Austin Woman MAGAZINE | july 2016
“I am not my hair. I am not my skin. I am the soul that lives within.” – India Arie
Austin Thyroid & Endocrinology ENDOCRINOLOGY
is the science of hormones, substances released by glands that regulate every cell in your body, for both men and women. Examples of endocrine diseases: thyroid disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome and obesity, hirsutism, menopause, pituitary and adrenal pathology, low testosterone in males, andropause and impotence, polycystic ovaries, recurrent kidney stones, irregular or lack of menstrual periods, high and low calcium, diabetes. We provide a comprehensive assessment of your hormone balance, in-house hormone testing, thryoid ultrasound, and bone density testing.
THYROID DISEASE affects thirty million Americans, half of which do not know they have the disease. Examples: hypo and hyperthyroidism, Graves and Hashimoto disease, goiter, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Each person has a different genetic set point for TSH. Thyroid problems require lifelong attention. We are the premiere thryoid clinic in Austin, and offer the latest treatment for thyroid disease, aggressive management of thyroid cancer with radioactive iodine and second opinion consults for thyroid surgery.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR TSH?
HAVE YOU SEEN AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST?
OPTIMAL HEALTH BIOLOGICAL AGE
deals with your health before disease prevention or treatment.
OSTEOPOROSIS
is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break. Osteoporosis affects one in two women and one in four men over 50 and is generally missed. Bone fracture is the “heart attack” of the bone. New treatments reduce the risk of fracture and build new bone. A bone density test is the only way to test for osteoporosis. We have the latest bone density testing equipment in Texas, and provide instant bone metabolism, medical consultation, and treatment options.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR BONE DENSITY?
Optimal health is the ideal, yet achievable, health of your body as you reach middle age and beyond. Your biological age is a measure of how well your body functions, compared to your actual calendar age. Our specialized equipment allows us to measure and evaluate your biological age, a composite of your brain age, bone age, heart age, and vessel age. We help you achieve your optimal health, a major factor in the quality of your life as you age.
TEST YOUR BIOLOGICAL AGE TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL HEALTH.
DR. SIMONE SCUMPIA, FACE, FRCP BOARD CERTIFIED IN ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM Fellow American College of Endocrinology Fellow Royal College of Physicians Assciate Clinical Professor of Medicine
2200 Park Bend Drive • Building 3, Suite 300 Austin, TX 78758 • behind North Austin Medical Ctr. Mon-Fri, 7 am to 4 pm • www.austinthyroid.com
512.467.2727
IN-HOUSE
Hormone Testing Thyroid Ultrasound Bone Densitometry Total Body Fat Analysis Radioactive Iodine Treatment
Accepting New Patients
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Featured item: The Hystrix dining table design by Giorgio Cattelan for Cattelan Italia. Table base of intricately woven rebar finished in a clear lacquer and supporting an extra clear glass top with unique reverse bevel detail. Simply stunning. Various sizes.
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Don’t get sidelined by injuries Walking, running, jumping, stretching, leaning, bending, pulling, pushing … any repetitive motion can cause wear and damage to your musculoskeletal system. The sport you love could be taking its toll on your body. Using advanced diagnostic equipment and computerized technologies, the orthopedic sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers and physical therapists at Baylor Scott & White Health can treat all of your sports injuries—no matter how complex. Pursue your passion in top form with proper orthopedic care. Call 512.509.TEAM (8326) or visit sportsmedicine.sw.org to find out more.
300 University Blvd., Round Rock, TX 78665 Photography may include models or actors and may not represent actual patients. Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of those medical centers, or Baylor Scott & White Health. ©2016 Baylor Scott & White Health. BSWROUNDROCK_34_2016 SOM
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58
On the cover
STANDING MOTIVATION By steve uhler
68
feature
RAISING A CITY
Photo by Andrew Chan.
By april cumming
Contents
Photo courtesy of ELM Press.
JUly
78 on the scene
GOURMET
23 KRISTY’S TOP 10
75 r ecipe reveal Local Concoctions 78 FOOD NEWS Irresistible Irene’s
July’s To-do List
savvy women 28 c ount us in Women in Numbers 30 let’s taco ’bout it Sara Hirsh Bordo 32 G IVE BACK Bloom Communications 34 Profile TeVido BioDevices 36 Profile Sallie Krawcheck
MUST LIST 39 D iscover 44 R OUNDUP
wellness 81 nutrition Pop-up Shop 84 H EALTH Bugs Bite!
POINT OF VIEW 86 m emo from JB A Happier Life 88 i am austin woman With Open Arms
Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Summer Lovin’
46 L ITTLE LUXURIES
The Little Posey
style + HOME 48 THE LOOK Let There Be White 52 Beauty Main Squeeze 54 Entertaining Friendly Feasting 12 | Austin Woman | july 2016
on the cover Free People blue dress, $128, available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com; denim jacket, $19.99, available at Target stores, target.com. Photo by Andrew Chan, chaninator.com Styled by Ashley Hargrove, dtkaustinstyling.com Hair and makeup by Missy Nyberg, forbiddenmakeup.com
ESCAPE
T H E ORDINARY
STOREFRONT COMING JULY 2016 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
507 W. MARY ST. AUSTIN, TX 78704
FLORAL CLASSES | SPECIAL DELIVERIES | WEDDINGS
margotblairfloral.com
Volume 14, issue 11 Co-Founder and Publisher Melinda Maine Garvey vice president and Co-Publisher Christopher Garvey associate publisher Cynthia Guajardo Shafer
EDITORIAL Editor Emily C. Laskowski associate Editor April Cumming copy editor Chantal Rice contributing writers
Sarah E. Ashlock, Andrew Barlow, Leslie Beasley, Steve Habel, JB Hager, Trinity King, Kelly E. Lindner, Stephanie Coultress O’Neill, Rachel Rascoe, Gretchen M. Sanders, Shelley Seale, Victoria Stowe, Steve Uhler
ART CREATIVE Director Niki Jones ART DIRECTOR Lucy Froemmling ART assistant Megan Bedford CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Rudy Arocha, Julian Bajsel, Andrew Bennett, Bonnie Berry, Andrew Chan, John Davidson, A.E. Fletcher, Ashley Hargrove, Mark Knight, Amy Mesla, Dustin Meyer, Missy Nyberg, Lucy Paige, Ted Parker Jr., Courtney Pierce, Erik Pronske, Annie Ray, Denise Roberts, Amy Russell, Allison V. Smith, Stu Smith, Victoria Villarreal, Jessica Wetterer, A.J. Whitney
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Katie Paschall, Jessica Price
operations and marketing Operations and Marketing manager
Maggie Rester Operations and Marketing ASSISTANT
Chelsea Bucklew Interns
Daniela Covian, Savannah Fields, Melody He, Trinity King, Danielle Ransom, Hannah Shih, Kylie Smith, Victoria Stowe
Emeritae Co-Founder Samantha Stevens Editors
Deborah Hamilton-Lynne, Mary Anne Connolly, Elizabeth Eckstein Austin Woman is a free monthly publication of AW Media Inc., and is available at more than 1,250 locations throughout Austin and in Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville. All rights reserved. For submission requirements, visit awmediainc.com/contribute. No part of the magazine may be reprinted or duplicated without permission. Visit us online at austinwomanmagazine.com. Email us at info@awmediainc.com. 512.328.2421 • 3921 Steck Ave., Suite A111, Austin, TX 78759
From the Editor
Mister Rogers said that, and sometimes, I wish I could transport myself back to the world that was just another beautiful day in his neighborhood. Unfortunately, I’ve read the aforementioned quote from the virtuous Fred Rogers too often in the aftermath of atrocities. Shortly before we went to press with this issue, 49 innocent human beings lost their lives in a single, senseless attack in Orlando, Fla. While I believe Mister Rogers was right about the helpers—exemplified recently by Floridians lining the streets to donate blood and off-duty nurses rushing to hospitals to provide life-saving support—I feel angry and frustrated because severe, savage acts of brutality continue to bombard us. Although I know deep down that small moments of kindness can change lives, I’ve still guiltily wondered if any of it is truly making a difference. Am I alone in feeling this way? People are doing good
Join the conversation @eclaskowski @austinwoman #IAmAustinWoman
16 | Austin Woman | july 2016
things, brave things, astounding things (Read our cover story on the inimitable Lizzie Velasquez for homegrown proof of this.) and yet, in the big picture, moving the needle to make a lasting impact seems less feasible than finding that needle in a haystack. As someone who enjoys (albeit a little too much) being a person with answers, I’m annoyed at having so many questions lately. But perhaps what we all need is to ask ourselves a few more questions before we deliver immediate, sometimes knee-jerk assertions and affirmations as to what is the right way or the wrong way to do something. When our neighbors and friends and loved ones need help, we help them in any and all ways possible. As children, we weren’t taught, “It’s my way or the highway.” We learned to, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you,” and, “Love thy neighbor,” and, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Every day, the world needs help from friendly neighbors. Mister Rogers asked us himself, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” What will our answers be? Sincerely,
EMILY C. LASKOWSKI Editor
Photo by Dustin Meyer.
“W
hen I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers, so many caring people in this world.”
contributors
This month, we asked our contributors: Who are your heroes in real life?
ANDREW CHAN
photographer, “standing motivation,” Page 58
Andrew Chan is a freelance editorial and fashion photographer based in Austin. He is a native Texan and graduated from the University of Texas. He works out of the Whitebox Studio located in East Austin. When not out grubbing the city’s finest barbecue offerings, he can be seen around town with Milton, his Boston terrier. “My real-life heroes are my dad and Dirk Nowitzki.”
STEVE UHLER
writer, “standing motivation,” Page 58
Steve Uhler has written for such varied publications as Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, Texas Music Magazine, Filmfax and Cat Fancy, as well as Austin Woman. “My real-life hero has three legs and drools a lot. Buddy the Tripod is a mixed-breed mutt that my friend Deborah found one moonless night. He was limping along a dark road and dragging his front leg, apparently hit by a car. The vet had to amputate. The next morning, Buddy was up hopping around and, in his canine way, asking, “So, where’s breakfast?” Eleven years later, he’s still hoppin’. Whenever I start obsessing about my own troubles, he reminds me how to move on to the next shady tree, one step at a time. He’s brave, devoted and loves without condition. Who could ask for a better hero?”
MELODY HE
AW Design Intern
Melody He is a student at the University of Texas and is a third-year advertising major in the Texas Creative program. In her spare time, she can be found playing with dogs, drinking milk tea or lying out by the pool. “My hero is Michelle Phan, who built a $500 million empire with nothing but a laptop and sheer determination. A trailblazer, Phan worked her way into the world of fashion and beauty on YouTube and also co-founded one of the world’s largest online beauty communities. She serves as a role model for young women everywhere.”
Stephanie Coultress O’Neill
writer, “let there be white,” Page 48
Stephanie Coultress O’Neill has been a fashion force in Austin for more than a decade. She founded Estilo in 2005 and was one of the first to have a storefront in Austin’s burgeoning Second Street District. After a decade, she moved her contemporary clothing boutique to Tarrytown. Estilo is the Spanish word for “style,” and that is the focus of both the clothing and the space. Since 2005, Estilo has received numerous accolades and awards, including Austin Fashion Week Critic’s Choice for Best Overall Fashion Boutique and Best Retailer, and being named on The Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin list numerous times. “My heroes are my dad and mom. Through all of our life’s obstacles and challenges, they have always put their children’s and now their grandchildren’s best interests first. As I have become a parent, I now see that this is not always easy, but so important.”
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Connect with us! Can’t get enough of this issue? Check us out at austinwomanmagazine.com.
➥More powerful performances. Before the party got started, we stepped backstage at the Austin360 Amphitheater with 33-year-old Margo Price, a Nashville-based singersongwriter who’s been called country’s next rising star.
➥ More helping hands. Deciding which philanthropic events you should take part in can be a daunting task. We scoured Austin’s community calendars and narrowed the field to 10 can’t-miss events.
➥ More tour guides. Candid conversations with badass women are the best, aren’t they? We chatted with a few of the female leaders in the Austin community—among them a chef, a fitness instructor and an artisan-soap maker—and asked them one serious question: How would you spend your ideal day in Austin? her handmade necklaces would sell out when she posted pictures of them to her Facebook page in 2011. Now, the owner and designer behind Rifle + Radford is celebrating her jewelry company’s five-year anniversary this month.
➥ More making up. The evolution of makeup has come a long way from, say, 50 years
ago. But are the touted benefits of vegan makeup products all smoke and mirrors? We discuss.
➥ More anti-bullying. These days, there are just as many definitions of bullying as
there are ways educators and parents approach the topic. We wanted to know what changes are being implemented and how the discussion is approached today, and whether those changes are for the better.
➥ More secret treasures. It’s hard to imagine there are still hidden spaces in Austin, but when you step inside The Distillery, a 150-square-foot loft, you’ll become a believer.
Don’t miss
Win This!
Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic July 4, 11 a.m. Austin360 Amphitheater, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. austin360amphitheater.com/events/willie-nelsons-4th-of-july-picnic
Lucky Paws Box
How much do you love your furry friends? Show us a cute photo of the canine or feline love of your life and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a Lucky Paws gift box! The Lucky Paws Gift Box Company is an Austin-based customized-gift-box service that delivers packages filled with special treats and toys for pets directly to your door.
Austin Classical Guitar Narratives July 9 and 30, 7 to 10 p.m. Blanton Auditorium, 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. austinclassicalguitar.org Austin Symphony Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park July 10, 17, 24 and 31 Hartman Concert Park at The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive austinsymphony.org/events/austin-symphony-hartman-foundationconcerts-in-the-park
#AWLuckyPaws To enter, show @AustinWoman a cute photo of your pet (or pets) on Instagram using the hashtag #AWLuckyPaws during the month of July. A winner will be chosen at the end of the month.
Follow us
@austinwoman
20 | Austin Woman | july 2016
like us
Texas Women in Business Luncheon July 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Austin Country Club, 4408 Long Champ Drive texaswomeninbusiness.org/events Women in Jazz Concert July 17, 7 p.m. One World Theatre, 7701 Bee Cave Road womeninjazz.org
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FOLLOW us
@ austinwoman
Margo Price photo by Angelina Castillo. Melanie Edwards photo by Denise Roberts. The Distillery photo by Amy Russell. Lucky Paws photo by Lucy Paige.
➥ More celebrating in style. Native Austinite Melanie Edwards couldn’t have predicted
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ON THE SCENE kristy’s top 10
July’s to-do list from 365 Things To Do In Austin, Texas.
1
By kristy owen
Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic July 4, 11 a.m. Austin360 Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. circuitoftheamericas.com/willie
Photo courtesy of Circuit of the Americas and Ted Parker Jr.
Let your patriotic flag fly and get ready for some firecrackin’ fun this Fourth of July with a spirited live performance from Willie Nelson and his legion of country-music superstars. The 83-yearold native of Abbott, Texas, is bringing his legendary picnic party back to COTA’s Austin360 Amphitheater. With accompanying performances by Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Shakey Graves, Leon Russell and Billie Joe Shaver, the impressive prowess of this year’s music lineup is poised to give the jaw-dropping fireworks finale a run for its money. Tickets start at $35.
austinwomanmagazine.com | 23
O
n the scene
kristy’s top 10
Sunset Sweat Session With Mod Fitness
July 6, 6 to 7 p.m. W Wet Deck, 200 Lavaca St. whotelaustin.com/sunsetsweat
3
Trailer Food Tuesdays at The Long Center
4
2
July 19, 5 to 9 p.m. The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive trailerfoodtuesdays.com Finding a place to eat that the whole family will enjoy can be tough. Test your palate and expand your casual-dining repertoire at Trailer Food Tuesdays, a monthly event that brings together at least 15 Austin food trucks, making this the easiest dinner you’ll have to put together all summer. Listen to live music and ponder the tricky decision of which food truck to approach first. Admission is free.
Kristy Owen is the event mastermind and blogger behind 365 Things To Do In Austin, Texas. To stay up to date on the best Austin has to offer, visit her blog, 365thingsaustin.com.
5
Float Fest July 16 and 17
Cool River Ranch, 601 Dupuy Ranch Road, Martindale, Texas floatfest.net
Camp all night, float all morning and arrive at Cool River Ranch just in time to listen to some great live music. Now in its third year, Float Fest is quickly becoming one of our favorite outdoor summer festivals. This year’s lineup promises to keep the momentum going with a diverse bill that includes the musical genius of Chromeo, Rick Ross, Santigold, Big Gigantic, Future Islands, Bleachers, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Slim Thug and many more. Ticket prices vary.
24 | Austin Woman | july 2016
101X Summer Cinema Series
July 13 and 27, dusk or 8:30 p.m.
Central Market, 4001 N. Lamar Blvd. 101x.com/summer-cinema-2016
It’s almost impossible to keep up with all the free summer movies in town this season, but remember this: Wednesday nights mean 101X hosts its Summer Cinema Series at Central Market. During the month of July, shows include Napoleon Dynamite July 13 and The Goonies July 27. Dust off those folding chairs, bust out those nunchuck skills you’ve been dying to show everyone, don’t forget to vote for Pedro and let the kids get lost in an armchair adventure looking for buried treasure. Admission is free.
2. Photo by Mark Knight. 3. Photo by Bonnie Berry. 5. Photo by Julian Bajsel.
Put on your yoga pants, toss your mat in the car and rally your girlfriends for a sun-soaked, sweat-filled workout on the W Austin Hotel’s Wet Deck. Mod Fitness has partnered with the downtown high-rise hotel to bring you an hour-long barre workout session by the rooftop pool. Fulfill your weekly isometric leg-work quota, then cool off with a swim or wade up to the poolside bar for a crisp and refreshing cocktail. Unlike many mainstream gyms, post-workout loitering is encouraged. The event is complimentary for Mod Fitness members and $20 for non-members.
6. Photo by Allison V. Smith. 7. Image courtesy of Paramount Theatre. 8. Photo courtesy of Starseed Supply Co. 9. Photo courtesy of Zilker Theatre Productions. 10. Photo courtesy of Austin Symphony Orchestra.
6
7
Grease Sing-along July 9, 7 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Ave. tickets.austintheatre.org/single/eventdetail.aspx?p=1565
Summer Skills Workshop July 10, 10 a.m. to noon Hotel San Jose, 1316 S. Congress Ave. sanjosehotel.com/lounge
Grab your girlfriends and add some spice to your summer night. Dress up in your best pink jacket and poodle skirt, curl your hair and start practicing your hand jive. Then drive over (iconic 1948 Ford Deluxe car optional) to the Paramount Theatre for an auto-matic, system-matic, hydro-matic sing-along experience with your favorite ’50s gang. Be careful though, as you may have the song “Summer Nights” stuck in your head for at least a week! Tickets are $15.
8
Has your arts-and-crafts Pinterest board been getting a little full? For those on the hunt to make their creative dreams a reality, a morning jaunt to Hotel San Jose is in order. Every second Sunday of the month from June through September, the boutique hotel on South Congress Avenue will host a Summer Skills Workshop Series in the courtyard. This month, take part in a twohour, hands-on lesson in the art of chain-stitch embroidery. Guided by garment designer Kathie Sever, each student will get to practice machine and freehand stitching, transferring their designs directly onto their garment of choice. Who knows? You could end up starting your own Etsy shop! Tickets are $150.
9
Hard Luck Art Market July 3, 17 and 31; 2 to 7 p.m. Hard Luck Lounge, 3526 E. Seventh St. facebook.com/hardluckartmarket If you’re looking for a place that carries cacti right alongside vintage clothing, there’s only one place to go this summer. Add some mystery to your weekend shopping trip with a visit to the vendor market at the Hard Luck Lounge. Every other Sunday, Austinbased vendors set up in the courtyard to display their handcrafted and curated wares, carrying everything from vintage clothes to beautiful original paintings and photographs. With your thirst for shopping satisfied, summon a beer from the lounge to savor and soak in some afternoon rays. Admission is free.
Shrek: the Musical at Zilker Hillside Theater Thursday through Sunday starting July 8, 8:15 p.m. Zilker Hillside Theater, 2201 Barton Springs Road zilker.org/shrek-the-musical The annual Zilker Summer Musical is back for its 58th year, and this time, the featured musical is Shrek! The grassy outdoor venue at Zilker Park is perfect for an evening under the stars, and once the sun goes down, the weather is much more bearable. Don’t forget to bring a blanket, a loaded picnic basket, a cooler (no glass), bug spray and anything else you might need for a pleasant evening out. It’s important to note that no pets are allowed, so make sure you leave Spot at home. Are you worried about impending rain? Call the hotline at 512.479.9491 for performance updates. Admission is free. Parking is $5 per car.
10
Free Concerts in the Park July 10, 17, 24 and 31; 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Hartman Concert Park at The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive austinsymphony.org/events/austin-symphony-hartman-foundation-concerts-in-the-park/
We can’t think of a better way to savor a Sunday evening than sprawling out on a picnic blanket on the lawn of The Long Center for a free concert. For four Sundays in July, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, in coordination with the Hartman Foundation, will host a series of free performances for the public. These weekly concerts are one of Austin’s true summer treasures, allowing listeners to simultaneously soak in harmonious musical tunes and stunning sunset views of the city skyline. Each week features a different ensemble of the Austin Symphony Orchestra playing an array of everything from jazz to light classical music, as well as pop selections and film scores. Admission is free.
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count us in
women in numbers
Facts and figures on females from throughout the world. By Trinity King, illustrations by jessica wetterer
23 1989 That’s the year Wendy Kopp founded Teach for All, a global network of education organizations. In 2016, Teach for All, which has the goal of fighting education inequality and encouraging social entrepreneurship in developing countries, will extend its outreach to 50 urban and rural regions. Today, more than 10,000 corps members, all college graduates, are committed to working as teachers in these regions for two years. Since its humble beginnings 27 years ago, Teach for All has expanded its outreach to 40 countries worldwide, with all branches of the program keeping the initial mission in mind: to bring the same education to every child, no matter his or her individual or socioeconomic inequality.
The age Nancy Lublin was when she founded Dress for Success in 1996. Lublin founded the nonprofit clothingexchange service with the idea that all women should feel empowered to achieve economic independence. The organization serves as a support network through which women can acquire professional attire to help them secure employment. Lublin started the service when she was a secondyear law student, using a $5,000 inheritance from her great-grandfather to launch her idea in a church basement in Manhattan, N.Y. Since its start, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 140 cities in 20 countries, including one affiliate in Austin.
2 Times
$200,000 The amount of money S’well has donated to UNICEF since 2015 to help provide clean water for the world’s most impoverished children. S’well was founded by Sarah Kauss in 2010 with the mission to rid the world of plastic bottles and work toward simultaneously reducing our imprint on the environment and improving communities throughout the world. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 50 billion plastic bottles are dumped in landfill sites each year. That number increases to an estimated 200 billion bottles globally. The eye-catching, colorfully sleek S’well bottles are composed of non-leaching and non-toxic stainless steel. Designed to keep drinks cold for 24 hours or hot for 12, S’well bottles are currently sold in 35 countries throughout the world. We say that’s more than just swell!
The rate at which women in senior-management positions improve the reputations of companies. A recent study by public relations firm Weber Shandwick shows companies with higher reputations have twice as many women in senior-management positions than companies with weaker reputations. Along with this data, other research has shown there is a direct result of businesses benefiting from greater gender diversity. A recent study from research agency Bersin by Deloitte found that implementing diversity-and-inclusion policies in a company leads to more than two times higher cash flow per employee. All of this goes to show that closing the gender gap can actually benefit companies and make them more impactful. Looks like the world should get used to more women sitting at the table! 28 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
94,792,101 The number of meals Lauren Bush Lauren’s social business Feed has provided for the world’s hungry since it was founded in 2007. Bush Lauren started Feed with the idea of creating products that would help people engage in the fight against hunger in a tangible way. From fashionable tote bags to T-shirts and jewelry, every Feed product has a number stamped on it that signifies the amount of meals or micronutrient packets provided with its purchase. Through partnerships with organizations like the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund and Feeding America, Bush Lauren’s company is sparking a movement to reduce world hunger one purchase and one meal at a time.
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avvy Women
Let’s Taco ’Bout It
Rising Hope
A not-your-ordinary storyteller gets candid about the power of extraordinary women. photos by dustin meyer In 2013, Sara Hirsh Bordo coordinated the most viewed speech in TEDxWomen history. She and her organization, Women Rising, had partnered with anti-bullying advocate Lizzie Velasquez (our current cover woman) for the first TEDxAustinWomen event, and a video of the speech went viral overnight. As Bordo shifts her focus to new stories and subjects, she sat down with Austin Woman Publisher Melinda Garvey to talk about authenticity, compassion and the women who inspire her. Melinda Garvey: Women Rising really took off when you filmed A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story. What made you go down that road with Lizzie? Sara Hirsh Bordo: I had never done a film before. I’d never produced or directed a film. I had done lots of content and lots of events, but never a
feature. … [Lizzie] and her family had turned down [other] requests to do a documentary and do a big series and things. They just didn’t feel like they had the right person. I think, for me, what changed the circumstance is that Women Rising had started before this. That was very authentic to me. Championing a woman’s story, that is in my bloodline. For me, I believe that was one of the reasons they chose me to do it. MG: How do the core philosophies that pushed you to work with Lizzie correspond to your latest projects for Women Rising? SHB: I feel like anything that is advancing positive female storytelling is going to have an effect like sunrays all over. … As it relates to now… we have four series that are in development [and] one film that’s in development. All of them are anchored by women that have experienced something extraordinary. … I’m inspired by that. I’m moved by that. I relate to that.
Melinda Garvey and Sara Hirsh Bordo share stories over Torchy’s Tacos at the Austin Woman office.
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MG: It seems like changing mindsets is a big focus for you. What are you trying to change in this next film?
MG: What do you hope the film will do? Do you hope there’s actual legislative change that comes from this?
SHB: I was really moved by an op-ed I read in The New York Times by a woman named Fraidy Reiss, who had survived an abusive arranged marriage. She’s from Brooklyn. She had two girls. She broke all familial cultural rules and went to college, saved enough money in a cereal box to put herself through college, graduated valedictorian of Rutgers in her early 30s. She got full custody of her two girls and is on the other side. She is the only warrior for child and arranged marriage in the U.S. She has the only nonprofit for child and arranged marriage in the U.S. It’s called Unchained at Last. I was wildly inspired by her words, even more by her journey.
SHB: I do. Fraidy is literally fighting state by state to change the minimum-age requirements, and she’s doing it alone. I think that, as I talk to people, it’s very obvious that it is a unanimous response. It is a, “How is this happening here?” “I didn’t know this was happening here.” “What do I do so this stops happening here?”
MG: How old was she when she got married? SHB: She was 19. What that catalyzed for me, similarly back to Lizzie and to get back to your question [about how these are all related], is that I am inspired by choices that women make. Lizzie didn’t have to be on the bright side of [her] issue, but she was, and with a heavy hand. Fraidy didn’t have to choose to survive in a very public way and relive this every single day by helping other women, but she is, and that’s her choice. I’m inspired by that. Our next film is going to take a look at child marriage in the U.S. There are over 100,000 kids between the ages of 11 and 17 in the last 10 years who have been victims of child marriage in the United States.
MG: Well, I have a feeling that Fraidy won’t be alone in her fight for very much longer. SHB: Thank you. … I’m coming to this from a very authentic place. … It has everything to do with having compassion and telling the stories in a way that moves people. MG: Is that how you define your own success? SHB: Every single person has their own definition of ambition or success. ... The definition of success has to be subjective because each of us [has] different goals. What looks like success for one [woman] is very different than what looks like success for Hillary Clinton. If [we compete] for that “successful” definition, we’re all competing against a concept that we’re never going to win. MG: How do you create something successful, whatever that looks like to you?
MG: That’s insane. Of course, it’s always the girls, right?
SHB: All we’re hearing is where we’re not. ... I’m just saying, for everything that we say that we don’t have, we need to be saying what we do have. ... I really believe Women Rising can be a part of the conversation around positive storytelling, around building up these profiles of women that are achieving success individually on their own terms, that are then able to create these examples so that you can become what you’ve seen.
SHB: It’s over 90 percent girls.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MG: Eleven years old? I mean, my son will be 9 soon. SHB: Well, in two years, he could be walking down the aisle. Each state has different child-marriage laws, and there are states that are down to 11 years old.
Snapshot Who: Sara Hirsh Bordo, entrepreneur and filmmaker Number of times she hits snooze in the morning: “Zero.” How she takes her coffee: “Half-caf with a little cream and sugar.” Her #socialmedia scene: “Not as scene-y as I probably should be. Mostly Facebook and Instagram.” On her nightstand: “An alarm clock, a candle, water and lip balm.” Alternate profession she would like to attempt: “A writer.” Words to live by: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
TORCHY’S TACOS 4211 Spicewood Springs Road, torchystacos.com
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GIVE BACK
Austin Gives With Bloom Communications
For Founder Brianna McKinney, giving back is all part of the experience. By Kelly E. Lindner Brianna McKinney started volunteering with her mother at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals when she was 9, walking dogs, cleaning and doing whatever else needed to be done. For McKinney, president and founder of Bloom Communications, all experience is valuable, whether good or bad. “You can learn from any situation and any person,” McKinney says. “I’ve learned some of my most valuable lessons from people that didn’t even know I was learning from them.” She learned the value of giving back early on, thanks to her experience with the SPCA. “I, of course, wanted to take every dog home,” she says with a laugh. She also volunteered for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, filing and helping in the office. “Volunteers have a huge impact on the health and well-being of a community,” McKinney says. “I would hate to see what Austin would look like without volunteers. There are so many community needs that would go unmet.” Throughout high school, she continued to volunteer for many organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, through which she helped families in Oklahoma clean up their tornado-devastated homes. “This was my best volunteer experience, though not my favorite, since it was emotionally rough,” McKinney says. “But it makes you appreciate what you have and realize that nature, disaster and illness don’t discriminate. Misfortune can fall on anyone, regardless of background or income.” Prior to starting her own company, McKinney spent 10 years in the hospitality field, including as the manager of a downtown restaurant before graduating magna cum laude from the University of Texas with a degree in sociology and later working at a few startups. “I think anyone who wants to have a career in consulting should spend at least some time in hospitality. You learn to work and interact
with all types of people in a wide variety of situations,” McKinney says. “If you’re good at it, you also learn how to deliver an unmatched customer experience.” Ready to expand her own experiences to include entrepreneurship, McKinney founded Bloom Communications in 2012 to bridge the gap between marketing and PR for nonprofits and for-profits that give back or want to create a strategy to give back to their communities. “Making organizations I believe in more successful puts fire in my belly,” McKinney says. “The nonprofits receive a 30 percent discount on all services, which results in a 30 percent donation to that organization. Bloom also makes a local and global impact by investing 10 percent of its profits to our communities: 9 percent to local Austin and Portland nonprofits and 1 percent to Kiva, an international nonprofit microlender that aims to alleviate poverty.” Remembering her own experience as a young volunteer, McKinney also incorporates financial giving into her company’s marketing campaigns and gives Bloom staffers two days off a year to volunteer at a nonprofit of their choosing. Though Bloom is currently only a staff of three, McKinney says her fellow Bloomers completely share and demonstrate the company’s core values, which is something you can’t teach.
{
Bloom Communications is a member of Austin Gives, an organization dedicated to highlighting businesses for doing good. In its four-year existence, Austin Gives has aggregated almost 400 Austin-area companies that have made the commitment to donate at least 1 percent of their annual earnings to charity. To learn more about Austin Gives, visit austin.gives.
{ Photo courtesy of Bloom Communications.
Brianna McKinney and Bloom Communications staff member Allison Williams volunteer at the Central Texas Food Bank mobile food pantry.
32 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
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PROFILE
3-D Printing the Way to Better Breasts After Cancer
Laura Bosworth, the entrepreneur and CEO behind TeVido BioDevices, is transforming breast reconstruction for cancer survivors, one nipple at a time. By Rachel Rascoe
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Photo by John Davidson.
t a small lab in North Austin, former Fortune 500 executive Laura Bosworth is taking on the big issue of breast reconstruction for cancer survivors. Her startup company, TeVido BioDevices, is working to revolutionize reconstruction outcomes by using 3-D printing technology. TeVido is focusing first on bioprinting nipples since, astonishingly, current breast reconstruction after a mastectomy does not include recreating that all-important, central area of the breast. Bosworth describes the process as “a modified version of the inkjet printers you might have at home,” but instead, the ink is made up of proteins and living cells. After two 10-year stretches spent at corporation powerhouses Dell and IBM, Bosworth is applying her intersectional expertise in both marketing and engineering as CEO at TeVido. But working to help women is nothing new for Bosworth, who has helped design and teach programs for female entrepreneurs for years.
34 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
Photo courtesy of TeVido BioDevices.
Bosworth says while the decision to apply the bioprinting process to breast reconstruction was initially based on market analysis and figures, she quickly became emotionally involved upon hearing women’s stories of struggles with reconstruction. “It’s not a very well-known fact that the reconstructive outcomes are not very good,” Bosworth says. “I think that there’s a lack of awareness. Cancer survivors feel like it’s not something they can complain about very much, but the reality is every day, a woman gets up and looks in her mirror. If she doesn’t feel good about how she looks, that really colors her day and life.” Bosworth co-founded TeVido in 2011 with Dr. Thomas Boland, a biomedical engineer at the University of Texas at El Paso. The two met while she was serving as an entrepreneurial advisor to the engineering department at her alma mater. Bosworth and her small lab team in Austin are now working to use Boland’s technology to eventually print custom nipples using a woman’s own cells. By meeting with plastic surgeons, Bosworth discovered the little-known shortcomings of the current reconstructive options, which include issues with breast symmetry and nipple appearance. “When they’re talking to me, I can just tell that they’re frustrated,” Bosworth says of plastic surgeons specializing in postmastectomy reconstruction. “[They] hate that they can’t just tell the woman how [the reconstruction] is going to look.” Currently, nipple reconstructions take place months after a breast-reconstruction procedure, and the results are often unpredictable. The skin can be cut and pinched into a nipple shape, but the size and shape change as time passes. For coloring, tattoos can be added, but they often fade quickly for light skin tones. TeVido’s ingenious 3-D printed creations would provide a stable, predictable result streamlined into one surgical procedure. Bosworth’s own career, during which she’s had her hand in everything from engineering and product development, finances and
marketing, gave her the wide expertise to stay involved in every area of business at TeVido. On a tour of the TeVido lab, which looks more like a house or small dentist office from the outside, Bosworth can tell the story of each repurposed piece of furniture and lab equipment. “When you start doing your own startup, you don’t have any money, you can’t really pay for any help and you pretty much have to do everything yourself,” Bosworth says. “I kind of crack up sometimes when people will contact me and they’ll be like, ‘Who’s your PR group?’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, well, that’s me.’ ” Bosworth says she developed an entrepreneurial spirit early on in her career by taking on jobs that she didn’t necessarily have the experience for, as well as moving between different fields. “It’s a very interesting thing that women tend to not go after those types of jobs,” Bosworth says. “I think that risk taking emboldened me quite a bit to be comfortable moving into spaces where you don’t know all the answers.” Her bold business sense, matched with more than 25 years of experience in the industry, led Bosworth to co-found Avinde, a program that helps female entrepreneurs launch their own major companies. At first, Bosworth says, she was skeptical as to whether all-female programs were necessary, but her mind quickly changed after working one on one with women. “After really watching their confidence and interactions change and improve, I became a believer in women’s-only training environments,” she says. Looking forward, Bosworth hopes to push TeVido bioprinted nipples into clinical trials within two years. Her ambition to expedite the process is evident when she speaks of the practically endless arenas in which bioprinting can expand, for example, using the process in wound care and cosmetic plastic surgery. A name formed by mixing the Spanish words for tissue (tejido) and for life (vida), TeVido is on its way to revamping the way breasts are reconstructed and given new life postmastectomy. And with Bosworth at the helm of the company, the future of bioprinting looks more promising than ever.
Straight From the Source: Insight From Laura Bosworth, CEO of TeVido BioDevices When she thinks true bioprinting will take off “It’s still five to 10 years away. True bioprinting, the recreation of living cells and tissues, is still in the clinical-trial phase. Cartilage or skin might be in clinical [trials] in the next year or two, but clinical trials take two to three years and then the approval process takes another year. Revenue [won’t be seen for] five years.” The issue she faces most often in her business “Our greatest challenge isn’t the bioprinter. It’s that we are bringing a biomedical product to market that requires clinical trial. That requires more funding than, say, a software app.” On the support shown for TeVido “We have quite a bit of funding from federal grants. We have about $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, as well as funding from other areas, like the Livestrong Foundation. There are not many investors in Texas that focus on life-science companies. It takes a little more work to find them.” The most rewarding aspect of her job “When I talk to the women who have gone through reconstruction and are not happy with their result, they are just so excited by the opportunity and by the idea that they can have a better solution. Imagine, as a woman, every day, you are getting dressed and you are missing your breast or your nipple, and it’s not something you can ever really forget. It’s really rewarding to be working in that space, knowing that we can improve people’s quality of life. “Of course, beyond breast cancer, there is an estimated 1 percent of the world population that has some form of disfigurement so severe they don’t want to interact with society. So, the idea that we can be working on products that give these people a new outlook and alleviate their suffering is pretty fantastic.” On what’s next “[The nipples] are our first product. They’re not available yet, but we hope to be in clinical trial in two years. We haven’t decided what our second product is going to be. There are a lot of things around treating someone who has been [scarred] from a car accident or faces pigmentation challenges from burns. The list is quite long of the potential things we can treat.”
DID YOU KNOW? r 3-D bioprinters have grown to expand outside of tissue engineering. More than 10 million 3-D printed hearing aids are circulated worldwide, and 3-D printing is used in dentistry to create dental implants, crowns, veneers, orthodontic devices and more. 3-D printing market-research company Smartech predicts by 2020, the market for 3-D printed dental products will reach $3.1 billion, and sales for bioprinters are forecasted to reach $480 million.
r Surgeons can use CT scans and 3-D printers to create an exact replica of what a tumor might look like on a kidney or recreate another organ so they can look inside it to pinpoint the location and the extent of the damage they need to repair before surgery.
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PROFILE
Investing in Women
Financial icon Sallie Krawcheck launches Ellevest, an investment platform for women, in Austin. By Sarah E. Ashlock
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Photo by A.E. Fletcher.
he’s been called the “first lady of Wall Street” and, in 2006, Forbes named Sallie Krawcheck sixth on its list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Krawcheck conquered the financial world as the CEO of both Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and Smith Barney, as the chief financial officer of Citi and as the CEO of Citi Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and U.S. Trust. Having served on Dell’s board of directors years ago and attended South By Southwest, Krawcheck knows what the city of Austin is all about. So, when she launched her new investment platform, Ellevest, at a kickoff event at Icenhauer’s on Rainey Street in early June, she unsurprisingly found herself immersed in the Texas heat, surrounded by craft cocktails and some of the sharpest, smartest women in town. Since the people on her team at Ellevest “were looking for cities where women are on the move, where women are accomplishing really terrific things,” choosing Austin was a no-brainer. Here’s how Ellevest works: You set up a profile and receive a personalized financial plan that details how to reach your goals. Then you can tweak it to determine your priorities. Once you have a customized plan, you fund it. Ellevest will update you, just like a financial planner would, except in a way that’s accessible, focused and designed to encourage female investment. Krawcheck spoke to Austin Woman about her platform, her path to success and why female empowerment must include financial planning. (Full disclosure: If you’re reading this, you should be investing.)
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While Krawcheck boasts an exemplary career that leaves the most seasoned financial leaders thoroughly impressed, her journey to fiscal icon didn’t start how you might expect. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina and headed to Wall Street to pursue business journalism. “My 20s, I thought, were a wasteland, and, in fact, I’ve come to recognize they were an exploration,” she says. She worked as an investment banker, then attempted to get a job in media. She attended Columbia Business School to obtain her master’s degree, with a focus on marketing, but resumed her role as an investment banker. After becoming pregnant, she quit to stay home with her child. Then, as she was eating a pear in her kitchen with the light streaming through the window, it hit her. “I should be an equity research analyst,” she remembers thinking. It’s common, Krawcheck says, for women to take on many different kinds of jobs and also take career breaks. “Many women want to have a discontinuous career,” she says. “We want to step out of the workforce for a couple of years. We want to work part time. We may have different priorities. Even if we wanted the ‘I started at X-Y-Z as a trainee and I retired decades later with a gold watch,’ I don’t know if that’s possible any longer.” Now that Krawcheck is in her 50s and her children have left the nest, she’s
added an exhilarating job to her resume: entrepreneur. A few years ago, Krawcheck bought 85 Broads, a professional networking group for women who worked at Goldman Sachs. She wanted “something that connoted female and movement and excitement and momentum,” so, she and her team rebranded the organization to Ellevate Network. Then Krawcheck also decided to launch her individual investment platform for women, Ellevest, starting in Austin. “I’m not interested in rolling out the business fast,” she says. “I’m interested in rolling out the business well.” Fear of failure tends to be the hardest part of taking on something new. But Krawcheck embraces it. “You’re going to fail,” she says. “You’ll fail in private. Sometimes, you’ll fail in public. Nobody really cares. If you really think people are watching and waiting for you to fail, then go to a psychiatrist.” Since businesses and industries are all evolving in some way, Krawcheck encourages taking risks. She points to the evolution of advertising as an example, noting that the Don Draper days of advertising are long gone, and now advertisers need to have skills in analytics. Your career might take a path you’re not a fan of, Krawcheck says, so gather the courage to take those risks. “You might as well take the career risks you want,” she says.
“Surprise, surprise. Women don’t seem to need their hand held.”
Sallie Krawcheck’s Investment Advice r Invest often. “The first step is to do it, and the second step is to continue to do it,” Krawcheck says. “You put in money today and the next month and the next month and the next month. My best advice on investing is to do it and then do it and then do it.”
Investing Myths There are plenty of misconceptions about why women think they can’t invest: They find it confusing, they think they don’t make enough, they think they’re too risk-averse, they need their hands held, it takes too much time. Sallie Krawcheck thinks investing is one of the only areas in which “gender myths continue to thrive.” However, she notes, women are actually better investors. “Surprise, surprise,” Krawcheck says. “Women don’t seem to need their hand held.” While women may take a little bit more time to plan before investing, men tend to overthink it while they’re already investing, she says, noting the research shows that if you mess with your investments too much, it can actually decrease your returns. Gender Investment Gap While most of us have heard of the gender pay gap, many of us have probably never heard about the gender investment gap. Krawcheck is here to fix that by making her investment platform focused and accessible. Women don’t invest as much or as often as men, and women often want to invest in a different way. After conducting research, Krawcheck and her team discovered what women want is a full financial plan first. They don’t want to invest before coming up with a course of action to manage their money first. Women also don’t want any of that investment mumbo jumbo. That’s why the Ellevest site is mostly free of jargon. Women can now focus on the actual hard part: determining what their long-term investment goals are, like buying a house or starting a business. Why Invest? First, women typically live longer than men, which means women need more money. Second, women’s salaries typically aren’t as high as men’s, and third, their income generally peaks before men’s income. “I could sit here and say it’s a bummer and ignore it,” Krawcheck says, “or I could say, ‘We better take it into account in our planning.’ ” Do you still need more reasons to invest? Say you’re in your late 20s, making $85,000 a year and saving 20 percent of that rather than investing it. If you did that for a decade, you’d lose about $100 a day. “If you had a hole in your purse and $100 a day fell out, you would fix your purse pretty fast,” Krawcheck says.
r Understand good debt versus bad debt. “Everybody should be investing, with the exception of women who have creditcard bills that are outstanding. If they do, they need to pay those off,” Krawcheck says. “There’s bad advice out there, like building an emergency fund before paying off credit-card debt. Student-loan debt that doesn’t help you get a job is always bad debt. But some kinds of debt, such as student loans or mortgages where the rates can be low or there’s a tax-deductibility factor to it and where you’ve got an asset, albeit your home or your education, that’s valuable.”
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MUST LIST Sweet Like Carmel
Fall in love with the sights and sounds of an idyllic town by the sea. by steve habel
Photo courtesy of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Glorious Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.: It’s hard to even start explaining how awe-inspiring and memorable it is to spend a few days here. So, let’s just begin with the ocean—the azure-blue Pacific as it roars into this white-sand cove on the Monterey Peninsula in waves that produce a frothy, cool mist—and work our way up the hill to the European-style village nestled above.
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It’s the water and the sand and the views and the way of life protected here that lassoed the likes of actor-director Clint Eastwood, authors Jack London and Meg Cabot, musician Michael Nesmith and even indomitable actress Doris Day, who still resides in a home high above one of the area’s many fine golf courses. Sitting amid oceans of flowers and cypress, and bathed in Pacific breezes, the village provides an unparalleled sense of discovery. Carmel is just 1 square mile, its streets lined with art galleries; small and unique gift shops and boutiques; award-winning, world-renown restaurants; and quaint inns and hotels that are noteworthy for what they are not. You’ll find no neon, national chains or conventioneers here, just people reveling in the unique rejuvenation Carmel provides. Of course, there’s golf. After all, the Monterey Peninsula is home to Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the world’s most famous courses, as well as a handful of spectacular tracks that will challenge a player’s focus, as well as his or her game. A trip to Carmel can be divided among time together as a couple in one of the most romantic, picturesque towns in the world, and time spent apart to cross off bucket-list travel musts.
Start your sojourn by flying straight into the nearby
Monterey Regional Airport after a quick hop from Austin to Phoenix, and by 11 a.m., enjoy a sumptuous breakfast of eggs Benedict and mimosas on the patio at Forge in the Forest, voted the top outdoor-dining experience in Monterey County every year since 1982. Settle into comfortable but by no means over-thetop accommodations at the Hofsas House before heading to a wonderful early dinner on the lawn at La Playa Hotel, a posh, boutique, 75-room inn within a 1905 mansion. Let dinner serve as a prelude to a play at the city’s Sunset Center, an entertainment space that hosts acts ranging from country singer Trace Adkins to the Twyla Tharp Dance Company to Fame the Musical and the Vienna Boys Choir.
city to discover the special charms of Carmel’s secret pathways, hidden courtyards, award-winning gardens, enchanting fairytale cottages and the homes, haunts and history of famous artists, writers and movie stars. From there, seek out separate paths for a few hours. One might spend the afternoon in nearby Carmel Valley at Refuge, a 2-acre haven and spa, taking advantage of a massage and hydrothermal therapy in the sauna, steam bath and the cold water pools, all in a beautiful, natural setting. One might also head to Quail Lodge & Golf Club, the home of a wonderful course originally designed by Robert Muir Graves and recently refined by Todd Eckenrode. The track is a walkable par-71 routing that features seven lakes and constant encroachment from the scenic Carmel River, and tests all phases of a golfer’s skill. Reunite for a delicious dinner at Cantinetta Luca, where partner and Executive Chef Jason Balestrieri shares his Italian heritage and travels by offering handcrafted dishes prepared traditionally with a simple and rustic presentation.
A secret garden promised only for the adventurous
40 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
Cantinetta Luca’s tagliolini frutti di mare
Secret Garden photo courtesy of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Cantinetta Luca photo courtesy of Cantinetta Luca.
Begin day two with a guided walking tour of the
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42 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
discover
Culinary-and-wine tour photo courtesy of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Poppy Hills Golf Course photo by Joann Dost.
On the last day, embark on a guided culinary-and-wine walking
tour of some of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s most intriguing restaurants, or take in another round of golf. The culinary-and-wine tour, which has been one of the city’s top calling cards since it began in 2012, allows visitors to enjoy the best off-the-beaten-path food and cultural experience possible in Carmel’s most unique eateries. Flavored vinegars and wood-fired breads, decadent chocolate, delicious local wines and exotic and local cheeses are among the culinary treats to be savored. Poppy Hills Golf Course, one of the four tracks that make up the Pebble Beach golf family, provides a superb, if somewhat contrasting, experience. It is the newest course of the Pebble Beach quartet, having undergone an extensive 13-month renovation that was completed in April 2014. The renovation has been warmly received, with the course drawing comparisons to Pinehurst, Augusta National, nearby Cypress Point and even Pine Valley—courses among the pantheon of golf in the United States. Enjoy a final dinner at Vesuvio, where Chef Rich Pèpe’s culinary offerings take so-called Mediterranean-style cuisine to the next level through the infusion of olive oil, grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and fresh fish. The chef calls his creations at Vesuvio an “Italian lifestyle diet.” Whatever you call it, it’s something special. A weekend’s brief itinerary only samples the unforgettable offerings in Carmel-by-the-Sea. From the performing arts and cultural activities to hundreds of shops, restaurants, wine tastings, art galleries and more, this oasis is rated a top-10 destination in the United States year after year for a reason. You may lose your heart here, or you may find love.
Carmel’s culinary-and-wine tour
A weekend’s brief itinerary only samples the unforgettable offerings in Carmel-by-the-Sea. From the performing arts and cultural activities to hundreds of shops, restaurants, wine tastings, art galleries and more, this oasis is rated a top-10 destination in the United States year after year for a reason. You may lose your heart here, or you may find love.
Poppy Hills Golf Course
austinwomanmagazine.com | 43
ust List
roundup
Summer Lovin’
We’re putting these must-have goodies in our rotation for the month of July. by AW Staff Flag Pie by Tiny Pies Prices vary depending on size. 5035 Burnet Road and 2032 S. Lamar Blvd., Texas Bluebonnets Sunglasses by Republic of Sol
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Signature Tiny House Blend by Tiny House Coffee Roasters A 12-ounce bag of the Tiny House Blend is $12. Sunday Brunch at Prelog’s The Sunday brunch is $39. 360 Nueces St., 512.350.2895, prelogs.com
44 | Austin Woman | JUly 2016
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Coffee photo by April Cumming. Pie photo by Jody Horton. Sunglasses photo courtesy of Republic of Sol. Prelog’s photo by Florian Prelog. RideAustin photo courtesy of RideAustin.
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ust List
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46 | Austin 46 Woman | Austin| Woman JUly 2016| JUly 2016
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tyle
THE LOOK
let there be WHITE
Summer is the perfect time to lighten up. By Stephanie Coultress O’Neill, photos by Annie Ray
Clothing available at Estilo, 2727 Exposition Blvd., 512.236.0488, estiloboutique.com
White is a summer staple that is both on trend and a timeless classic. There’s a reason everyone loves white in the summer. Its look is fresh, crisp, bright and clean, and brings to mind the joys of summers past. It’s reminiscent of pool parties, summer soirees and lazy days with friends and family. Everyone needs a few basic wardrobe staples in white. First, there’s the white jean, which can go from day to night. Second, there’s the casual summer top. It will go with everything trendy in your wardrobe. Finally, there’s the basic summer dress. Just like black is a staple and everyone has the basics—black jeans, black slacks, a black casual top and a black dressy top, along with the classic little black dress—all of these items in white are necessities too. Here are our picks for your summer essentials.
Date Night It’s our summer version of the little black dress. We have amped it up and modernized it, and love that it’s both a onesie and includes shorts. This look can be dressed up for date night or dressed down for a casual brunch, depending on the accessories you choose. The textured bodice gives it something extra, and the cut is nothing if not flattering.
Parker romper, $275; Schutz Maggie heels, $196; Archipelago mohair overlap clutch, $315; Ruby and Violet beaded necklace, $175; Ruby and Violet moonstone necklace, $275; Mizana black diamond cuff, $6,200; Mizana diamond chain bracelet, $3,900; Gorjana Cayne tiered necklace, $89.95; Eros labradorite waterfall earrings, $92.
48 | Austin Woman | JULY juLY 2016
Day to Happy Hour These separates are anything but basic. As we mentioned before, everyone needs a pair of white denim jeans and a casual white top. Together, they look fabulous, and separately, they will make anything in your closet shine. We paired distressed denim with this no-frills top to keep the outfit simple and let the accessories shine. That’s why it’s great to have separates in it. You can brighten anything in your wardrobe just by adding a touch of white.
Heather gauze top, $106; Paige Verdugo denim, $198, Laura Siegel macrame suede clutch, $311; Schutz Carey Lee heels, $180; Ruby and Violet beaded bracelet in chocolate, $68; Ruby and Violet labradorite circle necklace, $178; Emilie Shapiro pentagon pendant, $133; Emilie Shapiro Yang cuff, $265; Eros gold-on-gold hoops, $88.
austinwomanmagazine.com | 49
FOMO?
An American Classic
noun informal anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.
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the look
The Jet-setter Looking for a dress that can take you anywhere? This is the perfect vacation ensemble. You can wear it over a swimsuit, walking on the beach or paired with a sweater on a chilly evening. Don it day or night, depending on the accessories you choose.
Jetset Diaries Morning Swim maxi, $207; Archipelago tote, $175; Schutz Adamina wedge sandals, $235; Kar-nn white bone rosary with pave diamond clasp and leaf pendant, $1,760; Eros feather earrings, $104; Tess + Tricia beaded bracelets, $40 to $55.
austinwomanmagazine.com |  51
S
tyle
beauty
MAIN SQUEEZE
Summer skin care has never been juicier. Photo by rudy arocha
Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes in pink grapefruit, $6, burtsbees.com and area drugstores Lavanila Laboratories The Healthy Deodorant in vanilla grapefruit, $14, lavanila.com Milk + Honey Body Wash Blend No. 16, $26, milkandhoneyspa.com Milk + Honey Body Cream No. 16, $34, milkandhoneyspa.com Meow Meow Tweet Baking Soda Free Deodorant Cream in grapefruit, $14, meowmeowtweet.com Burt’s Bees Pink Grapefruit Lip Balm, $3.30, burtsbees.com and area drugstores Malin + Goetz Grapefruit Face Cleanser, $32, malinandgoetz.com
52 | Austin Woman | JULY juLY 2016
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H
ome
entertaining
Friendly Feasting
Tarica Navarro, owner of Kettle & Brine, hosts a Thai- and tapas-style company dinner. By emily c. laskowski, photos by courtney pierce
When Tarica Navarro opened Kettle & Brine, her curated shop of heirloom-quality kitchen supplies located in the strip of boutique stores just off 12th Street and North Lamar Boulevard in Central Austin, she welcomed foodies, cooking fans and design enthusiasts into her world of thoughtful and sustainable living. The carefully selected pieces nestled among the store’s eclectic homestyle décor, ranging from handmade Spanish knives to
Provencal copper kettles, were each chosen for their potential to enrich the routines of daily life. Carrying out Navarro’s mission to foster a connection between people and the process of creating a wholesome meal would not be possible without her family and friends, who also include Kettle & Brine’s hardworking staff. To celebrate her team, Navarro created a summer feast fit for the soul, and shared her entertaining tips for a seamless summer soiree with Austin Woman, for good measure.
u n e M e Th ith made w Palomas
mezcal
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y steak Tiger Cr
( Th jim jaew camole sion gua Asian fu salsa abanero mango h sauce i peanut a h T y s a e sauce cocktail le t o ip h c
~
som tum lad oodle sa n i ll e ic rr y verm with che h s a u q s mm er ’atar grilled su to confit and za a tom alad umber s Thai cuc mp -eat shri peel-and ceviche
~
ngo, with ma te m a re c po ice coconut and peach com e c ri sticky Tarica Navarro peels a mango for dessert.
54 | Austin Woman | juLY 2016
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56 | Austin Woman | juLY 2016
entertaining
1.
Flavors “Food should be simply served and tasty at room temperature. Grilled meats, seafood and side salads are the perfect example since they are delicious served at any temperature and can sit out for a while without wilting,” Navarro advises, hinting at how easy this makes the evening for the host herself. To start the planning process, Navarro recommends picking a palette first, then finding dishes that complement each other within that spectrum. “We went with a summer-fresh Thai and Mexican theme with bright citrus and spice notes,” she says. Navarro accompanied her main dishes with a bevy of different sauces, which she highly recommends as a way to encourage guests to try, dip and scoop a little bit of everything.
2. Fixtures
With shared bites and passable plates come lots of dishes. Mimic the eclectic menu, says Navarro, by choosing “a variety of different serving dishes to showcase your food.” Navarro incorporated earthy tones by donning each place setting with fresh eucalyptus leaves, printed linen napkins and goldplated flatware. “Vary the shapes and textures to keep things interesting and laid back,” adds Navarro, whose understated décor utilized raw textures and neutral colors in subtle accent pieces, like hand-blown glasses, white enamel bowls and thin, tapered candles. With so many foods on the table, eschew placemats or the traditional table runner to avoid clutter. 3. Friends
When it comes to tapas-style dining, more is definitely merrier, so, let your guests bring, assemble and help prepare the food on your menu. “Every great dinner party has three necessary ingredients: good cooks, foodies and, last but not least, people who are great company to keep the conversation moving and the atmosphere lively,” says Navarro, who enlisted the helping hands of her staff to arrange every element of her epicurean feast. With no shortage of (quite cordial) cooks in the kitchen, Navarro’s menu swelled graciously into a heaping smorgasbord of classic Thai dishes, easy sides and Mexican-infused summer favorites, with more than a few laughs in between. austinwomanmagazine.com | 57
58
Standing
Motivation Lizzie Velasquez shares her inspirational story.
By Steve Uhler Photos by Andrew Chan Styled by Ashley Hargrove Hair and makeup by Missy Nyberg
K
nock on Lizzie Velasquez’s apartment door in South Austin and the first thing you’re likely to hear isn’t exactly a warm welcome. It’s more like a roar from a rabid beast. But when the door opens, Velasquez is holding a small, white ball of fluff and bluff, all contrite eyes and welcoming, wagging tail. The “beast” is Ollie, a 2-year-old shih tzu-Chihuahua mix, and he’s no bigger than a melon. “Ollie, behave,” Velasquez scolds in a gentle voice, and he immediately obeys. After a few discretionary sniffs, Ollie grants admission to his domain. “He’s the best,” she says, sitting him down on the couch. “He doesn’t allow you to feel sorry for yourself and gives you someone to take care of.” Velasquez offers a rope toy, one of several Ollie-ready distractions she keeps handy. “He’s hyper right now,” she says. “In 10 minutes, he’ll be falling asleep.” Sure enough, after a spirited but brief game of tug rope, Ollie settles into a light slumber, snoring contentedly next to Velasquez’s lap. “Two months after I got him last year, I did a spread for People Magazine, and he got to be in the photo shoot with me. He’s starting to get recognized,” Velasquez says as she glances down at her snoozing guardian, gently caresses his ears, and whispers, “You have no idea what you got yourself into coming into my life, little boy.” Tiny but tough, Ollie is fiercely protective of his family, and Velasquez is family. People, too, have a tendency to be protective of Velasquez, but the truth is she’s more than capable of taking care of herself, and she’s living the life that proves it.
60 | Austin Woman | July 2016
E
lizabeth “Lizzie” Velasquez fought her way into the world 27 years ago and has been tenaciously overcoming the odds ever since. On the afternoon of March 13, 1989, six weeks before her due date, first-time mother Rita Velasquez went to her obstetrician and discovered her yet unborn baby girl had stopped growing. Doctors had no options other than an emergency C-section. “When I came out, they were shocked that I was still alive because there was no amniotic fluid around me at all,” Velasquez says. “So, it was an insane miracle that I came out screaming. They were shocked. I weighed 2 pounds, 10 ounces.” The doctors had never encountered a case like Velasquez’s before. Her syndrome was a mystery, seemingly unprecedented in the medical archives. “They didn’t have any medical records to look back and say, ‘This child was born like that so this is what’s going to happen. Here’s what to prepare for,’ ” she says. “Instead, they sort of looked at me and said, ‘Well, she’s so small, she’s not going to be able to do anything in her whole life.’ ” The specialists prepared her parents for the worst. “But with all the tests you get when you’re born,” Velasquez says, “everything came back completely normal. There was nothing wrong except I was very, very small.” Though doctors offered little hope, Velasquez’s parents clung to just that: hope. “They were like, ‘She’s our daughter. We love her and we’re going to take her home,’ ” Velasquez says. “ ‘Just like any other first-time parents, we’re just going to do our best and raise her with love.’ And that’s what they did. “My dad told me I fit in his hand, I was so tiny. Even the preemie clothes for tiny, tiny babies were way too big, so they had to go to Toys R Us and get doll clothes to put on me,” Velasquez says, pausing for a moment to laugh. “I feel like I was doing them a favor. I was saving them money because when I was like 2, I started using my baby clothes as my doll clothes because they were the same size.” Today, Velasquez stands at 5 feet 2 inches, weighs 65 pounds and has done more than survive; she’s thrived. Until recently, there was no real consensus as to what Velasquez’s uniquely rare syndrome is. It was only last year that doctors finally managed to diagnose her condition as a rare confluence of maladies: She has Marfan syndrome (a connective-tissue disorder) and lipodystrophy, which prevents weight gain. In brief, she’s unable to put on weight, no matter how much she eats. (Throughout her adult life, she has never exceeded 67 pounds.) She’s also been blind in her right eye since she was 4, has impaired vision in her left and has numerous recurring afflictions. Her bones, teeth, heart and other organs are normal. With Velasquez’s birth came adjustments to her family’s household. While her father, Lupe, worked as a teacher at the nearby elementary school, her mother began babysitting in the family’s home, an ingenious way of assimilating her newborn daughter into the company of other children her own age in a safe, secure environment. “I never felt alone as a kid,” Velasquez says. “That’s all I knew, being around other kids my age. Mom did activities with us. She had toys, and we would watercolor or be outside or listening to music. We were always doing things. We were never a wealthy family growing up, but I never felt poor, if that makes sense. I don’t think I could have ever had a better childhood.” When Velasquez was 6, her mother gave birth to another girl, Marina. “I remember taking her to show-and-tell in kindergarten,” Velasquez says. “She was just a few months old. I was like, ‘Look at my sister, who’s a baby, and she’s half my size already!’ ” A baby brother, Christopher, followed three years later. Velasquez’s siblings received the same attention and love she did. “My parents did an amazing job at making sure my brother, sister and I all felt important,” says Marina Velasquez, now 21 and a senior at Texas State University. “Everything we did, we did as a family. Of course, the three of us had the normal arguments, but what siblings don’t fight over what shows to watch or who ate the last slice of pizza?”
Page 58: Pink knotted crop top, floral maxi skirt and jelly sandals, model’s own; Raffia collection gold geometric earrings, $240, available at Bailey Banks & Biddle, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.9100, baileybanksandbiddle.com. This page: J Brand cropped low-rise skinny jeans, $178, available at Estilo, 2727 Exposition Blvd., 512.236.0488, estiloboutique.com; Kiddo by Katie striped tank, $28; Dobla Oru necklace, $85, available at Limbo, 1604 S. Congress Ave., 512.994.6878, limbojewelry.com.
austinwomanmagazine.com | 61
“I’d worked so hard to build my confidence up and then, within five seconds, it was just gone,” Velasquez remembers, pausing and reaching for a bottle of water. Her throat still tightens at the recollection. “I was reading all the comments and started letting their words become me. I started thinking, ‘Are they right? Would the world be better if I just took myself out of it?’ ”
This page: Free People blue dress, $128, available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com; denim jacket, $19.99, available at Target stores, target.com; sandals, model’s own. Page 64: A.L.C. Rory rib knit fit-and-flare dress, $535, available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com; Pluma Druzy necklace, $138, available at Estilo, 2727 Exposition Blvd., 512.236.0488, estiloboutique.com.
62 | Austin Woman | July 2016
Photos courtesy of Lizzie Velasquez.
W
hen it came time for her to begin public school, Velasquez’s parents decided that, just like any other child, she’d be there for the first day of classes. A photo taken on that long-ago morning reveals a small, bespectacled girl with a fearless smile proudly sporting a new school backpack nearly twice her size, eager to conquer the world. The world Velasquez set out to conquer was about to change in a big way. “That’s when I realized I was different, for the first time ever. I had no clue,” Velasquez says. “I couldn’t tell that I [didn’t] look like the other kids until I started school, and that was because of them being afraid of me and calling me names and all that stuff.” She would approach potential playmates and introduce herself, only to be met with gasps or worse. Sometimes, the other kids ran away. At first, Velasquez was perplexed, hurt and embarrassed. While other children shunned her, many adults either recoiled or became overly empathetic. And kids, being kids, could be cruel to the new student. It was the first time in her life Velasquez experienced bullying, but it would not be the last. Fortunately, her father was a teacher at Velasquez’s elementary school and kept a watchful eye on his daughter. “He has this way of making you feel at ease,” Velasquez says. “If he would be walking in the hallway and [see] me in my class, he would do a cartwheel in front of my class to make everyone laugh. He knew I felt different. So, to take the attention off me, he’d do something silly to help me. It was cool having my dad there, but once I got older, it was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s embarrassing me.’ ” Eventually, Velasquez’s pain and confusion about being ostracized by others began to morph into something else: anger. “The anger didn’t really start until I was like in 1st or 2nd grade because that’s when I actually started to understand what was going on, and realizing that I couldn’t say a nighttime prayer or blow out a birthday candle and make a wish that I would wake up and look like everybody else,” she says. “And for that, I was angry.” Somehow, she managed to soldier on. “I kept it all suppressed, always, for many years. For as
long as I could remember, I would only cry if I was going to bed or if I was taking a bath because I knew nobody would be coming in,” Velasquez says. “I didn’t want my parents to know I was upset. I felt like I’d be letting them down, which is crazy. I don’t know why I felt that.” As time passed, she learned to channel her anger into something far more productive: resilience. “I just didn’t talk about it until like the 4th or 5th grade,” she says. “I always had friends, and they would always stick up for me. If we were in the cafeteria and kids at the other tables were saying something about me, they never fought back by being mean. It was always them just introducing me to whoever it was saying something about me. And I never told them, ‘Please don’t be mean.’ It was just what they did.” By the time Velasquez began high school, things were starting to improve. “I think my personality of determination and stubbornness really started making itself very apparent at that time,” she reflects. “I feel like I’ve always been a very self-aware person. Once I got older, [I realized], ‘This is your life. Sometimes, it sucks, but you can make it not suck. You just need to figure out how to make it not suck.’ I got the bright idea to join organizations and make friends and put myself out there versus feeling like I needed to hide so I could avoid people, to not feel like I was different.” During her freshman year at Crockett High School, after deciding she wanted to try out to be a cheerleader, Velasquez surprised even herself when she made the team. “I made it,” she says, a ripple of wonder still in her voice. “I found out later I made it because everybody made it, but I was like, ‘I don’t care! I still made it!’ I practiced my butt off, I did it and I loved it. I had to have all my uniforms altered; all my stuff was so tiny. I was the girl they threw up in the air. I remember I once fell at practice. I was pretty high up, and the other girls just freaked out. I just got back up and said, ‘Let’s try it again.’ And they looked at me for a few seconds. ‘Are you broken? Are you OK?’ I’m like, ‘I’m little, but I’m tough. I’m fine. Let’s try it again.’ ” The assumption that Velasquez is fragile is a misconception she’s quick to remedy, often with humor. “Sometimes, if I’m not in the greatest mood and someone’s being extra gentle with me, it’s fun to play with them and act like they hurt me, just to see their reaction,” she says with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. austinwomanmagazine.com | 63
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hings were good for that first year at Crockett High. Velasquez had friends, family, support and good weather. Then the tsunami hit. It was her sophomore year and she was 17. While casually clicking random links looking for Taylor Swift music on YouTube, she accidentally stumbled across a short video titled The Ugliest Woman in the World, and found a strangely familiar face: her own. Eight seconds long, no sound, 4 million views and thousands of comments: “Why did your parents keep you?” “Set it on fire!” “Do yourself a favor and kill yourself.” And the hits just kept coming, each more hurtful than the last. It was a devastating introduction to the dark side of social media and the odious sickness called cyberbullying. Velasquez was an easy target. “I’d worked so hard to build my confidence up and then, within five seconds, it was just gone,” Velasquez remembers, pausing and reaching for a bottle of water. Her throat still tightens at the recollection. “I was reading all the comments and started letting their words become me. I started thinking, ‘Are they right? Would the world be better if I just took myself out of it?’ ” For days, she wouldn’t talk to anyone—her parents, her siblings, her friends. Finally, she had an epiphany. “I told myself, ‘I can either let their words become my definition of me, or I can create my own definition the way I want it to be.’ That was my choice,” she says. “I didn’t know how I was going to do that. I just knew I was determined to do that.” An old Theosophist proverb says, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” In this case, the teacher was Velasquez’s insightful vice principle, Christine Kent. About a year after the Ugliest Woman video went viral, Kent reached out to Velasquez with a proposition. There was to be a test day for 400 9th graders in the auditorium. Would Velasquez mind telling them her story? Velasquez’s first response was immediate. “I said, ‘No way. You’re insane. Why would I do that?’ She told me to think about it and talk to my family. I did, and they thought it was a great idea,” Velasquez says. Eventually, Velasquez was persuaded. Meticulously typing out every word of a speech, she dutifully put it in a folder, went onstage and peered out into a sea of faces, both familiar and frightening. “I was so scared, especially because all the teachers were like, ‘We’re going to be here. They usually get loud. We’ll quiet them down.’ So, I started reading. I didn’t look up,” she remembers. But instead of hearing the anticipated jeers and murmurs, she became aware of a respectful, spellbound silence. Halfway through, she looked up, put her folder down and just started talking. “I felt so confident and comfortable,” she says. “I felt, ‘I belong here.’ At the end, these tough kids were coming up to me and hugging me and crying and thanking me. I realized those people I was talking to, they don’t know what it’s like to be in my shoes, but we can connect in other ways. They know what it’s like to not be confident in themselves. They know what it’s like to be bullied. They know what it’s like to want to have friends. So, on that note, I can relate. So, I just went with it, and it was amazing.” 64 | Austin Woman | July 2016
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hile most media coverage in the wake of Ugliest Woman was supportIt was the defining moment in Velasquez’s ive of Velasquez, occasional exploitative and hurtful press surfaced. Following young life, exhilarating and empowering. a lengthy phone interview with a writer in the U.K. in 2010, Velasquez was She went home and during the course of the shocked to see her story reduced to a sordid headline: “Girl has to eat every 15 next few hours, she had Googled “How to be minutes or she’ll die.” Once again, Velasquez had found herself the unwilling a motivational speaker,” built a rudimentary center of attention for the wrong reasons, this time on an international scale. website, created a new email account and beThere was a feeding frenzy of calls and emails from hungry media eager to gan compulsively watching YouTube videos of follow up. motivational speakers. Next, she began email“I was frustrated because they all wanted to talk to me about a lie,” she ing churches and organizations, pitching her recalls, still indignant, still exasperated. services as a motivational speaker and offering One number kept calling, and it just kept saying, “NBC – Universal.” It was to speak for free. the Today Show offering to fly Velasquez and her family out to New York to “They had no clue that I’d literally done just appear for an interview. one speech that day,” she recalls with a smile. “I just wanted to get my truth out, and it was the perfect opportunity. So I A social-media addict, Velasquez began did,” Velasquez says. posting self-made video blogs that quickly July 28, 2010, with her mom and dad by her side for support, Velasquez went viral, chatting about the same seemwent live on national television to share her story. Ever the mindful maringly mundane stuff that preoccupies many keter, she made sure she included a plug for her first book just before the teenage girls: her new iPhone case, her commercial break. daily makeup routine, boys. She also started Velasquez evolved from local hero to chronicling her increasnational celebrity. One person whose ingly high-profile travels and speaking engage“I remember I once fell at practice. I was attention she caught was producer Sara Hirsh Bordo, who was putting together ments, ironically utipretty high up, and the other girls just the first TEDxWomen event in Austin. lizing the same social “They were looking for local people media that had almost freaked out. I just got back up and said, who were taking a stand against bullying, destroyed her to rebuild and had heard my story,” Velasquez says. herself. In 2010, work‘Let’s try it again.’ And they looked at Bordo immediately recognized motiing with her mother, she me for a few seconds. ‘Are you broken? vational gold when she saw it, inviting also wrote Lizzie Beautito be a speaker at the event. ful: The Lizzie Velasquez Are you OK?’ I’m like, ‘I’m little, but I’m Velasquez Dec. 5, 2013, just weeks after graduatStory, a book that was ing college with a degree in communicaequal parts memoir, motough. I’m fine. Let’s try it again.’ ” tions, Velasquez strode onto the stage at tivational anecdotes and Austin Music Hall, working the crowd advice for young readers. with the seasoned finesse of a veteran, drawing laughter, tears and a thunderShe went on to publish two follow-ups: ing ovation. Velasquez’s appearance and 13-minute speech, “How do you define Be Beautiful, Be You in 2012 and Choosing yourself?” went viral overnight. It has since become the most widely viewed Happiness in 2014. speech in TEDxWomen history, seen by more than 10 million viewers throughAs her speaking engagements increased, out the world. Velasquez realized she couldn’t continue to “I actually made that talk up as I was going,” Velasquez remembers. “I just offer her services gratis. told myself I was going to speak from my heart. Afterwards, I was like, ‘That “I realized, ‘I’m sort of an adult now. I need was fun,’ and I went home and put pajamas on, ordered Chinese food and it to start paying bills. If I want to do this as a was like, ‘OK, it’s break time.’ Then we posted it online and it went viral really profession, I’m going to have to start charging,’ quickly. And then everything—everything—changed after that.” ” she says. Bordo saw more than potential in Velasquez; she saw a mission in the makA veritable one-woman franchise, she haning and became driven to produce a documentary on Velasquez’s life and exdled everything: bookings, scheduling, makeup, periences. After conferring with Velasquez and her family, Bordo launched a hotel reservations—all while attending school Kickstarter campaign, The Lizzie Project, raising funds to produce the movie, full time. It was a dizzying routine. eventually titled A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story. By the time Velasquez entered Texas State “I had never directed or produced a film, but my intentions to help her rise University in San Marcos, she had resolved to as a hopeful voice were authentic,” Bordo recalls. “After Lizzie and her family test her independence by moving out of her agreed, we built and launched our Kickstarter campaign in less than 30 days to family home and onto campus, a move met coincide with Lizzie’s appearance on The View. I put up the first portion of the with some resistance from her ever-protective production from my savings. The production dollars came out of our successful parents. Kickstarter campaign, and the post-production dollars came from private do“My dad actually offered to pay me to stay nors from across the country, with many of them being so many Austin angels.” home and go to school in Austin,” she says. “I While filming the documentary, Velasquez journeyed to Washington, D.C., was like, ‘No, sir. Sorry. I need to be indepento lobby for the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would require schools to dent and learn how to live life on my own.’ So, create policies and safeguards against bullying, a subject on which she was an I did. I moved away and I loved it. I just really authority. It was a demanding trip. became my own person for the first time. It was “We had been traveling for over a week internationally and then one of the best decisions I ever made.”
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ight now, Velasquez is in a good place, catching up on some muchdomestically,” Bordo says. “She was completely needed downtime. Two years ago, she moved into her own apartment, a exhausted, was becoming sick and refused to stone’s throw from the home she grew up in. But she was seldom there, and cancel any meetings. We pushed her in a wheelwhen she was, she wasn’t alone. chair while she gave a briefing, pitched members “I got my keys two weeks after we started filming the documentary. So, of Congress, took photos with fans and was sick I was never really alone for about eight months because the crew was here, in and out of the bathroom. She put a smile on her other people were here. So, I didn’t actually live on my own until a year face, a mint in her mouth and kept moving hour by later. … I was sort of burnt out. I was tired of myself,” she admits, with an hour. She knows she is here for a reason larger than audible sigh. herself. It isn’t lost on her for a second, and she conThis is really the first time she’s had alone time in years. tinues to rise time after time.” “It’s been a calm week,” she says, looking down at Ollie, now deep in Two years after Bordo pitched the idea of a doca doggie dream, legs twitching. “Usually, my schedule is filled with lots umentary, A Brave Heart had its world premiere of travel for speaking events, and I just submitted the manuscript for my in Velasquez’s hometown at South By Southwest fourth book two weeks ago…so, I’ve been taking it easy since then.” March 14, 2015, one day after Velasquez’s 26th What does she do to relax? birthday. “Hang out and rest, play with Ollie, spoil “The entire weekend felt him, spend time with my friends, going to like a dream,” Velasquez “At the end, these tough kids were have a glass of wine, going to dinner, hanging remembers. out. I have the palate of a 5-year-old—macaThe movie went into gencoming up to me and hugging me roni and cheese, pizza, grilled cheese. … I’m eral release in September. the pickiest eater in the entire world. My team As time passed, the TV and crying and thanking me. I now knows that when we go out to eat, we’ve appearances and interviews realized those people I was talkgot to make sure there’s a kids’ menu for me,” became a blur. Ask her she laughs. “So, now I’m just taking that time. about the countless shows ing to, they don’t know what it’s I feel like I have all the people in place, I have she’s appeared on and anything I could ever want in place and now Velasquez draws a blank. like to be in my shoes, but we can it’s up to me to decide what do I want to do “Oh, man, I don’t even connect in other ways. They know next besides the book? And I don’t know.” know the names of them,” She laughs like a little kid trying to decide she says. “There were a what it’s like to not be confident in which candy bar to buy, and repeats, “I don’t lot coming from other know.” countries.” themselves. They know what it’s She is currently looking to buy her first Velasquez became a like to be bullied. They know what home, yet another landmark event in the worldwide spokesperson Velasquez saga. against bullying, journeyit’s like to want to have friends. So, “I like to know that I have all of my options ing to exotic and faraway and that I’ve experienced all that I could, not countries, selfie stick on that note, I can relate. So, I just so much having the experience, but proving always in tow for posting went with it, and it was amazing.” to myself that I can do it,” she says. “I’m going to her chatty blogs. to be 28 next year. I’m just like every other Her fame, however, girl. I date and I want to meet the man I’m going to marry and see where has its downside. Well-intentioned people can that road goes. I’m always open to it. But it’s one of the biggest things I’ve inadvertently overwhelm and drain her. Some even been trying to find the balance with, especially over the last year because regard Velasquez as a sort of petite messiah and are my life is now so public. My social media is the biggest it’s ever been. With anxious to draw strength from her healing touch. the documentary out, people know me by name. So, I went from being able “Sometimes, they want to just wrap around to keep certain things private to now, where it’s really hard to keep things me or hold me or kiss my cheeks,” she says. “I private. So, I’m trying to find the balance of wanting to find someone who appreciate that I’m that person for them, I really would be OK with both my personal life and my private life because now do. But at the same time, I cannot be that person that’s what I bring to the table.” for so many people over and over. I’m just one But tomorrow will take care of itself with the inevitable nudge from person. … It’s not only when I’m giving speeches. Velasquez herself. Meanwhile, though, it’s Velasquez and Ollie, and both I can be walking through an airport or just shopseem to like that arrangement just fine. The only downside is that with ping and someone can come up to me. I could be Velasquez’s increasingly demanding travel schedule, Ollie is often left in having this really great day and suddenly, they’ll the care of her parents. tell me this really heavy story…and then, when I But who knows? Once she gets her new house, perhaps she’ll get Ollie walk away, I’m like, ‘What?’ ” a companion and playmate to keep him company. But if she does, the new She instinctively turns to Ollie, now rolling over dog will have to understand one thing: No bullying is allowed in the world and half awake, and holds him close. of Lizzie Velasquez. 66 | Austin Woman | July 2016
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RAISING
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The face of urban sustainability is comprised of many facets, key among them an open-minded and supportive community that’s conscious of the issues Austin is up against. BY APRIL CUMMING
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ITY As Austin continues its growth spurt outward, transforming once-rural farmland into an urban sprawl of new housing developments, retail centers and office complexes, our community approach to sustainability is also evolving. Sustainability: It’s one of those words that could mean a multitude of things to one person. A 1987 Brundtland Commission Report succinctly defined sustainability as “development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” In a 2013 Southwestern University study titled A Sustainable Austin, researchers outlined the three main faces of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. “We are now living in the century of cities,” the Southwestern researchers noted in their report. “[They] are the sites where global problems materialize at the local scale, yet, at the same time, cities also hold the
greatest potential for solving these problems. Simply put, cities are sites of creation and destruction, regeneration and degradation, resilience and vulnerability.” Ask any Austin newcomer why they chose to move here, and you won’t hear them say it’s because of the traffic. Most likely, they’ll run you through an itemized list of positive exaltations—the running and biking trails, the warm winters, the farm-to-table dining scene—that make this city sound like it truly is a dream. We’re not arguing, but sometimes, even the best of the best needs a crash course in humility: a reminder of our roots, an update on the pertinent environmental issues our city is facing and the progress that’s still being made to keep this thriving place we all call home just that—thriving. In this piece, we enlist the expertise of five female community leaders to draw attention to the past, present and future of Austin’s sustainability efforts.
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Water
conservation The issue: Just because the lake levels are up doesn’t mean we should act like it. What’s being done: In 2013, Texas voters passed Proposition 6. It dedicated $2 billion in funding to the State Water Plan, and directs 20 percent of that funding to conservation. Although persistent rain has currently eliminated drought conditions throughout the state, in March, Austin Water Utility proposed new citywide watering restrictions that would mean revising the city’s irrigation schedule and permanently limiting outdoor watering to one day per week. According to the Texas Water Conservation Scorecard, implementing new initiatives and restrictions is what, in recent years, has moved Austin to the top ranks of Texas cities practicing efficient water conservation. State Director for The Nature Conservancy Laura Huffman says the key is not to wait for drought to return before we start thinking about conservation. “We need to reduce water usage now so we’re better prepared to weather the drier, hotter conditions that are predicted to get worse in the future,” she says. Part of the solution, Huffman explains, is to change our own expectations. Lawns may not always be green and lakes will likely not always be full. “Water conservation isn’t about saving enough for us; it’s about saving enough for the future,” Huffman says.
> Voice From the Field:
Laura Huffman state director of The Nature Conservancy Given current climatic trends… “It wouldn’t take long for lake levels to go back down again. We cannot rest on our laurels!” A common misconception is: “When our lakes are full, our water problems are over. Even if our lakes are full, we can’t declare mission accomplished, especially when our state’s population is predicted to double in size. A lot of that growth will happen in and around Austin.” Water is a shared resource. “And we need to think of it as such. It’s not just the City of Austin that we need to worry about. The status of the Highland Lakes also affects communities downstream who depend on that water. The health of Matagorda Bay, one of Texas’ largest estuaries and important fisheries, hinges on water from the Colorado River. Farmers on the coast also depend on this water.” Easy ways Austin residents can better manage their water usage: 1. “ Reduce outdoor watering. In some parts of Texas, 50 to 70 percent of total use goes to outdoor watering. This may mean getting used to things looking different: having less grass or xeriscaping.” 2. “ Incorporate compost into the soil to help improve water absorption and retention.” 3. “ Use mulch around shrubs and garden plants to reduce evaporation from the soil surface and cut down on weed growth.” 4. “ When outdoor water use is restricted, use the leftover water from the bath or sink on plants or the garden. Just make sure there’s no bleach, automatic-dishwashing detergent, fabric softener or other chemicals.” 5. “ Turn off your faucet while doing things like brushing your teeth and preparing food.” 6. “ Utilize pitchers to keep your drinking water in the fridge. So many of us drink from the tap and just let the water run until it’s cool, but think about how much water that just sends down the drain.” 7. “ Upgrade to water- and energy-efficient appliances, and explore rebate options the City offers.”
FOOD
The issue: More than 40 percent of food in the U.S. gets thrown out every day, yet one in seven people don’t know where their next meal will come from. What’s being done: The City of Austin, in partnership with Austin Resource Recovery, passed an initiative in December 2011 called Zero Waste by 2040. The goal of the initiative is to redirect waste by striving to keep 90 percent of discarded materials out of landfills. One key component under the Zero Waste by 2040 umbrella is the Universal Recycling Ordinance. Two important dates to note are: • Oct. 1, 2017: This is when all Austin residential and non-residential properties, including retail, medical and education buildings, will be required to provide recycling services to their tenants and employees. • Oct. 1, 2018: This is when all Austin food enterprises, including restaurants, grocers and farmers markets, will be required to ensure their employees have convenient access to organics diversion services, such as composting. Aside from these citywide initiatives, there are many small organizations that have huddled together on this issue. One such organization is the nonprofit Keep Austin Fed. Started in 2004, the group picks up nutritious surplus food from commercial kitchens throughout town and delivers it to charities that feed those in need. Another is the Sustainable Food Center. With roots dating back to 1975 and located near the Martin Luther King Jr. rail-line stop in East Austin, the SFC practices what it preaches, showing community members how to sustainably grow, purchase and use their food through gardening and cooking classes.
70 | Austin Woman | July 2016
Left to right: Jane Claire Hervey, Ashlee Jordan Pryor, Leslie Lozano
Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy. Conservancy
PRODUCtion & WASTE
ENERGY
consumption & conservation The issue: As our state population—currently sitting at more than 27.4 million— continues to grow, so does our demand for energy. What’s being done: The last time Austin Energy implemented rolling blackouts was in February 2011, when extreme cold-weather conditions led to an unforeseen spike in electricity usage. Blackouts are short-term, intentional power outages meant to relieve pressure from the state’s energy grid. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is quick to point out that, contradictory to populationgrowth forecasts, the council has actually started to see a decrease in energy demand from consumers, a fact it attributes to an uptick in consumers implementing renewable and efficient energy resources, from LED light bulbs and televisions to solar panels, as well as those who have simply enhanced their awareness of peak energy hours.
> Voice From the Field:
Cheryl Mele chief operating officer of ERCOT and former COO of Austin Energy Important sustainability indicators we look at are: “How much reserve energy and how much capacity, beyond what we think we’re going to need to meet the demand, [that] we have available [on the grid] statewide.” One relevant characteristic of Texas is: “Unlike some regions of the country, it’s seen continuous growth. But it’s not as steep as it once was.” The biggest challenge ERCOT faces in dealing with energy supply is: “Regulatory uncertainty. Recent environmental regulations on clean-power plants could impact the supply of resources we have available to use. Because the price of natural gas really drives the price of energy in the marketplace, it may not be viable for the owners of the power plants to keep them running.” Not too many years ago… “Natural gas prices were very high. That certainly piqued people’s interest in their use of alternative energy.” Currently, there’s a lot of interest in: “The development of additional wind, but also solar. With federal incentives, those areas are economically attractive. We currently have over 15,000 megawatts of wind in Texas and over 200 megawatts of solar, and we see that doubling, maybe even tripling within the next few years.” Keep in mind… “That the highest production times for wind—in the early morning and late at night—tend to be the lowest consumption times for energy. That’s a challenge when we have high wind production and low overall system load conditions. You have to really prepare for the unexpected and for the scaling off of that energy. We obviously didn’t have to worry about how fast the wind was blowing before we had these resources.”
Photos courtesy of ERCOT and The Sustainable Food Center.
> Voice From the Field:
RONDA RUTLEDGE executive director of the Sustainable Food Center Sustainability means… “Lasting. Having a lasting food supply that comes from a lasting life source, clean air, clean water and clean soil.” We know that… “The most affordable and most nutritious food you can feed your family is food that you grow yourself. Obviously, that’s not feasible for everyone in Austin, but we’re trying to make that more accessible, either through container gardening or community gardening.“ Right now, there are 50… “Community gardens in Austin. There’s so much more potential [to grow that number], particularly on city land that you really can’t do anything else with.” The challenge Central Texans face… “Is that we’re losing about 7 acres of farmland a day to development. There’s a high demand for local produce, yet farmland isn’t preserved for agricultural purposes. It’s depressing, particularly east of I-35. That’s some of the richest soil in the country for food, and yet, you see that area being very quickly developed and gentrified, and you see this whole suburbination of poverty.”
Food deserts… “Are now food swamps. In certain areas of Austin, there has been an influx of fast food and highly processed food sold in corner stores. For a lot of our low-income family members, those are the only places they have access to food in their neighborhood. It’s not even food; it’s food-like substances. But if that’s the only food they have access to, that’s what they’re going to eat.” Advice for the City: “Instead of incentivizing fast-food chains to go in, we need to put funding toward a fresh-food financing initiative, where corner stores are incentivized to put in refrigeration so they can have a whole area just stocked with fresh produce.” Food sovereignty: “For women, that phrase means we are the leaders in our households. So think, ‘What is a lasting way for me to feed my family?’ Then go and make those choices.”
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LAND
revitalization > Voice From the Field:
Christine Whitney program manager for the Austin Brownfields Revitalization office It’s hard to just look at a piece of property and know… “Whether or not it’s been contaminated. Someone might say, ‘Oh, I really want to open up a café. This [site] would be really great.’ And they go, ‘Oh, it’s a flower shop! It’s been a flower shop since 1960. Isn’t that sweet?’ But across the street at the same time was a gas station and the tanks are still [underground]. Nobody knows that, but the environmental report would probably say there’s potential for contamination at that site.” Some contaminants… “Don’t degrade readily, and when they break down, they are actually worse than they were to begin with. Some brownfield sites take 20 years to clean up.” The site of the Austin American-Statesman building is a brownfield… “Because they’ve been doing printing for years. Those massive amounts of equipment needed to be oiled and de-greased using solvents, which aren’t easily decomposed. When that building sells, someone will go in there to test the soil.” Before you buy a house… “Doing an environmental site assessment through your bank could save you anywhere from $10,000 to $80,000 [if the site shows signs of contamination].” Looking at aerial images of a property… “You might notice that, for some reason, there’s scarring on the property and it looks like there were dead trees or dead patches of grass in some areas. That might indicate dumping of chemicals or trash. You can tell if there’s been an issue.” The overarching goal of land remediation is… “To remove blighted properties from the community, ensure health and safety for humans and improve the environment. Basically, to ensure that everything is safe and sustainable.”
Photo by A.J. Whitney.
The issue: How is our city turning contaminated land into treasure? What’s being done: If you’ve ever taken the Austin MetroRail, you’ve passed by and maybe even disembarked at Crestview Station in North Austin. Just across the rail tracks stands a smattering of single-family homes and apartments, ball fields, restaurants and retail space. The bustling development is a prime example of the transformative effect brownfield remediation— the practice of returning a once unusable or toxic property to the community as a green space—can have on a piece of property. From 1949 to 2005, this was not what Crestview station looked like. The former site of a 71acre chemical research facility, the modernday community hub was better known for the manufacturing and onsite toxic disposal of soaps, foams and glues. When the property was placed in the hands of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, it was very much a Leslie-Knope-meets-the-Pit, Parks and Recreation-like situation. Except, unlike the massive-eyesore situation featured on the popular TV comedy, organizations like the TCEQ and the Austin Brownfields Revitalization Office work on many brownfieldremediation projects each day. They’re constantly working to redevelop abandoned or contaminated properties, from closed landfills to former auto repair shops, into something new and lasting, transforming the unsustainable into something new and eco-friendly.
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ACTIVE
LIVING
Photos courtesy of Hill Country Conservancy and by Erik Pronske.
The issue: The American Fitness Index continues to rank Austin one of the top 20 fittest metropolitan cities in the nation. So, what’s in store for the future of our city’s outdoor trail networks? What’s being done: The most popular and some would say most beloved recreation area in Austin is the Roy and Ann Butler Hike and Bike Trail. Constructed in the 1970s, the trail sees more than 1.5 million visitors each year, which means anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 people utilize it every day. There’s no need to do the math on how that number will balloon if approximately 150 people are moving to Austin each day. It’s obvious we’re going to need more trail outlets to help us find solitude. Enter the Violet Crown Trail, a 30mile master-planned trail system that will eventually wind from Zilker Park south through Sunset Valley to the Veloway and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center before stretching further into the rolling countryside of Hays County. Consider it our city’s eco-sequel to constructing the Greenbelt. The first 6-mile segment of the VCT opened to the public in August 2015, and peters out at Ben White Boulevard and Brodie Lane.
> Voice From the Field:
Heidi COHN director of development for Hill Country Conservancy The story starts with… “The Austin Peace Treaty. In the 1990s, the environmental community and the real-estate community in Austin were at odds, so, the mayor held what was called the Peace Talks. After 18 months, both sides came out with the Peace Treaty, a 17-page document that agrees to preserve land on the Edwards Aquifer.” The original goal in 1999… “Was to conserve 50,000 acres of land in the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. That segment is about 250,000 acres total. Right now, we’ve conserved 44,000 acres. Those acres will never be developed; they will be there forever.” Not every city… “Sits on top of an aquifer like Austin. A lot of new residents don’t realize that, and they don’t understand what kind of impact [we have on it], which is why, in 2006, we started thinking about how we could start providing access to that land. We want to offer people the opportunity to enjoy this quality of life that we’ve all come to expect from Central Texas.” The Violet Crown Trail… “Is a way to connect people to nature when nature is starting to dissolve and evaporate around us. Putting this trail on conservation land means this trail will be there in perpetuity. It will become a real thread between Travis County and Hays County.” In August 2015… “REI chose the Violet Crown Trail as one of 10 national trails to spotlight in their national marketing campaign. We were literally right alongside the Appalachian Trail. The day that REI’s campaign kicked off, we opened the trail. It was thrilling.” The trail system is… “Good for our soul and our sanity, as well as the sustainability of our water. This is a legacy project that will benefit our community for generations to come.”
While differing, complex and ever-developing in nature, these issues have one thing in common: They’re all connected in the same way we, as members of the Austin community, are connected in our responsibility to the sustainable future of this city. The true challenge we’re all faced with is to take that first step and do something, even if that means making ourselves more aware of the issues our city is facing. After all, if hindsight is 20/20, maybe we should put more thought and care into how we live in the present.
austinwomanmagazine.com | 73
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gourmet Cool down from the heat with these three distinctly local concoctions. BY Andrew Barlow
Turmeric Twist
Take a sip of a Fiery Lion at Vinaigrette and you’ll not only get a refreshing burst of flavor, but also a healthy dose of antioxidants, thanks to the trending ingredient of the moment: turmeric. The Fiery Lion proves cocktails aren’t just for cooling off.
plymouth gin 1 ounce
Vinaigrette 2201 College Ave.
lemon Squirt
vinaigretteonline.com/austin
“The turmeric’s
gran marnier 1 ounce
earthy-hotgrenadine Splash
spice component goes nicely with
the deeper base Turmeric orange juice 3/4 ounce
Photo by Andrew Bennett.
(Available at JuiceLand or Whole Foods, or make your own by juicing two large oranges and one finger of turmeric in a masticating or centrifugal juicer.)
1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker and give the mixture a few good shakes. 2. Serve the completed cocktail in a martini glass with an orange twist.
notes in the Gran Marnier,” says
Erin Wade, owner
of Vinaigrette.
“It’s sort of
our juicy take on a
martini.” austinwomanmagazine.com | 75
G
OURMET
recipe reveal
Can You Say Frosé? This wine slushy is proof the folks at The Infinite Monkey Theorem do things their own way, from wine in a can to booze-infused slushies mixed in a classic frozen-margarita machine.
The Infinite Monkey Theorem 121 Pickle Road theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com
infinite monkey theorem rosÉ in a can 3 parts
infinite monkey theorem moscato in a can 1 part
simple syrup A healthy dash
“Austinites are an adventurous crowd
chance on a new approach
to wine, whether it comes from a can, a keg
or a margarita machine,”
says Meredith Berman, co-owner of The Infinite
Monkey Theorem. 76 | Austin Woman | JULY 2016
1. Combine all ingredients and let the mixture freeze, adding more simple syrup if you like a firmer slushy. 2. Drink carefully. A brain freeze is no laughing matter. Photo by Victoria Villarreal.
willing to take a
Shake It Up Sprung, a floral cocktail from Vox Table, was created by Madelyn Kay, who recently represented Texas in New York City for Speed Rack, an all-female, speed-based, craft-cocktail competition that raises awareness and funds for breast-cancer research. So, you know this crafty cocktail is worth its salt.
Vox Table 1100 S. Lamar Blvd.
Bols Genever 1 ounce
voxtableaustin.com
lemon juice 3/4 ounce
lavenderlemongrass syrup 3/4 ounce
Bonal 3/4 ounce
grapefruit juice 1/4 ounce salt a pinch
Photo by Stu Smith.
bittercube bolivar bitters 4 dashes
1. Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass over crushed ice. 2. Garnish the cocktail with Thai basil or any fun herb you desire.
“Good things happen when
you put a
wom a n behind the bar,” Kay says. “I’m glad to see there are more
of us around
these days.” austinwomanmagazine.com | 77
G
OURMET
food news
Irresistible Irene’s
Satiate your inner foodie with savory and sweet twists on traditional menu classics. By Trinity King It’s time to update your list of regular hangout hot spots in Austin. Our suggestion: Put Irene’s somewhere near the top. The new locale, with a menu that tantalizes with creative twists on classic American fare, opened May 30 off Fifth Street and West Avenue.
The pecan-tree shaded patio abuts Shoal Creek.
78 | Austin Woman | JULY 2016
Irene’s savory bacon toast
Photos by Courtney Pierce and courtesy of ELM Press.
From the welcoming, mahogany-hued, wood-paneled bar to the cozy booths resting comfortably under a wall lined with refurbished airplane windows, Irene’s exudes a warm and inviting if not somewhat eclectic interior. Pass by a funky relic of a piano on your way outside to the pecantree-shaded patio abutting Shoal Creek before sidling up to the al fresco bar or—perhaps its most unique feature—the walk-up counter window, perfect for a morning coffee or a quick snack on your commute to work. Don’t be dismayed if you turn your attention to the menu and suddenly feel you’ve been missing a sense of creative vibrancy in your own cooking. Our recommendation: At lunchtime, try the pigs in a blanket with housemade andouille, Easy Tiger puff pastry and Brooklyn Lager mustard, or stop in for a late-night sweet treat of mascarpone toast topped with cooked peaches, fresh blackberries and basil. In addition to a salivating food lineup, Irene’s boasts an eclectic drink list. Outside of traditional beer-and-wine selections, the bar serves up decadent punches, such as the Trinidad Rum Punch with pineapple and lime, and quenchcuring cocktails, like the Sweet Jane with mezcal, Mexican Coke and cherry. Whichever turn on the menu you take, there’s really no wrong way to go.
Booths rest under a wall lined with refurbished airplane windows.
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BRIDGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN
people / neighborhoods / health care
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CentralHealthCampus.net Redevelopment begins in 2017
WELLNESS Pop-up Shop
Cool down with the healthy benefits of this icy kid pleaser. BY Gretchen M. Sanders
Austin’s oppressive humidity and heat of summer weigh on the city like a wet blanket. Time slows down and even the air feels heavy. It’s the time of year when folks go looking for an ice-cold pick-me-up. Brightly colored ice pops, bursting with fruity flavors and energizing ingredients, pack a nutritious punch that can perk up just about anyone on a summery Texas day.
austinwomanmagazine.com | 81
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nutrition
“Kids love Popsicles,” says Megan Barron, a pediatric dietitian at Dell Children’s Medical Center. “They’re great for hydration, and they’re more exciting than water.” Barron says moms should look for ice pops with about 100 calories and 15 grams of sugar or less, and they get bonus points if the pops contain all-natural ingredients. “Pops made with real fruit make it easier for parents to get their kids to eat more of it,” Barron says. The fresh fruit and healthy ingredients in the frozen pops from Austin-based GoodPop make them one of Barron’s top picks for kids. The tasty treats meet her nutrition guidelines and come in tantalizing flavors like strawberry lemonade, hibiscus mint and banana cinnamon. Most major grocery stores in the Austin area carry the brand, and a pack of four sells for about $6. Barron also likes ice pops made with yogurt. “They have more protein and can help stave off hunger for longer,” she says. Yogurt pops tend to have more sugar, but they also contain live and active cultures, which can help with calcium absorption and aid digestion. That’s why Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars are Barron’s go-to yogurt-pop choice for kids. “They taste like dessert,” she says. With only 80 to 150 calories and about 13 grams of sugar per pop, they’re a healthier option too. Ice pops aren’t just for dessert, though. “When kids have a fever, a cold Popsicle can be very soothing,” says Rhone Levin, an oncology dietitian at Dell Children’s Blood & Cancer Center. Levin’s team uses Outshine Fruit Bars to nurse back appetites in children undergoing cancer treatment. “The tartness of the fruity pops helps treat nausea,” she says. The simple carbohydrates and fluids also prepare the stomach to digest more substantial foods later on. And ice pops simply seem to cheer kids up. Perhaps the nostalgic joy of these fruit-filled treats on a stick is partly why adults love them too. A pop that’s right for kids is also right for adults, according to Meredith Terranova, an Austin sports nutritionist. “Just read the ingredients list,” she says, “and stick with options sweetened from the natural sugars in fruit or juice.” Terranova likes Jolly Llama Sorbet Pops because they’re loaded with fruit and no artificial flavors, preservatives or sweeteners. She also likes the sorbet and frozen-yogurt bars made by Julie’s Organic Ice Cream. “They’re low in calories and sugar, and they’re easy to eat on the go,” she says. “Don’t forget about homemade pops,” Terranova adds. Just about any fruit chopped up and frozen with a liquid will transform beautifully into a juicy ice pop. If you don’t own a pop mold, small paper cups and wooden sticks work the same magic. “Or, simply try poking a spoon through the lid of your favorite yogurt and freezing it,” Terranova suggests. Either way, the message is clear: It’s hard to go wrong making ice pops in your own kitchen. So, get creative and don’t be afraid to concoct something new and healthy.
Berry Yogurt Ice Pops Rhone Levin, an oncology dietitian at Dell Children’s Blood & Cancer Center, recommends this ice-pop recipe (a favorite at Dell Children’s) from the American Institute for Cancer Research. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cherries, pitted 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries 1 tablespoon honey 24 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt 12 3-ounce paper cups and 12 wooden sticks Directions 1. In a small mixing bowl, mash the cherries and berries. 2. D rizzle honey on the cherries and berries, and mix together. 3. I n paper cups, layer alternating spoonfuls of yogurt and fruit until the cups are full. 4. Place a wooden stick or plastic spoon in each cup and freeze. 5. When they’re ready to serve, tear the paper cup off the ice pop and enjoy. Nutritional Information This recipe yields 12 paper-cup ice pops. Per serving: 69 calories, 0 grams total fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 12 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams protein, 1 gram dietary fiber, 18 milligrams sodium
Shop These Pops GoodPop Frozen Pops: $5.99 for a pack of four, available at H-E-B, Randall’s, Central Market, Wheatsville Co-op and Whole Foods, goodpops.com
Jolly Llama Sorbet Pops: $4 for a pack of four, available at Whole Foods, Sprouts, H-E-B, Central Market, Fresh Plus, Wheatsville Co-op and Vitamin Cottage, thejollyllama.com
Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars: $4 for a pack of four, available at H-E-B and Central Market, yasso.com
Julie’s Organic Ice Cream Sorbet and Yogurt Bars: $5 for a pack of four, available at some H-E-Bs, Wheatsville Co-op and Fresh Plus, juliesorganic.com
Outshine Fruit Bars: $4 for a pack of four, available at Randall’s, H-E-B and WalMart, outshinesnacks.com
austinwomanmagazine.com | 83
W
ellness
Health
Bugs Bite!
Our recommendations for repelling those unwanted pests. By Shelley Seale Summer is in full swing in Central Texas, and that means bugs. Our exceptionally warm winter followed by a wet spring has increased summer populations of pests, including the peskiest of all, mosquitos. While mosquitos have always been a nuisance and their bites itchy or irritating, they also spread diseases that are cause for concern, including the Zika virus, which is becoming a more prevalent threat each day. With mosquito bites posing significant health concerns this summer, Austin Woman researched the best strategies to combat pests. Here’s what we found. There is a variety of products available, from topical skin sprays and lotions to candles, wristbands and even protective clothing. Mark Anderson, founder of Mosquito Fixes, says there are three different active insectrepellent ingredients approved by the EPA: Deet, picaridin and IR3535. All these synthetic ingredients performed comparably in scientific studies and are considered safe for anyone older than 2 months of age. However, many people choose not to use chemical elements on their children or themselves. Natural, homeopathic remedies also exist, mostly relying on essential oils, such as lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass and citronella. Whatever your situation, we’ve looked into the best ways to beat the bugs for you and your family. j Kids Anderson recommends a spray low in Deet concentration. Cutter’s family spray and wipes have only 7 percent Deet, as opposed to the typical 15 to 25 percent found in some other products.
j Sensitive Skin Since Deet is the most aggressive ingredient in most products, people with sensitive skin should try essential oils and other natural repellents first. If those aren’t effective, try synthetic products made with picaridin or IR3535. Repellent recommendation: Goat Milk Stuff Bug Out Lotion in mango butter, $22 for a 4-ounce tub, goatmilkstuff.com j Organic Look for a biodegradable repellant that is both dermatologist tested and hypoallergenic, as well as safe for the environment and possesses zero toxicity impact on animals and wildlife. Repellent recommendation: BugBand insect repellent band, $4.95, bugband.net j Clothing Clothing containing permethrin, an invisible, odorless repellent, will also shoo the flies away and is helpful for trips and expeditions on which mosquitos are a constant annoyance. Repellent recommendation: ExOfficio Bugsaway Lumen Long-sleeve Shirt, $60, exofficio.com ry this: Make the clothing you already T wear repel mosquitos with Wool Ease Dryer Balls. Just pop these natural fabric softeners, made with a special blend of lavender and geranium essential oils (natural mosquito repellents), into the dryer with your clothing. Wool Ease Dryer Balls, $12.95 for a pack of three, wooleasedb.com
Repellent recommendation: Cutter All Family Mosquito Wipes, $4.99 for a 3-ounce package, cutterinsectrepellents.com
j Natural Dr. Josh Axe, a clinical nutritionist, suggests these options for making your own repellents at home:
j Pets CEO Stephanie Boone of Austin-based Wondercide developed her petfriendly products after her dog, Luna, developed pesticide poisoning from a vet-prescribed flea-and-tick treatment.
•M ix 1/2 cup witch hazel, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 40 drops of lemongrass pure essential oil in an 8-ounce spray bottle and store it out of direct sunlight. Spray the mixture over your body, avoiding the eyes and mouth.
Repellent recommendation: Wondercide Natural Flea, Tick & Mosquito Control for Pets, $24.99 for a 16-ounce spray bottle, wondercide.com
•M ix one drop each of lemongrass oil, citronella oil and eucalyptus oil with one teaspoon of coconut oil and rub on the skin. Note: Young children should avoid eucalyptus oil.
Treating Outdoor Areas
When to See a Doctor
Nip your mosquito problem in the bud by making sure you don’t have standing water outside your house, such as in a birdbath, garbage cans, low areas of the yard or the trays of potted plants. Water sitting stagnant for more than seven days is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. You can also simultaneously beautify and protect large outdoor spaces by filling your garden or backyard with mosquito-repelling plants, such as citronella, lemon balm, catnip, marigolds, basil, lavender, peppermint, rosemary and geraniums. The majority of bug sprays and repellents can also be sprayed around yard or patio areas, and most brands sell versions designed specifically for outdoor spaces. When in doubt, put out the mosquito coils and citronella candles.
Dr. Bill Tierney, chairman of the Department of Population Health at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas, advises seeing a doctor if your mosquito bites result in any of the following:
84 | Austin Woman | JULY 2016
3 when the face is involved or the eyes are swelling shut 3 if you are having problems breathing (This could indicate a serious allergic reaction.) 3 if the skin becomes discolored or begins dripping pus (This could be a bacterial skin infection such as impetigo.) 3 if you develop an abscess or boil bigger than a large pimple 3 if you experience flu-like symptoms
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P
oint of view
memo from JB
A Happier Life
My 10 tips for turning your frown upside down. By JB Hager, photo by rudy arocha
As we approach the 2016 halfway mark, I’ve been contemplating about this undoubtedly difficult year so far. We’ve lost several iconic celebrities, which punched a lot of people right in the gut. We’ve had some national tragedy that broke our hearts. Add to that political buffoonery that has made the TV show Jersey Shore seem like an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I’ve come up with 10 easy things you can do to make your life better for the remaining half of 2016, or to, as your mother would say, “turn that frown upside down.” 1. Take a break from social media. Trust me, you are going to make it through the day without seeing Kim Kardashian’s posterior or a dachshund in a hot-dog-bun costume. Social media is mostly negative. For every lion hugging the man that freed him a decade ago, there is one grabbing an idiot tourist by the camera strap. 2. Ride a bike that is far too big for you. I know that sounds weird, but it immediately, whether consciously or subconsciously, makes you feel like a kid again and takes you back to simpler times. If you crash and need first aid, definitely use a bandage displaying your favorite superhero. 3. Fire a toxic friend. One of the best things I ever learned came from money guru Suze Orman, who explained that after the age of 40, you should have the courage to get rid of your toxic, energysucking, why-am-I-friends-with-them friends. You know that person who has to one-up every story you share? She’s fired! It’s liberating. 4. Stop watching local news. They are desperate and in the scare business. They have completely lost all standards and reality when it comes to instilling fear in your life: “Shark attack on African Coast dismembers swimmer. How many sharks are in Lady Bird Lake? Find out tonight at 10.” 5. Adopt a ridiculous pet. I got a sickly, wiry, death-row puppy who’s so ugly he’s cute. My daughter has a pet pig. He grunts for food when he sees me. I pretty much laugh every single time I enter my house. 6. This is not a very popular thing to do at my house, but I occasionally sneak up on my wife and scare her. I don’t do so with a loud yell or grab. I just quietly walk up and lurk about her periphery. It’s so worth the slap in retaliation. Isn’t it weird that her momentary fear brings me joy? Be careful doing this with some Texans, as many are armed. 7. Stop going to couple’s dinners. My wife loves these. My theory is that she is just bored with me after 18 years of marriage. Apparently, being alone with me for an entire evening is daunting. Given today’s divorce rate, two people wanting to be together is miraculous enough; four or more is downright impossible. 8. Watch Game of Thrones. I’m a big fan of the show. Although it’s never mentioned when the story takes place, it’s safe to say it is not the Summer of Love, 1969. There is no shortage of methods to be killed, dismembered or boiled, sometimes all three, and often by a family member. It should make you realize your spouse’s snoring can be tolerated.
86 | Austin Woman | JULY 2016
9. Find a place you like to go eat when looking, possibly even smelling, horrific. My wife and I found a dive restaurant and bar near us that we honestly have no problem going to after a full day of yard work. No shower? Off we go. It settles those “I don’t want to get cleaned up but there’s nothing in the fridge” evenings. 10. Last but not least, my favorite thing to cheer me up is to go to a 24-hour WalMart after midnight and just look around. If that’s not a confidence and attitude booster, I don’t know what is.
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oint of view
I Am Austin Woman
With Open Arms
Women helping women yields empowering results. This founding team Open Arms is an Austin of women, friends I had original, a social busiknown for years, women ness that employs refuwhose children I had gee women at a living held right after delivery, wage in the privateanswered the call and label manufacturing worked full time for more of textiles. than a year for no pay. The idea and passion for Yes, that’s right: no pay. Open Arms started when I They invested their time was sitting with a group of in a vision that was about refugee women in a dusty circling together with refugee camp in Uganda. refugee women in our These women had sufcommunity who needed fered the unimaginable someone to stand with in that nation’s war-torn them. The payoff was villages. As I looked at being a part of somethese strong women taking thing transformative. We care of one another, many From left to right: Lacey Strake, Tila Rupa Baskota, Alexia Maher, watched as others transLeslie Beasley, Raya Thanoon, Trina Barlow and Flora Lado. loving on their babies formed and we watched conceived as the result of ourselves transform. rape, I was overwhelmed When I think about this group of women tirelessly working to by our need for one another. For a moment, as we shared a meal create something beautiful in this world, I’m convinced that’s why and danced together, I felt like I was them. We were all one: moms, we’re here: to stand for one another in deep, invested, meaningful sisters, daughters, aunts. In that moment, I decided I would seek ways. That’s what gives life meaning. out refugee women who had been resettled to Austin, those living Getting the company started and built to the point of viabilright here in my own community. ity wasn’t easy. It fact, it was really hard, but it was fun. And it I was determined to start a social business that employed refugee was so deeply meaningful to be part of a group of Austin women women, empowering them to live a life of freedom, choice and digwith such diverse backgrounds and worldviews who were fully nity. And I wanted to form a team of women who wanted to stand for invested in a shared vision. We all believe in empowering women. one another and build something truly unique from the ground up. The joy of daily interaction with a team of women who I love like Lacey Strake, our co-founder, said yes immediately. She and I had family could not be matched. dreamed of doing something together In the end, as I reflect on the joys many years before and had even dreamed When I think about this group of women of working and living in Austin, I am of an organization called Open Arms. filled with gratitude. I am grateful for Then came Trina Barlow, albeit kicktirelessly working to create something the chance to live in such an innovative, ing and screaming at first, but once she beautiful in this world, I’m convinced supportive city. I am grateful for all the was in, she dove deep, taking charge of that’s why we’re here: to stand for one amazing women I’ve worked with who our branding and marketing, and making are committed to women helping women. sure we always put our best foot forward. another in deep, invested, meaningful I’m inspired by all the refugee women Thank goodness she took the leap. ways. That’s what gives life meaning. who have been relocated to Austin and And then there’s Linda Knebel. She work tirelessly to be parents to their chiljoined the team without having any idea dren and good citizens in their new community. To see them turn what she would be doing, and it didn’t matter to her. She heard the around and empower other women is the greatest gift of all. It’s an words “women helping women,” and that’s all it took. She headed up affirmation of our company’s philosophy and a validation of our our sales effort and we learned to watch out when she rounded the town’s special spirit. It has convinced me there is no better place to corner because she would roll in with guns blazing, ready to make live, work and do life than Austin, Texas. things happen. Her passion was strong.
Austin Woman features a reader-submitted essay every month in the I Am Austin Woman column. To be considered for September’s I Am Austin Woman, email a 500-word submission on a topic of your choice by Aug. 1 to submissions@awmediainc.com with the subject line “I Am Austin Woman.”
88 | Austin Woman | JULY 2016
Photo by Amy Mesla.
by Leslie Beasley
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Austin Woman MAGAZINE | july 2016
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““I am not my hair. I am not my skin. I am the soul that lives within.” – India Arie
ARRIVING THIS SUMMER • TAKING ORDERS NOW