About Us

Your Most Important Relationship

Definition

First Love You.

To love yourself means to accept yourself as you are and those aspects that you cannot change. To have self-respect, a positive self-image, and an understanding of your own unique gifts and beauty.

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

– Oscar Wilde

We need girls to believe in themselves. We need girls to fall in love with themselves. In today’s remarkable and challenging world, how they feel about themselves will transform how they feel about the world. The importance of that relationship being a healthy one must be our number one priority. There are so many opportunities today, and yet the pressure on girls is extraordinarily high. Perfect images, perfect lives, perfect friendships, prefect grades. With the added influence of social media, parents and children alike are navigating a new world. A world that offers so much, but can also cost so much. Extra support during these complex years can have an enormous impact. First love yourself and the rest will follow.

Our FLY Founders

Adolescents who report having an important non-parental adult in their lives tend to report greater psychological well-being, including self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Meet Joanna Etchison, Cory Cripe, and Allison Marketti, the inspiring founders of First Love You.

Joanna, Cory, and Allison first crossed paths at a woman’s book study about self-love, empowerment, and self-acceptance. The three became fast friends as they discussed how the lessons not only applied to their own lives as adults but to their daughters. As they shared tips, books, blogs, and experiences the three women found encouragement in the safety of their small circle. This safe space helped them feel heard, seen and supported like never before. The support and care they found in their small group inspired them to bring their experience of sisterhood to others. In what can only be described as perfect timing, the three were given an opportunity to receive certification from the encouraging and beautiful Gina Marie Slager, founder and teacher of TruSelf Empowerment. With a passion for self-discovery, self-love, and the empowerment of women and girls, Joanna, Cory, and Allison have created a safe space of sisterhood for girls called First Love You (FLY). The FLY workshops provide mentorship, resources, and peer relationships that empower young girls to not only thrive but FLY.

Our FLY Founders

Adolescents who report having an important non-parental adult in their lives tend to report greater psychological well-being, including self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Joanna Etchison, Cory Cripe and Allison Marketti are the founders of Fly. They crossed paths at a woman’s book study based on loving yourself, not having to prove yourself to others and knowing that you’re always enough. They bonded over these topics as they applied to themselves and especially how they applied to their daughters. They started meeting regularly. They found themselves discussing their daughters and situations they were faced with or that were coming up in the world. They would share tips, books, blogs, seminars and insight. They felt heard, seen, supported and safe with each other. They started discussing how they could bring this concept, learning, and growing space to girls. Then they were given an opportunity to get certified in teaching and leading girl empowerment courses by the beautifully empowered Gina Marie Slager, founder and teacher of TruSelf Empowerment. Through their relationships with each other, their many life experiences, seminars and studies First Love You was formed. Joanna, Cory and Allison’s hope is that everyone learns and practices to First Love You and ultimately to Fly.