There are before and after moments in life. Becoming a parent, the death of a loved one, and that time I was on a billboard in Times Square.
Yes, you read that right, Lou Bowers, a born and raised fifth generation Kamloopsian had her face on a billboard for thousands of people to see lighting up a section of Times Square.
It all started in August of 2023 when Blair Kaplan Venables walked into a Women Entrepreneurs of Kamloops meeting and told us about The Global Resilience Project and the book she was publishing RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience. Something stirred in me. I knew I had a story to tell, but was this the best way to do it?
The Global Resilience Project was created in 2019 and is an internationally recognized platform and social enterprise that fosters resilience, personal healing, and emotional strength.
By the time RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol. 2 was announced, I knew I had to join the movement of brave and motivational storytellers and contribute to this book.
I won’t give away my whole chapter, but I will say it’s about growing up with a sibling with serious medical needs and how that impacted my life growing up and into adulthood.
Being in New York for the book launch and seeing myself on a Times Square billboard was a very surreal moment. When the first digital billboard went up at 12:13 a.m. on January 25, 2025, I cheered and hollered, clapping my hands with the others who had gathered to watch this unbelievable milestone.
I met some of the other authors for the first time and I was so grateful my close friend of 20 years, Anita Wlasitz, was able to join me, especially on the way back to the hotel when I burst into overwhelming happy tears on the sidewalk of 43rd Street.
I am a marketing and visibility expert, and this was definitely being visible at the next level. It felt AMAZING!
Authors from all over the world contributed to RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol. 2, and I’m proud to say Kamloops was well represented.
Twelve people from our beautiful city shared their stories in this global project.
Valerie Venables, another Kamloops citizen captures the Times Square events perfectly; “It was an amazing experience to be part of the co-author group that recently gathered in New York to celebrate. The excitement was electric with hoots, hollers, and loud applause as the huge billboard displayed the fifty co-authors’ pictures one by one. Then Sunday on Blair hosted a lovely brunch for seventy-five people and everyone went home with numerous gifts.”
Other Kamloops authors are: Tayla Collings, Savanna Pavan, Noah Salumbides, Greg Stewart, Jennifer Helgren, Devin Gamble, Shannon Mitchell, and Tanya Harrison.
If you’re interested in upcoming books from The Global Resilience Project including RESILIENT A.F.: Skin Deep Stories, publishing December 2025, and RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Volume 3, publishing January 2026 you can find more information at theglobalresilienceproject.com
Lou Bowers is a marketing and visibility expert.