The title was Women in Wellness, but the event held last week at the Red Bank Women's Club could just have easily been billed, "DonnaLyn's Women of Hope."

Business coach and professional speaker DonnaLyn Giegerich, known about town as a philanthropist, yogi, cancer survivor and a former Mrs. Red Bank, is a consummate networker, always seeking ways to connect women (and men) to help them "skill up" for business and life.

Last week the Red Bank resident organized a panel discussion to bring together about 30 of her connections to learn more about integrated wellness. On the panel of Women in Wellness was a massage therapist, a chiropractor, a doctor, a school director (and doctor) and a personal trainer.

In the audience were cancer survivors, mothers, artists, professionals and business owners all looking to connect with other women and learn more about getting and staying well.

The event included a breakfast mingle provided by Danish Cafe and Coffee Corral. At the pre-panel gnosh, presenters Nicole Lerario of A Kneaded Vacation Therapeutic Massage of Red Bank and Dena Kapulshnik of Matawan, a personal trainer, told Patch how Giegerich's previous panel events helped them to connect with other women in business and use those connections to cross-promote themselves.

At this event gift bags included a coupon for their latest collaboration, 15- and 30-day staycation packages that include in home fitness and massage.

"Like minded people tend to find each other," Lerario said. "We're on the same mission to help people take care of themselves."

Later at the panel discussion, Lerario and Kapulshnik joined Dr. Yvonne Johnson, Freehold, Dr. Hanan Fadil director of the Atlantis Montessori School in Tinton Falls and Dr. Nicole Rivera, a chiropractor from Integrative Wellness in Belmar.

Each woman offered her perspective on well being from diet, exercise and alternative therapies to treat everything from poor sleep to stage 4 cancer, sharing how her professional experiences and own personal adversities point to the success of non-traditional solutions in treating medical problems.

Lerario said often patients come to her for therapeutic massage for various ailments saying, "My doctor said nothing can be done." To which she says, "There are things you can do."

Rivera, whose practice offers blood and hair analysis when designing nutrition programs for patients, said if she could offer one piece of wellness advice, it would be, "Have hope. A diagnosis of a serious condition is just a reflection of a lack of health."

DonnaLyn Giegerich offers speaking workshops to business leaders for a fee of $40 per session. She also offers free workshops to the public. Her next public workshop, Cultivating Confidence: How to Own Any Room, Anytime, Anywhere will be Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. at Eastern Branch of the Monmouth County Library in Shrewsbury. She's also be appearing at the Little Silver Business and Professional Association on Oct. 10. Click here to contact her.