A Woman's Guide to Claiming Space

This book empowers women to Claim Space.

To Claim Space is to live the life of your choosing, unapologetically and bravely.

With an upbeat, take-no-prisoners style, Eliza VanCort has written a must read book for every woman seeking to make her own luck and create her own destiny. Each chapter is an accessible "how-to" for a fuller life, offering big ideas and actionable tools. VanCort has identified five distinct aspects of being a "Master Space Claimer" and presents each in a way that informs, inspires, and guides the reader. Bold, enlightened and easy to engage, the book is birthed from VanCort's inspiring story, informed by the experiences of real women and packed with relevant research and concrete strategies. It isn't a text book, but instead is a crafted conversation with a girlfriend. VanCort, organizational consultant, speaker, and thought leader, will galvanize women to empower themselves to claim space for themselves, and for their sisters, with courage, empathy, and conviction because "when we rise together we rise so much higher."

Editorial Reviews 

"If a book was a hug, a high five, and a help session all in one, it would be Eliza VanCort's book. VanCort shares her hard-earned lessons and heart-filled advice in this intersectional guidebook which will help women empower themselves and become 'good-ish' allies to others. I will be sharing it with my students, friends, and daughters."- Professor Dolly Chugh, Author, The Person You Mean to Be:  How Good People Fight Bias, Associate Professor, NYU Stern School of Business
 
 "A combination of big ideas and concrete, actionable advice, this powerful guidebook delivers transformative value to women in their 20s and 30s striving to make our mark and make a difference in the world. It's the roadmap we wish had when launching our careers and a critical call to action for women to unite across differences to drive change."
- OCTAVIA ABELL & KYLEIGH RUSS, Co-Founders of Govern for America & Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees
 
 "As a father who values self-sufficiency, confidence, and strength, I'll be giving this book to my teenage daughters! It's absolutely a must read!" 
- JOE DESENA, CEO/Founder of the Spartan Race and best selling author of  "Spartan Up" & "Spartan Fit." 
 
Women of every race and background who want to Claim Space confidently and unapologetically will find concrete answers and edifying inspiration, challenging, motivating, and transformative."
- MISTY MONROE, Actor, educator, and creator of her award winning, critically acclaimed one-woman show, "Unapologetically Black."
 
"This welcome book is a warm, funny, and genuinely edifying resource which combines big ideas with real-world strategies. VanCort seamlessly emphasizes both transformative individual growth and the power of intersectional engagement." 
- DR. ANDREW CHIGNELL, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, and co-director of the Hope and Optimism project (hopeoptimism.com)
 
 "Women who want to be their most empowered selves both at home and at work, while raising up the women around them, must read this book!"
- PROFESSOR CHRISTINE GUEST, TVR Professor, Emmy nominated filmmaker, producer of the award winning documentary, "The Women of TitmouseAnimation"
 
"This book is as warm, authentic, empathetic, funny, and edifying as Eliza's (in-person) talks and seminars. I respect Eliza's works, and more importantly, the students I work with in higher education have truly benefited from her transformative practical advice, tools, and resources for years. With this important book, the world has access to her as well."
- DIONETTA JONES CRAYTON, Associate Dean and Director, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Office of Minority Education
 
"There are those that consciously or unconsciously try to diminish the voices of women as well as Black, Indigenous, and other people of color of any gender. Eliza presents us with powerful and practical strategies we can use to be our own champions and better champions of others as we individually and collectively claim our space to be heard."
- SARA XAYARATH HERNÁNDEZ, Associate Dean of Inclusion & Student Engagement, Cornell University Grad. School
 
"I'm a mom of  young girls and a small business owner. I'm busy! Any book better hold my attention, really teach me something, and made me think. I have three copies: Two for my girls when they get older, and one for me now. Real women everywhere need this book. This is the book we've been waiting for."
-SUZAN SENOVICH, Mom of Two Future Space Claimers, small business owner of "Half Crown Hill Orchard"

From the Author

Dear Reader,
 
To Claim Space is to know how to fly, and knowing how to fly is to set your own agenda, create your own story, and have the adventures of your own choosing.  It is to live a life of bravery, live life the way you've always wanted. Your choices become yours. Your life is yours. To claim space is to never apologize for being the rule breaking/rule making/badass/superhero/Boss Lady that you are. Not once. Not ever. 
 
Intuitively, we all know what Claiming Space means. The women who do it best are our real-life superheroes, our Oprahs, Margaret Thatchers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezes, Ruth Bader Ginsburgs, and our Maya Angelous. They are our Firsts... The First CEO of this company, the First Mayor of that town, the First woman in her family to start a business, the First daughter in her family to attend college, the First women who said #metoo... We point to these women and say, "She did it! It's possible. And if she can do it, then maybe I can too!" 
 
We can all be "The First," whatever that may mean to us. We can Claim Space with courage and empathy and conviction, bravely breaking rules and unapologetically making new ones. 
 
The best part is, when we Claim Space for ourselves, we can turn around and see the other women struggling like we once did, and reach out our hands to them, arms outstretched. We can reach for our daughters, girlfriends, co-workers or sometimes even perfect strangers. We can be empowered to help other women Claim Space. When we do, we complete the cycle of sisterhood, because we know when we rise together, we rise so much higher.
 
So put on your damn cape, learn to fly, and go save your own life.
No more waiting. The time to Claim Space is now.
 
We got this.
 
Yours in Claiming Space,
Eliza

From the Back Cover

TO CLAIM SPACE IS TO LIVE THE LIFE OF YOUR CHOOSING, UNAPOLOGETICALLY AND BRAVELY. 

THIS BOOK WILL SHOW YOU HOW.

About the Author

Eliza VanCort, is an in-demand consultant, speaker, and writer on communications, career and workplace issues, and women's empowerment. A student of the arts and political science, she is a ​Cook House Fellow at Cornell University​, member of Govern For America's League of Innovators, Diversity Crew Partner, and an advisory board member of the ​Performing Arts for Social Change. Eliza is also the founder of ​Central New York's preeminent Meisner Technique acting studio, The Actor's Workshop of Ithaca. Having led a life that any Hollywood studio would immediately dismiss as being too-hard-to-believe, she has dedicated herself to empowering women of all experiences and backgrounds to claim space. VanCort, who joined the chorus of women fiercely proclaiming #MeToo - gave a 2018 TED talk on Women, Power and Revolutionizing Speech in which she shared her personal story and offered actionable, transformative tools for real change.