Calendar sales to help Women At Risk

Naperville-based motivational speaker Staci Boyer wants to give the gift of empowerment to people year round with the debut of her "Dear Woman" 2017 calendar.

Boyer is donating 15 percent of the cost of each calendar to Women At Risk International, a nonprofit based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that was established to create circles of protection around at-risk women and children. WAR operates the WAR Chest Boutique in Naperville.

The calendar consists of letters Boyer writes to women as a source of encouragement to make positive changes and actions in their lives. Every month has its own letter and photos of Boyer and other models such as Kate Lane and ballet dancers from the Sugarloaf Performance Arts Ballet Company in Atlanta. She also incorporates art pieces and pictures taken by photographers.

She says the inspiration for her "Dear Woman" letters came to her this year on International Women's Day, March 8.

"I wanted to put some relevant content out there revolving around the meaning of that day and that's how the 'Dear Woman' letters started," she says. "When I started writing these letters, I got so much excitement from doing them that I started writing them all the time. I created an Instagram for these 'Dear Woman' pieces. Once I got 12, I thought I should do a calendar."

Her very first letter appears in March. Every month has a message that speaks to women, whether it's to fully love themselves, reach for their goals or uplift other people.

"I want women to embrace their sexuality but not to exploit it," she says. "I want them to find validation within themselves; to believe that they can do and be whatever it is they dream and set themselves out to do and to know their strength is not superficial and comes from deep inside of themselves."

Priced at $12.99, the 5-by-7-inch calendar is for sale on her website, shop.teammotiv8nu.com, as well as in local bookstores.