The Trailblazers: Rewriting the Narrative

The editorial team has a special attachment to our new series, The Trailblazers: Rewriting the Narrative, because so many of us feel that media portrayals of women have been too one dimensional. Today, women are doing incredible things in all fields – from science and technology to finance, law, business, athletics and more. With the Trailblazers series, we hope to highlight and celebrate female role models, encourage more equal and just representation in the media, and help foster a more tight-knit community locally helping women find mentors, business partners, friends and more.

Wynter Rhys

Absolutely. Let’s start with the sad part. I was five years old, and I was screaming – my parents had me pinned down on the floor, and they were holding a pair of scissors and needles. My mom said “I’m so, so sorry,” and with that, she cut open the blisters/wounds/burns on the bottoms of my feet with them. Read more>>

Barbara Badolati

After years of choosing an unhealthy lifestyle, coupled with an imbalance of mindless, physical and emotional states, I found myself suffering in relationships, experiencing sleep deprivation, and my health was spiraling down at a rapid rate. I was unhealthy, unproductive, unhappy and unfulfilled. Then, one night, tossing and turning, I knew I had the power to change. Read more>>

Michelle Boucher

Art has always been the quiet constant in my life—seductive in the best possible way. It is my therapy, my outlet, my voice, my spirit. In many ways, I don’t just make art; I am art. I remember a high school English assignment that asked us to write about our future selves. Read more>>

Camille Waldorf

Camille Waldorf: The Polymath in Full Bloom There are artists who master a medium—and then there are artists like Camille Waldorf, who move through disciplines the way others move through rooms. Painter, singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, dancer, equestrian: Waldorf’s life is less a career than a constellation of creative forces, each orbiting the other in deliberate harmony. Read more>>

Dr Josephine Harris

Dr. Josephine “Dr. Jo” Harris’s journey began not in a boardroom or on a stage, but in the quiet work of healing—both personally and professionally. Early in her career, she recognized a familiar tension many high-achieving women face: outward success paired with internal doubt. That awareness became the foundation of her life’s work. Read more>>

Emily Nicoara

Emily Nicoara Design Studio was born from an unexpected place: my career as a professional firefighter. After nine years in the fire service, I was carrying stresses I hadn’t yet learned how to process. The path that led me to design—rooted in Emotionally Evoked Interiors—was not a beautiful one, but an honest one. Read more>>

Tamara Furgason

Everlasting Candle Co. began during a very formative season of our lives. My husband Jesse and I had just welcomed our first child, and we were thinking deeply about the kind of life and work we wanted to build together. Read more>>

Heather Hays

From the time I was child I can always remember my role as being a helper, a good friend, and the person that holds everything together..the strong-independant one! I feel that this has proven to come as a double edge sword my whole life. Always giving more than I receive, sometimes being used, and learning that not everyone gives in the same way I do. Read more>>

Brittany Tucker

I actually started writing at 7 years old with Powerpuff Girls fan fiction. Silly, I know, but it was always something I did to curb the buzzing ideas I had bouncing around in my brain. Over the years, I tried many outlets—drawing, painting, music—but nothing had quite the ‘movement’ writing had. These characters in my mind became living, breathing beings when I wrote them out. Read more>>

Margaret Kingston

I am fortunate to have had a consistent art education growing up in rural New Hampshire, so my story begins with exposure to the arts. I’m that classic professional artist who can claim art class as their favorite subject. I graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Art Education and a minor in Oil Painting. Read more>>

Amanda Reiman

I became an activist for drug policy change in the late 1990’s. In 2002, I moved from Chicago to Oakland, CA to begin a PhD program in Social Welfare at Berkeley. I felt that the only way I could have major influence over drug policy was to get a PhD. Read more>>

Lara Blair

I came to fine art through a winding creative path that actually feels very connected when I look back. I began my career as a teacher and later spent 25 years as a professional photographer, running several studio spaces and working closely with families and clients. Read more>>

Queen Katsuta

I can fold this in beautifully — because this part is the heartbeat of your story. It’s the truth We flew into Portland with nothing but the clothes on our backs, a few bags, and diapers for the baby. That was all we had to our name. Read more>>

sara welch

I got sober nearly thirteen years ago, and that decision became the starting point for everything that followed. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about fitness or a future career change. I was focused on rebuilding my life and figuring out how to live differently. Early in sobriety, I asked myself a simple question: What brings me joy? Read more>>

Kellie Robertson

I grew up in New Mexico, surrounded by the influence of Native American pottery. Ceramics fascinated me from a young age, but it wasn’t until college that I took my first pottery class and truly fell in love with it. I went on to major in art with an emphasis in ceramics. After graduating, I didn’t immediately pursue ceramics full-time. Read more>>

Lady A

I grew up with music all around me. Gospel was my first home. Church is where I learned how to listen, how to feel, and how to sing with purpose. I wasn’t just learning melodies. I was learning how to tell the truth with my voice. Blues and soul came a little later, but they felt just as familiar. They spoke the same language. Read more>>

Michele Knox

I have been creative since middle school, though I didn’t fully recognize it at the time. one small moment stayed with me; a commercial for an art school that invited viewers to draw a face, mail it in, and receive a grade. I sent in a portrait and received a B+. Read more>>

Laura Rybalkina

I moved to the United States from Ukraine about 10 years ago, starting completely from scratch and learning to build a new life in a new country. Over time, I discovered my passion for creativity, people, and storytelling. I began creating content, organizing events, and building communities — first as a hobby, and then it naturally grew into my career. Read more>>

Becky Carps

I started All Hearts Inc on February 14, 2022 with a simple but heartfelt mission: to spread joy, love, and creativity through heart-themed products that make people smile. What began as an online gift shop grew out of my passion for meaningful and whimsical things — not just objects, but pieces that reflect personality and connection. Read more>>

Sarah Hurt

I started by coordinating rotating art shows in my brother-in-law’s furniture shop in Chinatown—great walls, no art! In the process, I started meeting more and more artists, learning the ropes of how that side of the business worked, while also rubbing shoulders with designers who were ordering custom furniture. It was this perfect collision of art, design, and commerce that really sparked something for me. Read more>>

Nicole Ringgold

I was a student who struggled to learn and thrive within the boundaries of mainstream education. I didn’t adequately learn to read until 5th grade when my mother thankfully forced me to sit in the kitchen every night to read out loud while she prepared dinner. When I did read proficiently I despised studying anything that required memorizing a text book. Read more>>

Leslie Khounsombath

I was born in Kirkland, WA to Lao immigrants. Both my maternal and paternal families migrated to America after the Secret War of Laos. My parents had split when I was 5 years old and ceased to communicate with one another. Read more>>

Kate Perets

I’ll try to keep it short I was born in a very small town in Russia with no real prospects. So when I turned 15, I moved to a big city to study. Read more>>

Ariah Wooster

I’m an artist and tattooist based in Washington, just south of Seattle. My artistic journey began in my childhood as I explored various forms of art, and it has taken me through many vibrant places, including Las Vegas, NV, and Fairbanks, AK. Born in Washington, I returned in 2010, where I’ve found my artistic home. Read more>>

Lindsay Zahner

I’m Lindsay, a board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC) and 100 Ton Master ship captain. Interesting combination, I know. I was born and raised in St. Louis, but moved to Maui at age 23 to seek adventure at sea. A Midwesterner with no prior oceangoing experience, I miraculously landed a job on a whale watching charter in Lahaina Harbor. Read more>>

Lindsay Hua

I’ve always been drawn to computers. As a kid, laptops weren’t even a thing yet, but I was completely fascinated by the idea that you could type something on a screen and change it at your whim. You could create documents and edit them endlessly, a huge upgrade from typewriters and white-out. Read more>>

Jennifer Alton

I’ve always had a deep admiration for nature — the kind that makes you stop in your tracks and just take it in. Creating artwork from the beauty around me has been a lifelong dream, but for a long time I didn’t believe the opportunity to be a full-time artist would truly present itself. Read more>>

Samantha Hill

I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. Creating has always been my way of understanding the world and expressing what words often can’t. While art was a constant in my life, it wasn’t until 2020 that I took a true leap of faith and began sharing my work publicly. From that moment on, my artistic journey unfolded organically. Read more>>