We are a team of SUPERHERO motivational speakers who vow to show young people how to find the superhero within!! Depression, su***de, self-harm and even su***de are on the rise in teenagers, and even in younger children these days. It’s scary to see what drastic measures kids are taking to fit in, to make themselves popular or to look how they think society wants them to look. What if there was so
mething you could do to help fix this problem? Well that’s exactly what we do at Superhero Within. Through motivational, inspirational and hands on workshops, kids of all ages (both boys and girls) think, act, discuss and solve problems in dealing with bullying, gaining self-confidence and loving the skin that you’re in. Founder of Superhero Within and creator of Chunky Girl Comics, Marisa Garcia, has created an interactive and creative workshop that can be tailored to elementary, middle and high school kids that uses superhero themes to discuss the issues that cause children to feel ugly, unwanted or uncool. Through storytelling, artwork, role playing and a little bit of silliness, kids leave with smiles on their faces and a great sense of what they can do to find the superheroes within themselves. Marisa created Chunky Girl Comics in 2011. She decided to write stories and create characters that were not the typical “superhero” body type and has been challenging comic book fans to open their eyes to these new and “realistic” heroes. Marisa and her curvy gang of superheroes have been guests at several large comic conventions and events all over California and have been presenting their “Body Image & Diversity in Comics, Cosplay and Pop Culture” Panel discussion to large audiences. This is what inspired Marisa to begin taking the same themes and bringing them into the classrooms. Marisa has had great success with the Lincoln Unified School District, Tracy Unified School District and was even honored to present a day full of workshops to the United Black Student Union Northern California Convention at Santa Clara University. Marisa has also been a featured speaker at the Miss & Mr. Inspirational American Pageant for Children with Special Needs in Tracy, CA for two years running. With Marisa’s background in teaching and public speaking, this is her comfort zone, her niche.
“If at least one student walks out of my workshop feeling better about themself, then I have done my job,” Marisa says. While Marisa is generally solo at the school workshops, there are times when Marisa is able to bring out the superheroes of Chunky Girl Comics. It’s quite an adventure for students to have comic book superheroes in their classroom. But no matter how many of the characters are present, kids go home with an autographed character photo, their original artwork (which is created in the workshop) and a positive attitude.
“There’s a fine line between being a hero and a villain,” Marisa explains, “It’s up to you to decide which side you’re on. You can be a hero for others, or you can be a villain.
