Little girl, I hope your mom, aunt, sister, cousin or grandmother reads this to you. I hope that these words stick with you forever because your big dreams are important, they matter and they will happen one day!

I know right now your dreams may seem so out of reach. Growing up probably feels like it will never happen, but trust me when I say you will be a grown up before you know it (and probably before you are ready). One day you will be all grown up and wish you could be right back where you are now. So for now, I hope you just enjoy being little and dream up all of the things you want to do with your life.

I remember as a little girl I was always creating something. I spent hours upon hours in my room with art supplies making things out of popsicle sticks and construction paper, drawing and writing everything my little imagination dreamed up. I always had a paint brush in hand (and on my clothes) ready to paint whatever came to my mind. There were no rules, no limitations and my parents always let me create whatever I wanted, which is the freedom creators should be given. I didn’t realize that this desire to create was planting a seed in me. I didn’t realize that my creativity was actually who I was and the person I would grow up to be. In case you don’t know me, Hi! I’m Jessica Rebstock, a creator.

As a little girl, my imagination ran wild! Some may say “too wild,” but my imagination and the world I created around me was filled with so many ideas. My imagination gave me the ability to see the world differently and imagine how things could and should be because little girl, things CAN be different. You can be different and. you can be apart of making a difference. If no one has told you yet, you can color outside of the lines despite what the world tells you. Most importantly, I want you to always remember that change, real change, cannot happen in silence, so little girl, you’ve got to make some noise!

I’m here to tell you that when you grow up, your ability to dream big will sometimes be clouded by the world around you. Dreaming is something we take for granted as grown ups and sometimes we let reality set in and forget how big we dreamed as little girls. You little kids have mastered the art of dreaming and if we as adults were smarter, we would probably turn to your little minds more often to learn from all of the wonderful ideas you are dreaming of.

You are hearing it from me first, your dreams are not too big. As you get older, you may have people who will try to tell you otherwise, but believe me when I say that you are fully capable of reaching your dreams. You want to live in a castle? Build one! You want to be a doctor, study really really hard and do your very best to learn and educate yourself as much as you can to be the best one out there. You want to own your own company? Great! Find something you are truly passionate about and figure out how your idea will make you feel as though you have never worked a day in your life.

I know, sometimes our dreams can be very scary. I know that sometimes our dreams may seem so far from reality, but they aren’t. At some point you may think, “Why am I doing this or what makes me think I am capable of doing this” and it is perfectly OK to feel that way. A wise woman once told me, “if your dreams are scary, that just means you are stepping out of your comfort zone.” This has stuck with me for many years and I hope it sticks with you too.

As a grown up girl who still has so many dreams that I see slowly becoming a reality, I will continue to dream. We need more female thinkers and creators. We need more little girls in this world who will hold onto their dreams and carry them into their adulthood. We need more adult females who think back to those days when they were just little girls dreaming of how they can impact the world.

Little girls, we need you to carry on the legacy of dreaming big. We need you to continue to create every idea that pops into your little mind. Most importantly, we need you to always embrace your little imagination and remember that right now your footprints make be tiny, but they are leaving an impact on the world. Dream on, sweet girl!