On April 25th 2010 a group of amazing women got together to celebrate life and pay tribute to breast cancer survivors. I was there, representing SexyPlus Clothing alongside Kathryn McCallum-Pipes and Wanda White from Curvaceous Consignments.

The event took place inside the beautiful and elegant Thornhill Country Club and was meticulously coordinated by Mary Corrado.

Above: Mary Corrado, President of The Business Agents - www.thebusinessagents.ca, and Linda Ockwell-Jenner.

Above: Stefanie Augusteijn (that's me!) from SexyPlus Clothing, and Kathryn McCallum-Pipes from Curvaceous Consignments.

Above: Wanda White from Curvaceous Consignments - www.curvaceousconsignments.com

The afternoon's events included presentations by Keynote Speaker Linda Ockwell-Jenner, a Speaker and Business Development Consultant born in Birmingham, England who immigrated to Canada in 1993. In 1997 Linda faced her toughestchallenge when she was diagnosed withbreast cancer. Making things more difficult were financial pressures, withLinda juggling three jobs in retail and hospitality. By 2000, Linda was enjoying life and a new relationship only to be diagnosed once again with breast cancer.

Overcoming this terrible disease a second time, Linda went back to school in 2001 where she discovered a passion for speaking and founded www.motivationalsteps.com. On Sunday, Linda spoke to us with a mixture of humour, emotion, and left a permanent message of hope.

We later enjoyed the comedy of one of Canada's top female entertainers Judy Croon, a fashion show by SexyPlus Clothing and Curvaceous Consignments sporting the most unique and fashion forward looks in plus sizes, a fashion show by Jockey, a delicious lunch and good old fashioned socializing. There was an air of sincerity and warmth among the women (and a few men) which made networking seem natural, when it can sometimes feel like "work".

I was proud to model SexyPlus Clothing and sported the Pretty Woman Series Babydoll Top in Pink with our new Perfect Plus Size Capris in Black (shown above), as well as our Wild Roxanne Plus Size Top in Hot Pink. Being the owner of SexyPlus Clothing and not a professional model, I must admit that it was fun. I felt super confident because I am obviously partial to the clothes, and was grateful for the applause. The other models, customers of Curvaceous Consignments shown below, did fabulously and I think they had fun too. The audience seemed to enjoy the fact that we were regular women, of different sizes and shapes, representing plus sizes which are so rarely featured in fashion shows.

I learned, some time ago, from a super-charged woman named Katia  Miller (www.positivefabulouswomen.com) that in networking you must first ask how you can help, so in that spirit, I will introduce you to other female entrepreneurs who were present and helped raised funds for breast cancer research on this emotionally charged and delightful afternoon.

Above: Moira Sutton, CEO, Success Breakthrough - www.successbreakthrough.com

Above: Susan Bernstein, Executive, ISAGENIX - www.terryandsusan.com

Above: Rosemarie, Settings by Fogelman & Co - 416.783.1030

Above: Pamela Gallo, Co-founder, Boho Tea - www.bohotea.com

Above: Emma Laser Treatments - www.emmaskincare.com

Above: Agnes Loshusan, Independent Executive Sr. Sales Director, Mary Kay - www.marykay.ca/aloshusan

Above: Joanne C. Wilson, Romance Specialist, The Wedding Travel Team - www.theweddingtravelteam.com

Above: Our friendly photographer for the event Rob Corrado C.P.C., PPOC, LPPO, Corr Vision Photography - Light Made Visible - http://www.corrvision.com/

There were many more extraordinary women but I did not manage to capture them all in pictures or in introduction - partly because it was so informative and enjoyable exchanging with the ladies I did meet. While there was shopping and sharing, fine dining and fashion parading, the bottom line is that we must FIND A CURE for BREAST CANCER and support all those affected by it through compassion, financial support, awareness and love.

Click here to give - it's FREE!

Thank you to all those who attended and sponsored this event. I was honoured to be among you.

Sincerely,

Stefanie Augusteijn