Why ALTAR is Hosting Elise Loehnen in Chicago

Have you considered that the standards or “rules” we live by aren’t even ours to begin with?

That’s the question I asked myself shortly after beginning Elise Loehnen’s bestseller On Our Best Behavior. In explaining how the seven deadly sins have shaped womanhood across centuries, Elise illuminates the deeply embedded patterns so many of us follow without even realizing it: patterns of people pleasing, perfectionism, self-silencing, and shrinking ourselves down to fit the mold.

Crucially, Elise doesn’t shame us for these patterns. She’s just shining a spotlight on them so we can begin to see these “rules” more clearly. For all my experience in women’s circles and embracing the divine feminine, On Our Best Behavior helped me uncover lifelong habits and tendencies I hadn’t even realized I inherited. For me and so many women I know, this book is the beginning of a brave unlearning.

That’s why I’m so excited and honored to welcome Elise Loehnen to Chicago, here at ALTAR, on September 21^st to celebrate her latest book, Choosing Wholeness Over Goodness.

More than a Meet & Greet

This is more than a typical author event or book signing. It’s an intimate, family-style brunch and conversation in circle with other courageous, curious women ready to write their own rules. For so many of us, especially those of us who’ve spent years struggling to be a “good girl” or to achieve the “perfect work-life balance,” this conversation is your invitation to exhale. Elise’s insight expands the possibilities of what we—as individuals and as women—can do when we throw out the old, tired rule book and rewrite it for ourselves. How we can open a door to a future that is freer and more whole.

Why ALTAR?

I founded ALTAR as a space where women can come together to uplift one another, where healing and empowerment come together, hand-in-hand, and where our wise storytellers and cultural truth-tellers can reach those who crave their insight and the process of unlearning. Elise Loehnen’s work touches each of these truths. It’s deeply aligned with our mission to create a third space where women can show up authentically—not as who they’re supposed to be, but as who they truly are.

You are not “too much.”

If you’ve ever felt torn between wanting more and fearing you’ll be “too much,” or between care for others and care for yourself, this brunch is for you. You’ll walk away with practical tools that invite deeper self-inquiry, embodied truth, and courageous wholeness. You’ll also walk away with the profound beauty of experiencing sistering in real time.

So, consider this your invitation to this event on Sunday, September 21st. Whether you’ve read On Our Best Behavior cover to cover or are just hearing Elise’s name for the first time, you are welcome here. Come with your curiosity, your contradictions, your anecdotes, and your still-forming thoughts. Show up exactly as you are. 

Tickets are on sale for this Brunch & Book Talk with Elise Loehnen through September 17th, 2025. You can secure your seat here. Looking for more thought-leaders and change-makers at ALTAR? See our full calendar of events and offerings here.