Meet Cindi Kerber-Battisti, The Sisterhood Connection

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
A: The Sisterhood Connection Foundation started because there were five of us who had a party. We decided to give all the money to the first responders’ Sedona Firefighter Charities, and we raised about $4,000 to donate to them. During the party there was a group of people who said, “We want to be a part of you! You guys are doing so much good and having so much fun”. Well, we thought we weren’t anything, just a group of gals that wanted to do some good.  When we started looking more deeply into it and found other people saying they’d like to be part of us, I approached my friends and said, “We’re starting a foundation!” And that’s how it all started, because we wanted to help people in need, do good in the community and help other charitable organizations throughout Sedona and the Verde Valley. 

Q: Do you pick a specific charity to donate to, or do you just spread it out?
A: We spread it out. We decided we wanted to be community-based, so we don’t raise funds just for one charity. We raise funds for any charity or organization and for individuals in need. So it’s strictly community-based and 100% volunteer-based. We have no paid staff.

Q: How long have you lived in the Verde Valley?
A: I came here in the 90s. We have a home in Cornville. My father was diagnosed with cancer so I went back to Phoenix and cared for him for about a year and a half until he passed. I used to be an interior designer, and felt I needed to do something and it wasn’t going to be interior design. I got on a team with a design company and stayed with it for 30 years. Then we decided to come back up here, and we’ve been here for 13 years now.

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met since you’ve lived in the Verde Valley?
A: I’ve met so many amazing people, like Diane Joens when she was Mayor. I had a couple of little stores on Main Street in Old Town Cottonwood when it was still kind of quiet there. I think there were just the Tavern and Rudy Oil Traders, which opened the same week I did. When I opened Cindi Bee’s, Diane came in and welcomed me, and we became instant friends from that point on. She was kind of my cheerleader, and I could sit and talk to her for hours about everything from being Mayor to her writings about the Verde River. She’s so interesting and amazing. 

Q: Is there anyone (dead or alive) with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? Where would you meet for lunch?
A: My mom…I miss her. She was in community theatre. She was one of the most interesting people I’ve ever known. One time she asked me, “Did you have a good childhood?” I really thought about that because she was right there, and I said, “Mom, you introduced me to all kinds of people, to every type of person under the sun!” And I think I said, “You gave me a rainbow of people in my life…that’s what you gave me”. She was interesting, even amazing! A little bit of a diva, but a lot of fun. 

Q: What one piece of advice you’ve received over your lifetime changed you?
A: To pay it forward. I’m blessed, as I think most of us are, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you pay it forward. 

Q: When friends visit you from out of town, where do you take them? What do you do with them?
A: We do a lot of things. We kayak down by Tuzigoot and that’s always a lot of fun. We enjoy the wine in all of our beautiful wineries here. We bring them to Sedona to see Tlaquepaque. We just show them everything we possibly can…the red rocks, the hiking, the river, It’s all so amazing and beautiful.

Q: How would your closest friend describe you?
A: Fun and full of energy, I guess. We have a lot of good times and laugh a lot. We just enjoy.

Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: It’s funny you asked that because I just spoke at Yavapai College the other day and I’ve been reflecting on it. It was really wonderful interacting with seniors. They were asking my advice. I would just say, “Spread human kindness, be kind, and know we’re all in this together.” A little bit of kindness goes so far. And don’t forget to say thank you to someone who works in the grocery store or behind the Starbucks counter.. 

Q: What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
A: I like to write. I’m currently writing two books, and I don’t know what I’m gonna do with them. I’ve never done it before. It’s kind of a new little thing and something I’m enjoying right now.

Q: What three words come to mind when you think of the word “home”?
A: Family, love, and gratitude. I’m very grateful for my family and my friends.