WHAT SHE DOES
566 FOLLOWERS
Women talking about work, life, family and choices... not necessarily in that order.
WHAT SHE DOES
2y ago
LILA
“I’ve grown so much, personally and professionally, through my writing.”
I’ve always been a storyteller. I wrote short stories and scenes all through my teen years. In college I went with a traditional major, political science, thinking I should become a political speechwriter. I had visions of one day crafting influential speeches for the president. Part of my studies involved taking courses on politics through film, and that’s when I got hooked on film storytelling.
After doing an internship at Fox Studios, I was hired full-time in my last year of college. I worked my way up to m ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
CAROL
“I love what I’m doing now. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Recently I completed a project in which I made something out of single-use plastic every day for 100 days.
My first career was as a litigator. That came to an end when I decided I preferred to stay home with my two kids. I was a full-time mom for many years. I did go to graduate school during that time. I got an MFA in creative writing and pursued that path for a while.
I started taking art classes when my kids were still at home. It’s difficult to combine writing with parenting. Writing, for me, required prolonged p ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
OLIVIA
“It’s important to me to connect with other women through my music and make them feel supported.”
I’ve always loved performing; I attended theater school on the weekends starting at age 13. But I don’t think I considered it something I could do as a career. When I was 16, I learned about a full-time music academy about an hour away from my home. I auditioned, thinking it would be good practice, not really expecting to be accepted. But I was offered a place at the school on the spot. My parents were really supportive and looked at it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. I spe ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
KRIS
“Someone, somewhere, needs to get a smile out of it, or it isn’t worth doing.”
Nothing I’m doing now was part of any grand plan. I moved to Brooklyn from Atlanta on a whim; I had friends in the city, an MA in art history, some published clips in art magazines, and a few museum jobs on my resume. I spent my twenties working in development for nonprofits while freelance writing on the side. I started writing fiction, just for fun. By the time I got married, in my thirties, I’d published a few short stories, finished the manuscript of a novel, and started looking for a literary agent ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
SHEILA
“Forget about the stuff you don’t do well. Let somebody else do that.”
I was a journalism major in college. I thought I wanted to be a writer, but after a series of jobs doing promotions and publicity—first for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, then for the film industry—I realized I just do not love to write. I love to promote things that I believe in.
In California I met my first husband, who worked in the Thoroughbred horse industry. For a while we lived in Santa Barbara, and I was the film commissioner for Santa Barbara County. When our two kids were little, we mov ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
Michelle V
The more I create, the more I realize people are drawn to what’s unique about you. And we all have something unique to offer.
It started with designing a rocking chair cushion, after receiving the chair as a gift. I wasn't able to find anything modern to fit my decor, so I made something myself. I decided to open an Etsy shop and call it Rockin Cushions. I thought it would be a fun side gig. Then I started receiving requests from family and friends to do "quick fix" covers for their IKEA furniture.
I could see there was a strong demand for prolonging the life of furniture ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
LOAN
“I love to complete challenges and help people move forward with confidence.”
I studied engineering in college, because I was good at math. I started working in my current field after graduation. On one project, I was assigned to lead a team of machinists and tool makers to modernize a process. We converted an outdated, labor-intensive process into a fully automated robotic station from scratch, on time and on budget. When we completed that project, I knew I could build anything. I translated this learning to systems and technology, which is what I’m doing today.
I was born in ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
3y ago
LILLIAN
“I became a coach to help women change the stories they tell about themselves.”
I have been the women that I work with—I have felt powerless, invisible, and frustrated after experiencing failures. Once I co-authored a book that had 23 contributors from all over the world. Instead of celebrating the fact that the book ranked very high in two separate categories on Amazon, I mourned that it had not become a bestseller in a particular category. By not reaching this one mark, I felt I had let down both myself and my co-authors. It made me afraid to try again. Ironically, this was a boo ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
4y ago
MICHELLE
“It makes me happy to take sedentary kids and get them moving, help them discover themselves.”
I majored in dance at Adelphi University. When I was a sophomore, Bob Fosse died. My big goal was to do a Fosse show on Broadway. The following summer, I did a workshop with Gwen Verdon. Then I got called to audition for a production of Damn Yankees she was working on. I came to the city for the audition, and the guy at the door wouldn’t let me in because I wasn’t union. I told him I’d been invited. He didn’t care. So, I wrote a note and asked him to bring it into the room. He didn’t wan ..read more
WHAT SHE DOES
4y ago
MICHELLE
“It makes me happy to take sedentary kids and get them moving, help them discover themselves.”
I majored in dance at Adelphi University. When I was a sophomore, Bob Fosse died. My big goal was to do a Fosse show on Broadway. The following summer, I did a workshop with Gwen Verdon. Then I got called to audition for a production of Damn Yankees she was working on. I came to the city for the audition, and the guy at the door wouldn’t let me in because I wasn’t union. I told him I’d been invited. He didn’t care. So, I wrote a note and asked him to bring it into the room. He didn’t wan ..read more