That's What She Said
Chicago West
Saturday, April 25, 2026
About TWSS Chicago West
Welcome to That’s What She Said Chicago West, where extraordinary stories take center stage, bringing together the women and community of Chicago West. Join us for our 3rd show on Saturday, April 25, 2026!
Our show brings together women from the local community to connect, relate and support through the power of storytelling. Our mission is to bring these unique, insightful and entertaining stories together into a one-night show that fosters a tighter-knit community, amplifies the voices of women in our community, and builds a space where we can all be vulnerable, brave, and authentic like we never have before. Sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date on all the updates for our show.
About the Creators
Our Producers/Director
Meet the driving force behind TWSS
Chicago West: Lisa Ellstrom, Ellen Cleary and Jenn Richardson.
Lisa's background in photography, teaching and life coaching come lovingly together as her creative and intuitive skills engage to develop women's stories. She ensures that the audience becomes strongly connected to a storytelling experience that will absorb, relate and captivate.
Ellen's talents as an engaged 'Partner in Promotion' amongst local businesses combined with her insightful marketing prowess centers That's What She Said as a community building powerhouse! By bringing in heart-centered businesses and creating multilevel engagement for patrons, she ensures you will be talking about the show night experience for a long time.
Jenn is a lifelong champion of helping women find peace and intentionality in their lives. She has grown from sponsor to patron to storyteller to producer! She has been with the She Said Project from our local beginning in 2024 and shines her light working with storytellers, creating social media that engages and infusing our productions with intentionality and clear direction .
This committed threesome enjoy a friendship based in respect, diligence, encouragement and the love of a darn good time! This connection keeps their mission strong and the integrity of the show one that is guaranteed to lift the voices of the women in our community.
Our Charity Partner
We are also thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Beautifully EmpoweHERed.
Beautifully EmpowHERed (BE) is a nonprofit organization committed to empowering women to embrace their full potential, unapologetically. We offer a range of services including mental health counseling, career exploration, and transformative workshops that equip women and girls with the tools to thrive in every aspect of their lives. BE is a collective community of women, and we believe that when we unite to support, uplift, and inspire each other, there is no limit to what we can achieve.
Founded by Bree Casey in 2020, Beautifully EmpowHERed has become a dynamic force for change in the Chicago suburbs. Bree's vision has always been to create an inclusive space where women of all shapes, sizes, ages, cultures, and backgrounds can come together with purpose, discover their inner power, and use it to transform their lives.
Bree’s journey to founding BE is deeply personal. She shared her own experiences of overcoming challenges and pushing past limits, believing that her vulnerability would inspire other women and girls to find their own strength. This commitment to fostering confidence and self-worth led Bree to pursue a second master’s degree in social work to become a licensed therapist. In doing so, she recognized a systemic gap in access to mental health resources for women based on insurance limitations. This only strengthened her resolve to ensure that every woman, regardless of her circumstances, receives the support she needs.
At Beautifully EmpowHERed, we are dedicated to helping women realize their full potential—providing the tools, community, and confidence to live empowered lives.
That's What She Said Chicago West 2026 is thrilled to partner with Families Helping Families to provide much needed funding to support this critical mission.
Calling All Storytellers!
Are you looking to join us at our upcoming 2026 Chicago West show? We’re on the lookout for everyday women from the Chicago West community who have a story to tell. As a TWSS speaker, you’ll join our team and the rest of the cast in taking your story idea and refining it to be stage ready ahead of our show night.
Being a TWSS speaker goes beyond just sharing your story; it's about joining our movement and becoming apart of a larger community of women dedicated to lifting up the voices of others. As a speaker, you'll join the ranks of incredible women who have graced the TWSS stage, leaving a profound impact on audiences and contributing to the collective strength of our movement.
If you have a story that deserves to be heard we invite you to apply to join us as a speaker at TWSS Chicago West 2026.
Speaker Spotlight!
We are so excited to announce our cast of speakers taking the stage on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at Crimi Auditorium, Aurora University. We are being joined by 9 incredible women from the Chicago West community. Each of
them brings a unique narrative to our stage, showing truly just how deeply remarkable our community and the women who make it up are. Join us as our speakers take the stage and share their stories.
Our Sponsors
That's What Teens Say
At TWSS Chicago West, we strive to take empowering women in our community to the next level by giving a platform for the women of tomorrow to share their voices. That’s What Teens Say Chicago West is a unique program designed for young women aged 13-18 in the Chicago West community, providing them with a unique opportunity to explore the power of their voice, connect with other teens, and get a chance to share their story from the stage for their friends and family.
As we gear up for the next installment of That’s What Teens Say, we invite you to nominate a teen girl in your life who you think would benefit from this transformative weekend. This empowering three-day workshop offers confidence-building exercises, creative writing activities, improv games, and more tools designed to help them realize the power that their voice can have.
Get Your TWSS Merch
Want to take something home to remember this incredible night? Our collection of TWSS Chicago West merch includes hats, shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, and more! Get your merch and show your support for uplifting the voices of women in our community. Take a piece of TWSS Chicago West home with you or get it as the perfect gift for a loved one.
2026 Copyright © She said. All rights reserved.
The contents, experiences, and opinions shared by the speakers in the show are their own and do not reflect the views of The She Said Project or That's What She Said Naperville LLC.
The She Said Project upholds that every woman has a right to be heard.