"This isn't about you, this is about them."

Marci Feldman, a registered nurse working in cardiovascular research, often has to share these words with families of her patients. Also wearing the hat of nurse leadership, Marci is helping nurses communicate like this effectively (emotional intelligence) with families about how to navigate patient advocacy.

Just like a Girls on the Run practice.

Saying, 'Yes,' to coach at Girls on the Run means saying, 'Yes,' to empower the next generation as an advocate for her and every girl on the team. Marci, entering her fifth year as a GOTR Coach this season, believes building self confidence and emotional awareness are basic building blocks. GOTR participants find their own pace, set a goal, and know they have support from their team.

"That's what makes Girls on the Run attractive," she adds.

At work, Marci says she shares GOTR concepts with her colleagues by honing in on a part of the lesson that stands out, like "The 'I feel when' statement [in one of the lessons] I use when a patient is having difficulty expressing their dying wishes with their family or if they (the family) are not advocating/listening to their wishes."

Marci's community has limited activities focused on girls. The program drew her in with its idea of helping young girls learn how to use their voice to speak up. She also likes to stay active, having coached softball, basketball and soccer in recent years, so becoming a GOTR Coach was a natural fit.

During her first year as a GOTR coach, Marci recalls one girl (very quiet) during the negative vs positive talk lesson wrote, "I feel like my parents hate me and I will never be as good as my brothers." Marci had a 1-on-1 talk with her to validate her feelings and discuss why she felt that way. The GOTR participant shared that she felt like she wasn't good at anything, and Marci helped her work through those emotions so she could be OK with who she was at the time. Today, that same girl is thriving in volleyball.

That vulnerable moment was eye-opening for Marci. "This (Girls on the Run) is big; this is what the program is about," she shares. "It's great to see these girls overcoming these obstacles and thriving, finding things that they excel in, and really growing from it."