FLAT STANLEY GOES TO DENVER, BY LAURA BROWN

February 6, 2026

If you’re unfamiliar with Flat Stanley, he’s essentially an educational paper doll. Because he’s flat, he is optimized for the mail. A grade-schooler creates him and mails him off somewhere interesting, whereupon he documents his adventures in that new geography and then is mailed back. 

Flat Stanley came to New Orleans from my niece’s second grade class in Virginia, likely inspired by her recent discovery of Disney’s “The Princess and The Frog.” But unbeknownst to Flat Stanley, we wouldn’t have time for jazz or gumbo or swamp tours. Instead, right after he arrived, we were off to court for an appellate argument. Then, the very next day, we boarded a plane for the WEN Leadership Transition Meeting in Denver, Colorado. 

Flat Stanley did get out and about. He was photographed enjoying coffee at Union Station and lying flat next to an empty Dramamine packet in the visitor’s center at the top of Pike’s Peak. But most of his time was spent in the meeting room of a downtown office building. It wasn’t flashy, but it was true to life. Flat Stanley didn’t come to an aspiring restauranteur-turned-frog-turned-princess (spoiler); he came to an energy lawyer.  

A lot of women recognized Flat Stanley from their own kids’ projects. And at some point, it occurred to me that this meeting was, actually, an excellent thing for Flat Stanley to document for the kids at his school: that women from across the U.S. (and beyond!) made time to gather in Denver because of their commitment to their profession and to each other. And whatever sacrifices attendees made to be there—whatever they might have had to miss back home—they were also setting an example for the young people in their orbit. It's important for girls and boys to see that it’s worth the time and the effort to grow communities and to grow individually. It’s important for women to use their unique talents and experience to lift each other up. That is the essence of a professional network, and WEN is a very special one.

Flat Stanley took these lessons back to a second grade class in Virginia. The women at the Leadership Transition Meeting took them back home to their own WEN Chapters, from coast to coast, where they will work to share their inspiration with you. And what can we learn from Flat Stanley? Show up! Don’t be intimidated, even if you are made of paper and not really built to withstand the wind speed at Pike’s Peak. Send yourself off somewhere new to meet new connections and have experiences. WEN can be that place. 

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Laura Brown
Regional Director, WEN Global
Attorney, Liskow & Lewis