Podcasts about design sponge

Your past is preparing you for your future. Today we're going to hear a story about how one woman pivoted, reinvented herself, her vision for her future - with confidence, class, vision, and audacity. There's so many lessons in this episode for anyone who is unsure about starting something new - and needs some encouragement on starting again. We're not talking about starting over, but starting again...because all that you've been through is preparing you for where you're going. You just have to trust the journey. About our guest: Makini Regal Martin is a published floral, event, and interior designer. Trinidadian-born and Brooklyn-bred, Makini alwayspossessed a natural gift for design. She inherited her love for flowers from her two grandmothers, both avid gardeners and lower enthusiasts. After graduating from Columbia University and honing a successful career in management consulting, Makini turned her keen eye for design and love of flowers into a blossoming business when she launched Makini Regal Designs in 2011. Her design work has been published by New York Magazine, Essence, Design Sponge, The Knot, Munaluchi Bride, Black Enterprise, and many others. After the birth of her daughter, Zuri Rose, Makini was inspired to launch a children's lifestyle brand and write a children's book series. The Wonderful World of Zuri Rose: Flowers A–Z is the first book of that series. FIND MAKINI ON: Instagram: @makiniregal @worldofzurirose Web: www.theworldofzurirose.com FIND RANA ON SOCIAL: Instagram:  @rainshineluv @dreamsindriveWeb: www.dreamsindrive.com FIND DREAMS IN DRIVE ON:Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dreamsindrive Twitter: http://twitter.com/dreamsindrive Web: https://www.dreamsindrive.com

IG Workshop Known for their comfortable, contemporary style with bold and versatile global touches, IG Workshop was founded by partners Samantha Gallacher and Renata Vazconez in 2013 and together they have designed multiple bespoke homes and commercial spaces. Their distinctive design aesthetic has been recognized in some of the most esteemed publications.  Samantha has always had a keen eye for aesthetics and is a graduate of The New York School of Interior Design. Her career began with some of New York's top designers, Glenn Gissler, Bob Kaner, and Kureck and Jones to name a few as well as being a lead textile design for West Elm. Samantha is also founder of Art + Loom, a bespoke rug company.  A true artist, Samantha can bring a multi-layered experience to every space, drawing from her ever-evolving design approach.  Renata holds an international Business degree and has a passion for design and fashion. A seasoned equestrian, Renata brings a unique stylistic flare that is inspired by her travel and multi-cultural immersive experiences around the world, from Ecuador to Buenos Aires, New York and now Miami.  Together each of these bold women form IG Workshop, one of the most sought-after full service boutique interior design and construction management firms in South Florida. Samantha/Art and Loom Samantha's desire to create new and bold ideas led her to product and textile design. Emblematic work for companies like West Elm, Max Home, and Raj Overseas followed. Her work has been featured in British Vogue, The New  York Times Style Section, The Wall Street Journal Home Section, Metropolitan Home, Design Sponge, Architectural Digest online, Domino Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, and Veranda Magazine to name a few. Besides designing rugs for her iconic collection, Art+Loom, she's co-owner of interior design firm IG Workshop, one of the most sought-after firms in Miami. Additionally, she has participated in prestigious Decorator Show  Houses such as Casa Cor, Holiday House New York, and Kips Bay. Along with projects internationally from Canada, England, and South America. Samantha has also created unique pieces through collaborations with the best furniture and interior designers and artists. With a portfolio that covers commercial and residential spaces, from interior design to home textiles  and fashion, Samantha is one of Miami's most versatile designers and artists. Samantha uses her vast knowledge of color and textiles to design and create Art + Loom bespoke rugs, a unique complement to any project, and in its pure essence ‘art for the floor'. Follow Us! @warecollectivemiami @artandloom

Episode 152: Maya-Camille BroussardMaya-Camille is the creative force behind Justice of the Pies, her Chicago bakery that's become known for inventive and unmatched flavors (Lemon Espresso Pie … Blue Cheese Praline Pear Pie … and so on).Much of Maya-Camille's work traces back to her roots, with a significant influence from her father, the self-dubbed “Pie Master,” who worked as a criminal defense attorney by day. As with many family stories, Maya-Camille's is complex and dotted with both adoration and strife. A strong sense of social activism and community building runs through her blood, though, and is baked into her work.Her first cookbook, also titled Justice of the Pies, brings these beloved and revered recipes to home bakers with 85 recipes for both sweet and savory pies—plus quiches, tarts, whoopie pies, and more.“I've always loved baking,” Maya-Camille says in our chat. “But at my core, I am a creative individual. And also at my core, I love working with my hands. I do have an arts background in terms of dancing, in terms of theater, in terms of visual art. I even played upright bass for five years. But culinary is still an art form—and it's the only art form that we have that's required for us to live. I don't dance as much anymore, but I'm still living, you know? I don't paint anymore, but I'm still living. If I don't eat, I'm not gonna live. So I can take this creative energy that I have and pour it into something that also provides me sustenance.”Justice of the Pies is also filled with stories of “stewards" who Maya-Camille says are “agents of change who stand for fairness and equality.” Maya-Camille penned short profiles and developed recipes to honor folks like Black Joy Project creator Kleaver Cruz; cookbook author and Equity at the Table founder Julia Turshen and Design*Sponge founder Grace Bonney; and disability rights activist Claudia Gordon. (Or take Big Kika Keith and Kika Jr., who opened LA's first Black-owned, women-led dispensary. To accompany their story, Maya-Camille developed a “Peaches and Herb Cobbler” that features a weed-infused butter.)P.S. Maya-Camille starred in Netflix's “Bake Squad” hosted by Christina Tosi, and she returns to the cast for a second season with it drops later this month.Featured Recipes from Justice of the PiesThis week, paid subscribers can access two featured recipes from Maya-Camille's Justice of the Pies: Lavender Whoopie Pies and Chocolate-Peanut Butter + Pretzel Tart.Salt + Spine is supported by listeners like you. To get full access to our exclusive content and featured recipes, and support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saltandspine.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we’re joined by Kamilah Campbell of The Pink Locket. Kamilah was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to the United States in the early 80s. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Trade with a concentration in English-Speaking Caribbean countries. Kamilah spent nearly 5 years working in Media and Entertainment at Viacom while completing her MBA focused on Media & Entertainment from Metropolitan College of New York. The Pink Locket was established in 2008, when it first launched its store on Etsy. Coming from a culturally rich background my inspiration comes from art, shapes, city landscapes and even my customers. The Pink Locket's jewelry pieces have been featured on various movies, television shows and media outlets such as Design Sponge, Etsy’s Editor features, Essence.com, Buzz Feed, Huffington Post, The Grio, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime TV and Netflix. Find The Pink Locket Online: The Pink Locket’s Website The Pink Locket’s Twitter The Pink Locket’s Pinterest The Pink Locket’s Instagram The Pink Locket’s Tumblr The Pink Locket’s YouTube Cool stuff discussed during the episode that you should further explore: Etsy – Kamilah was an early adopter of Etsy, don’t be scared to identify new routes or paths of exposure for your business 401(k) Loans – Kamilah spoke about leveraging this as an option to fund the business initially Family & Friend Support – There’s always reticence to incorporate family or friends, Kamilah embraced that in a way to train and teach the generations coming behind her. Flexibility Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Book: Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude by Mark Douglas Podcast: Snap Judgement – A podcast focused on telling incredible stories Podcast: Carry on Friends – A podcast focused on the Caribbean American experience Podcast: InvestED – The podcast that teaches you how to invest with your values Tool: QuickBooks – Accounting software to help keep your business finances straight Tool: Facebook Business – Can create a lot of ads on Facebook and Instagram Tool: Facebook Groups: Meta Elevate HQ and Traffic Sales & Profit w/Lamar Tyler

As much as birds bother me, there's something enviable about them. They can just take off when they're tired of us, and pull up to the wide view of everything. Maybe that's why folks are so interested in watching them. I put my annoyance with birds aside and ask my guest Grace Bonney what's so wonderful about following these little creatures of land and air.   Indulgence Nichole recommends a cooking class!   Guest Grace Bonney founded the blog Design*Sponge, the print magazine, Good Company and hosted two podcasts, After the Jump and Good Company Radio. Grace has written three best-selling books, Design*Sponge at Home, In the Company of Women, and Collective Wisdom. Grace lives in the Hudson Valley with wife, Julia, and their three pets. Grace is currently studying to be a Marriage and Family Therapist at Syracuse University.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: thisisgoodpod@gmail.com   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it's needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There's no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what's good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

Erin is a food, beverage, and lifestyle photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She's inspired by honest food, real people, and the magic of light. She approaches every project with enthusiasm, flexibility, and a collaborative spirit. With experience in all aspects of the multifaceted world of food and lifestyle photography, she welcomes projects of all scopes and sizes - from independently photographing, cooking, styling in her garden studio (featured in Remodelista + images below), to shooting on location, to bringing together creative teams for extensive editorial and commercial shoots. Erin comes to food photography as a passionate eater, veggie gardener, and cook. Erin has photographed over 30 books and authored her own cookbook as well. Erin's book, which she wrote, shot and styled, was published by Rodale Books in 2014. Erin has also been a Good Food Awards judge for the past 3 years. Her recipes and photography have been featured on Food 52, Saveur, Design Sponge, Huffington Post, Edible San Francisco, Lonny, Jamie Oliver, 7x7, The San Francisco Chronicle, Sunset Magazine, Cottages + Bungalows, Cherry Bomb, Refinery 29, Architctural Digest, and Gestalten Books. SELECT CLIENT LIST Peet's Coffee | Real Simple | Good Eggs | Annie's Homegrown | Williams-Sonoma | Artisan Books | Sunbasket | Chronicle Books | Caliva | Stasher | Nowadays | Mixt | Alice Waters | Bryant Terry | Coyuchi | Ten Speed Press | Rizzoli Books | Kitchen Toke | Flowerland | Fun Uncle | Cherry Bombe Magazine | The Edible Schoolyard | Forager Project | Om Edibles | Lucky Peach | Pine Ridge Vineyards | Roost Books | Redwood Hill Farm | Well | Traditional Medicinals | Green Valley Creamery | Brava Oven | Kinfolk | Duncan Channon | S-Shots | Weldon Owen | Homestead Design Collective | Rodale Books | Deli | Fernway Foods | Meyenberg Goat Milk | True Story Foods | Sarah Kersten | Rodale | Bull Valley Roadhouse + Hotel Burlington | Yamasa | Pereira O'Dell | Edible Communities | Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat | Trinity Brand Group | Copow | Seghesio Family Vineyards | SF Chronicle | Enzo's Table Cookbook:Yummy Supper: 100 Fresh, Luscious & Honest Recipes from a Gluten-Free Omnivore: A Cookbook https://www.amazon.com/Yummy-Supper-Luscious-Gluten-Free-Omnivore-ebook/dp/B00GG0UZN0 Erin Scott Photography: https://www.erinscottstudio.com/ This episode is sponsored by Culinary Historians of Northern California, a Bay Area educational group dedicated to the study of food, drink, and culture in human history. To learn more about this organization and their work, please visit their website at www.chnorcal.org If you follow my podcast and enjoy it, I'm on @buymeacoffee. If you like my work, you can buy me a coffee and share your thoughts

“I really let my heart lead.”  –Desha Peacock Have big goals that seem to go against the grain of the world around you? Listen up, because I'm talking with author, lifestyle design coach, and retreat leader Desha Peacock, who consistently builds a life that suits her dreams and creativity — even though it goes against the mainstream. We dive right into how she thinks about the life she's creating. It starts with her values, the top two being family and travel/adventure. Eight years ago, she quit her job, started a business, and pulled her daughter out of school and brought her to Mexico for a month. She talks about how she made that happen from the hard conversations with her husband to trading spaces — and about the synchronicity that happened from that trip and where it led her. We also get into the challenges we face as women when we try to take care of ourselves or follow our dreams if that involves leaving children. But how it backfires if we only take care of others. So how does she make the magic happen? We talk about:  Clarity of desire — what's the ideal situation you would love to happen Supporting practices like meditating to clear and let go, gratitude, asking for things, visualizing, plus how to turn things over to a higher power and also take practical action The four ways of being stuck: Stuck in the Muck, Lost Your Mojo, Creative Overwhelm, Out of Alignment, plus how to get out of creative overload (hint, it's not about choosing one thing) Getting ideas out on paper — and finding a good time for them in your calendar Email as a more effective business tool than Instagram and Desha's course to help people build their list Navigating family, a major launch, and the rest of life during cancer treatment BIO Desha Peacock is a published author, lifeSTYLE design coach & retreat leader. With a background in career development & intuitive sense of style, Desha helps women create their Sweet Spot: a self-defined place of success and beauty.Her first book Create the Style you Crave, was listed by the Huffington Post as one of the best books to buy your girlfriend & has sold over 10,000 copies. Her second book, Your Creative Work Space can be found in bookstores around the nation and online. Desha holds a Master's degree from The School for International Training, is a certified Global Career Development Facilitator & leads retreats across the globe. She's been quoted or featured in Origins Magazine, Design Sponge, Flea Market Décor Magazine, The Jungalow, ABC.News, The Huffington Post, The Houston Chronicle, YahooNews.com, Career Rookie, US News Money, Where Women Create and many more. LINKS Desha's NEW Listbuilding Course:https://www.zivatribe.com/course/list-from-scratch ( https://www.zivatribe.com/course/list-from-scratch) Quiz:  https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/61fd93d2115fc80018fb720b (https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/61fd93d2115fc80018fb720b) Desha's website:http://www.sweetspotstyle.com ( www.sweetspotstyle.com) Desha's Instagram:http://www.sweetspotstyle.com ( )https://www.instagram.com/deshapeacock/ (https://www.instagram.com/deshapeacock/) Desha's Past Podcast Interview:http://www.sweetspotstyle.com ( )https://plansimple.com/make-space-with-desha-peacock/ (Make Space with Desha Peacock) https://plansimple.com/meet-desha-peacock/ (Meet Desha Peacock) on Plan Simple Doable Changes from this episode: GET CLARITY OF DESIRE. Start by asking: What is the ideal situation I would love to happen? Don't shut down ideas because you don't know how it will happen. Just get really clear on what you truly desire. TURN IT OVER AND TAKE A STEP. Desha uses a combination of turning things over to a higher power. Say what it is you need your universal manager to figure out. Then take a practical step. Remember, you don't have to figure everything out to take each step. GET IDEAS OUT ON PAPER AND CALENDARED. If creative overwhelm resonates, this is a...

There are so many things to love about Emily Jeffords, not least of which is how she tried to start off this episode by asking me the questions. I loved it. Emily is one of the most gently confident people I have ever met. She's poised, thoughtful &  generous. And her clarity - Emily is SO clear.  Throughout the episode, she gives us examples of how clarity has been one of the most important elements in the foundations of everything she's created. And she has created a lot. She has established herself as a leader in the art community, forged partnerships with some huge brands like Anthropologie and Design Sponge, and together with her team she now serves over 2,000 students through  Making Art Work her 12-week art business course. I really appreciate Emily's clarity of who she is and what she wants, what works for her, what her worth is, and, perhaps most importantly, what makes her happy. There she was a classically trained violinist who was about to embark on a whole career in performance music (imagine how many hours and what an investment of time and money both she and her family made to get to that point) but when she realized she didn't enjoy it - she simply stopped doing it. I was fascinated to learn about the HUGE career Emily almost had and I was so proud of her retroactively for deciding NOT to. Emily was able to create so much abundance and freedom as an artist because she allowed herself to have a big beautiful vision and did not let herself be swayed by the limiting beliefs of those around her. When we allow ourselves to listen to the things we have been curious about and follow those little nudges, a path can begin to emerge, and when we pair that with giving ourselves permission to expand onto this path bit by bit making sure to celebrate every single little win along the way, then we are able to grow a sustainable creative practice. Emily Jeffords is funny and kind and all-around lovely, I think you are going to fall in love with her. I hope you enjoy this episode. I hope you hear something in this episode that moves you. And if there is please share it with a friend and then with us in the reviews section of Apple Podcasts. If you are moved to make a financial contribution to the production of this podcast, THANK YOU here is the link for our PatreonEmily Jeffords Website | Facebook | InstagramKate Shepherd Website | Facebook | Instagram

Grace Bonney is back on the podcast today for the first time since 2016, and boy have things changed! We're talking all about her many shifts since then, redefining what success looks like, and her brilliant new book, Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 40, an honest and moving collection of interviews and conversations from over 100 diverse, trailblazing women. From an Olympic athlete and a NASA team member to bestselling authors, activists, filmmakers, and artists, these women discuss how they got here—from their biggest regrets and failures to their successes and motivations.  Listen in to hear me and Grace chat about her experience compiling this book during the pandemic, what her life is like after having moved on from Design*Sponge and what she's most excited about next. Resources mentioned: Learn more about Grace Bonney Read  Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 40 Follow Grace on Instagram  Follow Grace on Twitter  Listen to Ep. 110: Grace Bonney on Finding (and Telling!) the Truth Making Things Happen Mini-Course free until 1/31!  Got a question? Ask Tiffany! Get Tiffany's free Radical Delight Kickstart Get Tiffany in your Inbox! Follow Tiffany on Instagram For detailed show notes head to www.tiffanyhan.com/blog/episode402

Grace Bonney is back on the podcast today for the first time since 2016, and boy have things changed! We're talking all about her many shifts since then, redefining what success looks like, and her brilliant new book, Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 40, an honest and moving collection of interviews and conversations from over 100 diverse, trailblazing women. From an Olympic athlete and a NASA team member to bestselling authors, activists, filmmakers, and artists, these women discuss how they got here—from their biggest regrets and failures to their successes and motivations.  Listen in to hear me and Grace chat about her experience compiling this book during the pandemic, what her life is like after having moved on from Design*Sponge and what she's most excited about next. Resources mentioned: Learn more about Grace Bonney Read  Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 40 Follow Grace on Instagram  Follow Grace on Twitter  Listen to Ep. 110: Grace Bonney on Finding (and Telling!) the Truth Making Things Happen Mini-Course free until 1/31!  Got a question? Ask Tiffany! Get Tiffany's free Radical Delight Kickstart Get Tiffany in your Inbox! Follow Tiffany on Instagram For detailed show notes head to www.tiffanyhan.com/blog/episode402

This weeks guest is the fantastic Anne Ditmeyer, a woman who wears many hats, some may call her a “slasher” – designer/writer/traveler/consultant/coach. Others would say she has a portfolio career or even a multi-passionate entrepreneur. One thing is for certain she is not afraid to write her own rules. An American living in France, Anne runs the hugely successful blog Prêt a Voyager (translation: ready to travel; mantra: travel is not where you go, but how you see the world), that she founded in 2007 and because of it, she haven't applied for a job in 10+ years. This blog is the fusion of travel and human connection and a love for Paris. During lockdown she launched her Write Your Own Rules workshop, and charted a new trajectory in her work and her 3-month workshop + community Mapping Your Path. She has worked with incredible clients around the world including Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Airbnb, IDEO, SignSalad, The American University of Paris, Parsons Paris, Design*Sponge, and Adobe. No two projects are ever the same. One day she may be extracting UX insights from global user research, and another writing a storyboard for a video script, presenting a workshop on storytelling, mentoring creative talent, interviewing someone doing inspiring work, or giving a tour of Paris to a team. In this episode we talk about the power of creativity, how you can start to map your own path to create the life of your dreams, how a banana can be a great map and Anne shares her story about her love of gnomes (these ceramic figures that we have in gardens in the UK and around Europe). Anne is a brilliant guest with so much to share from her experiences and her hope is that she can help others along their journey (even if it's messy and not always straight forward.) Enjoy! Podcast edited by Victoria Spooner

NYT Bestselling author and creator of Design Sponge, Grace Bonney, joins the show to talk about her new book Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 50. From an Olympic athlete and a NASA team member to award-winning artists, activists, writers, and filmmakers, Bonney shares the key takeaways, insights and predictions these remarkable women have about our world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our guest today is Grace Bonney, an author and founder of Design*Sponge, the daily website dedicated to the creative community, which reached nearly 2 million readers per day for 15 years and is now officially archived in the Library of Congress. Grace's most recent book is "Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 50."Don't forget: We have a Patreon! Sign up for invites to special events, exclusive content, and bonus EIF episodes: patreon.com/everythingisfine Our show's Instagram is @eifpodcast and you can find Kim on her blog Girls of a Certain Age. We're also on Twitter @theeifpodcast and Facebook. If you like the show, please rate or review it and don't forget to share it with your favorite 40+ friends. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Grace Bonney is the founder of “Design*Sponge”, a daily website dedicated to the creative community, which reached nearly 2 million readers per day for 15 years. She has been called a “Martha Stewart for Millennials” by the “New York Times” and has been featured on “Good Morning America”, “The Martha Stewart Show”, “The Chew”, “American Public Radio”, and more. Her new book, “Collective Wisdom”, profiles the lives and advice of women over 50 from all walks of life. Find out more at GraceBonney.com. Check out https://copenotes.com/zestful for an innovative app that supports mental health. Find out more about the Zestful Aging Podcast at ZestfulAging.com.

Gaby talks to Design Sponge founder Grace Bonney this week about the new equitable residuals method she's implemented for the subjects of her books, the pitfalls of her privileged past, and how to better compensate marginalized people. How do you respond when you're called in about inclusion? Then, we're joined by the creator of The Broke Black Girl, Dasha Kennedy, who brings to light the financial problems and solutions for specifically Black women and shares her experiences as a teen mom navigating personal finance. For a transcript visit: https://bit.ly/BWMS9E11Transcript Gaby Dunn Instagram: @GabyRoad BWM Instagram: @bwmpod BWM Facebook group: http://tinyurl.com/badwithmoneyfb The BWM Discord channel: https://discord.gg/dAdxj4JMER Find Gaby on Patreon: patreon.com/gabydunn Shop gabydunn.com/shop for merch! Follow Grace Bonney on Instagram: @DesignSponge Learn more about Collective Wisdom here: https://linktr.ee/CollectiveWisdom Follow Dasha Kennedy on Instagram: @TheBrokeBlackGirl Check out Dasha Kennedy's website: TheBrokeBlackGirl.com Bad with Money is produced and edited by Lindsey Floyd. It is sound engineered and mixed by Lindsey Floyd. The Executive Producer is Lindsey Floyd. The theme song was performed by Sam Barbara and written by Myq Kaplan, Zach Sherwin, and Jack Dolgen. Additional music by Joey Salvia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gaby talks to Design Sponge founder Grace Bonney this week about the new equitable residuals method she's implemented for the subjects of her books, the pitfalls of her privileged past, and how to better compensate marginalized people. How do you respond when you're called in about inclusion? Then, we're joined by the creator of The Broke Black Girl, Dasha Kennedy, who brings to light the financial problems and solutions for specifically Black women and shares her experiences as a teen mom navigating personal finance. For a transcript visit: https://bit.ly/BWMS9E11Transcript Gaby Dunn Instagram: @GabyRoad BWM Instagram: @bwmpod BWM Facebook group: http://tinyurl.com/badwithmoneyfb The BWM Discord channel: https://discord.gg/dAdxj4JMER Find Gaby on Patreon: patreon.com/gabydunn Shop gabydunn.com/shop for merch! Follow Grace Bonney on Instagram: @DesignSponge Learn more about Collective Wisdom here: https://linktr.ee/CollectiveWisdom Follow Dasha Kennedy on Instagram: @TheBrokeBlackGirl Check out Dasha Kennedy's website: TheBrokeBlackGirl.com Bad with Money is produced and edited by Lindsey Floyd. It is sound engineered and mixed by Lindsey Floyd. The Executive Producer is Lindsey Floyd. The theme song was performed by Sam Barbara and written by Myq Kaplan, Zach Sherwin, and Jack Dolgen. Additional music by Joey Salvia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesOur Sponsors:* Check out Arena Club: arenaclub.com/badmoney* Check out Chime: chime.com/BADMONEY* Check out Claritin: www.claritin.com* Check out Indeed: indeed.com/BADWITHMONEY* Check out Monarch Money: monarchmoney.com/BADMONEY* Check out NetSuite: NetSuite.com/BADWITHMONEYAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sharing our stories, our wisdom is what builds community, trust and inspires others. My guest today has done just that with her latest book, Collective Wisdom. And we are giving away two copies! All you need to do is send an email to amy@fearlesslyfacingfifty.com and put in the subject: Collective Wisdom for the WIN.Grace Bonney is the author of the bestselling books In the Company of Women and Design*Sponge at Home. Bonney is passionate about equity, inclusivity, and supporting all members of the creative community: she founded Design*Sponge, a daily website dedicated to the creative community, which reached nearly 2 million readers per day for 15 years (and is now officially archived in the Library of Congress); Good Company, a print magazine and podcast about creative entrepreneurs; and After the Jump, a podcast about creatives that has reached over 500,000 listeners per episode. Her latest book, Collective Wisdom, is in bookstores now. Bonney lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her wife and their three pets. Find her on Instagram and Twitter at @designsponge. Click Here to Purchase a copy of Collective Wisdom ---Sign up now:  Meant For More Events - you'll be a VIP - to get special discount codes and savings on products and brands we LOVE!  And don't forget to tune into the MFM Live show on Wednesday night - 7-8pm ET - Click here so you don't miss a thing.-----Holiday shopping - look no further than SATYA jewelry - and use the CODE: FEARLESS15 for special savings.  Click here to learn more and explore the site for something special.-----------Who gets monthly prescriptions?  I do...and I love that I have discovered SCRIPTCO - where you get your prescriptions delivered to your door step every month - at the best price possible.  Here is the link to begin your savings at SCRIPTCO and use the code AMY25 for $25 off.-------Learn more about The A Method here - and use the code: meantformore25 for a 25% savings!  And send a selfie of you using the product to me:  amy@fearlesslyfacingfifty.com to receive a special gift from A Method.  You are worth the investment!------Let's Get Moving!  Enroll in the GENNEV walking program today - and I'll be right there with you.  It's time to treat ourselves as a GOH (Guest of Honor) and put our health and wellness as a priority.  Use the code:  GennevMore15 at checkout for special savings!----------Are you ready to shout it from the roof tops.....MENOPAUSE!  It's not a one size fits all time in our life - but there are so many commonalities that we share it's time we phone a friend and share our story! Kindra is company that offers estrogen -free per/menopause products made for women by women!  Click here to learn more about their amazing products and which ones may be right for you.  And use the CODE: AMY20 for special savings!

Is curiosity the key to creating a life of beauty, power, and meaning? New York Times bestselling writer Grace Bonney interviewed 100+ trailblazing women—athletes, activists, artists—for her latest book “Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50.” She shares a slice of their collective wisdom, the delicate task of cultivating self-love, and the power of embracing earlier versions of yourself while holding space for evolution and new identities. SHOW NOTES + TRANSCRIPT:acertainagepod.comFOLLOW A CERTAIN AGE:InstagramFacebookLinkedInGET INBOX INSPO:Sign up for our newsletter AGE BOLDLYWe share new episodes, giveaways, links we live, and midlife resourcesLIKE BOOKS?Each month we do an author BOOK LOOK on Instagram Live Follow us for the fun! @acertainagepodCONTACT US:katie@acertainagepod.com

New episode “Art Life Stories” podcast! Erin Austen Abbott is a woman of many talents: a photographer, writer, content creator, curator, & interior designer!We discuss:

Learn how relationships with people from different cultures and ways of life can have a profound impact on your values, happiness, and success as bestselling author Grace Bonney takes you through her new book, Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 50, where she interviewed over 100 trailblazing women on their purpose, careers, activism, and community work. Hear Grace and host Danielle Holly discuss some of the biggest takeaways from the book, including the power of slowing down and the unique fulfillment of intergenerational relationships. ----- Grace Bonney is the author of the bestselling books In the Company of Women and Design*Sponge at Home, and her brand-new title, Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 50. She is the founder of Design*Sponge, a blog dedicated to the creative community, which reached nearly 2 million readers per day for 15 years; Good Company, a print magazine and podcast about creative entrepreneurs; and the After the Jump podcast. Grace is passionate about equity, inclusivity, and supporting all members of the creative community. ----- Pro Bono Perspectives is brought to you by Common Impact, a nonprofit that leverages skills-based volunteering and innovative, cross-sector partnerships to create more equitable communities. Visit commonimpact.org/companies for information on how we help companies deliver on their social impact, talent development, and employee engagement goals and commonimpact.org/nonprofits for insights into our capacity-building programs address social sector challenges. Keep up with the latest news, events, and stories of impact at commonimpact.org/blog.

In this episode I had the pleasure of talking to Rebekah Taussig Rebekah Taussig is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She's spent most of her life immersed in the world of writing and reading – as a student, teacher, and author – because she believes the words we use and the stories we tell matter. She's especially invested in the experience of marginalized identities and creating a more inclusive world together and for all of us. She's held talks and workshops at the University of Michigan, Davidson College, and Yale University, and her writing appears in publications from TIME to Design*Sponge. Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides an honest portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. She also runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts “mini-memoirs'' to contribute nuance to the collective narratives being told about disability. You can follow her work and sign up for her newsletter at www.rebekahtaussig.com. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lmbdl/support

Women over 50 are too often erased, including on this very podcast. Grace Bonney has been collecting inspiration and advice from women of more advanced experience in her new book, Collective Wisdom. She's gathered interviews and intergenerational conversations with over 100 trailblazing women, who describe the ups, downs, and lessons learned while forging their unique paths. Grace Bonney founded Design*Sponge, a daily website dedicated to the creative community, and Good Company, a print magazine at the intersection of creativity and business. In 2019, she shuttered both of these publications to focus more on in-person community, and she's currently in graduate school training to become a therapist. She is the author of In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from Over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we interviewed Grace Bonney, founder of Design Sponge to talk about her new book, Collective Wisdom! We learn how she got to where she is today, what inspired her to write a book about women over 50, how she found the women featured in her book, and the interviews that had the greatest impact on her.   We also talk about Design Sponge, how it felt to close it down on her terms, and her thoughts on going back to school as an adult!    Follow Grace Bonney Instagram - @grace__bonney & @designsponge Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50   Instagram Obsessions Grace - @designsponge Becca - @nanowrimo   Obsessions  Grace - Nest Pumpkin Chai Candle Becca - Aerie The Sweat Waffle Crew Neck Sweatshirt   What we've read this week The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt Always, in December by Emily Stone   November Book Club Pick: Ghosts by Dolly Alderton   Sponsors: Night - Use the code NIGHTBOP for 20% off sitewide at discovernight.com Prose - Go to prose.com/BOP for your free in-depth hair quiz and 15% off your first order ZocDoc - Zocdoc: go to zocdoc.com/bop to sign up for free and find a top-rated doctor   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!   Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts. Visit Grace's blog, The Stripe. New posts daily!   Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Grace on Instagram @graceatwood and Becca @beccamfreeman.

Grace Bonney is a digital pioneer, a design expert, and the founder of Design*Sponge. She is also the author of best-selling books Design*Sponge at Home and In the Company of Women, the founder of Good Company magazine, and the host of the After the Jump podcast. Her latest book—Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women over 50, which will be released tomorrow, October 26—features unfiltered, eye-opening conversations with more than 100 diverse women. On this episode of Second Life, find out about the project that moved Bonney to make a major career pivot of her own as she sets out to become a marriage and family therapist.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You may know Grace Bonney from Design Sponge but did you know her from her backyard, where she's been spending the pandemic getting into birding? You do now! Grace tells us all about her adventures in birding and the camera that sparked a love affair.Mentioned on the show:CamPark Trail Camera: https://fave.co/3vBD4vm Gee Thanks! is powered by subscribers like you! To keep all of our Gee Thanks! content free and accessible to all, consider making a monthly donation of $2 to keep us going. Follow along with recs (and share your own via DM) on the “Gee Thanks, Just Bought It!” Instagram: www.instagram.com/geethanksjustboughtitpod and shop all of our recs here: https://shoplist.us/geethanksjustboughtit and here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/geethanksjustboughtit It's almost Gift Guide season and we have amazing ones! Subscribe to Flavor of the Week, a weekly newsletter featuring one product we love, why we love it, and where you can get it. It's free! https://geethanks.substack.com/p/hello-flavor-of-the-week As always, reach me at Caroline@geethanksjustboughtit.com, @geethanksjustboughtitpod on Instagram, or leave me a message at 424-245-0736. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rebekah Taussig is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She has led workshops at the University of Michigan, Davidson College, and Yale University on disability representation, identity, and community. Her work appears in publications from TIME to Design*Sponge. Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides a nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. She also runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts “mini-memoirs” to contribute nuance to the collective narratives being told about disability. Machine Transcription provided by Happyscribe Hello, World! Helpful links: Website: rebekahtaussig.com Connect with Rebekah Taussig on Social Media: Instagram: instagram.com/sitting_pretty/ Facebook: facebook.com/rebekah.taussig.9 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/enableddisabled/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/enableddisabled/support

Since early childhood, Tyler has been immersed in the trades, having been involved in the family construction business growing up. He graduated from Drexel University with a degree in Construction Management and decided to pursue a career as a craftsman carpenter.Today, Tyler works alongside his wife, Rachel, an interior designer by trade. Their projects have been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, and on Design Sponge.Listen in as Tyler describes his unique approach to business, including how he manages TRG as its owner while actively working in the trenches, onsite, for every project he takes on.He shares that he never sells a job based on how TRG's prices compare to other companies', but rather on TRG's unique design philosophy, and process, execution.Tyler then explains how he built his confidence as a professional in the industry by defining his niche and embracing his unique strengths as a business owner and tradesman.Finally, he speaks on how this confidence translates to how he negotiates and interacts with clients, by setting expectations and being comprehensive in the planning stage while at the same time always staying flexible with the timeline on every project.Topics Discussed:[00:02:44] Tyler's responsibilities on a project[00:07:34] How Tyler is able to effectively manage his business while working onsite[00:13:12] How Tyler interacts with his designer and clients throughout the process[00:18:17] How Tyler vets his clients and the importance of listening to your gut[00:25:55] Why Tyler never sells a job based on price alone[00:30:10] Why Tyler recommends that industry professionals reprioritize pricing[00:33:21] How Tyler has built his confidence as a professional in the industry[00:42:04] How Tyler manages his schedule and sets expectations with clients[00:47:50] Why Tyler does not guarantee timelines after the client has made the deposit[00:52:48] How to deal with labor or material cost increases while in the middle of a project[00:56:14] Tyler speaks on his hiring preferences[01:02:16] Finding personal time[01:04:50] How The Modern Craftsman Podcast impacts Tyler's brand and business[01:07:14] What's next for Tyler?Connect with Tyler Grace of TRG Home Concepts:Website Instagram Facebook Pinterest Houzz The Modern Craftsman Podcast Connect with Brad Leavitt:AFT Construction WebsiteAFT Construction Podcast WebsiteInstagramFacebookHouzzPinterest YouTubeKey Quotes by Tyler:I've really tried to work only for customers who want us to do the work. I have to offer them something more than just a dollar sign. Whatever I'm bringing to the table has to be more valuable than whoever is going to come at a lower price than me.If you put a number on something upfront, it's never going to be apples to apples no matter what. If you say, “Build me a cabinet,” and you go to three different people, that cabinet is going to be completely different. [...] It's not fair to make a judgement or make a selection based on a price if you don't know what goes into it.

Catherine is here today with Rebekah Taussig. Rebekah Taussig is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. She has led workshops and presented at the University of Michigan, the University of Kansas, and Davidson College on disability representation, identity, and community. Her work appears in publications from TIME and The Florida Review to Design Sponge and Good Company. Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides a nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. She also runs the Instagram platform @sitting_pretty, where she crafts “mini-memoirs” to contribute nuance to the collective narratives being told about disability. She lives in a tiny, old house with her fussy family of tenderhearted snugglers. Find Out More Abour Rebekah Taussig Visit Rebekah's Website Follow Rebekah Taussig on Instagram @sitting_pretty It's now time to tune into this one very inspirational human being. Enjoy!!

Her work appears in publications from TIME and The Florida Review to Design Sponge and Good Company. Released by HarperOne in August 2020, her memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body provides a nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. The post Episode 264: Sitting Pretty with Rebekah Taussig appeared on Catherine Plano.

Welcome to Episode 321 of the Yeukai Business Show.  In this episode, Tess Palma-Martinez and I discuss how to live a healthy lifestyle as a business owner. So, if you want to know how to start living a healthy lifestyle, some health tips to help you through struggles, and stay focused while having a balanced living, so you can achieve your goals and be successful in business, tune in now! In this episode, you'll discover: How to create your healthy lifestyles as a business ownerHealth tips to help you get through any struggleWays to jumpstart the life you want to liveExpert's advice on what to do if you're struggling to sleepHow to stay focused on your business goals About Tessa Tessa Palma-Martinez is an expert in Integrative Nutrition Health whose accomplishments include: A Brazilian-American chefCulinary DirectorCertified Integrative Nutrition Health CoachShe's also a model and healthy lifestyle influencer.She specializes in dinner parties, wellness retreats, menu development, and content creation.In 2014 she opened a kitchen and garden store named Forage + Sundry, where she offered a collection of artisan-made goods.She was featured on Design Sponge, Luxe Interiors Magazine, and a series of national New York State Small Business commercials. More Information Learn more about how you can improve your results with Integrative Nutrition Health expert Tess Palma-Martinez: www.completelygolden.com https://www.instagram.com/iamcompletelygolden/ Yeukai's Links:  Get free resources: Yeukaicourses.com  Stay in the know: Yeukaibusinessshow.com Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode on how to live a healthy lifestyle as a business owner, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates for our "Yeukai Business Show!" And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get.  Please leave a review right now.  Thanks for listening!

Today we’re visiting with Anna Potter, owner of Swallows & Damsons in Sheffield, UK. Join us as we talk about: why she had an instant connection with floristry her experience buying an existing flower shop and making it her own the juxtaposition she injects into her floral designs how she built a wedding business that fits her personality the thought process behind her still life images how she landed editorial opportunities her description of the aesthetic she's become known for LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 82: India Hobson Photography Architectural Digest feature Harper's Bazaar features Design Sponge features The Flower Fix by Anna Potter LEARN MORE ABOUT SWALLOWS & DAMSONS HERE: Website | Instagram | Facebook | See Anna's Shop The Botanical Brouhaha Podcast is brought to you by: BLOOM TRUST CO. A curated collection of floral resources you can trust.  Click here to learn more. Co-Hosts: Amy McGee (Botanical Brouhaha) and Maggie Bailey (Bramble & Bee) BB Podcast Sound Engineer: Landon McGee

Originally from north Idaho where Liz attended the University of Idaho graduating with a major in clothing design and a minor in interior design. The years after college were spent traveling to different parts of the country and the world which is how she met her Aussie husband Tim. They spent 3 years in Portland OR where they bought our first home. You can see a home tour of their space in Portland at The Jungalow, a story about how they renovated the dining room at Design Sponge, and a write up of when it was an airbnb at Lonny Mag or listen to a podcast interview with Little Yellow Couch where they talk more about their home, design and DIY.Portland is where Liz truly developed her love and professional desire for design as a home stager with OnStage.A before and after of a home Liz staged in Portland OR featured on the DIY channel show First Time FlippersIn 2017 Tim and Liz, with their two dogs Cudi and Bo, spent 5 months traveling across the USA in our renovated 1982 Winnebago. Liz is currently living in New Orleans. Offering brand collaborations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Too often, we exile the parts of us that hold complex emotions and difficult parts of our story at the expense of our wholeness. And not respecting our own wholeness in favor of living a compartmentalized life is perpetuated in the spaces we live and lead.   So, we hide away the things that we've been taught to believe are not acceptable—and what we hide is often rooted from the soul of what makes us unique and feel most alive.   Making space to lead complexity means signing up to navigate emotions, beliefs, and perspectives that do not fit into a tidy box.   This is the call right now. To dig into nuance and hang out in this place of complexity requires awareness that cannot be put back into the proverbial toothpaste tube.   This is super vulnerable.   But remember, respecting the whole person still requires boundaries, honoring core values, and developing systems that move you and your business forward. The fear of chaos is more about the fear of change–and what that change means for our own safety and status.   What we are seeing is how leadership that respects the whole person is rewriting the rules on what is professional and appropriate.   Oh, the rules.   You know the rules... the shoulds about what is professional and ok for business and work and what is not.   These rules crush our souls along with our clarity of voice and desire to create. And they continue to dehumanize and marginalize.   Approaching business and people with a perspective that values all parts of those they lead requires doing the inner work to navigate the complexity of emotions and lived experiences with compassion and curiosity instead of shame and correction.   My guest today lives this work and this approach.   Megan Auman is a jewelry designer, metalsmith, educator, and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in selling art through a variety of channels.   Currently, Megan is running her eponymous jewelry line and the online community Artists & Profit Makers for fellow creatives who sell high-end products. A best-selling CreativeLive instructor, Megan's designs have been featured in Elle Decor, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light and on top-rated blogs like Design*Sponge.   Listen to the full episode to hear: How Megan discusses how we can care but not be burdened by judgment–from ourselves or others. I love this insight she offered. Listen for Megan's discussion around shame, especially around our workspaces and what we charge for our services. Notice how Megan approached her own rumble with anxiety that shifted so much for her.   Learn more about Megan Auman: meganauman.com Artists & Profit Makers Follow Megan on Instagram   Learn more about Rebecca: rebeccaching.com Work With Rebecca Sign up for the Weekly Rumble Email   Resources from this episode: thanks, mom - MEGAN AUMAN The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech by William Deresiewicz Art Juice Podcast: Are You a Painter or an Artist? with Seth Godin  

We’re back with part two of my honest conversation with Erich McVey, the celebrity photographer that everyone is curious about! In this episode we cover the hot topic of Erich’s gear lineup, his workflow, posing, and we even dive into what he’s NOT doing to stay afloat in Covid times. Tune in to hear all about it.   About Erich: Erich is a wedding, portrait and editorial film photographer with a love for medium format cameras, natural light and incredible scenery. Using an approach that combines documentary and fine art styles, Erich captures beautiful, honest, and timeless images. Named by Harper’s Bazaar and Martha Stewart Weddings as one of the best wedding photographers in the world, and twice selected as film photographer of the year by Belle Lumiere Magazine, Erich’s work has been featured in top wedding publications; including Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, Brides Magazine, Magnolia Rouge Magazine, Flutter Magazine, Pacific Weddings Magazine, Weddings Unveiled Magazine, Bella Lumiere Magazine,  Style Me Pretty, Once Wed, Snippet & Ink, Ruffled, and The Knot, as well as the LA Times, and Design Sponge.   SHOW NOTES: https://darcybenincosa.com/play-it-brave/erich-mcvey-part-ii

In this two part series, I’m chatting with beloved photographer, Erich McVey about all things photography. We’re diving into all of your burning questions about how he got to where he is now, how and why he chose film, and what marketing strategies allowed him to shoot all over the world. Hit play to dive into part one of this honest conversation.   About Erich: Erich is a wedding, portrait and editorial film photographer with a love for medium format cameras, natural light and incredible scenery.   Using an approach that combines documentary and fine art styles, Erich captures beautiful, honest, and timeless images.   Named by Harper’s Bazaar and Martha Stewart Weddings as one of the best wedding photographers in the world, and twice selected as film photographer of the year by Belle Lumiere Magazine, Erich’s work has been featured in top wedding publications; including Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine, Brides Magazine, Magnolia Rouge Magazine, Flutter Magazine, Pacific Weddings Magazine, Weddings Unveiled Magazine, Bella Lumiere Magazine,  Style Me Pretty, Once Wed, Snippet & Ink, Ruffled, and The Knot, as well as the LA Times, and Design Sponge.   SHOW NOTES: https://darcybenincosa.com/play-it-brave/erich-mcvey-part-i

Interview with Michelle Binette In this episode, I was able to interview Michelle Binette of Michelle Binette Design. Michelle is one of my design buddies! I was on her podcast in 2019 talking about pricing and hiring (click here to listen), and now it's her turn to be in the interviewee's hot seat. In the episode, we have a very candid conversation about how she recently did a complete overhaul of her onboarding and sales process, and how it was created to uniquely fit her personality, her mindset, and her service offering.    Having been surrounded by art her whole life, Interior Decorator Michelle Binette brings a unique artistic perspective to every project. Michelle’s rare ability to blend creativity and a systematic approach ensure the client has a great experience every step of the way.  In her four short years in Michelle has worked on countless residential projects, been featured on Design*Sponge and Rue Magazine, and is a guest expert on Marilyn Denis. Michelle also hosts ‘Real Talk Design’, a 5-star podcast where she gets real about the business of design. When she’s not changing the world one throw pillow at a time, you can find her catching up on reality TV. During the episode, Michelle and I talk about how having a process is super important, even if you're a creative individual, and of how you have to look within, and assess the areas of your business that are causing you friction and discomfort. To create a process that's uniquely yours you have to recognize what needs to change and learn from your lessons. Michelle shares how she came to the pivotal decision of changing her service offering and making her business exactly what she wanted it to be. She shares some of what she does to stay strong and firm on the types of projects she takes on (saying no to a possible client is a scary thing for many).    You can find Michelle Binette at www.michellebinette.com, on Instagram @michellebinette.design, and don't forget to listen to her Real Talk Design Podcast.  Leave a comment below on how you liked this episode and let me know what other topics or guests you’d like on the podcast. Don’t forget to rate the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or any other podcast platform!

Today we are sharing our best must know decorating tips! These are the best of the best tips to make your home beautiful, comfortable & happy. Last days to enter our Design Consult Give Away! In celebration of our birthday we are giving away a design consult to a lucky winner. To enter leave DTT a review on Apple itunes, email us at decoratingtipsandtricks@gmail.com to let is know that you did & your itunes name. We'll enter you for a chance to win! Contest closes 1/31 at midnight PST. Some of our BEST MUST KNOW TIPS are: Consider the big picture before you start decorating Take a photo of the room before you start. It will reveal truths your eyes might be ignoring. Remember Function trumps style Go bold in small spaces Use unmatched chairs at the table Keep key dimensions on your phone so you have them with you when shopping Use a Limited color palette Make sure that the room has points of height in the room Cluster your collection together in one place Layer patterns Use outdoor fabrics in the kitchen and dining room Have tables near chairs in the living room so people can set a drinking glass there Find gorgeous antique chairs and redo the upholstry Unify your collection by sticking to just one color Use rugs in the house to provide a warm and cozy feel to the room Add substantial moulding to your room Add one wow piece per room Our hot topic is the ending of Design Sponge. Anita's is crushing on Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook HERE Kelly is crushing on Ellie Cashman wallpaper HERE Sign up for our insider emails here on our site. Click HERE (https://mailchi.mp/8791ceb431db/dtt) and enter your address. If you have a moment we would so appreciate it if you left a review for DTT on iTunes. Just go HERE (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decorating-tips-and-tricks/id1199677372?ls=1&mt=2) and click listen in apple podcasts. Thanks in advance! XX, Anita & Kelly

This week I talk with Abigail about the connection between self-care and the home. The interior design firm Casa Marcelo was founded by Abigail Marcelo Horace in 2017. The firm's mission is to help career women & Moms to alleviate their mental stress by providing home therapy. Casa Marcelo has been previously featured on Dwell, Design*Sponge,Tastemade Video, Mercury Mosaics, and more! Check out the shoppable mood board at angelabelt.com for some home care tips & tricks.

Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC, 2020 Chinatown Pretty features beautiful portraits and heartwarming stories of trend-setting seniors across six Chinatowns. Andria Lo and Valerie Luu have been interviewing and photographing Chinatown's most fashionable elders on their blog and Instagram, Chinatown Pretty, since 2014. Chinatown Pretty is a signature style worn by pòh pohs (grandmas) and gùng gungs (grandpas) everywhere—but it's also a life philosophy, mixing resourcefulness, creativity, and a knack for finding joy even in difficult circumstances. • Photos span Chinatowns in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Vancouver. • The style is a mix of modern and vintage, high and low, handmade and store bought clothing. • This is a celebration of Chinese American culture, active old-age, and creative style. Chinatown Pretty shares nuggets of philosophical wisdom and personal stories about immigration and Chinese-American culture. This book is great for anyone looking for advice on how to live to a ripe old age with grace and good humor—and, of course, on how to stay stylish. • This book will resonate with photography buffs, fashionistas, and Asian Americans of all ages. • Chinatown Pretty has been featured by Vogue.com, San Francisco Chronicle, Design Sponge, Rookie, Refinery29, and others. • With a textured cover and glossy bellyband, this beautiful volume makes a deluxe gift. • Add it to the shelf with books like Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen, and Fruits by Shoichi Aoki --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/support

Grace Bonney is an author, blogger and entrepreneur. Bonney wrote In The Company of Women, a book featuring more than 100 stories about women entrepreneurs who overcame adversity. She also wrote the DIY interior design book Design*Sponge at Home.

Season 2, Episode 35 In this powerful episode, you will hear Josie Lewis's testimony of overcoming significant grief and loss as she and her husband experienced multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth with their daughter, Esther. As you listen, you will learn some key breakthrough tips, such as: How grief and beauty present themselves together. The importance of recognizing that you can’t have resurrection without death.  When we enter a state of “flow” our minds are free from judging and blaming. Flow provides a place to heal. Prioritizing small steps over big vision gets you to where you want to go.  Josie is an artist who empowers others to explore their own creativity through building a daily practice, finding a state of “flow” and navigating creative resistance. She has artwork in the public collections of General Mills, UC Berkeley, and The Minneapolis/St Paul Airport. Her work has been featured by Design Sponge, Good Housekeeping, George Takei, Mental Floss, and The National Endowment for the Arts. In 2018, she released her first book, “The New Color Mixing Companion” and in 2019 she presented at TEDx Minneapolis. She shares her process via @josielewisart on Instagram, or you can see more of Josie by subscribing to her YouTube Channel or follow along on Facebook and Pinterest. To help find your flow and be all God created you to be, check out my coaching website and resources below.  Claudia Klann ~ Life Coach, Podcast Host, Prophetic Artist, Inner Healing Minister Website  Subscribe to Your Kingdom Journey Podcast Prophetic Art Gallery  e-Course: Dare to Discover You!  

An interview with Josie Lewis about how she accidentally went viral on instagram, speaking at TEDX, battling infertility, growing multiple platforms, engaging with haters & her future. Josie Lewis is an artist working in Minnesota. Her current work spans many artistic media, including painting, mixed media, and video. She has artwork in the public collections of General Mills, UC Berkeley, The St Paul Regional Rail Authority, Minneapolis Public Schools and The Minneapolis/St Paul Airport. Lewis has a robust social media in Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube as @josielewisart with over 1 million unique followers and her videos have had more than 1 billion views. Her work has been featured by Design Sponge, Good Housekeeping, Elle Decor, Insider, My Modern Met, George Takei, Bored Panda, Mental Floss, Cosmopolitan, Spotlight, The Jealous Curator, and The National Endowment for the Arts. Her book, The New Color Mixing Companion, was released in 2018. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and daughter. Josie's Links www.instagram.com/josielewisart https://www.facebook.com/JosieLewisArt/ Jenna Redfield is a digital content expert, focused on organizing, planning and creating content for marketing purposes. She runs her YouTube channel Jenna Redfield and works with people to help organize their digital lives!  Home: https://jennaredfield.com YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/jennaredfield Join the Facebook Groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/adhdandnotion https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingandnotion/ Follow me on Social https://www.youtube.com/c/jennaredfield https://www.instagram.com/jennaredfield https://www.tiktok.com/@jennaredfield

Most of you know Kate Alarcon's work through her IG account, @cobralilyshop, and her unique paper flower tutorials on Design*Sponge. This week, we are sitting with our friend to discuss her art and her forthcoming paper flower book, Uncommon Paper Flowers: Extraordinary Botanicals and How to Create Them, now available for purchase and to be released October 15, 2019. Listen to Kate as she talks with Quynh, Jessie, and Priscilla, about her paper flower art and her book. Let's get to know Kate a little bit first: 1. Who is Kate Alarcon? I'm a paper artist, plant geek, and mom/dog mom. 2. What are some of the challenges you've faced during your paper florist career? Besides some intense health stuff in the last few years, the challenges for me are probably the challenges we all face. On the business side of things, it's tough not knowing what's coming down the pike: what opportunities will arise that I feel I can't turn down but will require me to drop everything so I can do an impossible amount of work for outcomes I can't fully predict in advance? (I bet most of us have had the experience of turning our lives upside down to do a project that falls through or barely gets promoted.) How much money is coming in this month (how many pieces will sell? how full will the workshop be?) What's my forecast for the next year? The next five years? Will the paper flower trend eventually start to wane, and what will I do then? On the creative side of things, Instagram is a blessing and a curse. I love the way it connects us and has allowed us to build a community of paper flower artists. It's been the single biggest factor in helping me establish myself as a flower maker. And I find the process of posting work and getting immediate, measurable feedback very motivating, but at the same time, it's hard not to work specifically toward numbers of likes and comments. I think doing that makes it harder to develop a very specific voice and easier to get discouraged when something doesn't "hit." More than once, I've felt excited to explore a new idea, posted a pic of my progress, got crickets, and then (unwisely) scrapped the idea. But honestly, that stuff pales in comparison to the pressure of seeing so much unbelievable work just pour out of my phone every single time I check Instagram. Sometimes it feels like all the ideas have been taken, everyone's better than me, and there just isn't room for or need for my work. I can tell myself all day long that every artist has something unique to offer and I shouldn't compare myself to others, but that pressure and anxiety is real, and it can be really hard to shake. 3. How have you made your paper flower voice stand out in the crowd? I think the things that made me stand out initially were topic (unusual plants) and range - I did cacti, succulents, mushrooms, carnivorous plants, fish, etc. I also have a kind of in-betweeny style that is realistic-ish but also stylized. My flowers are a little bit stripped down to the main idea rather than hyper-realistic. 4. How would you define your customer base? I'd say they're women from their twenties to their sixties who are serious about doing something lovely for themselves. It gives me so much joy to be a part of that. One of my favorite types of customers is the retiree who has spent her whole life juggling stuff and taking care of everyone, and now it's her turn to enjoy the interests and passions that have been on the back burner. That lady deserves an awesome workshop. There are so many pressures on women not to take time for themselves. To teach someone who has broken through all that (whether we're talking about childcare or eldercare responsibilities, work crunches, social anxiety, etc, etc.) is an honor. I take that very seriously. 5. What advice would you give to a paper florist that is starting out today? Enjoy the beginning! Hitting my first hundred followers was every bit if not more exciting than hitting 10k. Getting a like from a flower maker I looked up to. Getting my first repost, getting my first order. Don't wait to feel like a serious, established flower maker before you can be proud of yourself and savor what you've accomplished. In the beginning, there's a lot more freedom to make whatever you want, and that is precious and will likely diminish over time as you start needing to make specific flowers for specific jobs. 6. And one that is about to give up? I feel really strongly about this: it's ok to quit! Making the decision to quit can be harder and braver than hanging in there when something is not working. It's ok to walk away and try something brand new - maybe paper flowers have helped you build skills and self-knowledge that will set you up for your next big adventure. But there can also be different levels of quitting - do you need to quit wholesaling? Teaching in person? Posting to Instagram? Trying to rely on your business for a full-time income? Trying to make money at this at all? Are there parts you still like? Is there a way to nurture that without hanging on to every part of running a paper florist business? What if you took a break and just sort of sat with the question? Let's be real, trying to do any kind of handmade business involves some serious downsides - working alone a lot of the time, not knowing what your income is going to be, having projects and supplies and equipment all over your living space, worrying about hurting your hands, often terrible hours, the kind of feast and famine thing that happens with creative businesses that makes work/life balance tough, a broader cultural attitude that we should happily work for free for "exposure," not having employer-provided health insurance or retirement plan, not having a clear path to advancement. I wish we could talk about that stuff more honestly rather than squelching it with "don't quit your daydreams"-style boosterism. But sometimes the desire to quit can be a passing mood that's tied up with insecurity and discouragement. When I feel like the world does not need my art, and I should just stop because it isn't a good fit any more blah blah blah, I try to ask myself whether I would be feeling all this if I had a REALLY good day on Instagram. You know those days where everyone gets what you were trying to do right away and is blown away and happy for you and the likes just keep rolling in? Usually, the answer is, if I had a day like that, I'd be in a completely different headspace. I'd feel happy with my work and confident as an artist. That helps me see the bigger picture a little better. 7. Do you have any paper flower making tips to share with our listeners? If you use a bone folder and a ruler to score crepe across the grain and then fold along that score line, you get a nice crisp fold. I discovered that while making a cactus, and it has served me well! 8. Do you have a favorite tool you use on a daily basis? I love my awl! Kate's book, Uncommon Paper Flowers: Extraordinary Botanicals and How to Craft Them, is now on sale! Presale on Amazon Presale on Barnes and Noble Presale on Waterstones Presale on Indiebound

You never know who you're going to get into a Lyft with at a conference. Lucky for me, it was Gabrielle Blair from the blog, Design Mom, and founder of the Alt Summit Conference. Listening to her, I learned so much about how to be a super successful creative entrepreneur. Gabby was one of the first design-focused bloggers, and she paired that with being a mother to six kids. In our conversation, we talk about how she started her blog and grew it, how she and her family started the Alt Summit Conference for other creative entrepreneurs. We even go deep and talk about Gabby's battle with depression, how so much of what we both do as bloggers isn't exactly "real," and how we both deal with comparing ourselves to others. Gabby is such a down-to-earth, honest, kind person, you will love our wide-ranging conversation! Resources: Design Mom Alt Summit Darlybird Dooce Apartment Therapy Design Sponge Oh Happy Day Say Yes Freshly Picked Solly Baby Tubby Todd Emily Henderson Kinfolk Books MiloTree Transcript: How to Be a Super Successful Creative Entrepreneur with Gabrielle Blair Host: [00:00:03] Welcome to The Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:10] Hey everyone. Welcome back to the show today. I am excited to bring on my friend, Gabrielle Blair. Now Gabrielle and I really we just met in a Lyft on the way back from the airport to the Mom 2.0 Conference Jillian: [00:00:30] But I have known you from afar. You are the brains and the creativity behind both Design Mom, which is a blog that you've had since you started in 2006. Gabrielle: [00:00:44] Yes. Jillian: [00:00:44] And you're also the founder of a conference that I've been dying to go to called Alt Summit, which is a conference for creative entrepreneurs and influencers and you have such a beautiful blog. So Gabrielle, welcome to the show. Gabrielle: [00:01:00] I am so glad to be here. Thank you for the invitation. Jillian: [00:01:03] And it was so serendipitous that we were waiting in line and you said screw this, we're taking a Lyft, and we got in the Lyft with a random group of people and you paid for the Lyft, which was so generous. And I said to you, would you be on my podcast? Gabrielle: [00:01:18] And I said yes. Jillian: [00:01:19] And you said yes. So will you, because I don't know your story. I've known you. But I don't know your story so you tell me from the beginning, how you started this and one other thing we have to talk about in this is that you have six children. Gabrielle: [00:01:34] This is true. I have six kids, but they're not all toddlers anymore. So whatever you're picturing, it's probably not what you're thinking. Gabrielle: [00:01:44] I'm happy to share my story. You bet. So Design Mom was started in 2006. This is 12 years ago this month, July and I had just had Baby Number Five two months before, and I worked and lived in New York. Gabrielle: [00:02:02] I worked in the city as an art director at an advertising agency. And I loved my job, but after babies, once we were getting so many kids at home, I knew I needed a break where I could do sort of like an extended maternity leave, where I can maybe work at home, do some freelance that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:02:19] And I also knew by this time having had lots of babies that I go crazy if I don't have something creative to do after the baby's born. It's just sort of classic postpartum depression, you know you get overwhelmed. And if I had something to engage my brain that was creative and exciting, I could avoid some of that. Dealing with depression as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:02:37] Which is great. And I'm very open about having dealt with depression and dealing with depression daily, so you can read about that on Design Mom if you ever want to. But we won't talk about that right now. Gabrielle: [00:02:52] So blogs were around, but were still pretty new and most of the blogs I read were essay blogs and I really loved them. But I attempted to write an essay on a blog post once, and just went, Oh yeah I'm not good at this. Gabrielle: [00:03:06] This is not, you know, I had barely done any writing at that point in my life, and was really just a designer. That was where my focus was, on graphic design and art direction. Early design blogs Gabrielle: [00:03:15] But then I found Design Sponge and Oh Joy. And they were both design blogs that are still around, but they were very new. And you'll remember this is before any kind of social media, it was just blogs. And so a blog post might be what would be like a pin now, where it would be cute shoes. I love the cat pattern or you know what I mean. Like just something so simple. And that would be a blog post on a design blog. [00:03:41] Like a product image and a statement or it could be so short and you might do this multiple times a day. Because again it's like an Instagram or a pin or or a status update. Gabrielle: [00:03:54] So I saw that and went, Oh well that I can probably handle, it's very visual, very minimal writing and I can fit that in if I'm in the middle of a night nursing the baby or whatever. I just have a few minutes it doesn't have to be like an intensive eight hour block of work time. So I called it Design Mom. Gabrielle: [00:04:17] And at the time again I'm in New York, and I was 31, and here I just had my fifth baby. But most of my peers were just getting married or having their first baby. Jillian: [00:04:29] Wow. How old were you when you had your first baby? Gabrielle: [00:04:32] I was 23. Jillian: [00:04:33] Wow. Being an early pro at motherhood Gabrielle: [00:04:34] So for my peers in New York, as they're just having their first one like I am a total pro. Right? You know, they're having their first and I just had number five so they're asking me for advice as a mom, but also you know, it's New York you want to be a cool mom. So they're asking me like where did you find cute cute toddler shoes? And do you throw a first birthday party? Who's invited? The kid doesn't really have friends yet. Gabrielle: [00:05:00] Anyway that just stuff like that. I'm getting asked advice or do you use a sling or do you you know, use a carrier pack and which brand and what was the best looking option. What about diaper bags and just everything you know maternity clothes all of it. Gabrielle: [00:05:13] So I was getting asked questions by friends, my neighbors, my co-workers, naturally and I thought well I could cover that on a blog and talk about parenting but kind of through this design lens. Design Mom and the tagline from the beginning was the intersection of design and motherhood. Gabrielle: [00:05:31] And this is what I'm going to cover and that's what I did. That's what I've covered it was just ideas I had, or again I'd find some great deal on something or a new product that was cool or whatever it might be, and talk about it. And I would post three times a day and that was the average sometimes more and it took off. So this was even before Google Analytics this is I mean 2006 was a whole different world. Jillian: [00:05:57] And this was the time where, tell me if this is how you did it, but you would have your favorite blogs and you check them every day. Gabrielle: [00:06:04] Oh yeah. Because again, no social media. This was amazing. So I didn't have Google Analytics but there was a product called Track-See, a little software that you could put on your blog and it would count how many followers or who was coming. Gabrielle: [00:06:21] It was revelatory for me because my blog post might get five or six comments. Usually people I knew in real life, neighbors or co-workers or family members. But I put Track See on and I could see,oh there are a hundred and fifty people that came to my blog today and I don't know any of them, you know you would just have their IP address. And maybe their city and I would go, whoa what in the world. I was just amazing. Gabrielle: [00:06:49] So so it was trying to figure out, well how can I get them to speak out more and you know like how could I get them to sort of acknowledge their presence. How do I do that you know? Because I think it's amazing that these many people are reading. It just blew my mind. Of course now I have much bigger traffic. But at the time that was a big deal to see that there were over 100 people reading. The first blog giveaway started with Design Mom Gabrielle: [00:07:12] So I said, well what if I did giveaway and I've been credited for inventing the first blog giveaway. I don't know if you can even track that down. But I thought I need to give them an excuse to comment. So what if there's a prize and you can say anything you want and you just have a comment to win? Gabrielle: [00:07:31] So my one of my husband's friends from high school, I knew she had started a cool little shop called Darlybird. And I reached out to her and said, Hey would you be up for offering a prize and it will be comment to win and it's just this idea I have, and then you know you'll ship the prize to the winner and we'll just randomly pick someone you know pick a number kind of thing and let's just try it. Gabrielle: [00:07:57] And she's like, sure. How about a pair of earrings and a bracelet, or you know she came up with a prize. So I did it and I had the instructions that said OK we're going to try something new. Comment. You can say anything you want, I even gave sample comments so you know to help them out. Jillian: [00:08:15] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:08:16] Like, Wow this is cute. Or you can say, Neato! or I want to win! You know you're basically just really simple because I knew there was a few barriers for that. You know, people weren't used to commenting that wasn't a thing. And then there was a little captcha. And that the first time you see it you're like What is this?  You know that feels like an extra hurdle. Gabrielle: [00:08:35] And then of course it's intimidating to know you your words are just out there and your name might be associated with them, so I let them know. Oh you can. You can leave anonymous comment. You just need to have a real email address so I could contact you. But no one can see your email address. Gabrielle: [00:08:48] I'm kind of training them right. Teaching them how honesty works. And it was amazing so not all 100 plus readers commented but like 70 did. Jillian: [00:08:59] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:09:00] And I'm getting calls from all these people in real life that read my blog, you know neighbors are going. Who are these people? Where do they come from? Because of course they hadn't seen the stats from that. Jillian: [00:09:14] So they said this was just like a personal blog. Jillian: [00:09:17] Right. So they just thought OK so they're reading and the couple you know the few people commenting or reading, my sister's friends from church, friends in the neighborhood, you know things like that. Gabrielle: [00:09:28] And so they could not have been more shocked and I wasn't shocked because I knew I had seen the stats, but I still was shocked in that I didn't think 70 would, I thought I would maybe get 20 or something like that. Gabrielle: [00:09:40] So it was very exciting and immediately like the same day I got emails from must have been 10 or 15 different bloggers saying hey can I copy this? Can I copy and paste instructions? Can I do this because it was so effective. It's great way to sort of train people how to comment on a blog. Gabrielle: [00:09:59] And then of course it took off, and now it's just ubiquitous and of course are sort of obnoxious at this point. But it was a big deal at the time and I remember also having to explain to people. Every time there's a giveaway does that mean I get the prize. It goes directly to you, I usually don't even see it in person. Gabrielle: [00:10:20] Because they are already troubled with the idea that like I'm getting spoiled somehow by these I don't know. Anyway it was interesting. It's so intimate so personal, they don't like the idea that someone's making money from blogging at the time. Jillian: [00:10:38] Then how did you start monetizing online? Design Mom starting to monetize her blog Gabrielle: [00:10:41] OK so once I could see that there was traffic, once this giveaway thing took off. I was like, oh there's something here. No one was really monetizing their blog outside of display ads. I remember Heather Armstrong, Dooce had display ads and that was really kind of how you did it that, was it. Gabrielle: [00:11:01] And so but I felt like there was something there and I didn't have like an ad network to do to do display ads although within the next couple of years I got one but at first I just didn't even know how that worked or or how to how to go about that. Gabrielle: [00:11:15] So I started doing sponsorships right away just for trades. So one of the earliest ones I did is we were moving from New York, and we're moving to Colorado. And I approached I pitched moving companies. Moving moving across country is a big thing. Gabrielle: [00:11:35] And I approached moving companies and said I'm going to take these pictures on this blog post, you know gave them examples, showed them that some of that sample giveaways and just other stats I had at the time and said do you want to do a trade? Gabrielle: [00:11:50] I'll write about you, showcase the whole thing will do X number of blog posts. You know when we arrived, the unpacking all of this stuff make sure we're showing your trucks and let's trade. And Mayflowers said yes. So which was great because it is very very visual trucks so it worked really well. The green and yellow and they're really distinctive and for photography and stuff it was wonderful. Gabrielle: [00:12:18] This is pre-social media too. So blog content is really what the sponsor's getting. Then once I had that once I had built some of those trades I could actually start asking for money instead of trade. Gabrielle: [00:14:45] Trades are great, especially if you need it, but they don't buy groceries unless you're writing for grocery stores. I still I mean, I'm 12 years in, I'm established, I do this full time. I have plenty of paid sponsorships but I will still approach companies for a trade. If it's something that I need and I can get a great value out of that I'm totally fine with that. Jillian: [00:15:08] So give me an example of a trade that you recently did. How to approach brands about a trade as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:15:14] Sure, so I'm working on one right now for my boys' bedroom. My oldest son is getting home from two years abroad in Colombia. We haven't seen him for two years. He's been on a mission and he's getting home. Gabrielle: [00:15:27] We're redoing the boys' bedroom because while he's been gone it's been sort of half guestroom. It's just been in transition. So we're going OK he's getting home, he's older now. He probably won't even live in this room very long, but I want him to have a space when he gets home that feels like his own. You know just feel like he's got a spot. Gabrielle: [00:15:45] So I approached Room and Board, who I've worked with before and said, "Hey how about how about the social media package and blog package?" And I basically will price out OK I'm going to give you X number of post and X number of Facebook and X number of Instagram and I value that X number of dollars and then they'll trade for that amount of credit. Gabrielle: [00:16:08] And then I can use that to buy furniture and if I still have credit left over I could use it to buy additional product although usually I max it out. You know for the room, and it really gets decked out and have a good time. Jillian: [00:16:19] Got it. Gabrielle: [00:16:21] So that works great for me. I know I'm going to need to spend that money. It's great content. I know I can't buy groceries with it but that's fine. I can do other sponsorships for grocery money. Jillian: [00:16:32] So how often are you doing sponsored posts now? Gabrielle: [00:16:37] Oh it all depends. I feel like I aim for two to three a month right now seems to be a good amount. Jillian: [00:16:44] OK. And do you use a team of people to help you? Or are you the one taking the photographs? Hiring people to help with sponsored blog posts Gabrielle: [00:16:55] Yes and no. So I have had big teams in the past. I've had big teams of contributors and now I'm pretty barebones right now because I've shifted a lot of energy to Alt Summit. Gabrielle: [00:17:08] But basically what I have is I hire photographers, like I have a shoot for Room and Board tomorrow in store and I'll hire a photographer for that. Gabrielle: [00:17:16] So I have several local photographers here in the Bay Area that I know I can reach out to for basically a half day shoot, you know, come for two or three hours maybe up to four to shoot something at my house, or somewhere else other things I'd totally shoot myself. Gabrielle: [00:17:30] Often I'll shoot a shot recently for Stonyfield, my own kids. I'll shoot books myself. I shoot lots myself because I do things so last minute and that's just a function of a full life. I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but it's just a function of how full my life is right now. Gabrielle: [00:17:51] It's hard to hire out somethings like there are definitely posts where I think, Oh I definitely should have hired someone to do this and I didn't do it in time and now I've got to do it. You know what I mean. I didn't. Because where I can do something the day of or the night before, I can't really ask that of someone I'm hiring. Gabrielle: [00:18:09] So I do have a great food contributor Lindsay Rose Johnson. She's been with me for years and years and years. If I do have a food post and I give her enough time she's amazing it's not like she needs months, but I don't want to ask her the day of. So she's amazing. Gabrielle: [00:18:25] If I have a craft project Amy Christie is a longtime contributor for me, and she's great at shooting. If I have an idea for a DIY but I don't have time to execute it myself, she's fantastic. Gabrielle: [00:18:36] What I'm trying to do I put out a call for an editor. I got amazing applications and then haven't actually had time to hire someone. Gabrielle: [00:18:47] My hope is that I will hire someone that can really help maintain daily content where I can check in with like when I have like a longer form post that I really want to discuss. Gabrielle: [00:19:03] Because Design Mom has transformed. Now it's almost all long form, it's one post a day. You know that kind of thing. But there are some things where it would be no problem to get a contributor. Gabrielle: [00:19:13] Like if I'm doing a shopping post or it might be a roundup of things I've found online that other articles that kind of thing where I really could get help. And then when it's something where it needs to be my voice like we're discussing a social issue or a parenting issue that I can really get in and write that. Gabrielle: [00:19:32] So I'm hoping to build my team up again in a way that I can keep Design Mom vibrant but also concentrate a lot of time on Alt Summit. Jillian: [00:19:41] So I have to stop you. You do one long form blog post a day? Gabrielle: [00:19:51] That's a little bit of an exaggeration. So, long form compared to when I used to do three posts a day? Yes. Because my three posts a day were you know two or three paragraphs and a photo. Or it might even be one paragraph and a photo. Gabrielle: [00:20:07] And now, a longer form might be it's 1,000 words or 3000 words and tons of photos or only one photo and a long essay. They are definitely longer form. If I can do one of those a week that's terrific. Gabrielle: [00:20:21] A Home Tour I usually do on Tuesdays and I do have a man named Josh Bingham. He's been editor of those for a while and it's been great. So he can help with that. And really what he does is you know compile it and put it online so then I can edit it from there you know. Jillian: [00:20:40] Wow. Yeah I mean I was on your blog today looking at your content and I didn't realize that you were posting every day! Getting comfortable writing as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:20:48] Yeah. And then I don't know if we count a shopping post, like I get pretty verbose at this point I'm like where I went from not being able to write an essay when I started in 2006. I mean I have a bestselling book now. I write a ton. Gabrielle: [00:21:02] So writing, I'm not very fast in it but I am comfortable writing now. I did one on a recent blog post is on four picture books. It's pretty minimal writing. So I just took more time to do the photos and the writing. Gabrielle: [00:21:20] And then my Friday links. I don't know that we call that long form, they do take a ton of research it's basically me collecting links throughout the week that I think are compelling that I want to share with readers and I'll do some introductory. Jillian: [00:21:35] We have to discuss this. What does your work schedule look like? Especially how many kids do you have at home? Because I know a couple of them are grown, too. Gabrielle: [00:21:45] Well this summer I have five at home. So yes my oldest is on this mission in Columbia as I mentioned. My second just spent her freshman year at Berkeley, which is just across town so she was in the dorms but not too far and she's been home for the summer. Gabrielle: [00:22:01] She's working full time so I don't see a ton of her right now but she is around. So really it's just the four, a high schooler two middle schoolers and a third grader. Jillian: [00:22:14] OK. So could you explain what your life looks like. What life looks like as a blogger with six kids Gabrielle: [00:22:19] Sure. I mean it's pretty crazy but I want to start with, my husband and I both came from big families where both of us are one of eight. Jillian: [00:22:30] OK. Gabrielle: [00:22:31] Number 5 in line and number 7 in line in his in his family, so we were used to an element of chaos. It just was normal to us and we knew we wanted a big family. Gabrielle: [00:22:40] So for sure our days would be too chaotic for a lot of people, which I totally understand and I'm not advocating that anyone else needs to do this but but it's also kind of normal for us. Gabrielle: [00:22:51] So a day that might stress someone else out, might seem like pretty normal at our house. Gabrielle: [00:22:58] So in the summer it's going to be different than the school year obviously. Last week was pretty crazy. Three of the girls were doing this skateboarding camp and then they went directly to swim team and then they had play rehearsal. Gabrielle: [00:23:14] But the play ended this week is going to be much more casual we have it's a much easier week but the kids are all old enough now they really can take care of themselves. They need rides but they don't need babysitters. Gabrielle: [00:23:28] So they can get up. They can work on an activity. They might climb our trees, we have these pretty epic trees where you have to put on climbing gear. Gabrielle: [00:23:39] They might bake, they really love baking. They might put on a play or make a movie someday if they're in the mood to be creative, or they might try and sneak in as much screen time as they can and just watch YouTube videos. Gabrielle: [00:23:52] You know typical summer day stuff they I don't really have to like take time to feed them lunch you know. Dinner yes, we'll all gather for dinner. But they can kind of take care of themselves. Jillian: [00:24:03] But are you working? Are you working between carpool? Or are you saying guys, I am working. Gabrielle: [00:24:09] Well my husband and I both work at home. Jillian: [00:24:13] OK. Is he your partner? Does he do Alt Summit stuff? Gabrielle: [00:24:16] He is not. He is part of a startup called Teacher.co and he is super busy in that and they're about to do an ICO. And he has a jam packed schedule. Gabrielle: [00:24:29] Over the years he has, you know, like we had a series of videos called All Of Us. That we did for scripts. We did like 40 episodes and he was a producer for those so he has worked with me before but really he has his own things. Which is awesome. He's does amazing stuff. Jillian: [00:24:45] Ok but do you like kick your kids out and go guys go to work? Gabrielle: [00:24:48] Yeah, totally so the kids know, I'm sitting with my laptop I've got to get worked on and they know that. But my workday gets interrupted a lot to drive. They're going to get picked up. Oh we got to do these errands. Gabrielle: [00:25:01] So my workday never really looks like I start working at 9:00 I end up 5 with a lunch break. That's not a thing. It's going to be I'm going to work from 8 to 10. But then I know we have to go run these two errands and then from 11 I have a phone call and then you know at 1:00 o'clock I'll get two more hours on the computer. Gabrielle: [00:25:20] But then after that, I've got something with the kids or something and then you know at 7:00, I can work again for a few more hours. Yeah I mean it might look like that. Jillian: [00:25:28] Wow. Gabrielle: [00:25:29] So I have my list of things I need to get done. I usually make that you know I'll update that in the morning. I'll find out my priorities at the top, the things that have to get done that day right. Gabrielle: [00:25:44] Those go at the top and then I tackle as much as I can. But I have to build a lot of flexibility in my days because it's real life going on, so yes you work hours but you also got to get the kids to the ortho appointment. Jillian: [00:25:56] Totally! And then there's food poisoning that takes the whole house. Gabrielle: [00:26:03] Right and then we're just out of groceries and we just have to go to the store. And there are tools I know out there, we just had a package from Amazon Prime Pantry. Have you ever tried that? Jillian: [00:26:17] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:26:17] You know that was delivered yesterday so there are some things I can do to try to use these services and I'm sure I could be better at that especially here in the Bay Area where all these startups began. So you can kind of access them before they even expand it to the rest of the country. Gabrielle: [00:26:32] But really, I feel like we do a lot of this just we don't use tools that we just go, OK we just go to the grocery store. What is the Alt Summit Conference? Jillian: [00:26:41] So can we talk about Alt Summit? Which is a conference that I have always wanted to go to. It seems like it is just so beautiful and cool. Gabrielle: [00:26:53] It is. Jillian: [00:26:54] And so you started this. So you said to yourself I'm going to start a conference? Gabrielle: [00:27:00] Well pretty much. So basically what happened was again, it's early blogging we were in 2009. So I've been blogging for a few years. My sister is a blogger. Her name is Jordan Ferney. Her blog is Oh Happy Day. Jillian: [00:27:14] Oh I love her. Gabrielle: [00:27:15] Yes, she's amazing. And my sister-in-law, married to my brother Jared, is also a blogger from Say Yes, Liz Stanley. So we had this blogger family and we were all on a family trip, and we were again since 2009. I guess it actually would have been 2008 because the first conference happened in January of 2009. Gabrielle: [00:27:36] So in 2008 we were talking and talking about conferences, and I started to go to a couple I've been to BlogHer and then helped start Mom 2.0 that first year, although I'm not an organizer now but just helped out that first year. Gabrielle: [00:27:53] Laura Maiz who is one of the key organizers, she also owns a part of Alt Summit, she is a longtime business partner of mine. So anyway that's the connection there. Gabrielle: [00:28:02] But I'm talking with my siblings we're all talking about these conferences, and I said well I've been to these conferences. It's awesome but they're really focused on writers or maybe kind of moms. Gabrielle: [00:28:14] A lot of the design blogs I was reading like Apartment Therapy or as I mentioned Design Sponge, Oh Joy. All these blogs I was reading in 2006 you know they're not at these conferences. The design blogs are not there and they're not really geared to design blogs. Gabrielle: [00:28:30] And so and like Jordan, who didn't have kids at the time, and Liz, who didn't have kids at the time, why would they have gone to Mom 2.0 Summit. And even BlogHer, they didn't really know any of those bloggers. It wasn't quite the right fit for them. Gabrielle: [00:28:44] So we were saying well, what if we did a conference for the blogs we read. You know these design blogs because I overlap both worlds with the name Design Mom I get to be a mom blogger and design blogger. Gabrielle: [00:28:56] But they were just strictly in the design blogging thing and this is before we were really even saying lifestyle blogs. So my sister Sarah who is not a blogger, but is awesome at organizing things said, yeah let's do a conference. I can be the event or the event planner or the organizer. And you guys can handle the speakers and content. Gabrielle: [00:29:19] Liz and Jordan didn't necessarily want to be involved in that, but I totally did. So Sarah and I really started this conference where I handled all the content, the speakers the programming. And she did the planning and it was and great. It was awesome. Jillian: [00:29:36] The thing about the conference is it's so true. They sell out immediately. Gabrielle: [00:29:41] They really do. It's like a two hour thing. Although I have to tell you this year we expanded for the first time in a big way. We've always kept these very small and it's kind of been obnoxious. Gabrielle: [00:29:54] I mean it's awesome to sell out, but then we get just these you know sob stories that people they really want to get there, and they didn't happen to be available in that two hour mark. They were in a meeting or whatever the tickets are gone. Gabrielle: [00:30:04] And we knew it was a problem and we'd try and open more. You know it was it was just a struggle. So we're really excited because I think I've solved that. I mean we'll see. We'll see how this year goes. Gabrielle: [00:30:17] But I had this flash of insight at some point as we were looking at locations and saying are we going to stay in Palm Springs, is time to move? Gabrielle: [00:30:27] And all the really cool hotels in Palm Springs the ones that I really love, The Park at Palm Springs and the Ace Hotel and Saguaro, they're amazing and they're memorable and you just love being there. Jillian: [00:30:38] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:30:39] They're not really big enough for a conference Jillian: [00:30:42] No. Gabrielle: [00:30:42] In fact Alt Summit was at the Saguaro the last two years. And we knew we were too big, and as we do surveys basically people would say, you guys this was awesome but this hotel is not big enough. Gabrielle: [00:30:52] I mean like we know but if we move to another hotel. It's just they become so generic so fast. Jillian: [00:30:58] Yeah. Gabrielle: [00:30:59] So you're at a Ritz Carlton or a fancy Hilton or whatever, it's just a big hotel with you know regular ballroom spaces they are split into classrooms. And then you compare those to these special properties in Palm Springs. Jillian: [00:31:13] And by the way we just have to say for people who don't know. Palm Springs is like a mid century fantasy like it is a designer's dream place. I mean my husband and I just drive around and look at the architecture. Yes. So I understand why you do it in Palm Springs. Gabrielle: [00:31:33] And we've all you know we did it had a big fancy hotel in Salt Lake for many years. We loved it. It was gorgeous. You know a five star hotel. Amazing. It's not like we're opposed to that, but we know having done it at these more distinctive spaces that it makes a big difference. Gabrielle: [00:31:47] And our social shares when we move to the Saguaro which is this Rainbow Hotel, our social shares went up by 30 percent. Well because it's basically the most Instagramable spot on the planet right now. Gabrielle: [00:32:00] And anyway so I was trying to figure out what to do because if we wanted to get a hotel, as I said it's really hard to find a hotel that has big meeting spaces but that is still really special and that doesn't feel sort of run of the mill. Gabrielle: [00:32:13] And we could transfer to something like, oh let's have like more of a warehouse feel on a pier or something. Jillian: [00:32:19] Right. Gabrielle: [00:32:19] But then it's not a one day conference, it's a month at a conference and people want to congregate at a hotel where they can hang out. So we know this and we were really stuck on where to have this. Gabrielle: [00:32:33] And then I thought well what if it was at all the coolest hotels in Palm Springs. None of them have a big enough room for you for everybody. But what if there was enough classes going on simultaneously at different locations where there's enough room for more people. But we still have this small feel, small classes and these really cool spaces. [00:32:57] So I'm really excited. We've expanded. We're going to have three times as many people, we're going to have 2,000 people there. We'll have four locations. And then because of these multiple locations, we looked to South by Southwest. And I've been to South by Southwest multiple times. And I look to see kind of learn what I could from them. Gabrielle: [00:33:19] Part of what they do is they actually do a nine day program. Ours will only be six. But the point is that you have more time to move around these locations and to fill your schedule instead of just like pack into classes and kind of get overwhelmed and and not feel like you got to do everything you want to do. Gabrielle: [00:33:36] We could spread this out and give people more time. Because that's some of the feedback we've gotten. They love the content but they want to see every class and they can't because they're you know several going on at the same time and even when we've repeated and we have tried things like that they just want more. Gabrielle: [00:33:55] And so we're hoping this provides that we know six days is a long time, and we know that some people will only come for part of it which of course is no problem. And they'll it'll be worth their while however long they can come. But we're really excited about this. Gabrielle: [00:34:09] And we did contract with one very big space where we can do like massive keynotes or things like that but otherwise everyone will get to go to whatever class they want to at whatever location, and we'll have shuttles going. We're hoping to do some kind of like electric scooters and let people get to know the city as they drive around and get access to all the cool spots in town. Jillian: [00:34:40] What month is it? Is it in February? When do you do it Gabrielle: [00:34:43] Well it's actually March. So it's been in January for now eight years. Jillian: [00:34:51] OK. Gabrielle: [00:34:52] Well sorry, seven years than two years in February, and this year we're moving to March simply for logistics. It was the week that all of the properties we wanted were available the same time. What type of blogger is Alt Summit best for? Jillian: [00:35:03] Got it. And by the way there'll be a link in the show notes if you want to check it out. And if you were to say who the perfect person or different types of people who would get the most out of the summit, who are these people? Gabrielle: [00:35:18] So these are typically women it tends to be about ninety five percent women. So it's women. And these are people that are drawn to creative careers. Gabrielle: [00:35:28] Originally it was aimed at bloggers. But again as social media has changed, it really expanded. So all of a sudden Etsy shop owners wanted to come and and they were welcome, we did content for them and then people who are making their careers on Instagram or Pinterest, you know they were there in fact Pinterest. The the Web site launched at Alt Summit. Jillian: [00:35:48] I knew that! Yes. Ben Silbermann talked. Pinterest was launched at Alt Summit Gabrielle: [00:35:51] Yes. Well and I can tell you a segue just a brief thing about Ben. First he came just as an attendee. Jillian: [00:35:59] Yes. Gabrielle: [00:35:59] One of our early years and he was just kind of, you know, he's not like a crazy loud guy, he's just really nice. You know seems kind of like an introvert you know and he would just be approaching people quietly and say hey, I have this thing. Check it out. And it was very visual obviously it's Pinterest and so Alt Summit was all these visual bloggers. Jillian: [00:36:22] Right. Gabrielle: [00:36:23] And and so they would try it out and loved it because it is such a useful tool if you're a visual person and you know the idea of being able to have a pinboard, with all the things you love is so right up any visual person's alley. And so people loved it. Gabrielle: [00:36:37] And the next year he came back he was on a panel, and then the next year he was the keynote because Pinterest had exploded. Jillian: [00:36:46] OK so if you are in design or if you are an influencer or if you are an Etsy shop owner. Gabrielle: [00:36:55] Right. So I want to say creative entrepreneurs. So if you are trying to run a business and you tend to the visual or creative. So like some really beautiful baby product companies have come. Gabrielle: [00:37:10] I'm thinking of like Freshly Picked, they do moccasins and diaper bags and things like that. You know she came to Alt Summit many many years, learned her social media here learned a lot of her business skills there and has built a massive company. And I certainly can't credit all them for that. but that the type of person that comes. Gabrielle: [00:37:27] Solly Baby who does wraps as well as Tubby Todd. All these women come to Alt Summit. Those are baby products but I'm just saying they all require lots of visuals, they're all required a lot of creativity. They're going for like beautiful lifestyle kind of things. That's a great fit. Gabrielle: [00:37:43] Jessica Alba came when she was just launching Honest Company. It was such a great fit. And any of the cleaning companies that are really cool and visual if you think of Method or Mrs. Meyers they love to come to Alt Summit. You know it's this very design appreciative crowd. Alt Summit is for creative entrepreneurs Gabrielle: [00:38:01] So you might not be a designer yourself, but if you're like, yeah, but I love reading Emily Henderson's blog or I love reading Apartment Therapy, or whatever it might be, You're going to love this. Gabrielle: [00:38:13] It's people building their businesses but they're trying to build a creative business. So that means we're talking about how do you do photography and we have modeling classes. A lot of these people have to be in photos right you know. So it's and then you know how do you present yourself so there might be fashion. How do you do your makeup. Gabrielle: [00:38:30] All of this stuff ends up overlapping with creative entrepreneurs especially these days where you have to be everything right. You are the marketing team, you are the model. Jillian: [00:38:40] Yes. You are the editor, you are the voice. Gabrielle: [00:38:45] So we're teaching classes on how to do all this content creation how to photograph, how to write, how to do all that but also specific marketing things, like here's how to start an email list and here's what you should be accomplishing with your newsletter and that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:39:02] And then it might be OK. Well what about Instagram Facebook. You know maybe it's on Facebook content but then another one on Facebook ads and how to run those. Gabrielle: [00:39:12] And then of course a lot of these people have written books and they've gotten their book contracts by coming to Alt Summit. We often have publishers there, pretty much every year and they're often taking pitches. Gabrielle: [00:39:28] So like the Kinfolk Magazine, I brought my publisher there, Artisan Books, to Alt Summit and they met the Kinfolk team and ended up publishing Kinfolk recipe books. I want to say the big you know coffee table huge volumes. Gabrielle: [00:39:49] And I can give a million examples of those so if you're someone is thinking a book and it might be a novel but it's more likely like a coffee table book or you know that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:40:01] Darcy Miller who is the editor of Martha Stewart Weddings for you know the entire run basically of the magazine comes because she's launching her new creative career as a crafter and you know everyone comes. It's amazing. Gabrielle: [00:40:14] So we'll have fashion people there, and we'll have YouTubers there and we'll have Etsy shop owners, tons of crafters, often Joanne's comes in as as a sponsor and we'll just even have classes where you can just craft your heart out. The balance between Design Mom and Alt Summit Jillian: [00:40:28] That's amazing. Now, how much of your life is spent doing Design Mom and how much is spent doing Alt Summit? Gabrielle: [00:40:37] Well Alt Summit is such a seasonal thing that it's it's probably ends up being 50/50 but it doesn't it doesn't feel like that because the Alt Summit stuff ramps up as I get closer. Gabrielle: [00:40:46] So like for right after Alt Summit, I'll have a few months where I'm barely doing Alt Summit. The conference is over there's sort of that dead period where we're doing it a little bit of marketing and some follow up and that kind of thing. But mostly I can semi-ignore my inbox there. Gabrielle: [00:41:03] But then the closer we get, the more I have to do Alt Summit until I'm at a point where I'm barely functioning on Design Mom, I'm sure the readers are furious. Gabrielle: [00:41:17] Or I've hired friends to give me content for the week. You know like guest post, things like that because I just have to disappear. Gabrielle: [00:41:25] The issue is this year with this expansion of Alt Summit, which again I'm so excited about, I think about it all the time it's going to be amazing. I have even less time for Design Mom and it is a really tricky thing. Gabrielle: [00:41:41] Design Mom's comment sections are amazing the community there is so good, so vibrant, so interesting and I don't want to give it up, it's like personally super fulfilling for me. And also I think it's important. It's one of the only place on the Internet where you can discuss some of these hard things and not have fights break out in the middle of the comments you know. It's a really special place. Gabrielle: [00:42:04] So it's my biggest challenge this year is going to be figuring out how do I maintain Alt Summit in a way that feels authentic and that readers are happy with, but be able to devote a lot of time to it. Gabrielle: [00:42:15] And I think the biggest issue I have and it's always been true is to do sort of that background infrastructure stuff. How do you fit that in? It's almost like you have to shut down the blog for a couple of weeks to do some of the background stuff you know like to say to do your hiring and to get people trained, how do I fit that in with my normal daily schedule of posting working on Alt Summit taking calls with clients, things like that, I don't know. Gabrielle: [00:42:41] I've never been able to figure that out. Do you know what I mean? Jillian: [00:42:46] I do. And I guess one thing that I would love just to speak to you briefly is, you are visual and you are a designer and you make beautiful things and we kind of touched on this previously. Jillian: [00:42:59] Before we we started recording we were talking about podcasting because you're starting a podcast, and we just were talking about it and we were talking about this idea of my philosophy with podcasting is to press record and just let it happen. Jillian: [00:43:15] And if you know, kids come in or dogs bark or whatever, I'm going to leave it in because this is life and life is messy. How do you reconcile the fact that you've got six kids and as you're describing your day, no day seems like it's like the next day, and yet there's something beautiful to what you do. How to balance the mess and the beauty as a blogger Jillian: [00:43:34] And I would say my days are messy but it doesn't look that beautiful. And when I think of Alt Summit, I think it's so beautiful it's almost intimidatingly beautiful. How do you balance the mess and the beauty? Jillian: [00:43:48] Because I think a lot of influencers struggle with the fact that they go onto Instagram and everybody's life looks more beautiful than the next. And we all say well underneath it, it's probably not like that, but how would you speak to that? Gabrielle: [00:44:04] Yeah, I mean I've spoken to that quite a bit over the years and I don't know that I have a great answer, but I'll tell you give you some thoughts. Gabrielle: [00:44:14] You know, we do as just as consumers of content because yes, I Instagram but I also read Instagram right. I follow people and as consumers of content, we do love vulnerability and honesty and authenticity. But I feel like only to a certain degree. Gabrielle: [00:44:37] I think people think, no I want the real thing, the unvarnished and I don't believe that's true because I've tried it over the years. Again I'm in this 12 years, I've tried this kind of thing and I've seen other people try it and people want the vulnerability but they want a little bit controlled. Jillian: [00:44:57] Or packaged with a pretty bow. Gabrielle: [00:45:00] You don't mind seeing the laundry but you don't want to actually see the dirty underwear. Like it's like, I don't mind seeing there's a cute little basket that has laundry in it that needs to be done or a big pile on the couch but there's pretty filtered light or whatever. Gabrielle: [00:45:14] But I don't actually need a close up of your dirty laundry like no one wants that. And of course not, that's disgusting but that's true. Like I mentioned earlier, I write about depression, and I do and it's a real and very real it's part of my life but I rarely write about it or even mention it when I'm in the depths of despair. Writing about depression as a blogger Jillian: [00:45:36] Yep I get that. Gabrielle: [00:45:37] I'll write about it after, it when I feel like I've gotten things under control and been able to resolve it and think about it and can reflect on it carefully, and then I'll write about it and talk about this is what helped and this is what didn't help, and you know and be able to be helpful about it. Gabrielle: [00:45:52] If I just told you every time I was super depressed, it's just too depressing for everyone else. You know it's just awful. Gabrielle: [00:46:02] So I can write about it and they appreciate it and I can give them helpful things and I can acknowledge that this is real, and they don't need to be afraid of it, and they can fight it. And all these things and I don't need to have shame around it but they really only want to hear that when I'm through it. Jillian: [00:46:17] And you're on the other side with a little bit of a bow on you. Gabrielle: [00:46:20] A little bit. And now now that's not always totally true. It depends on the platform and you know that kind of thing because if this is just my friends on Facebook on my personal Facebook page and I was you know in the depths of despair and just said Hey guys I need a little love. Help me out. Well you know like that's no problem. And I can really be in the depths of despair but I don't feel like I could do that on Design Mom. I mean maybe a tiny bit but not really. Gabrielle: [00:46:49] So it is real and messy behind the scenes and I don't think people really want to see it as much as they claim that they do. And so yes you can be vulnerable and honest and authentic in all these things. But I mean I get on Instagram I have different needs on different platforms right. Gabrielle: [00:47:07] Like on Twitter, I'm mostly just looking for news stories. I feel like I get the headlines fastest there versus even going to news apps you know. So I like news headlines and I like just funny, like people are funny responses and it's makes me laugh. Gabrielle: [00:47:25] On Facebook I use it more as a personal thing, so it's going to be like someone's birthday or it's you know someone had a baby or that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:47:38] And then on Instagram, I'm looking for pretty pictures and inspiration. Jillian: [00:47:42] Right. Gabrielle: [00:47:43] So content I make. Of course I try to use pretty pictures, but the things that get the best response is when I'm discussing sometimes heavy things like again social issues or politics or that kind of thing. Gabrielle: [00:47:55] But me as a consumer, I'm just looking for pretty pictures and other people are too, and I know if they don't follow me, I totally get it because they might just be like, No I'm just looking for pictures of parties or pictures of vacations or whatever that might be right. And that's totally fine, you can get whatever you want out of those things. But if I'm if I'm on Instagram, I just want pretty and someone is showing me their dirty laundry. I'm going to be like, no. Dealing with jealousy as a blogger? Jillian: [00:48:22] OK. Do you ever have that thing where you see somebody who does beautiful things and do you ever get that pang of jealousy or I wish I had done that. Gabrielle: [00:48:37] 100 percent. I don't know how to do that beyond human nature right. This is just how it is. Jillian: [00:48:44] But again I just have to say you are Design Mom, you created Alt Summit. I want to hear you too feel that way? Gabrielle: [00:48:51] For sure. So for me it's so I'll see something and I'll go. It might be business related right. I'll see. Like even the podcast. I'm working on this podcast but I've been trying to, I knew I needed to do this a year ago. I'd already gotten feedback about this and then had it confirmed again earlier this year. Gabrielle: [00:49:11] But again I've known this for a long time and so I'll see someone announce a podcast, or do something and think, I'm so behind, you know like that kind of stuff will kill me. Gabrielle: [00:49:20] Or if I see someone just doing something really smart on Instagram and I'm just a slacker on Instagram, and I'll feel like business guilt, like I know I could have a bigger following, and that would be better for me but also for sponsors and it's better for the business in general. Gabrielle: [00:49:35] But I'm not doing it and I'll feel that sort of business owner guilt, you know which I think if you a business owner you know what that is because there's always your list is never done. There's always something. Gabrielle: [00:49:44] Oh I should be optimized for SEO in these ten steps that I'm not doing, I'm only doing three of the steps, you know or whatever it might be, or I was doing a newsletter every month and then I had to take a break. Gabrielle: [00:49:56] And I'm feeling guilty because I see someone else's cute newsletter come out and I think I know I could get help with this and hire it out and get this done and why have I done that? So I definitely feel that kind of thing from a business perspective. Jillian: [00:50:08] And how about like somebody is launching a line of party supplies for Target? Gabrielle: [00:50:14] Why can't I have that? Why haven't I worked with Target before. Am I not good enough? And you start questioning yourself, should I be pitching is that where I should be spending my time? Gabrielle: [00:50:22] And then again business questions on like, is that how to make money, or is it better to sponsor posts or should I be doing some subscription service somewhere? You know where they get a box? Or you know trying to figure out those questions because you are trying to build a business and provide for your family. Gabrielle: [00:50:38] Yeah those kind of things can drive me crazy. And then you have the personal stuff, like you see someone, maybe I've had a day where like I've just really been glued to the computer. I had a bunch of deadlines had to get stuff done and I get on Instagram and someone's made cookies with their kids, and I'm like, I'm like the worst mom. My kids have been have been on YouTube all day. Gabrielle: [00:51:04] I haven't even talked to them, you know, I don't even remember even saying words to them this morning. I got right on my computer. And you just feel like a jerk you know. Gabrielle: [00:51:13] I mean that's just I don't know what to say. But I think everyone's going to fill that and I definitely take social media breaks and I'm not supposed to as a business owner. Jillian: [00:51:27] As an influencer, I know I do the same. By the way, I do the same. Take a break from social media as a blogger Gabrielle: [00:51:29] But I have to I think it's just kind of kills me sometimes so I'll take breaks, the easiest one for me to not take breaks from is Twitter because I don't follow anyone like that where it like. It's not really visual and I'm not following any of my business peers or really influencers. Gabrielle: [00:51:48] It's like again, I'm there for news or different things so I'm fine to get on Twitter and never throws me off like that. But Instagram can kill me. Oh my gosh or I'll see someone on vacation. Jillian: [00:52:00] Well for me on Facebook seeing people on vacation and I don't know why, because I go on vacation. But something about here's our family in Rome kills me. Gabrielle: [00:52:11] Yes. Or if I see a couple and I think when's the last time I took a vacation just with me and Ben Blair you know, where we got to get away. And I'm sure we should do that and keep our marriage healthy you know. I don't know how to avoid that. Gabrielle: [00:52:27] I know Facebook is a trigger for some people definitely Instagram is mine. Jillian: [00:52:30] Facebook is mine. Gabrielle: [00:52:32] Yeah. Jillian: [00:52:36] Well I have to say, I so appreciate your honesty about this because I have to tell you that I've been a writer forever, I was a writer in Hollywood for a lot of years so the written word is very comfortable to me. Jillian: [00:52:52] But visually, really I've always felt inadequate. And so to hear you say that you too have these feelings is so comforting and you are the brains behind Alt Summit, which I have always wanted to go to, but also feel like I don't know, I'd feel like a poser. Gabrielle: [00:53:12] No you would love it! Why we fake things as a blogger Jillian: [00:53:14] I say this to my daughter all the time. We'll be doing a sponsored post, and I'll be shooting something for Instagram and it will be a lava cake. There was this lava cake I had to make. Guess what? It got stuck, ultimately it didn't flow out so you know what. I faked it. Jillian: [00:53:35] I had some floaty stuff and I put the cake on top of it and I said to my daughter come in here, I want to show you this. This is fake and I want you to know that it's going to look good and it's going to look as if this stuff oozed out beautifully and that it totally worked. And this is fake. And I wanted to be a teaching moment. Why. Gabrielle: [00:53:58] Did she get it? Jillian: [00:53:59] She totally got it. And by the way, that post is up on Catch My Party and it doesn't say that I faked this. Gabrielle: [00:54:05] Well I don't blame you. I mean look, that's anyone who shot a photo ever of anything must understand that right outside the frame is chaos and mess. That's just the reality. Gabrielle: [00:54:18] And that was true long before blogs. I worked in New York I was in art direction. We do shoots for magazines, we do shoots for, you know all editorial and all kinds of stuff, and it's just a chaotic mess outside the frame period. It has nothing to do with being an influencer. That's just the nature of creation and photography. Gabrielle: [00:54:38] It's art. Think you have a beautiful piece of art on the wall at a museum. But to create that the mess that the artist made in their studio, was going to be nuts is going to be insane. And so that's that's how it is. Gabrielle: [00:54:51] So if you're if you're going to be someone who creates content and as a business person or an artist or just a creative, there's going to be a mess. Gabrielle: [00:55:01] And if you are a reader or consumer of social media or blogs or whatever it might be and you don't understand that this is pretend, it's every bit as pretend as the magazines you used to read. And that was the thing. Then you're there you're not being fair, you're not coming to this as a fair participant because no one has ever said this is my life all the time. Jillian: [00:55:33] So yes and I would say that for my daughter who is impressionable at 11. These are important teaching moments. Gabrielle: [00:55:42] For sure and for sure my kids know all of that because they're part of the shoots often. And so they know. All right everyone pretend we like each other. Jillian: [00:55:50] Exactly the number of times I've told my daughter to smile with gritted teeth, look like you like the pudding. Gabrielle: [00:56:03] And you know my kids just finished a play. They were in a play this week and they were three performances. It's the same thing. I had nothing to do with the play, had nothing to do with me. It was a big production. It was you know lots of adults they were kind of this children's chorus. Gabrielle: [00:56:17] And and you were at these rehearsals and it's a mess, and it's everything is behind schedule and blah blah blah. Like this is creativity. This is what it looks like. And they have to get on stage and pretend to be in a good mood even though the rehearsal went two hours too long and they're tired. And you know what I mean, like and they should have been in bed. Gabrielle: [00:56:38] This is not just blogging it's not just Instagram. This has always been the thing and it always will be as far as I can tell. I don't know how else to do it. It's the same with any creative endeavor, if you're a writer. You have these horrible messy drafts. Red ink everywhere and then you end up with this beautiful book. Jillian: [00:56:58] Totally I would say this. This thing which is I was a screenwriter, and I would finish a project. And it would be done and it would be and it would be great. Jillian: [00:57:09] And then I would start a new project and it would suck at the beginning and I would think to myself every single time, I lost it. I don't know I don't do this anymore because I was at the beginning. Gabrielle: [00:57:23] Yeah. Jillian: [00:57:24] And I'd forgotten. Gabrielle: [00:57:26] You are someone that's going to consume any content anywhere that was created as a creative endeavor, and whether again it's a fashion show or writing or a movie or whatever it was an enormous mess caused you know in order to create this thing. Jillian: [00:57:44] Right. And I bet you sucked at the beginning. Gabrielle: [00:57:45] And I'm sure the beginning, the first drop was awful and the first you know try the first photo was awful, and you know what. This is how it is if you're going to consume this stuff and pretend that's not true. Gabrielle: [00:57:56] That somehow, this book came into being perfectly. Or this movie came into being on the first take or whatever it is, I can't do anything to help you. You're living in a different world than I am if that's the case. Gabrielle: [00:58:13] But that said, and I understand that the feelings of jealousy or inadequacy are totally real. And they were real before Instagram. Gabrielle: [00:58:33] You know that or at work because it's the same reasons you didn't get the promotion or you didn't get picked for this project or whatever it might be. The feelings of inadequacy, the comparison, the all of that. That's not a new thing that has been with us forever. And I assume will be with us forever. Gabrielle: [00:58:51] And if you need to take a break from social media, take a break. It will be there when you get back you know it'll be waiting for you. Jillian: [00:58:59] I agree. All right. So Gabrielle this is terrific. How can people reach out to you see what you're doing, all of that? Gabrielle: [00:59:07] You bet. So the blog is still my favorite spot because I own it. And the algorithms can't change it. So yeah you can always go to DesignMom.com to see the latest, I post there very frequently and I'm pretty decent at responding to comments so feel free to check in with me there. Gabrielle: [00:59:23] I'm also on Facebook at Design Mom Blog, is my page on Instagram I'm Design Mom on Pinterest. I'm Design Mom I'm active on all of them. But if you want to see it first it's usually on the blog. Buying a ticket to Alt Summit Jillian: [00:59:34] OK and if they want to learn about Alt Sumit, are tickets on sale now? Gabrielle: [00:59:40] They are on sale now and prices are going to go up and up. So if you want them, now is the time to get them. The handles are all Alt Summit on all social. Gabrielle: [00:59:52] But the web address is actually altitudesummit.com which was the original name so it was originally Altitude Design Summit and then we're going to start calling it Alt Summit which is much easier to say. Gabrielle: [01:00:02] But yes, so tickets are on sale if you've ever been before. There is an alumni discount available because we know this was kind of a leap in price if you weren't used to it. Gabrielle: [01:00:13] But even for everywhere else this is the best price you're going to get, whether you've been there or not. Right now the best prices the best price you're going to get. It's going to start going up per month. Gabrielle: [01:00:23] Again modeling that on South by Southwest, seeing how other longer conferences do that. So this is definitely a learning year for us. But I just was on the call this morning about some content programming and it's really going to be epic. Gabrielle: [01:00:39] With Alt Summit, the goal has been to amplify women's voices and kind of what they're doing, the projects they're working on, and bringing attention to what they're doing which is still my goal. Gabrielle: [01:00:50] And this is going to allow us to not just focus on cool things entrepreneurs are doing, and cool things brands are doing, but you know what are cool films women are making, and what are cool bands and cool music women are making, and you know if you're if you're a woman and you're doing something really interesting, maybe it's a nonprofit maybe you're a writer. I want you there I want you there telling your story. Gabrielle: [01:01:14] Getting to know people and you can build your business or also just again amplify your message, amplify whatever it is you've created. So I'm really excited. It's going to be epic. Jillian: [01:01:25] Oh Gabrielle, thank you so much for being on the show. Gabrielle: [01:01:29] Thank you so much for having me. What a treat to talk to you. Please share The Blogger Genius Podcast with your friends Jillian: [01:01:32] If you are liking The Blogger Genius Podcast, then please subscribe. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, really anywhere you get your podcasts, and please share it with your friends. Jillian: [01:01:45] If you have a blogger friend or an entrepreneur friend that you think would like it. Please get the word out, and if there are guests you'd like be to have just email me at Jillian@MiloTree.com. I would love to hear from you. So thanks for supporting the show. How to grow your authentic Instagram followers fast and free with MiloTree Jillian: [00:36:00] Are you trying to grow your social media followers and email subscribers? Well if you've got two minutes I've got a product for you. It's MiloTree. Jillian: [00:36:09] MiloTree is a smart pop up slider that you install on your site and it pops up and asks visitors to follow you on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Pinterest, or subscribe to your list. Jillian: [00:36:24] It takes two minutes to install. We offer a WordPress plugin or a simple line of code and it's Google friendly on mobile and desktop. Jillian: [00:36:34] So we know where your traffic is coming from. We show Google-friendly pop-up on desktop and a smaller Google-friendly pop up on mobile. Check it out. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

 In this episode, five wonderful women with five different professions join a panel at WOW Apollo to have a conversation about their own experiences of success.   They share their personal stories and talk powerfully about how: you can create your success as your life changes and that you are the architect of your life  being motivated by their upbringing  and family commitments  to meet a new version of yourself  Negative motivators can be a positive motivator  your access to success is to keep moving  success can also be a burden  knowing can be an obstacle  life is about learning lessons  important is self-care     Information of the Panelist and Social Media information    Malene Barnett  Studio B - Award winning Interior designer    Malene is Founder and Design Director of Malene B, a company specializing in handcrafted custom carpets, inspired wallcoverings and artisan tiles. Her luxe creations have enlivened premier hotels, iconic office buildings, and sophisticated private spaces. , She has been featured in Huffington Post and Design Sponge columns, in both national and international press.    instagram https://www.instagram.com/maleneblifestyle/ website : https://www.maleneb.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maleneblifestyle/ twitter: https://twitter.com/maleneblife    Dr. Shalei Simms, Assistant VP of Academic Affairs at Suny College at Old Westbury. Her work has been featured in such publications as Group Decisions and Negotiations journal andInternational Perspectives of Social Entrepreneurship Research. She sits of the Board of Managers on the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA. She was also a member of the Supervisory Committee of the Teachers Federal Credit Union one of the largest credit unions in the country.   Kimberly Seals Allers, Award winning Journalist, Author,  Speaker and communications consultant advocate for breastfeeding and infant health. A former senior editor at ESSENCE and writer at FORTUNE magazine.  She has just published her fifth book, The Big Let Down—How Medicine, Big Business and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding.  She is the author of The Mocha Manual series.  The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy was nominated for a NAACP Image Award. The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit and The Mocha Manual to Military Life.    instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/iamksealsallers/ website:  http://www.kimberlysealsallers.com twitter : https://twitter.com/iamKSealsAllers   Tanique Blair,  - VP of  Business Operations and Planning at Nickelodeon.  Tanique is a 17 year Nickelodeon veteran, has overseen the Preschool Toy, Amusement, and Musical Instrument businesses, working on mega hits like Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and managed relationships with top industry leaders including, Mattel, Fisher Price, Matchbox and Power Wheels.    Regina Fleming - Award winning Photographer, CEO of Regina Fleming Photography   Regina is a former model and actress, a motivational speaker, and a marathon runner. Over a 20 year span, she has appeared in hundreds of publications including, O Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Forbes and Essence. Regina was first place at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) Awards of Excellence Print Competition for both her wedding and portrait photography. She is a graduate of the distinguished Tory Burch Foundation and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program.   Instagram  @reginafleming photography  Website WWW.REGINAFLEMINGPHOTOGRAPHY.COM     She's Got Drive is produced by Cassandra Voltolina and music by Blonde. Artwork by Natasha Merrifield   Listen on iTunes, Podbean, Stitcher and Google Play and SoundCloud    You're invited to visit shirleymcalpine.com  for a free download of ebook ‘3 Top Tips on How to be a Woman with Drive'   To connect with me and the She's Got Drive community  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shirleymcalpineconsulting/ She's Got Drive Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/shesgotdrive/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel @shirleymcalpine on Twitter:https://twitter.com/shirleymcalpine #shesgotdrivepodcast   

Design Sponge is one of those sites I look to - not only for inspiration in my daily life, but also as a blogger. Grace Bonney, the founder, always seems to get it right. She seems to possess an effortless access to parts of her brain that I have spent several decades searching for. (I'm still looking.) And yet, she remains completely approachable. Grace and I talk quite a bit about dieting - we discuss her eating disorder growing up, and food as medicine with Type 1 Diabetes. She is married to the food writer and private chef Julia Turshen, so of course I am picking her brain about that. Theme music is by Podcast Guest Goh Nakamura. Keep in touch via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @mslynnchen. xo Lynn

Grace Bonney is the founder and editor-in-chief of Design*Sponge and the author of the new book In the Company of Women.  In this episode, we talk about Grace's new book - what she learned from interviewing over 100 female creative entrepreneurs, what was the most surprising, and what her goals were for undertaking such a project (with a super quick turnaround!). We also talk about the evolution of Design*Sponge and how she's stayed true to her own voice throughout the years (even when it was risky to do so!). Bonus topics include: how she got over her fear of rejection, how she stays centered, and the value of different kinds of supportive communities. Such good stuff!! Thanks, Grace!   Show Notes: Design*Sponge: Website | Instagram In the Company of Women: Book | Tour Grace's podcast After the Jump Nikki Giovanni Stacy London's article How I moved on from my What Not to Wear style on Refinery 29 100 Rejection Letters (exclusive $50 off offer for podcast listeners using discount SAYYES) Subscribe in itunes Get your Invite to join the RYHSY FB group

Grace Bonney, founder of Design*Sponge, shares how she built a thriving online community and why it's important to have diverse voices in entrepreneurship. Full episode show notes are available at TheIntrovertEntrepreneur.com/2016/10/06/Ep131-grace-bonney-designsponge

Not gonna lie...kind of fan-girled while interviewing this amazing Boss Girl...take a listen as I interviewed Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. BGC ANNOUNCEMENTS * Welcome to the 67th episode of the Boss Girl Creative Podcast!! Today, I'm interviewing Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge. * Have comments or questions? Tweet/IG using the hashtag #BOSSGIRLQA or call in: (707) BOSS-GIRL * Support Boss Girl Creative endeavors by joining the BGC Crew! * Join me in the Facebook Group on Wednesday nights at 9pm CST for a live Q&A answer session!! Send me your questions through email, phone or #BOSSGIRLQA on Twitter/Instagram * Want a direct link to the podcast feed? Click here. * Use these Hashtags on Social Media: #bossgirlcreative #bossgirlchat INSIDE THIS EPISODE * Grace & the Design*Sponge journey * Design/Interior trends * Fun, informal content has a home * Challenges within - respecting the web * Learning to be a better boss * Finding a balance of being a boss * Passion points for employees - good thing or bad thing? * Always listen to your gut * Importance of independence * Having control over daily schedule * Taking responsibility for your brand * The power of having therapy in your life * To use the block button? * Acknowledging fear * Finding balance * Giving up on planning & why * Not reading contracts closely * Helpful tools * Be easy on yourself RESOURCES MENTIONED Exposure Therapy Google Docs Boomerang Grace's Book - In the Company of Women SHOUT-OUTS Amy Azzarito Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! Nikki Giovanni Lucy Feagins - The Design Files Rachel Maddow Jenna Lions (JCrew) FIND TAYLOR ONLINE Blog - pinkheelspinktruck.com Instagram - @pnkheelspnktrk Facebook - PinkHeelsPinkTruck Pinterest - pnkheelspnktrk Twitter - @pnkheelspnktrk FIND GRACE ONLINE Blog - DesignSponge.com Twitter - @designsponge Facebook - DesignSponge Pinterest - @DesignSponge Instagram - @DesignSponge Book - In the Company of Women HELP SPREAD THE BOSS GIRL LOVE! It would be amazeballs if you shared Boss Girl Creative Podcast with your fellow Boss Girls on twitter. Click here to tweet some love! If you love this podcast, head on over to iTunes and kindly leave a rating, a review and subscribe! WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BOSS GIRL CREATIVE PODCAST Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via Boss Girl Creative Newsletter Click here to subscribe via Stitcher FEEDBACK + PROMOTION You can ask your questions and leave your comments by either calling (707) BOSS-GIRL, emailing hello@bossgirlcreative.com or go to the Boss Girl Creative Facebook group!

This episode of CraftSanity was recorded before a live audience at the Creative Conference of Entrepreneurs in Seattle. My guest was the Megan Reardon, creator of the popular Not Martha blog she launched in 2001 as a place to keep track of her many crafty projects and lifestyle interests. Nine years later, Megan's blog has received mentions from high traffic sites including Daily Candy, Fred Flare, Boing Boing, Apartment Therapy, and Metafilter, and has been nominated for several Bloggie awards. Megan's site was named one of the Coolest Websites of 2006 by Time magazine. On this episode of CraftSanity, you'll find out about Megan's creative life that has included stints sewing opera costumes in Santa Fe, building corporate websites in San Francisco, and running a small knitting supplies business in her current home of Seattle, where she is a founding member of the Grassroots Business Association. She has published patterns in Knitty.com (The Hallowig ranks among my favorites!) and in several knitting books. She contributed projects to ReadyMade and FamilyFun magazines, and has also blogged for ReadyMade and Design Sponge. Megan also creates awesome projects for Holidash.com, including this Felt Dahlia Brooch. Thanks to Megan for being the first guest to record with me before a live audience and for sharing her story with us! Also thanks to the conference organizers who hosted the conference. It was great to be a part of the event and meet so many talented and creative people in person. I will be posting more little bits about people I met in the coming weeks. I have a little project to finish in the meantime.