Photos: Lisa Najarian
Lisa Najarian is on a mission to bring women together.
Friendship is essential to wellness. It’s an idea that’s not lost on Grant resident Lisa Najarian.
As the founder of Twin Cities Lyme Foundation, Lisa has spent much of the past decade helping people find comfort in a diagnosis. And now, she’s shifting course—encouraging women to find peace in their friendships through her brand You Go Girl and an upcoming book of the same name. “I really feel that You Go Girl is sort of the definition of my life,” she says. “You Go Girl and the memoir that I’m writing are a culmination of everything.”
You Go Girl is a lifestyle brand devoted to “girl friendships.” Along with a supportive social media platform, branded products and a podcast and blog, the primary intention behind You Go Girl is to support women in their friendships by offering planning services for girls’ weekend trips.
“The goal is to cultivate a community of women, of any age, any background … bringing women together to travel, to cook together, to do a book club, whatever it might be … and encourage them in their friendships,” says Lisa’s daughter, Lex Najarian, who manages the day-to-day of You Go Girl and cohosts the You Go Girl podcast.
“Women thrive in this world. Period. I wouldn’t have to say anything beyond that. But when women get together and when they support one another on a girls’ weekend trip, you almost don’t need a psychiatrist,” Lisa says. “When you have a really good girlfriend, who is going to sit and listen to you … and they’re going to support you … it’s worth its weight in gold.”
The Power of Friends
That Lisa has taken on this mission is reflective of her childhood. Growing up in California with a nomadic mother, Lisa attended 10 different elementary schools and struggled to make friends. When she was finally able to develop a few solid friendships in junior high, she fought to maintain them— saying to her mother, “Look, if you’re going to continue to move, you’re going to have to do it without me.”
When she graduated from high school, it was with the same group of friends by her side. And three decades later, after reconnecting at a high school reunion and staying in touch through video chat app Marco Polo for months, the same group decided to get together for a weekend trip in 2019.
The time together at a small beach house overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, California, deepened their friendship in a new way. “In that first trip, one of my friends divulged some information to all of us that was really quite sad, and we all were shocked,” Lisa says, sharing the group’s consternation that their friend could’ve held onto this pain alone for so long—despite all the time they’d spent together virtually.
That friend asked that the group make an effort to see each other in-person more often. Lisa says, “We all agreed, and we all had tears in our eyes. We all promised … every year to get together on a girls’ weekend trip.”
Taking Flight
As Lisa sat at the small Santa Barbara airport, the last of her friends to depart, she had an epiphany. Still reeling from her friend’s confession, she recalls asking herself, “How many women like me want to be able to help their friends in this way?” She returned home and immediately began writing a memoir and launched You Go Girl with Lex’s support in the same year.
“There’s just a different level of intimacy that you have with your female friends,” Lex says. “It’s not romantic the way you have with your significant other; it’s different than the relationship you have with your kids, but there’s just a certain trust that you can have in girlfriends and a happiness, I think, that a female friendship provides.”
The pair’s hope is to bring awareness and remind women to step up and work to maintain their friendships in adulthood.
“Girl friendship is so vital for our wellbeing as women,” Lisa says. “… When it’s pointed out to women, they’ll stop and say, ‘You’re right. I’ve got to do that. I’ve got to make the call. I’ve got to shoot the text. I’ve got to try to make the effort.’”
It all comes back to making time in your life for these moments to occur, Lisa says. Just like some schedule out “me time” in their lives, it’s just as important to schedule time with friends. “If not, the days pass,” she says. “… We get caught up in our lives. We get caught up in our jobs, in our significant others, in our kids and in ourselves. We get caught up. And time passes really quickly.”
Looking ahead, Lisa is enthusiastic about the upcoming release of her memoir, You Go Girl, and a follow-up cookbook of shared recipes among girlfriends.
“I really love telling my story because I feel like it’s going to help somebody,” Lisa says. “… I’m just so very hopeful that it’s successful in that it will help women, and it will motivate them to be better friends.”
Girl’s Trip 101
Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to be on a fun excursion with friends? But how do you even begin to plan a girls’ trip? It can get complicated fast when “everybody has a different dynamic,” Najarian says. “And you have a lot of emotions, a lot of personalities when you get a group of women together.”
You can start by making a few key decisions:
Transportation: How do you plan to get to your destination? Will your group prefer to fly or drive? Stay close or go far? It’s good to hone in on your group’s size and travel experience as you make a decision on how far you’re able to go.
Budget: What can every person in your group afford? Cost could be a primary obstacle for your girlfriends to opt out, so clarifying this aspect early on is important.
Activities: What do you want to do? Figure out what your group is interested in seeing and experiencing. Beaches, mountains and cities are popular destinations, but consider seasonal trips like a fall colors road trip in New England or a summer getaway to Mackinac Island, Michigan.
For more information on recommended girls’ trip destinations and more inspiration, visit the You Go Girl blog.
You Go Girl
Instagram: @yougogirlsocial
Listen to the YouGoGirl podcast on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, iHeart and Spotify.
