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There are moments in your life when you get to reflect on how lucky you are. I am surrounded by people who believe in me, people who love me, people who support me, and people who stand beside me, and stand with me.
Stefanie Ann Cronin was all of the above.
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Eight years ago I met Stefanie in a Facebook Group when she commented on one of my posts regarding Wonder Women Tech. We had just built our Hacks 4 Humanity initiative for ASU, and we were invited to do more with the California Women’s Conference, the City of Los Angeles, and ultimately, the City of Long Beach and beyond.
We were the founding team members of Wonder Women Tech.
For several years inside of Wonder Women Tech we were the four of us, building a vision with sweat equity, human capital, and lots and lots of tears, laughs, and passion. I didn’t have a dime back then to pay anyone, even myself.
But they stood beside me.
Stefanie stood beside me. She believed in my vision, and wanted to devote her time and talents to our cause, to the work we so passionately believed in. She rolled up her sleeves and dove right in building social media campaigns, and stepping firmly into her role as Social Media Director for Wonder Women Tech. She helped name, build, and launched our #InvestInABoss Pitch Fest, our social media, and was on hand virtually whenever we had events and conferences.
Our first Wonder Women Tech Conference in 2015, in Los Angeles featured a hackathon that ran 36 hours straight. Stefanie monitored the conference from her home, watching on camera as things went on overnight. She was the first to report when there was a problem with the event and alerted us by phone. She was always “the first on the scene.” I affectionately dubbed her “Agent Cronin.”
“Agent Cronin is on the scene!”
We were a small team and we were very close with one another. We were family. We were so short staffed as our vision and platform grew, that Stefanie taught her mother, Beverly, how to use Twitter so she could help us with our weekly Twitter parties we used to have. I gave her the nickname “Mama Twitter” and it stuck. Even Stef took to calling her Mama Twitter and she joined our Social Media team as an honorary member.
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Stef was born and lived in New Jersey originally, but over time, and as our connection grew, she would relocate to Huntington Beach to be closer to me. She surprised me and one day packed her bags, got a van, bundled up her 60+ year old mother, and literally traveled across the country to be closer to the WWT team.
She braved storms, nearly got into an accident, had car and tire trouble, and literally drove by a tornado and had to take cover, to relocate and be more involved with the team. Mama Twitter told me the whole story recently and we laughed and cried remembering how determined Stefanie was when she wanted to do something. Eventually Stef would move to Hawaii where she said she felt her soul belonged.
Stef and I were very close. So close that we used to speak for hours daily. She was there through two of my major breakups, failed dates, multiple illnesses, traumatic head injury, post concussive syndrome, and all the other small and large milestones in my life. She was there when we went through a lawsuit when the first event planner we hired for our Long Beach conference never showed up to the event. She and I vented our anger and frustration to each other. We did that together every time something didn’t go right for us. And unfortunately, we did encounter so many crossroads and challenges building Wonder Women Tech.
She used to always say: “We are such good people. We don’t deserve this.”
And then we would get back to building together. And we would celebrate all our wins and all the “magic” that we created, because there was also a lot of that too. Some literally “how in the heck did that happen?” moments would be reflected upon with awe. Stefanie would tell me over and over that she believed in me and would stand by me. She often said: “I love you to the moon and back!” That was what we told each other often.
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As with all friendships and family relationships, we had our ups and downs. But I am so incredibly grateful that we spent the last year being there for each other. While she was in the hospital she reached out to me when I had Covid. She was there for me when I struggled to breathe even as she was on an oxygen tank. She checked in on me even as she was given a grim diagnosis with Stage 4 cancer. She didn’t want to die. And I will never forget the conversations we had in the final days, or the way she told me how scared she was. She was so determined to beat this thing.
Stef wanted to get back to work with Wonder Women Tech again. She said she couldn’t wait to keep our legacy alive…
Stefanie was diagnosed with a RARE cancer called PEComa Sarcoma. It is so rare only one doctor in Boston treats this. Stef was in Hawaii and couldn’t travel to see him, but he treated her remotely. Unfortunately, the cancer spread from her uterus, to her lungs, and finally–her brain. Two weeks from the spread to her brain, she would pass on January 25th, 2021.
But Stef did not go easily into that dark night. She fought. She fought hard. She talked about all the things she still wanted to do, and all the things she wanted to do together. We had dreams and plans. She was supposed to be a bridesmaid at my wedding and she helped me and another friend make a Wedding Pinterest board for me last September. She often joked–“Now we just have to find you a man!”
Our last conversation we had, we hopped on Facetime, two weeks before she passed, and I saw her face and I just knew…
I knew… and I think she did too. We got to say everything we ever wanted to say to each other. We got to apologize and do all the things that “Closure” demands. Mama Twitter witnessed our loving conversation and we both feel so grateful that I get to carry that with me. I promised her I would look after Mama Twitter as she is all alone at 72, having lost both her children as adults. I talk with her daily. We are family.
One of her very last text messages she sent me she said: ”
You are my best friend. I love you.”
For three weeks after her passing I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t even believe this is real. Today marks exactly two months since she passed and I feel the gaping hole she has left. I knew today was the day I had to pay tribute to her with our Wonder Women Tech family, the family she helped build. I honor her legacy and what she has meant to me in my life.
What she has meant to Wonder Women Tech. To all of us.
I am so lucky. I have the most amazing people standing beside me who believe in me. These relationships have withstood the test of time and distance. I am so lucky that Stef came into my life, that she tilled the soil with me, and broke through to lay a strong foundation for all of our collective dreams to grow from.
I know for a fact that WWT wouldn’t be what it is today without the seeds she has planted. And this global vision will continue to grow with her legacy intact.
As for the seeds she has planted in me…
I will water them every day and all the dreams we had/have together will blossom into the most amazing harvest.
I carry on because she believed in me. She believed in Wonder Women Tech.
We love you to the moon and back, Stefanie.
Agent Cronin is on the scene looking down from Heaven. I know we are all in good hands… 
Rest in Power, Stefanie Ann Cronin
With gratitude,
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Stefanie Ann Cronin
June 20th, 1980 – January 25th, 2021
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