we are looking for women who will actively contribute as well as receive. 

• You are not willing to commit time, energy and resources to training as a facilitator and getting your groups up and running. We will give you all the resources and support you need to get started and hold beautiful circles. Your role is then to take this work out into the world and spread the word in your local community. 

• You do not enjoy personal development, working with your own triggers and approaching challenges with curiosity. Holding space for other women is nourishing, rewarding and can also uncover new areas of emotional development we must undertake. 

Learning to facilitate is a skill for life. Sister Stories training is designed to support you in a way that will ripple far beyond your circle work and allow you to hold space with ease and grace in other areas of your life. 

We offer a certification model which means you pay a one-time facilitation training fee and from there, keep all profits from ticket sales to your circles. 

This investment covers training which gives you full access to the 3 month course, Lifetime Access to the learning materials, certification as a Sister Stories facilitator (where all proceeds of ticket sales are yours to keep), monthly community calls. The facilitation skills you learn here are applicable to circle work and far beyond and are an investment for life.

It is important anyone undertaking this programme has the opportunity to spread the cost at no extra fee and are offering a 12 month payment plan as standard:

12 MONTH PAYMENT PLAN: 12 x £121 (incl. VAT)

This includes:

• 3 months of content taught live on Zoom with weekly calls (with the exception of a break for the Christmas period)

• Full access to the course content on Teachable

• 12 months of group mentorship calls which provide ongoing support with getting your circle up and running, practical advice on facilitation, marketing & any other areas you may need support with.

• Use of Sister Stories branding materials

• Access to the global community of facilitators for community, connection and a rich peer network.

YOUR ONGOING INVESTMENT:

After the first 12 months of being a Sister Stories facilitator, we offer an ongoing care package for £25 per month which includes:

• Access to monthly mentoring and community calls

• Access to new brand materials

• Invitations to meet ups and retreats 

If you would like to book a call with Gemma to discuss this, you can do this here

How to Sign up- CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO book a call with gemma

ABOUT GEMMA

The training is led by Gemma Brady, founder of Sister Stories. 

Gemma is a documentary maker, creative mentor and founder of Sister Stories.  She has dedicated her life to creating spaces for people to tell important stories, be it on film, in writing or in their community. She believes in the healing power of storytelling and the power of the generous acts of both speaking and offering deep listening. Her 10 year career in has seen her creating BAFTA award winning content across a variety of media from documentaries to video games. A former Commissioning Editor leading Channel 4’s public service content for teenagers and now a freelance Series Producer of documentaries such as 24 Hours in A&E. Across her career, she has helped hundreds of individuals tell their most intimate, moving stories. She recently contributed several essays to 'As You Are', a book from Department Store for the Mind which celebrates our individual uniqueness and the importance of listening to the stories of our Elders. 

In 2017, Gemma created Sister Stories as a means of offering women an opportunity to come together and experience the transformative power of being seen and heard and has since held hundreds of circles in the UK & US. What started as a simple women's circle gathering in London has grown to a thriving, supportive movement women leading Sister Stories gatherings.

Gemma has undertaken training with some of the world’s best mentors to assist her journey in holding space. She trained in the art of cultivating love, presence and connection with Harley Street therapist Katie Abbott through Pause Place and undertook two years of mentorship with Nisha Moodley, renowned coach and founder of Global Sisterhood Day. She has trained with the School of Narrative Therapy as a therapist and takes her continued professional development in all areas of holding space seriously.

TAKING THE LEAP

It can be daunting to make a decision that requires emotional, spiritual and financial commitment. And yet these places outside our comfort zone are the spaces where true change happens. 

Sister Stories facilitation can support all areas of your life: it shines a new light on existing relationships, allowing new depths to emerge. It opens doors to new and unexpected connections and friendships. It connects you to something ancient, primal and deeply feminine. Facilitation work can be done alongside a job, as a mother, as a carer, single or in a relationship. It can generate income for you in the most nourishing, easeful way, allowing you to become curious about other opportunities to allow more supportive working practices into your life.

It is an opportunity to be part of global network of women who, circle by circle, are bringing more connection, compassion and much needed real-life community to our planet. You will be supported every step of the way. You will be held by the group. You will be supported every step of the way. You will be held by the group. You will receive training at the highest level and feel yourself sink into the essence of your feminine leadership that was there all along. 

This is transformational work. 

We hope you choose to say ‘yes’ to this invitation. Sister Stories is open to you…

Come on in.

If you would like to book a call with Gemma, CONTACT US HERE

I won’t be able to make the calls live… WIll that be an issue?

You are very welcome to enrol in this course and watch the calls as replays. As connection and community are so valuable to us, the course is designed as a group experience, so will be most enriching for you if you join live wherever possible. 

I am really interested in joining, but it’s not the right time. When will you be running the next one?

We usually hold this training 1-2 times a year and the next dates will be in 2021.

My current financial situation prevents me from enrolling, are there payment plans available?

There are 12 month payment plans available to assist with spreading the cost of this training. There is also a bursary place available at a heavily reduced fee for those in genuine financial need. Please contact Gemma directly (hello@sisterstories.co) for more information on this & to apply.

I don’t know where I should facilitate circles

The location of circles varies- in 2020, many of the facilitators have chosen to take their circles online, to allow them to continue. This is worked beautifully.

Where in person circles are permitted, some choose to host them in their home, for others, a local yoga studio, some have even transformed local book shops and cafes in the evenings. The only requirement for a space to host circles in is that it’s a safe, welcoming and intimate environment. During the training, you will be given ideas and guidance on how to create a beautiful space. 

I haven’t been to a women’s circle before, can I still train?

Attending a variety of womens circles before, during and after your training can be a very supportive practice to help you connect to this work. It is not, however, mandatory- for some, access to women’s circles is still geographically challenging and the purpose of this training programme is to help spread the work to new locations with a pioneering set of women at the helm.

What kind of professional background do I need to become a Sister Stories facilitator?

The only requirement to become a facilitator is an open heart, a curious spirit and a compassionate soul which resonates with the work of Sister Stories. Women who have trained to be facilitators in the past have hailed from a wide set of professional backgrounds. We have had those from the media, charity sector, entrepreneurs, yoga teachers, actors, coaches, mothers, writers. The skills needed for facilitation require a desire to explore the complex inner landscape of our humanity. There is no one-sized fits all approach to doing it, so the more varied and diverse a set of skills within our facilitators, the richer the community. 

I don’t know anyone in my area who might come to a circle, can I still set one up?

One of the glorious challenges of setting up a Sister Stories circle in a new area is finding new pockets of the local community who will cherish a women’s circle arriving in their area. Often, women who come to circles share that they didn’t know how much they needed this work in their lives until they stumbled across it. You are offering an opportunity people may yearn for, yet not yet be able to name. 

I don’t like the idea of selling tickets to circles, can I offer them for free?

Each individual facilitator is encouraged to find a method of running their circles which is supportive to them and their community, including setting pricing. There is no requirement to charge for tickets, but experience tells us that offering tickets for a fee helps create an exchange that supports facilitators to keep offering the work and encourage those attending to honour their agreement to show up to the space. We do not want women who are unable to pay for tickets to be excluded from circles, so most facilitators choose to offer at least one heavily subsidised or free ticket per circle to a woman who otherwise would not be able to attend. 

How often do I need to run circles? 

As often or as little as you like. Each facilitator finds their rhythm; perhaps once a fortnight feels good to you, once a week or once a year. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Once you have completed your training, you are encouraged to run a circle within a month to give you the best chance of creating a thriving circle community whilst momentum is high. 

I’m naturally shy and not sure I’m a ‘leader’- is facilitation for me?

Sister Stories is a space which encourages even the quietest voices to be heard and this can include the facilitators. Those who facilitate are responsible for gathering and opening the circle and gently keeping it safe for attendees, but there is a dynamic of complete equality. There is no ‘leader’ of the circle, only a guardian who encourages its dynamic unfolding. Many women who are naturally quieter and less likely to ‘put themselves in the spotlight’ have found that facilitation has been transformative for them both in itself and in other areas of their life. 

If I train in Sister Stories, can I hold other types of women’s circle?

Our mission is to spread the magic of women’s circles as widely around the world as possible. We need better access to circles for women everywhere. You can take the learnings from your training and use them in any way you wish, however if you wish to brand your circles as Sister Stories circles, we have a specific format and vibe we ask you to create.