Build Your Village: A Guide to Finding Joy and Community in Every Stage of Life

In this easy-to-read self-help manual sprinkled with relatable stories, Florence Ann Romano introduces the six roles commonly found in villages and provides a roadmap to help the reader build their own support systems.

Everyone has heard the phrase, “It takes a village,” but how exactly do we find our village? Who is in it and what does it look like? Rethinking the relationships in your life, you may realize that even if you have a calendar filled with social plans, you still might not have your “village.”

In Build Your Village, philanthropist and businesswoman Florence Ann Romano answers these questions and more, helping you to build lasting relationships with those in your life, dispel isolation, and improve your overall happiness and health. Each chapter helps you to foster the villager qualities within yourself and to find others who display these qualities. From identifying the six types of villagers needed to complete a fully functional village to what to do when you’ve lost your community, this book serves as a step-by step guide complete with quizzes, gut-check questions, and action steps as you learn the importance of support systems as well as how to nurture them and find meaningful connections.

Your village is waiting. Now it’s time to go and find it.

Florence Ann Romano is an author, philanthropist, businesswoman, and village and childcare advocate with a sparkling personality. With an eye for marketing, Romano flourishes as both an advisor for and the vice president of business strategy for Yakkety Yak, a strategic branding and content production company for businesses. Florence is proud member of the board of directors at the Children’s Research Fund, an incredible organization that supports the pediatric research at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. She is also a founding member of Sesame Street’s Leadership Council and is on the board of directors for Female Strong, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower girls by teaching valuable leadership and business skills. After spending more than fifteen years as a childcare provider, during which she was known as the Windy City Nanny, Romano is the authority on childcare and family support in this new millennium and has more than five hundred media appearances discussing these topics. Born and raised just outside of Chicago, Romano earned a bachelor of science degree in performance theatre at Bradley University. Romano wants to show people that not only is the saying “It takes a village” true, but also how important the need for community is. For more information, please visit www.florenceannromano.com.