Copyright Lara Piu (2009)

Los Angeles and Vancouver, Canada--
The world has a funny way of supporting good things. That's what Tamara Lelie and "Smallville" actress Kristin Kreuk concluded when their worlds collided in March 2007. Lelie and Kreuk met at a coffee shop and immediately bonded over their passion for empowering females.

"Kristin said 'I like your earrings' and we started chatting," says Lelie. "I drove her home to avoid the paparazzi photographer lurking outside, and we've been friends ever since."
That chance meeting culminated as Time out for Teens, a holistic overnight retreat for girls ages 14 to 17. It was a natural pairing of of Lelie's Time Out Retreat and Kreuk's Girls by Design, which she co-founded with "Smallville" co-worker, Kendra Voth.
"The women at the Time out Retreats would tell me they wish they had the tools they were learning when they were younger," says Lelie. "So Girls by Design and Time Out Retreat partnered to make that wish come true."
Leilie's Time Out Retreat was founded in 2007 after her mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she painfully witnessed the negative effects of an unbalanced life.
Girls by Design will offer a website where teen girls across the globe can come together to explore, express and create. "Young girls suffer from low self-esteem due to the media bombarding [them] with images of perfect figures. I want to be real with the girls and share my struggles with self-esteem and how I am overcoming them by carving out a life where I set the rules," says Kreuk.
The first retreat was held in March 2009 at Warner Springs Ranch outside of San Diego, California.
Recruited by YouTube, their websites and media exposure coinciding with Kreuk's "Streetfighter" release, girls were asked to submit their vision of an ideal world and how they would contribute to make the world a better place. Entrants submitted paintings, videos, poetry and other art projects. Thirty were hand-picked by Kreuk, Lelie and Voth to attend the retreat for free.
Kristin Kreuk and experts mentored and lead the teen girls in empowerment activities at the retreat. Participants learned about yoga, meditation, self-esteem, feng shui, eastern nutrition, and other life tools.
"In our culture where success is equated with stress, teens need to know how to strike a balance," says Lelie. The three women are already planning a second annual retreat for 2010. To be notified about it and other retreats, click here: http://www.timeoutretreat.com.
Live the Good Life too Coming soon: Top three tips by Kristin Kreuk and the Time Out for Teens experts. Get the article; click on the green "E-Mail Alerts" tab in the top left column above.

Related Links:

• Girls by Design, www.girlsbydesign.com
• Kreuk tells E! about her work with teens, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_i3nDs36M
• Time Out Retreat, http://www.timeoutretreat.com
• Warner Springs Ranch, http://www.warnerspringsranch.com
• 2009 Call for Entries, http://www.youtube.com/v/rKfNiMweMqY&hl=en&fs=1

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Copyright Lara Piu (2009)