Many of you have been asking me about the inspiration behind the vulnerable, deeply personal tone of my brand. “What books and podcasts influenced this direction?” is a question I’ve fielded a lot this month.
So I sat down and journaled about this. And ended up writing ten pages.
When I looked down at my list, what struck me most is this: all my influencers are women. Every. Single. One.
From personal mentors to strangers at the grocery store. Even the fictional stories that have touched me the most starred girls and goddesses, saints and sorceresses, women and witches.
It’s not insignificant that all of my creative influencers are women.
My journey towards developing my worldview, chasing my calling as a creator, and shaping my personal brand has been decades long. It began when I was unruly and wild, six years old with messy hair and huge pink glasses that wouldn’t stay up on my teeny nose.
I spoke my longing the only way I knew how- through art. I would draw pictures of castles and orphan girls while stately white men white men in stiff suits delivered sermons that went way over my head.
Women weren’t given a voice in my community, so I created them from scratch to fill the void.
In my conservative childhood circle, women couldn’t preach or teach. Even the books we studied were written exclusively by men. Every now and then my pastors preached about influential women. But even then, those women served as supporting characters to the real male heroes of the stories.
I learned from an early age to hide my voice and submit to the louder, conventionally smarter men in my life. I felt mistrusting of my own feelings and starving for a worldview that encompassed my experience. I was searching for the Divine Feminine.
So how did I get from those stiff church pews to here: sprawled on my sun-soaked bed in my crop top and cuttoffs, effortlessly listing dozens of badass women who have nurtured my voice? And who are these women? What are their creations? What are their stories? How did they get there?
These questions feel so important to me that I’ve decided to devote every Wednesday to a woman influencer in my life.
Every last Wednesday on my Instagram and blog, I’ll share a post about the women in my life who have most deeply influenced my path as a creative. I plan on doing this until I run out of names….which means I’ll be doing this indefinitely. Because there are that many queens who have changed me.
Wanna learn more?
Follow me on Instagram, or sign up for mailing list to receive my weekly newsletter which will feature this new series.
How do you feel about this idea? Who are your women role models? Who do you hope to see featured in my new series? Sound off in the comments below!
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