with Natalie caine

September 3, 2026 | by Natalie Caine | No Comments

I cried today hearing about the death of GLORIA STEINEM and the impact her voice has had on my life and others.

Her courage, curiosity, and unwavering belief in women have influenced me for as long as I can remember. Her example helped shape my own path—creating and facilitating women’s support groups, bringing women together, and advocating for women’s voices to be heard in the room.

I’ve had the privilege of four meaningful one-on-one conversations with Gloria over the years. What stays with me most isn’t simply that I had those conversations, but how present she was. She listened deeply. She was curious, warm, and completely congruent with who she is.

One conversation has stayed with me in particular.

I told Gloria that my daughter was having difficulty finding a job right out of college. 

Her response was simple:

“If your daughter can’t find the job she really wants, tell her to start the job.”

I have never forgotten that.

There was something so Gloria about those words—practical, empowering, a little provocative, and completely freeing.

Don’t wait for someone else to decide that you are ready.

Begin.

Create.

Use your voice.

As I get older, I find myself thinking more about what we receive from the women who came before us—and what we pass forward to the women who come after us.

At this cycle. of my life,  I’m less interested in proving anything and more interested in passing things forward.

I think about belonging, transitions, identity, and the many roles women move through over a lifetime. And I think about how important it is, through all of those transitions, to remember that we still have a voice.

Perhaps our voice changes with age. Perhaps it becomes quieter in some ways and stronger in others.

But it is still ours.

That is one of the things I have learned from Gloria—not to imitate her voice, but to find my own, and then to help other women find theirs. I have been an advocate for women my whole life. For decades I have created and facilitated women’s support groups, bringing together people of all ages. 

That may be the greatest legacy one woman can offer another:

Not to speak for her, but to help her believe that her voice matters.

Thank you, Gloria, for being one of the women who helped so many of us believe it.

Be gentle with yourself,

Natalie