My Story
Hello there, I’m Donna Gentile (aka Joule), author, speaker, designer, artist, musician, mother of miss Kira (a young adult now), and the founder of Community Mandala Project. For many years, I made myself small so as not to make others uncomfortable. Domestic violence and toxic mold nearly took everything from me, but I had a spirit that could not be broken, light to overcome darkness, and pearls of wisdom along the way to help me remember who I am, rise from the ashes, and shine my light.
Rise & Shine!
Did anyone ever call out “Rise and shine!” to you in the morning? That was an every day thing in my house and it became one of the mantras that helped me make big dreams come true. There will be struggles, obstacles and forces along the way that aim to squash our dreams, but there is hope and a path. Stay tuned for my Rise & Shine program coming soon!
Our Freedom Journey
For decades, I dreamed about converting a van and traveling across the country. Many nights, I cried feeling hopeless because my life was mired in the struggles of single parenting through domestic violence. But after years of hard work, preparation, manifesting and personal growth, it happened. Like my dear old Dad used to say, “time marches on.” Eventually, my daughter grew into a young adult and everything changed.
In the summer of 2021, Kira and I converted our vehicles and headed west to write a new chapter in our lives. She settled for a bit in the mountains where she learned to live independently and start several new business pursuits. I headed south, discovered workaway and began working on homesteads and family farms learning the old ways and sharing my skills in exchange for room and board.
After years of incredible life-changing experiences on the road, we settled in southwest Colorado. Today, I’m designing Joule of Durango jewelry and art, writing a book and preparing my speaker mission and talking points to speak on stage. Stay tuned for that!
My life and work are guided by a strong passion to inspire, empower, strengthen and transform people by helping them use the power of their stories along with creativity and wisdom teachings from around the world to flip their mindset, take back personal power, and make really big dreams come true.
Music and mandala art came to me during the trauma of domestic violence and helped me process difficult emotions, move past limiting beliefs, take back my power, heal, and move on to live a full life, free from abuse and control. Abuse is part of my past story, but it doesn’t define me. It derailed my life and my daughter’s life for awhile, but it didn’t break my spirit (or hers).
On the contrary, it has been a teacher and brought many gifts, new friends, stories and songs — like This Is Me. It informs my work and advances personal growth. It introduces me to people who I never would have met otherwise, people like you!
My lived experiences are how I came to understand the healing benefits of art and music and find the courage deep inside to dream big and make big dreams come true.
In 2002, I began teaching Mandala Art Workshops for healing and empowerment at incredible organizations and groups in CT and around New England (See Client List). In 2006, music began pouring out of me, and in 2009, I began singing, playing guitar and telling stories of triumph. There were many obstacles and forces along the way trying to pull me down, but it was the journey through domestic violence to thriving that forged me like a red-hot fire shapes iron into something strong, resilient and powerful.
Throughout my healing journey, there were constant challenges to get up enough courage and be vulnerable. It was brutal at times, but I saw that when I shared stories and songs, people were profoundly impacted. That kept me going, and still does.
In 2022, I made a really big dream come true that I had had since 2004. When I began teaching Community Mandala Project art workshops for healing, I dreamed about painting huge mandala murals with communities far away from my little world. It took many years of effort and overcoming, but I made really big dreams come true, and you can too!
Check out these stunning community murals in Tucson, AZ and Joule on the Road for inspiration.
If you’re looking for a strong, positive, uplifting and inspirational female speaker, role model and workshop facilitator that will leave your audience with an elevated mindset to create a changed life and make big dreams come true, let’s book something amazing!