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October 14, 2024
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The concept of The Juliet Connection (320 E. Grand Ave.) – a support and professional development group for women of all ages – is nearing its second year in business – Founder Melissa Ellingson said, began with recognizing the importance of self-care.
“A close friend and I would sit and talk about personal development,” she said. “We would do different things as a team, like personality assessments, she and I had a book club and we would attend workshops and try to learn more about ourselves. Many would tease us and say, ‘you guys are nuts.’ Well, maybe we are. But we decided there had to be other people like us. And it turns out, there are.”
Ellingson said in early 2023, she did a soft launch of the business now known as The Juliet Connection “to see if we could find other people like us.”
“We developed an Eventbrite link basically saying that we were going to do some personal development and ended up having 30 women at our first meeting,” she said.
Following that meeting, Ellingson said they thought through what an organization might look like and brought it back in November 2023 – deciding to do a three-month trial in three different communities, including Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids and Middleton.
That, she said, led to the fully launched The Juliet Connection in February 2024.
What’s in a name?
Ellingson said she’s always been interested in how the names of organizations are derived.
“We started out as the Yaya Sisterhood,” she said. “Then a member shared with us that the group reminded her of a men’s group in town called the Romeos.”
From there, Ellingson said the name Juliet was added, “but we also wanted to make sure we emphasized the connection component of our group and we ended up with The Juliet Connection.”
“It literally became an offshoot of one member’s comment on Romeo,” she said.
A variety of offerings
Ellingson said The Juliet Connection offers a range of memberships, including personal, business, Juliet VIP, corporate and what they call Junior Juliets.
Memberships, she said, have evolved based on members’ needs and situations in life.
“Our personal membership focuses on ourselves,” she said. “We share our core values, dreams, items on our bucket lists and how we (try) to seek balance in our lives. We also delve into the topic of the month.”
Ellingson said the business membership discussions take on a slightly different slant.
“(As you would expect), our business members talk about what is impacting their business and their profits,” she said. “Members share sales leads and referrals and what their organizations need in order to be profitable.”
Ellingson and her husband have two daughters, ages 18 and 21, and seeing life through their eyes inspired the Junior Juliets offering – which is designed for young women who are on their own journey of learning about themselves in relation to their place in the world.
“It is really important for young women to also have that support system,” she said. “A number of years ago, I sent my daughter off to Tony Robbins Global Youth Summit in California. It was the only youth program for leadership and development (at the time).”
With young members, Ellingson said, “we talk about what influences these young girls who are just starting their lives.”
“We want to help them have a better understanding of why people are the way they are,” she said. “We try to help them understand why there is high school drama.”
The Junior Juliets meet quarterly – and have access to the entire connection of Juliet members.
“Young women have landed jobs because of these connections,” she said. “They are alert and building relationships with women who have businesses or management positions. These mentors get to know them and assess whether they would be a good pairing for their organization.”
Going well
The observations The Juliet Connection members’ employers are convening, Ellingson said, speaks volumes.
“Businesses are supporting The Juliet Connection, because, (in some cases), they observe firsthand, the personal change in our members in their workplace,” she said. “They share that our members have a certain (new) energy at work.”
Ellingson said she wishes she would have found an organization like The Juliet Connection when she was 20 instead of 40.
“We try to give young women a good understanding of who they are and what their path might look like,” she said. “We talk a lot about their passions and what they truly enjoy. Ultimately, we want them to pursue a profession that they are going to both enjoy and be good at. And don’t we all seek that?”
The dynamic among The Juliet Connection’s business members, Ellingson said, goes beyond brainstorming business issues, but includes solid referrals which she said have proven invaluable.
“We network (effectively) with each other because we trust each other,” she said. “It’s easier for us to actually give a referral to somebody when we trust and know this person to their core and we in turn will be able to relate to them.”
Ellingson said the relationships of personal The Juliet Connection memberships evolved when “we started seeing an influx of business women joining our group.”
“We asked ourselves, ‘how do we duplicate this model and create a circle or separate membership for businesswomen?’” she said. “On the personal side, we don’t talk about business. We focus on self-care. It’s important that we pause and focus on ourselves.”
Just like any other new business, Ellingson said The Juliet Connection has its share of growing pains, as well as ongoing discussions of the future.
“The bigger picture for us is to expand across the country,” she said. “Within the next three years, we’re hoping to be across the Midwest – but the challenge lies in finding the right leaders and members. That is probably my biggest challenge as I work full-time, too. If I wasn’t working full-time, it would be a different story, but it’s a challenge balancing it with family life.”
Ellingson said there is interest in The Juliet Connection concept across the country.
“People are interested,” she said. “I have women expressing interest in Arizona and others in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio.”
People see a difference
Ellingson said whether someone “appears brighter” or whether they have more energy, “I think once you realize what you need and want in your life, it allows you to set boundaries when you have unhealthy relationships.”
“In a positive way, it really gets you to dig into yourself,” she said. “And once you find yourself, it’s easier to find yourself in other things – whether that be your job or a relationship or really anything.”
Members of The Juliet Connection, Ellingson said, range in age from early 20s to mid-60s.
“The dynamic of the ages within our organization makes the experience rich for everyone,” she said. “We have three members who are retired and were all entrepreneurs. I absolutely love that we have such a range. Some of our members in their 20s have shared that this group opened the door for them to now have women figures in their lives and have been able to get support. We think that is really cool.”
Members that are in their late 30s and into their 40s, Ellingson said, are “finding themselves” through The Juliet Connection.
“They’ve raised their kids, or their kids are a little bit older and independent, and now they say to themselves, ‘yeah, I can focus on me now. It’s my turn,’” she said. “They really want to learn about themselves, and they want to get healthy.”
The Juliet Connection members in their 50s and 60s, Ellingson said, “have so much life experience that they have passed on to our members.”
Activity-heavy group
Ellingson said The Juliet Connection is a very physically active group.
“When somebody joins us, one of the questions on the membership intake form is: ‘What are five of your bucket list items?’” she said. “When we plan socials and trips, we look at those, and we try to get as many of them as we can to take place.”
Ellingson said those include many physical activities.
“When we started, I was the only runner,” she said. “Now we have seven runners. We also have walkers and Pelatoners, too. We schedule vacations to destination events at places like Las Vegas. Other activities include the Mud Girl Run in Minneapolis, and we currently have a trip planned in two years to hike the Grand Canyon rim.”
For more details on The Juliet Connection, visit thejulietconnection.com.
