Fairy lights, flower crowns, music, food and sunshine. It was the perfect setting for a garden party. 6 years ago our director Amanda Rootsey ran her first Shine From Within, Personal Development course on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. So with the release of her first published book “Shine From Within: A Teen Girl’s Guide to Life” we thought what better way to celebrate than with a party where it all began. And that’s exactly what we did!

It was a stunning spring day and our guest list for the party included students from the first ever course, our trained youth mentors, guest teachers from our Youth Mentor Training, our incredible sponsors,  family and friends and the very special VIP guest Trudi (Amanda’s beautiful fur baby).

There were so many highlights of the day but I think the make-up stand that was run by our guest teacher and long time supporter Kylie was a huge hit with the guests. In between grazing on the beautiful vegan food, sipping on kombucha and listening to live music there was a flower crown station that was ran by one of our trained Youth Mentors, Holly. Guests could also make their own body scrubs and spritzers to take home. There were kids enjoying craft while the parents relaxed with a cup of tea. It really was the perfect day.

It was a day to celebrate Shine From Within and everyone that has made it possible to touch the lives of so many girls in our community. Now with the release of the book we are so excited to spread the word to teens all over the world. So a big thank you to all of our sponsors and guests for making the day so special for us and to everyone that has been a part of making this all possible.

With special gratitude to our sponsors and suppliers for all that they did on the day. 

• Rosebed and Finch (for the awesome raw treats and cake) 
• Coconut Groove (who supplied us with cocnut water not only for the party but have done for every course we have ran) 
• Remedy Kombucha (because what’s a Kombucha station without Kombucha) 
• Kailani Tomkins (who not only created our amazing grazy table but also took photos of the whole day) 
• Shaela Jade (for her the sweet sounds of her voice and guiter entertaining us all afternoon) 
• Grown Brisbane (for more amazing cakes! Can you tell we love cake) 
• Something Xtra Brisbane (for the flower wall. WOW just stunning) 
• Holly of the Bloom Closet (that made the garden party even more beautiful with gorgeous flowers and of course the flower crowns) 
• Kylie’s Professional Makeup (for supplying all the makeup and spending the day touching up our guests makeup) 
• Everescents (supplied a beautiful gift pack worth over $150 and also support every course that we run with samples of their organic hair care range) 
• Chloe Horder (for capturing the day with her beautiful photos) 
• Teen Breathe Magazine (generously gave all the guests a magazine in their goodie bags) –
• Shine Boutiques ( for gift vouchers for each guest)
• Food for Face (sending our guests home with organic face masks) 
• The Darling Tree (for all the tattoos that we had fun with on the day and the guests got to take home as do our students at each course) 
• Noosa Kinesiology ( providing vouchers for the goodie bag) 
• Hay House (for publishing this beautiful book and giving Amanda the opportunity to share her knowledge with the world)

Above all though none of this would be possible without the hard work and generosity of Amanda herself. Amanda has spent years working on this book and within it she shares everything that she has learnt along her journey, all in the hope of reaching and helping teens across the globe. From your team, your students and the community we thank you Amanda. I don’t think that there is a person that has met you that has not been touched by your shining light. You truly Shine From Within.

Leah Castle

“Youth Mentor” Mentor + Training assistant

If you’d like to get in early and book in for our 2019 teen retreat or tweens workshop, you can do so here for tweens and   here for teens.  

If you’d like to become a trained youth mentor, start with our free quiz here.

If you’d like to purchase our book, you can do so here or from any great bookstore.

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