Jillian Heilman

The Purple Playas Community There is something incredibly powerful about finding people who simply get it. The kind of people who understand your world without needing long explanations. The people who become your community. I recently experienced that kind of connection with Rochelle Lentini, of the Purple Playas Foundation, who joined us as a guest on our podcast, Strength Happens. Within just a few minutes of hearing Rochelle share her story about raising her son, Parker, I felt seen. I...

Halle Grace 1st Birthday Some dates on the calendar carry more weight than others. For my family, June 2nd is one of those days...a day that holds both profound loss and extraordinary love. It's my daughter Halle's birthday, the day she came into this world. The day I became a mom! And over the past 11 years, it has become something more than we ever could have imagined. June 2nd was such a special day. It was the day of my baby shower at work. I felt tired, and had a ting of pain that day,...

There are moments in life when two parts of your world, parts that have shaped you, challenged you, and defined you, suddenly collide in the most meaningful way. This week’s podcast episode of Strength Happens was one of those moments for me. We had the privilege of sitting down with Lindsey, a mom, advocate, and participant in the Florida Engineering Leadership Institute (FELI). On the surface, her story is about a class project, engineers coming together to fund an inclusive playground...