LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER TWIN CITIES 2024
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT -- GRATEFULLY -- TO CELISIA STANTON PHOTOGRAPHY
LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER TWIN CITIES
2024 CAST
Marissa Bader
Marissa Bader is a writer and children’s book author with a background in mental health. Her books, The Only Me, Stella’s Brave Voice, and Petunia the Perfectionist are inspired by her three daughters – an 11-year-old and 8-year-old twins. Her husband, Robb, hopes she’ll never write a book about him! Marissa also enjoys writing articles about mental health and parenthood, and her work has appeared in Psychology Today, HuffPost Parents, Time Out New York, and more. Marissa resides in Linden Hills with her family, and can often be found drinking coffee and having dance parties. Find Marissa online at MarissaBader.com
Paula Doroff
Paula Doroff, a Career Executive Coach and bestselling author of One Decision Away, overcame immense challenges growing up in poverty in Brazil before immigrating to the U.S. with no knowledge of English. Despite these hurdles, she rose to Vice President roles at Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock. Recognized by LAWeekly and MSN as a Top 10 Visionary Educator Inspiring Growth, Paula shares her journey on Instagram and LinkedIn, motivating others to not settle for what is but to go for what they really want. Her book provides readers with a proven roadmap to create outcomes they desire in their personal and professional lives, empowering individuals to reach their fullest potential.
Carolyn Holbrook
Carolyn Holbrook is a writer, educator, and an advocate for the healing power of the arts. Her memoir, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify won a Minnesota Book Award in 2021. She is co-editor with David Mura of the anthology, We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World, and is co-author with Arleta Little of Josie Johnson’s memoir, Hope in the Struggle. Her TEDx talk, The Life You Live is The Legacy You Will Leave was presented at Concordia College, Moorhead. Her awards include the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award, 50 over 50, and Celebrate the Sistahs.
ERIN MILLER
Erin Miller likes to write poems and essays and email them to her colleagues. She lives in Oakdale with her husband, their two daughters, and their dog Winston. She is a biology teacher who appreciates the places where art and science intersect, and is fascinated by the ways that people learn. She loves to walk and play Mah Jong with her friends, and is going to try again this summer to enjoy gardening. She is hooked on, “The Great British Baking Show,” listens to “You’re Wrong About,” and bakes a consistently good banana bread from time to time.
EMILY NICOLL
Emily Nicoll leads the Minneapolis Transwestern office by day, shaping the landscape of our city skyline one commercial real estate deal at a time. She lives in SW Minneapolis with her husband, two kids, a rascally dog, an alpha kitten, and five chickens. She and her three siblings call themselves “Dianne’s Army” as they navigate raising their families while caregiving for their mother, truly the Sandwich Generation. You can find her reading, running, rolling out her yoga mat, or mastering key mother phrases like “hmm, maybe someday.”
AIMEE NORASINGH
Aimee Norasingh is a Director at Optum Health and lives in Maple Grove, MN with her husband and four sons. She is passionate about volunteering for basketball and United Way. She also loves writing and exploring new food places.
NANCY RUSS
Nancy Russ is 81 and a lifelong resident of the Twin Cities. She is the mother of four, grandmother of 15, and great-grandmother of 19. A nursing school scholarship at the age of 30 allowed her to work 43 years in ICU and hospice. Divorced twice, she came out as bisexual in 1998. She has survived breast and bladder cancer. She enjoys her love of rocks with her small business selling minerals and jewelry. She loves travel, road trips, camping, and reading. She shares her home with another grey-haired old lady — her 19 year old cat, Pearl.
Sara Silburn
Sara Silburn is almost an empty nester after raising five kids, and she’s pretty excited about it. She spends half her time in Minneapolis and the rest on the Gunflint Trail, where the road in is a lot like a path and the water comes from the lake but the internet is fiber-optic. She shelved an interior design business during the pandemic and returned to school, just completing a writing program at UC Berkeley’s extension school. And now she has a middle-grade novel in progress. She loves to wear waders and stand in streams looking for brook trout with her husband.
Marny Stebbins
Marny Stebbins is a Strategic Development Director, freelance writer, blogger, and columnist. For five years, she wrote about the messy joy of motherhood in a weekly column for the Stillwater Gazette called, Great Full Chaos and blogged about the less savory side of motherhood with the, Moms of Stillwater online community. She lives in Scandia with her family, a wealth of navigationally challenged deer and hungry coyotes, and a cockapoo … so far …
Carissa Jean Tobin
Carissa Jean Tobin is a Minneapolis-based writer who has been published in The Talking Stick, Minnesota Parent, and Frazzled. When she’s not writing, you can find her teaching elementary school or training Pokémon with her daughter. She chronicles her adventures in life, parenting, and lost items at goodworkgreatlife.com
Maria Vorhis
Maria Vorhis is a mother, writer, and arts administrator based in Minneapolis. She delights in gathering people and has toured her one-woman show through living rooms, hosted storytelling open mics in cafes and bars, and currently produces community-led artistic engagements. Her writing has been published in Salt Hill Journal and Pigeon Pages, and she is slowly but surely at work on a fragmentary book about desire, maternal love, and the search for a self. She lives in a sitcom-like existence with her husband, daughter, and calico cat in a too-small apartment, across the hall from her aunt and mom. mariavorhis.com
Ashley Wheeler
Ashley Wheeler is the Associate Director of Candidacy and Vocational Formation at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. In her free time she enjoys running with the amazing women of Moms on the Run, gardening in her yard, storytelling, yoga, rooting for the AZ Diamondbacks, and finding the best coffee spots with her husband, Aaron. She holds a BFA from Stephens College and a MDiv from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Ashley lives in South Minneapolis with her husband, their silly dog, Gracie, and their goofy cat, Elphaba.
Kenzie Wilcox-Ingebrand
Kenzie Wilcox-Ingebrand became an intuitive certified holistic coach in 2020. Clients appreciate her warmth, empathy, and positivity, which lead to empowerment and improvement in life skills and work-life balance. Her specialty is self-care for healthcare providers, working with others on their journeys while leaning into her life experiences as a wife, mother of four young children, life coach, and healthcare business owner with inspiration, love, and compassion. You can find her vast array of services at connectingwithkenzie.com
