September 16, 2019

Meet Allyson Pastrone of Thrive in Lakewood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allyson Pastrone.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Allyson. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I went to CSU in Fort Collins having little interest in a career or making lots of money. I wanted to travel, live in other countries, and invest in people in other cultures around the world. I had no plan of how to do it or fund it. I just wanted to go. Young, naïve, and pretty dumb.

But my dream came true and I moved to a large city in Central Asia, teaching conversational English to business professionals. I planned on being there indefinitely, as I fell in love with the people, my work, my new life. But after three years I had to return home due to a back injury that had happened years before and had progressed to the point where I couldn’t function.

Once I was back on my feet (literally), I had medical bills and student loans to pay, so I realized that I wouldn’t be able to return to Central Asia and would have to stay in Denver and work for a few years. So I started working at Colorado Christian University (CCU). However, my salary wasn’t making much of a dent in my medical and student loan debt, so I faced the facts and got a corporate job. I felt like I was giving up a part of my heart when I entered into the corporate world that I had never wanted to be a part of, but I went to work for what would be the next 10 years in IT marketing for three different companies.

During that time the recession hit, so for a while, I was out of a job like so many others. That got me into networking. Every day and almost every evening I went to leads groups, networking events, and everything else I could to make connections and hopefully find a job. Because of this, I built up a sizable network and got to know hundreds of the Denver area community in multiple arenas. I began helping people who ran networking organizations and chambers and helped them fill their events and connect them with more people. I knew people everywhere I went, I built up a large group of friends and we were very in step with the Denver scene.

The networking worked, and I was hired by another IT company as their Marketing Director, and then was recruited by another company for the same role, where I stayed for almost six years. But my heart was never in IT or in the corporate world. I’m one of those unfortunate (or fortunate?) people who really need to believe in what they do. Money alone does not motivate me.

So in the winter of 2017, I was on a job board posting a job to hire someone for my husband’s company. While on the job board, I saw a posting for a nonprofit called Thrive. I’d never heard of them so I went to their website – and learned that their sole purpose is to provide emotional, spiritual, social, and physical care for women who are serving full time overseas in humanitarian and mission work. My heart lurched and I knew this was it. I had been one of those women.

I knew what it was like: the challenges of living in another country, learning a new language, new culture and way of doing things, being away from family during holidays and birthdays, not being able to be there when family members are sick or pass away, spending two days just paying bills because you have to stand in line, including when they shut down and break for a two hour lunch, being in a culture that celebrates different holidays than you do and has different belief systems and values, being constantly watched because you’re a foreigner, and there is always the heightened risk of living as a foreign, western woman in many countries where women are second-class and treated as such. This was my dream job. I was so excited that I applied right away, and a few months later I was on board as their Development Director.

And this is where my calling lies. My years overseas in humanitarian work helped prepare me to know and understand the need of Thrive’s purpose to provide care and resources for women who willingly sacrifice easier lives and the comforts of home to live and serve others in the tough places in the world. My years in the corporate world helped me to learn the importance of the bottom line and business so that I can help raise funds to keep this organization going. And my years of networking help me to connect with others here in Denver as I learn how to invite them into joining the effort to support women serving so sacrificially around the world. I love my job. I love my career. It might have taken me 20+ years to find it, but this is where I’m supposed to be.

Has it been a smooth road?
I’ve had many struggles along with the way. The years in Central Asia had their own struggles that come with living in a country and culture different from where you come from. Learning a new language (never mastered it), and being a woman in a country where women are second-class, and even though I loved it, it was hard. Then I had to be evacuated out and sent back here to Denver due to a back injury that had happened years before and had progressed to the point where I couldn’t function.

It was a huge disappoint, and it took years of intense chiropractic and physical therapy to be able to function normally again. To this day I occasionally have back problems, although I have an amazing chiropractor and I have a life-long exercise program that keeps me going strong and well.

When I was able to go back to work after my back was healed well enough, I had medical bills and student bills that had racked up, then the recession hit and I was out of work for three years, my credit was shattered in that time frame, my apartment and my car were flooded by a freak main break in the middle of winter (the car was a total loss), I had a couple of heartbreaking relationships not work out, my ankle was broken by a not nice guy who tripped and fell on me and then refused to help and I had no health insurance at the time.

When my ankle was broken and I was in a cast, I was single so had no one to help and bring a glass of water from the kitchen to the living room (I wore cargo shorts with big pockets for three months and put things in my pockets while I crawled from room to room with things I needed – pretty hilarious looking back), but I did have a great group of friends who brought me food, took me grocery shopping, and spent time with me. Since then I’ve lost my dad, had to put down two sweet pets, gave up the dream of having children since I was almost 40 when I met my husband and I didn’t want to be an older mother (long story behind that), have lost some friends, and have had a lot of other hard things happen.

Everyone has a story, don’t they? And struggles are what so often makes the story interesting. But even though I’ve had my share of pain, loss, and struggle, the good things far outweigh the bad. I feel so incredibly blessed with the life I’ve been given, my family, friends, spouse, career, home – so many good things.

We’d love to hear more about your organization.
Thrive is an amazing nonprofit organization whose purpose is to provide emotional, spiritual, social, and physical care and support to North American women who are serving full time overseas in humanitarian and mission work.

There is tremendous energy and momentum to get workers overseas in humanitarian and mission work, but a lack of intentional effort to provide emotional, spiritual, and physical support once serving overseas. Unfortunately, many women feel alone and are barely surviving.

Thrive was founded in 1997 to help women serving overseas to thrive on the field, lower attrition rates, and expand humanitarian and mission efforts around the world. We work closely with over 700 sending agencies, hundreds of various organizations, and many dedicated volunteers to care for approximately 35,000 North American women serving as career workers around the world.

We carry out our mission globally through retreats, a weekly blog, and a community for women serving overseas. As a result, these women’s lives and work have been radically impacted. We currently have four arms of the organization:

Retreats

Thrive hosts four regional retreats around the globe each year. We seek to provide emotional, spiritual, and physical refreshment through rest, teaching and confidential counseling opportunities. It is a place where women can be nurtured, encouraged, and meet other women serving in tough places. Retreats are a safe place for women to share their unique challenges outside of their sending organizations and agencies. Since 1998, our retreats have hosted more than 5000 of the estimated 35,000 North American women serving internationally.

Connection

Thrive’s blog, Connection, is written by women serving overseas for women serving overseas. It provides a place to be real, to talk about the joys and struggles of living in another culture with other women who “get their life”, it’s a place where they can be cared for, encouraged, and find the resources they need while sharing and serving worldwide. Connection is distributed worldwide on a weekly basis. (7,000+ subscribers as of April 2019).

Alongside

Alongside is a new program that provides one-on-one relationships to assist in setting and accomplishing goals and nurturing emotional and spiritual growth. This ministry arm is inclusive of three areas of support to women serving overseas: mentoring, life coaching, and spiritual direction. Each is provided by volunteers skilled (and certified in the latter two arenas) in these areas.

Advocates

Thrive also advocates for these women by educating and engaging communities to proactively meet the needs of the women they know who are serving in various capacities around the world.

We strive to do everything with excellence and give women serving overseas the best of care in the four arms or our ministry. Thrive has a strong reputation and sure foundation, poising us for significant growth as we seek to continue to empower even more “global” women and to be their advocate.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think Denver is a great place for an organization like Thrive. This city is very open to supporting nonprofits in general. There are a lot of generous people who live here and who are willing to give of their time and money to support causes they believe in, and so many look for ways that they can contribute to people and causes that are outside of themselves.

Even though Denver has grown substantially in the past decade, it still has a smaller city vibe where it is not too intimidating to start a business or nonprofit. And I think it’s one of the best cities in the country for professional networking. It is so easy to meet people, and people are so open to connecting and working together to help each other out. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of about Denver.

Contact Info:

Website: https://thriveministry.org/
Phone: 303.985.2148
Email: allyson@thriveministry.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriveministry/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thriveglobalwomen/

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