September 2022 by Austin Woman Magazine

FOOD OR ELECTRICITY? For many, a daily meal is just a choice of what to eat for dinner. But for people facing hunger, a daily meal poses a very di erent type of choice. It’s often an impossible choice between food and other critical needs. HOW WILL YOU CHOOSE TO END HUNGER? Join the Fight to End Hunger at centraltexasfoodbank.org/ham

Mazda named 2021 BEST CAR BRAND FOR THE 6TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR www.usnews.com - Nov. 17, 2020. 2021 Best Vehicle Brand Awards. The awards recognize the brands whose vehicles perform the best on an overall basis within four major categories of the U.S. News vehicle rankings: Cars, SUVs, Trucks and Luxury.2021 Why shop Roger Beasley Mazda? • One of the largest Mazda dealers in the U.S. • Locally-owned with 3 convenient locations. • 4th location coming soon to Leander. • O ering the same great prices as always. • Extremely high trade-in Celebratingvalues.50 years! Austin true since 1972. ONE OF AWARDEDHIGHESTMAZDA’SHONORSTOONLY 50 DEALERS IN THE U.S. ALL 3 ROGER BEASLEY MAZDA DEALERSHIPS EARNED DISTINCTIONTHIS FOR 2021 AWARDED DEALERS ARE LEADERS IN SALES AND SERVICE.CUSTOMER PROVEN CUSTOMERCENTRIC CULTURE AT ALL 3 LOCATIONS AND IN OUR COMMUNITY

CENTRAL • SOUTH • GEORGETOWN MAZDA ROGER ONLINEBEASLEYEXPRESS STORE HAVE A CAR TO SELL?

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4 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

PLANNING FOR AT-HOME CARE

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One of the participants will be Amber Allen, CEO and founder of Austin-based Double A Labs. She is a leading expert on the metaverse and hybrid events.

Following a networking lunch, there will be a fireside chat with keynote speaker Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of Melissa & Doug, a successful toy company, and Lifelines, her new venture focusing on mental well-being products for adults. She speaks frequently about the importance of mental well-being and her battle with depression during her 30-year career.

should learn to be open and empathetic, not only of their employees’ struggles, but also their own.

“When thinking about innovation, you have to take into consideration what came before and how to continually optimize moving forward. When the pandemic robbed us of in-person meetings, companies were forced to adopt new processes and ways to work,” Allen says. “The loss of human connection impacted productivity, employee retention and, of course, sales. People crave genuine human connection, and yet the research shows that the majority of workers still want a hybrid solution. It was the perfect opportunity to address those needs with a technology that was easily accessible and adoptable.”

“JPMorgan Chase is dedicated to helping women grow, succeed and thrive. PowerHER represents the critical components to that mission, including improving women’s financial health and providing opportunities to expand women’s networks,” says Ashley Brueckner, executive director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “It is our intention that attendees will leave PowerHER filled with practical advice, inspired ideas and empowered to take control of their financial health and overall well-being,” PowerHER will kick off at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 23 at the Hotel ZaZa. Discussion topics will include Austin’s innovation economy, financial wellness, fundraising for entrepreneurs and board diversity.

isn’t just about 10 years down the road, but how you prepare your teams to get there,” Allen says.

To learn more, log on jpmorganevents.com/powerher2022to:

“This openness decreases stigma and increases empathy and connectedness—not to mention retention and the success of teams,” Bernstein says. “This is what it takes to create a community of individuals who can work collectively to strengthen their well-being and unlock their full potential.”

Amber Allen CEO & Founder Double A Labs Ashley Bruekner Executive Director J.P. PrivateMorganBank Melissa Bernstein Co-Founder Melissa & Doug Toys and Lifelines

“There is a common misconception and fear that if someone experiences a mental health challenge, they won’t be a good employee. But that is simply not true,” Bernstein says.

“Research overwhelmingly shows that sharing mental health challenges benefits both the individual and the organization. For the individual, being open about their struggles can actually decrease burnout and increase well-being—it also allows them to receive the support they Leadersneed.”

ATXWOMAN.COM | 9 PowerHER Austin 2022 Friday, September 23, 2022

KIP GARVEY

KATHERINE POWELL Writer, “Creating Culinary Abundance in Austin,” page 68

“June 20 is a day to celebrate love. It’s my partner, Brian, and my wedding anniversary and also my parents’ anniversary.”

ELLE BENT Writer, “Breaking Barriers in the Media,” page 18

This month, you

Contributors

• She’s mom to two fifth-generation Austin girls.

Inc.

“An important date I celebrate is Thanksgiving. It is a time to join family together which can be a tricky feat outside of the holiday season. Family is so important!”

VOLUME Woman is a free monthly publication of Media and is available at locations throughout Austin and in Lakeway, Rock and Pflugerville. All rights reserved. To offer feedback, email feedback@awmediainc.com. For submission information, visit atxwoman.com/jobs. No part of the magazine may be reprinted or duplicated without permission. Visit us online at atxwoman.com. Email us at info@awmediainc.com. 512 328.2421 | 7401 West Slaughter Lane, Austin, TX 78739

• She graduated from St. Edward’s University.

ATXWOMAN.COM | 11 JEN RAMOS PERKINS Director of Business Operations JAIME ALBERS Creative Director CY WHITE Managing Editor DARBY KENDALL Copy Editor KRISNA MENIER Community and Events Manager ANNE COX Production Manager DONNA MITCHELL Sales Account Executive CONTRIBUTORS Editorial: Ja’nell Ajani, Elle Bent, Angel Flores, Jenny Hoff, Stacey Ingram Kaleh, Katherine Powell, Laurel Sanchez, Dr. Tenesha Wards, Cy White Art: Mack Eveland, Angel Flores, Future Front Texas, Melinda Garvey, Kara Hawley, Infinity Wellness Center, Cheramie Law, Annie Ray, Angélica Rein, Rosedale Kitchen and Bar, Carla Taylor, Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Jessica Wetterer, Wine & Food Foundation INTERNS Elle Bent, Claire Heleniak, Katherine Powell, Laurel Sanchez, Devon Sayre A PUBLICATION OF AW MEDIA INC.

• Her favorite musician is Stevie Nicks.

• She recently learned that she is 5 feet tall, not 4’11!

• She watches the sun set almost every night.

Writer, “Optimism-fueled Evolution,” page 66

• She loves Thai food.

• Live music + Texas wine = the way to her heart.

GARVEY Co-founder/Co-owner

SAMANTHA STEVENS Co-founder AW MEDIA INC.

we asked our contributors: What’s an important date

• She has a phobia of bees.

celebrate? Special Contributors ANNIE RAY Photographer annieraycreative.com CRYSTAL GUTIERREZ Hair & Makeup Glam Haus Beauty Lab (inside of Jeremie Kendal Salon), 830 W. 3rd St., Unit 1148 @Glamhausbeautylab 512.948.6368 DELMICIA JOY WILLIAMS Hair & Makeup Joy Williams Beauty 832.243.7685joywilliamsbeauty.com JANAY HARDY Hair & Makeup 210.313.9010gmail.comJanaythemuaatx@@Janaythemuaatx KAREN POWANDA + ADELA TOUVELL Hair & Makeup Kiss N’ Makeup 4402A Burnet kissnmakeup.comRd. 512.388.1150 COULTRESSSTEPHANIE O’NEILL STYLING Estilo Boutique 2727 Exposition Blvd., Ste. 121 estiloboutique.com 512.236.0488 TINA CLARK Social Media @Tina Clark Jewel Rules jewelrules.com for our September cover shoot

CEO/Co-owner

MELINDA

STACEY KALEH

“I like to celebrate the anniversary of when I moved to Austin (seven years ago!) by having a picnic at Zilker.”

21, ISSUE 1 Austin

Cedar Park, Round

• If being a lifelong student was an occupation, she’d take it.

12 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

Publication of Austin Woman would not be possible without the support of our monthly advertisers and sponsors, who believe in the impact we are making in the Austin community. The following businesses have stepped up their support of our efforts beyond traditional advertising and we are proud to recognize them as our partners. The team at Austin Woman is grateful for these businesses that have shown their commitment to the advancement of women in Austin and hopes you, as readers, recognize their efforts and support these businesses and all our regular advertisers.

What’s most exciting for me is that this is not your traditional “exit” or “goodbye” because I am remaining as part of this ownership team. We will be adding a few more to the roster as time goes on, and we look forward to introducing you to the women who have your back—and put their money where their mouth is to prove it. We want to hear from you. What do you need from Austin Woman, and how can we become the place you can always call home? We encourage you to reach out to us at ideas@awmediainc.com.

‘What if I brought together a diverse group of women, all equally committed to keeping the voice for women alive in Austin, to ensure that our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion for all women is not just a “commitment” or “strategy,” but rather something that is baked directly into the ownership structure of the organization?’” Boom. That was it. That idea that had been gently bubbling in the back of my mind exploded to the surface and has become, not only the idea that informed the new ownership structure of Austin Woman, but that will, I hope, be a beacon for women everywhere that there is always a way and that we are always better together.

y the time you read this, the cat will already be out of the bag. If you weren’t at our “live” announcement at our 20th Anniversary event, here’s an excerpt from what you missed…

“…I knew AW needed more resources in order to continue to be the voice for women in Austin for the next 20 years and beyond. But what did that look like? And how could I ensure that our commitment to inclusion was woven into this future permanently? Much like the inception of Austin Woman more than 20 years ago, the idea for this next generation formed while in the company of women—dear friends and brilliant colleagues with whom I just happened to be sharing a margarita or two. ‘Why does Austin Woman have to be owned by just ONE woman?’ I blurted out.

We dedicated the cover story this month to introducing you to the new owners of Austin Woman and hearing from them as to why, as incredibly busy women, they decided that this was something they felt called to do.

With love and gratitude for the last 20 years, and hope and anticipation for the next. And since I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be seeing you around.

XO MELINDA GARVEY CO-FOUNDER DIAMOND-LEVEL PARTNER PLATINUM-LEVEL PARTNERS Founder LETTER

Viva la Vida: A Celebration of Frida Kahlo In a andcelebrationVivaandbetweencollaborationLasOfrendasFridaFridayATX,laVidawasaoflove,lifefreedom.

14 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 WIN THIS!

FOLLOW US @austinwoman FOLLOW US @ austinwoman LIKE US austinwoman US Don’t forget to visit and subscribe to the Austin Woman YouTube channel!

C onnect WITH

The Olympics of breaking, Red Bull BC One, came to Austin Aug. 5-6; some of the b-girls representing the sport share their journeys.

Cheramie Wine Three Pack

Can’t get enough of this issue? Check us out

Cheramie Law, vintner and creator of the Cheramie Wine label, is taking the Texas wine industry by storm. With her Salt and Pepper Wine, she’s not only spreading the word about Texas wine, she’s sending a message about diversity and inclusion in the wine industry at large. With open arms, she invites everyone to pour themselves a glass. For the 20th anniversary of Austin Woman, Cheramie Wine is sponsoring a three pack that includes their white blend, their red blend and their rosé. Please follow @austinwoman and @cheramiewine on Instagram for your chance to take this incredible sponsored gift home with you. We will announce a winner at the end of the month. Cheers! at atxwoman.com

Correction: The August issue cover story photoshoot location was stated as the McCombs School of Business. The actual location was the Moody College of Communication, located on 300 W. Dean Keeton St., moody.utexas.edu.

Vida:laVivaHouse.MediaBullRedofcourtesyphotoOneBCBullRedatWorkinPuttingB-girls photoWellnessItFunkwithCyclingSeedWhite.CybyphotoKahloFridaofCelebrationA Law.CheramieofcourtesyphotoPackThreeWineCheramieWellness.ItFunkofcourtesy

Seed Cycling with Funk It Wellness

“Seed cycling” isn’t very well-known, but Funk It Wellness founder Kate Morton believes everyone who experiences PMS should learn about it. B-girls Putting in Work at Red Bull BC One

Garvey.MelindaofcourtesyPhotos

AW First Year Anniversary Party (l to r) Will Mokry, Johnny Stevens, Sam Stevens, Melinda Garvey and Kip Garvey (l to r) Melinda Garvey, Julie Tereshchuk and Mary Anne Connolly Melinda Garvey with AW’s first editor, Elizabeth Eckstein, August 2002 Hot off the press!

ATXWOMAN.COM | 15 C onnect WITH US Memories at Austin Woman Take a trip down Memory Lane to Austin Woman magazine’s first year!

Austin Woman staff share their first and fondest memories of the magazine.

What’s your first memory of Austin Woman?

ANNE PRODUCTIONCOX MANAGER

My first real experience with AW was back in 2018 when I actually interned for Melinda’s other company, On The Dot, as a podcast coordinator. Back then it was more of an online community rather than the SAAS platform it is today. I remember I would hear bits and pieces about the 16th anniversary celebration back then and was incredibly jealous I wasn’t able to go. Then when I was looking for a job post-grad and saw my current role become available, I knew it would be a perfect fit! Now I feel so lucky to spend my days running around managing production schedules, projects, sponsorships and coordinating all the little details in between to help uplift the amazing women that grace the pages of the magazine. If you’re ever at an Austin Woman event, you’ll see me (or at least a blur of me) with a glass of wine in one hand, my laptop in the other!

My first memory of Austin Woman was the 12th Anniversary in 2014. I had moved to Austin mid-2013 and had the opportunity to learn about Austin Woman from my daughter. I read every magazine that I would pick up from Whole Foods. The event was awesome. It was the year of the raining Consuela Bags. The panels were inspiring and there wasn’t a dry eye from the speakers at the luncheon. I have been to every anniversary event since! I have built wonderful working relationships with many of Austin Woman’s readers and advertisers. Love this magazine!

CLAIRE MARKETINGHELENIAKINTERN

My journey with Austin Woman magazine began with Central Market and LinkedIn. Over the years, I’ve seen the magazine at Central Market and read it a few times. Then I got a notification from LinkedIn one day this summer that said “internships for you” and I applied. I got it! Now I’m a marketing, social media and events intern! My first memory with Austin Woman was the THRIVE event. I helped set up the event and run the social media that day. I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the staff with Austin Woman, who are all talented women. Who runs the world? GIRLS! Happy 20th Anniversary to Austin Woman!

DONNA MITCHELL SALES EXECUTIVE

Honestly, my first memory of Austin Woman is my interview with the team when I applied for the managing editor position. It was an interesting experience, being able to speak to everyone who made the magazine run, answering their questions, being able to express my vision and hopes for the magazine. From that conversation, I felt the intention was there to continue to build a publication dedicated to womxn, and there was potential to go even further. The first issue I completely edited was October 2020. Having been in this role for the past two years, it’s amazing to see how many more womxn have been able to tell their incredible stories. I’m looking forward to featuring even more varied expressions of womanhood on the cover and within the magazine’s pages.

CY MANAGINGWHITEEDITOR

Oh my gosh, I think I sort of always knew about Austin Woman even when living in San Marcos for five years before moving here. It has this presence that everyone seems to recognize.

16 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 Staff PICKS

Want to succeed in today’s digital world? DigitalSmallVerizonBusinessReady Verizon is a proud sponsor of the Austin Woman 20th Anniversary Celebration. Sign up for our free online learning program, expert coaching, peer networking and verizon.com/digitalreadymore. Sponsored Content

Vestal applied for and received a $10,000 small business grant through the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program. She used the funds to create branding for her new four-item product line, hiring a designer to make over her logo: a distinctive graphical image of eyelashes in popping girl-power pink. The grant money also allowed Vestal to create a website that could handle e-commerce, and to buy the supplies to start mass producing her product line.

In the meantime, Vestal is building the business and expanding her beauty line with new products. “The world’s going to know who DollMaker Lashes is,” says Vestal.

Nakia Vestal, CEO and owner of DollMaker Lashes in Houston, TX, says that she never dreamed she’d be able to pull off running a business—and creating a brand, too—while doing it all on her own. But the beauty entrepreneur is doing just that. Her eyelash salon has been in business for over six years; this year she added a product line. Vestal loves her clients and says they treat her like a therapist. “What goes on in the lash room stays in the lash room,” she Byjokes.taking courses on the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready portal, Vestal was able to upgrade her business know-how on topics such as finances and social media marketing. “Everything was a learning experience for me—from A to Z,” she says. As a busy business owner, mother and grandmother, Vestal carved out time to take the Verizon courses— she’s completed 20 courses on the portal—on Saturday and Sunday nights. Now, says Vestal, she makes sure not to mix personal and business accounts or lines of credit, she personalized her website, and she discovered how to target audiences with online ads. “With the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program, I was able to learn how to run my business professionally,” says Vestal. Eyelash artist Nakia Vestal says the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready courses help her run her business professionally.

ATXWOMAN.COM | 19

LashesDollMakerCEO learns finance and social media strategiesmarketing with Verizon.verizon.com/digitalready Sponsored Content

Celebrating 20

In response to the pandemic, in the May 2020 issue 17 former cover women, including April 2018 cover woman Yolanda Conyers and January 2020 cover woman Brooklyn Decker, stepped in to support the magazine and reflect on their lives since their cover stories. Dubbed the “Lean In” edition, the issue made a statement that Austin Woman would continue to print an issue every month and that the women of the city continued to support the publication. 2003

It’s been an exciting 20 years at Austin Woman. CY ILLUSTRATIONSWHITE

BY JESSICA WETTERER

243

5 million

20 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 C ount US IN

Over the course of 20 years, over 5 million copies of Austin Woman magazine have been throughoutdistributedAustin.

On September 2003, Austin Woman magazine officially became full color. Previously, only the cover was in color, while the inside was considered newsprint, black and white.

2001

Austin Woman magazine Founder Melinda Garvey moved to Austin in 2001. Following a conversation with a close friend, she conceived of the idea of a magazine to businesswomenhighlightinthecity.

Austin Woman magazine has featured 243 different women on the cover since its inception in 2002, three of which included two women: Dixie Chicks co-founders and former members Martie Maguire and Emily Robison (September 2013), Seton Breast Care Center Co-founders Marcia Levy and Susan Lubin (October 2015) and co-founders of True Wealth Ventures, Kerry Rupp and Sara Brand (May 2017).

September

“KAREN, BROOKLYN, 1982” BY JAMEL SHABAZZ

WILD SEED BY OCTAVIA BUTLER

Hawley.KarabyPhoto and Get Out laid the groundwork for him to create Monkeypaw Productions and offer opportunities to other Black creatives. In my course, we look at other Black cultural producers, directors and writers who are generating ideas that are just as radical and innovative as Peele, like Issa Rae, Lena Waithe and Donald Glover. We pull from essays and stories by Toni Morrison, James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates to see how their works amplify or contrast Peele’s ideas.

The day I found this book in the library was transformative. That haunting cover immediately caught my eye. It lowkey gave me Candyman vibes—terrifying! Another stand-out moment was reading the title of the book: The Living Blood. Although Due’s work is not exactly biblical in context, I remember thinking about the story of Jesus. Yet I quickly forgot about all these ideas once I started reading the book. At the time, I didn’t know who Tananarive Due was, but she instantly became one of my favorite authors. I thought it was so cool that Due had invented an entire plotline around a character named Jessica, her daughter Fana, and her husband, who is an African immortal named David. Later, I found out The Living Blood was part two of three in Due’s African Immortal series. I was hooked, and even though I had started the books out of order, I finished the entire series within about two weeks.

22 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 From the DESK OF

The book Wild Seed by Octavia Butler has been in my collection for years. The main character, Anyanwu, is a shapeshifter. In the novel, she morphs into a leopard during one of her first transformations. I remember being enthralled by Anyanwu, as well as feeling a deep sense of kinship with her. Observing the strength and agility that leopards possess in the wild has often served as a sort of spiritual reminder throughout my life. While reading, I felt like I was Anyanwu because I knew that I, too, was a shapeshifter. Or at least knew that many times I have demonstrated being one within a spiritual context. What I mean specifically is that I have utilized my belief and faith in God many times as the only viable way to overcome personal life challenges that, quite honestly, I believe some people could never come back from.

This image gives me a sense of nostalgia, particularly when thinking about my own sister, Karen Alethea Rose. When I am invited to speak about my latest exhibition, Peace to the Queen: A Retrospective, which is interchangably inspired by Karen’s murder and Shabazz’s legendary photographic work in New York City, I show this image beside an actual image of my sister. You can immediately see the uncanny resemblance. My sister loved being fashionable and getting her hair and nails done every week. However, her outer beauty was truly overshadowed by her inner beauty and indomitable spirit. She was an incredible mother, sister, friend and daughter. My family and all her friends from our hometown still miss her so very much.

The Mind of Ja’nell Ajani

Ja’nell N. Ajani, cultural producer, curator and educator, shares five works of art that have helped her on her mission.

I once heard the scholar Yasmin Ramirez say, “If [Basquiat] had only lived a little longer, I think he would have met a whole new generation of young people who had been exposed to something that would have embraced his multi-valiant sense of himself as a man of color of the world. The 1980s were really not ready for Jean.” I remember immediately thinking of Versus Medici. The painting, which stands seven feet in height and is executed on three conjoined canvases, showcases a valiant figure immersed in an array of brilliant colors. I believe it is an accurate description of Ramirez’s sentiments.

GET OUT BY JORDAN PEELE In early 2019, I started to design a class entitled The Mind of Jordan Peele. It premiered at the University of Texas at Austin later that fall. Equally important to talking about Peele’s work is looking at the filmmaker from the perspective of a Black entrepreneur. Key and Peele

"VERSUS MEDICI" (1982) BY JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

BY JA’NELL N. AJANI Curator and educator Ja’nell Ajani’s interests are wide and varied, but reading and art fuel her passions. A current UT Austin Ph.D. candidate, the Spelman College and NYU School of Social and Cultural Analysis graduate focuses her research on “the amorphous boundaries between art, commerce and historicizing artistic legacies, with an emphasis on Black and Brown artist estates.” She shares five works of art that have informed her life’s journey.

THE LIVING BLOOD BY TANANARIVE DUE

BY ELLE BENT Jeanne Claire van Ryzin is a force to be reckoned with in the world of arts journalism. A graduate from Barnard College with a masters in creative writing from the University of Texas, van Ryzin is an awardwinning journalist. She has received first place awards from the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors and the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors. Her writing has appeared in many publications including the New York Times and the Review of Contemporary Fiction.

“It’s something that’s been lifelong, and it’s always been a presence in my life,” she says of the arts. “Whether that’s participating in it, making it, observing it, it’s something that’s always just been front and center in my life.” In 2017, van Ryzin founded the online arts publication Sightlines with her own savings after her position as arts critic and reporter for the Austin American Statesman was terminated.

inBarriersBreakingMedia

24 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 A C hat WITH

Ryzin.vanClaireJeanneofcourtesyPhoto

To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Sightlines founder Jeanne Claire van Ryzin discusses the art magazine’s importance in the Austin community.

The Sightlines mission mentions a “void left by media outlets” when it comes to professional arts and cultural journalism. What disparities are there in media outlets when it comes to arts journalism?

Sightlines is celebrating its five-year anniversary this month, boasting an annual readership of 400,000 readers in Texas and beyond.

I think what happened is that media used to be more mainstream, when you’d have a daily newspaper that covered everything and was the undisputed record of what was going on in the community. It started to splinter with the advent of the internet, and when that happened a lot of media outlets let go or diminished a lot of cultural coverage they’d done in the past. It wasn’t deemed as necessary. They still did a lot of entertainment and pop entertainment coverage because that garners a lot of attraction online. But topics of culture or arts that take a deeper understanding and take a bit more work to report on, those things were just not a priority. That’s evidenced by the way a lot of arts and culture journalists lost their jobs as traditional media, mainly newspapers, began to shrink their staff. I can remember when I had peers, arts and culture reporters, at every major daily newspaper in Texas, and by the time my job was eliminated in 2016, that wasn’t the case at all. It was very difficult to find peers at different publications. Even beyond the world of newspapers, many magazines, too, just did not consider it significant enough to have somebody dedicated to the fine arts. So the profession, as it was, seemed to be challenged.

The challenges were really that I didn’t have a huge amount of backing from a lot of donors. I think as a woman-owned effort, it was much more difficult to recruit interest in it. I didn’t have an “old boys” network or an equivalent of it to launch it. So I recruited a board, established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and that’s how we launched Sightlines.

“When my job was eliminated at the Statesman, I wasn’t willing to let go of what I was doing professionally,” she says. “Moreover, what I heard from the community is that a journalistic accounting of what was going on in the arts is what was really needed in Austin.”

How does Sightlines accomplish its mission of an ongoing conversation about arts and culture? We try to cover what is newest that’s going on in arts and culture. We use freelance writers who we recruit and pay. We try to look where the dialogue is and where the interesting things are going on. We’re not really trying to do what’s quick and flashiest. We’re not fond of listicles; we’re not fond of video content just for the sake of video content. We take a more thoughtful approach. We’re looking for things that haven’t been covered or topics that get overlooked by other media. We really want to put people front and center and artists front and center. They are the ones whose stories we want to be able to tell.

What challenges have you faced launching Sightlines?

Recently, van Ryzin was awarded the $50,000 Rabkin Prize for arts journalism from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation, an artistendowed charitable foundation that administers grant programs in the arts. She is one of eight journalists who have been awarded the prize, with the foundation recognizing her as an essential arts journalist in Austin.“The Rabkin Award is particularly focused on arts journalism for a wide, public audience, and that’s what we’re doing,” she says. “I think getting the Rabkin Award spotlights that part of our mission.”

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Professional makeup artist and photographer Carla Taylor plays by her own rules.

Carla Taylor

BY CY WHITE Carla “CT” Taylor is a ball of positive energy. Her effervescence translates to some of the most visually stunning makeup art. Streaks of hot pink, deep blue, royal purple paint the human canvas. Her confessed obsession with photography means she also takes the reins as photographer, a rarity in the makeup artist community. All things combined create an artist whose work lurks just on the periphery of the bounds of commercial photography and adds a pop of color and fearless imagination to even the blandest corporate portraiture. Hers is a lifelong passion. From childhood, she found herself drawn to the weird and wonderful that is the entertainment industry, a love that seems to run in the blood. “My dad played a big part,” she says. “He’s a tailor. He used to get Vogue magazines delivered to the house, and I think it started off really as being an inspiration to him for making his suits and wedding dresses. What he didn’t realize is that it was inspiration for me as well. I would take his subscriptions and just look through the pages and see all of the beautiful fashion shows and all of the amazing clothes, the models wearing the makeup, and I just gravitated to it. I used to draw out designs, and beg him to make them for me,” she continues, a giggle giving the words sweetness. “He’s made a few outfits on my Barbie dolls.”

26 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 S ee HER WORK

Apple Among the Oranges

Taylor.CarlaofcourtesyPhotos

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A product of the MTV generation of the ’90s, during a time when music channels hit a stride of videos that pushed the boundaries of what the medium could do, Taylor drew inspiration from what she saw on the screen. “I was looking for music videos and trying to do my makeup the way I would see Lil’ Kim or Brandy, trying to just recreate those looks.” Makeup became her gateway to the world, a way to step out of the strict gaze of her parents and really exist in a world of her own creation. “It was something that really uplifted me,” she says. “I would go to school, do my friend’s makeup in the bathroom. That was me even through college as well. I went to Clark Atlanta University, and I would travel around Georgia doing makeup at Clark Atlanta and then became more professional.”Herloveof the visual hit a peak when it came to photography. “My sister had a Polaroid camera,” she says. “I was always so desperate to see the picture. She’d let me snap the picture, but she’s like, ‘Oh, let me hurry up and give it to someone.’ But I just needed to get my hands on those pictures,” she says animatedly. “I needed that instant gratification.”

The aggregate effect of all these inspirations and influences culminates in the artist she is today. But in the world of makeup art, she is the lilium inter spinas, the lily among the thorns. She’s an anomaly in an arts industry that’s oddly conservative when it comes to the medium in which its artists can play. “A lot of times it was looked down upon, anyone who tried to cross over,” she reveals. “There was a saying back home that people needed to stay in their own lane. You heard that a lot. So I was just really worried about what people would think of me.” The stigma of being both makeup artist and photographer produced “ctshootsyou,” a pseudonym Taylor affected in order to hide the fact she dances in both worlds. Eventually she found the courage to leap from the shadows. Despite the brilliance of her candor and the sunshine in her voice, she’s had her fair

I remember my first client cried because she felt beautiful in the makeup that I did. I’m like, ‘This is bigger than aesthetics. This is actually healing people.’

—Carla “CT” Taylor

28 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 share of discrimination. She’s had to contest with men who saw her as a wilting violet, a kitten playing with the “big dogs.” “I remember going to a studio, and there was this other photographer. He’s like, ‘Oh, do you need me to set up your lights for you?’” She brushes the comment off, but the heat in her tone reveals the man’s attitude still rankles. She’s suffered slights to her professional capabilities from men who lack her skill behind the lens. For instance, while completing her FOTO// HOUSE artist in residency last year, “There was a gentleman, and I guess he’s a photographer as well. He was like, ‘I wish I had your editor,’ almost [with] that assumption of ‘Your pictures don’t look good without editing.’”However, sideways comments about her technical proficiency have never stopped Taylor. “I just love what I do so much that I don’t feel like I would let anyone take it away in the sense of breaking my spirit down,” she says. “I feel like I have something to offer, and it may not be whatever the other photographer’s doing. I do try to march to the beat of my own drum. I like to stand out. I feel like even before I became a photographer, even before I became a makeup artist, I was just always the apple among oranges, just doing my own thing regardless of what anyoneTaylor’sthought.”empathic nature allows her to bring out beauty in her models in ways they might have never imagined. “I remember my first client cried because she felt beautiful in the makeup that I did,” she says. “I’m like, ‘This is bigger than aesthetics. This is actually healing people.’ For someone to feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I feel amazing. I feel like I can take on the world now because of what you did.’ It definitely helped to seal the deal, me wanting to do this for people for as long as I’m Self-taught,alive.”

Taylor continues to take every opportunity she can to enhance upon what’s already there. She encourages young women who want to make any aspect of art their lifelong profession to keep that same openness to learning, to personal evolution. “Find your own style,” she says. “It’s like taking your mama’s recipe for peach cobbler, but then you’re like, ‘Instead of cinnamon, let me add a little nutmeg,’ or ‘Let me make it vegan.’ Take what you get, but you make it your own. Be forgiving of yourself, but never stop learning. Be open to growth, and if anything is too stressful, let it go. No matter what it is, if it’s not geared to your growth, your progression, let it go.”

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dorothybutlerlawfirm.com512.699.5632151E.MercerStreet,SuiteE,DrippingSprings,TX78620 @dorothybutlerlawfirm @yourtrendylawyer When you find yourself in need of legal representation it can be a rather intim idating task to find the law firm that is just right for you. When you come to the Dorothy Butler Law Firm you will find yourself welcomed warmly, by a top-rated law firm that’s here in your community. We promise to be there for you in your times of need.

1. In your 30s, you should be financially independent and no longer living with or off your parents, finishing up payments on student loans based on a standard 10-year loan, have a year’s worth of salary saved for retirement, on track with a regular savings and investment plan (i.e. contributing to your employer’s 401(k) program and saving 10% of each paycheck for an emergency fund), as well as have current estate planning and life insurance documents to protect dependents, if you have them.

4. In your 60s, you’ll ideally have eight times your annual salary saved for retirement, a strategy to live off less annually in retirement if needed, brushed up on your skills for a postretirement side hustle or volunteer role to fill the days with purpose and contribution and have paid off your mortgage, home equity loan and credit card debt prior to retirement.

2. In your 40s, you should have three times your annual salary saved for retirement, a more diversified portfolio of investments (such as real estate, in addition to stocks and bonds, etc.) and a college savings plan in place for your children, if you have them.

According to Dr. Barbara O’Neill with Rutgers University, in addition to maintaining a good credit score and saving money for emergencies, those wanting to stay on a healthy financial track should aim for certain financial goals with each decade of life.

If you’re at any of these ages and nowhere near the milestones listed, don’t panic. These are simple guidelines to keep you on track as you aim to hit financial goals and let you know how close you are to reaching a more secure financial state.Ifyou’re in your 20s, there are still milestones you want to aim for, but the most important ones are building a great credit score (at least high 600s) and investing in a matching 401(k) program through your work or contributing to an index fund that captures the whole stock market. The greatest wealth you have in your 20s is time, because the longer you have money invested, the more it will grow exponentially due to the magic of compound interest. No matter which decade of life you’re in, there are always opportunities to increase your salary through side hustles, upping your skill set and smart money management. If you’re not where you want to be now, take one small step today to get started on the right path.

30 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 O n the MONEY

BY JENNY HOFF As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Austin Woman magazine, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on our own milestones and whether, financially, we’re hitting certain markers to set us up for a healthy future.Ifyou’re making enough money to pay your bills, have set some aside for an emergency and contribute to a 401(k) or similar retirement program, you’re already ahead of most people. But beyond the basics, it can be confusing as to what our net worth should be at each age.

MilestonesFinancial for Every Age

Know what you’re aiming for and you’re more likely to reach it.

3. In your 50s, you should have six times your annual salary saved for retirement (this includes the compound interest you should have accumulated if you started contributing to a retirement fund early in your career), increased knowledge of aging parents’ finances and a caregiving plan in place for them, as well as a financial advisor if you have a higher net worth that involves more complex financial issues.

ATXWOMAN.COM | 31 TOTAL EYE PROVIDERCARE AUSTIN’S PREMIER Laser Cataract Surgery | LASIK Glaucoma | Dry Eye | Botox Eyelid Surgery With 4 Locations In 2022 AUSTIN | KYLE | NEW BRAUNFELS | SEGUIN THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT Call Us For A Consultation 512-472-4011 | WestlakeEyes.com Join us for an unforgettable night in support of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas. Our evening together will be filled with mission-focused inspiration, local star-studded entertainment, and several of Austin’s unique food trucks. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 | 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM The Long Center for the Performing Arts H-E-B Terrace and Lawn FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY Ley Line and Jackie Venson CO-CHAIRS Beth Levy Cohen, Marcia Levy, and Sara Levy Sherizen THE ROBBIE AND TOM AUSLEY LEADERSHIP AWARD HONOREE Austin Community Foundation FOOD TRUCK LINEUP Connor’s Creamery, East Side King, Garbo’s Fresh Maine Lobster, Slab BBQ, Stony’s Pizza, Takavron...and more to be announced soon! VISIT PPGREATERTX.ORG/AUSTINEVENT TO PURCHASE TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS TODAY! Sponsorships start at $4,000 | Individual Tickets #ANightUnderTheStars@ppgreatertx$400 For more Information contact us at events@ppgt.org or call 214.302.8382

The Governor’s Commission for Women and State Agency Council will recognize Lesley Guthrie for her 26 years of State Service at the Outstanding Women in Texas Government Awards.

The Governor’s Commission for Women was established in 1967 as a resource and champion for women throughout the state of Texas. The Commission has continued to serve the state in carrying out its mission to provide access to the resources and tools that empower and enabled Texas women and girls so that they may live healthier, more productive and more prosperous lives. The Commission for Women is currently charged with developing strategies and implementation plans to address advancing women-owned businesses and human trafficking prevention. To assist the Commission in fulfilling its charge, the State Agency Council was established. Appointments to the council are made by the head of each state agency, and the appointed members assist with implementing the Commission’s strategies. In addition, the Council also presents the Outstanding Women in Texas Government Awards. This biennial award honors women in state service who are helping to shape the future of Texas by contributing their notable talents and skills. Candidates are nominated by their state agency leadership in the categories of Leadership, Professional Development, Community Involvement and Rising Star. The Governor’s Commission for Women and State Agency Council are incredibly proud to host this event honoring the incredible women who work in state government.

LESLEY GUTHRIE

Director of Community Relations and Business Development

32 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

Lesley Guthrie serves as director of community relations and business development for the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services. A state employee for 26 years, she most recently worked as a director in the Chief Public Affairs office at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). Prior to HHSC, she worked for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services where she launched two divisions, coordinated child welfare summits and collaborated with foundations to serve youth and families. As executive director of the Governor’s Commission for Women, a position she held for 14 years, she established the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame at Texas Woman’s University, co-founded a conference for women seeking employment and hosted public awareness campaigns and press events on women’s health issues. She also worked for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, the Texas House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.Guthrieearned her bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a graduate of the Texas Health and Human Services’ Executive Leadership Academy and The Leadership Challenge.

Feliciano holds a BS in Business Management from Colorado State University and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She resides

LISA CRAVEN Deputy Comptroller and Chief of Staff, Comptroller Glenn Hegar Margie Henson is being recognized for her Outstanding Community Involvement Margie Henson currently works for the Texas Workforce Commission as a digital signature analyst. Her husband was a career firefighter and emergency medical technician. A victim of a residential fire himself, he saw firsthand the devastation that residential fires and other natural disasters can bring to people.Henson and her husband founded Texas Firewalkers, a nonprofit with a mission to fill the gap between the time immediately after a traumatic event and the time assistance arrives. Since 2008, they have helped families (and pets) displaced by fires and other disasters, the families of first responders who died in the line of duty and, with their own cooking trailers and network of volunteers, provided hundreds of thousands of hot meals to communities affected by natural disasters across Texas. During the massive freeze in Texas in 2020, they cooked and served over 10,000 meals for Texans in need. During Hurricane Harvey, they served an astounding 347,000 meals in nine days. On Christmas Day 2018, the good work Henson, her husband and volunteers do every day was recognized on a Facebook Watch series called Returning the Favor, hosted by Mike Rowe. Henson is so passionate about giving back that her supervisor for almost 10 years noted that the only time she really takes off work is to help others. Last year, during Thanksgiving and Christmas, she helped prepare 75 turkeys, with all the fixings, and delivered those holiday dinners to families that had been displaced by residential fires. Henson truly exemplifies this Community Involvement award. She consistently goes above and beyond to help others.

Craven has a Bachelor of Science degree in speech from the University of Texas at Austin. She serves as Comptroller Hegar’s appointee to the State Water Implementation Fund’s (SWIFT) advisory committee, is a member of the National Association of State Chief Administrators and is an advisory council member for the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life in the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin. She and her husband, Eric, are the proud parents of two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth.

Gina Gallegos is being recognized for her Outstanding Professional Development Gina Gallegos started her career at TxDOT in 1994 as an engineering assistant in the San Antonio District after receiving her bachelor’s in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. She rotated as a young engineer through various sections such as design, lab and construction. In 2006, she became the first female area engineer in the San Antonio District, managing more than 40 projects with an aggregate total of more than $700 million and more than 190 employees. Then in 2010, she was named the director of construction for the San Antonio District’s 12-county area, where she instituted processes that improved department efficiencies and the delivery of quality infrastructure. She also served as an advisor for the Young Engineers Group, actively participating in recruiting and hiring young engineers. She then advanced to become director of the Construction Division in 2017, where she oversaw division functions including contractor prequalification, monthly statewide construction and maintenance contract letting, construction engineering support for the 25 districts and the department’s contractor claims process. She began her current position as the San Antonio District engineer in January 2021.

She’s the recipient of the 2014 Women in Transportation Services – San Antonio Region Innovative Transportation Solutions Award, the 2017 Gibb Gilchrist Award and the 2018 WTS-SAR Woman of the Year Award. In 2019, the 86th Texas Legislature honored Gallegos with House Resolution 1374, recognizing her for her skill, leadership and dedication to the profession and commitment to TxDOT’s mission.

Jennifer Feliciano is the contracting branch manager for the Infrastructure Division at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Feliciano began her career in public service in 2004 when she enlisted in the United States Air Force as a command post emergency actions controller. Following her active-duty enlistment, she began working as an administrative assistant in the Purchasing Department at the Texas Department of Insurance. She then went on to serve in various procurement and contracting roles at the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department before joining the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 2017.

JENNIFER FELICIANO Contracting Branch Manager for the Infrastructure Division at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Lisa Craven is being recognized for her Outstanding Leadership Lisa Craven has over 30 years of state service, having worked in both the executive and legislative branches. Craven began her career as a tour guide at the State Capitol in 1986. She then worked in the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 to 2007. She served as chief of staff for then-Senator Glenn Hegar from 2007 to 2014, then from 2015 to 2018 as his chief of staff when he became Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. In October 2018, Hegar appointed Craven to deputy comptroller and chief of staff, where she serves as the agency’s administrative head.

GINA E. GALLEGOS, P.E. District Engineer for TxDOT’s San Antonio District Jennifer Feliciano is being recognized as the Rising Star in her agency

Under her leadership, the contracting branch has achieved a high level of success as the sole contracting authority for capital construction projects for the department. In her current role, Feliciano leads a team of 13 contract managers of varying specialty that manage over 180 contracts valued at approximately $400 million. Alongside her team, she strives to provide an ethical, transparent and compliant procurement process that supports all stakeholders and best serves the citizens of Texas.

MARGIE HENSON Texas Workforce Commission as a Digital Signature Analyst

34 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 Arty Night BENEFITING ENGAGE & HEAL FOUNDATION THURSDAY OCTOBER 6, 2022 | 6-10 PM PECAN SPRINGS RANCH • Fe as t on f a rm to t abl e cu isi n e • I n d u l ge i n a rt isa n cockt ails , cr a ft b eer a n d b out iq ue wi ne s • E n j o y cre a t iv e T abl e a ux Viva nt s • E nter the M ys tère B ox R a ff l e • Bid on a rtfu l a uct i on i tem s More info and tickets at FARMTOTABLEAUX . COM / EHFATX

Our pages are full of stories of Austin’s most engaging, empowering and successful women, and this section is specially designed to provide you access to even more incredible role models and success stories. Be part of this amazing group and share your story with thousands of women. Contact us at sales@awmediainc.com or call 512.328.2421 for more information. WOMENATX to WATCH

m ost of us do not consider who interprets our mammogram; we are just relieved to have the experience out of the way. For the best care in breast health, we invite you to meet the women of Austin Breast Imaging. Erin Winston, M.D.; Jeri Sue Plaxco, D.O.; and Harpreet Talwar, M.D., are pioneers in mammographic techniques not offered by other imaging centers in Austin. Unlike radiologists who read images of the whole body, our doctors focus solely on breast imaging, enabling them to provide a higher level of expertise and knowledge of breast health issues. Whether you need your annual mammogram, diagnostic mammography, a biopsy or simply want a second opinion, we’re here for you. Schedule your visit today because it matters who reads your mammogram. Austin Breast Imaging is located at 12319 N. Mopac Expressway and 5815 W. William Cannon Drive. For your appointment call 512.776.1000. austinbreastimaging.com

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ERIN WINSTON, M.D.; JERI SUE PLAXCO, D.O.; HARPREET TALWAR, M.D. AUSTIN BREAST IMAGING 36 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM Olson.RominabyPhoto

ATXWOMAN.COM | SPECIAL PROMOTION | 37 ATXATX WOMAN to WATCH N icole AlRashid is co-founder and product development specialist of Core Culture LLC, Veritacor Manufacturing LLC and NutraMedia, a vertically integrated collaboration of companies based out of the Austin area. Health and herbal medicine always being an important part of her personal life segued into the supplement, apparel and wellness company that is Core Culture LLC. Inspired by her family as well as her Hispanic cultural heritage, it is important to AlRashid that any corporation she is involved with embraces diversity and inclusivity, as well as sustainability. All of her businesses operate with transparency, integrity and passion, in addition to fostering a true feeling of family and fun for employees, partners and her customers. coreculture.com NICOLE ALRASHID CORE CULTURE LLC | CO-FOUNDER LLC.PhotographyContiJoibyPhoto

JULIA KASID TRAVALLURE | OWNER AND TRAVEL DESIGNER 38 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM Davis.KaylabyPhoto

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J ulia Kasid is the founder and owner of Travallure, a boutique travel agency providing bespoke journeys worldwide. With a knack for curating meaningful experiences, she designs and supports trips that help clients leave their stress behind and feel vibrant, reconnected and enriched. Kasid began her career as a travel professional in 2012, overseeing immersive educational programs for university groups in South American, African and European destinations. She extended that expertise to help individuals and groups of all types enjoy elevated, personalized travel. Through her affiliation with Virtuoso, a luxury travel network, and preferred status with top hotel brands, her clients enjoy additional VIP treatment. Her own travels often lead to Brazil, where she indulges another passion: samba. She donates a portion of profits to support the rehabilitation of illegally trafficked animals at Instituto Vida Livre in Rio de Janeiro. “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us” (Anonymous). Where will you go next? travallure.com

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WOMAN

SHANNON SWANK PLUSPASS | CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER LLC.PhotographyContiJoibyPhoto

S hannon Swank is the co-founder and chief marketing officer for PlusPass, a fintech company focused on mobility payment solutions. She moved from Manhattan to Austin in 2005 when her first company was awarded a contract to develop the all-electronic toll system for the Central Texas Mobility Authority. After selling the business in 2012, she co-founded PlusPass and began focusing on payment solutions that make it convenient for everyday and infrequent travelers to pay for their tolls across the country using the PlusPass phone app. Swank also works with retail networks to enable funding of digital payment accounts using cash for the underserved user. She’s a speaker at many industry events including the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s 90th annual meeting, which is being held in Austin this year. Swank has a dedicated husband and takes pride in finding balance between raising four kids and furthering her company. pluspass.com

LLC.PhotographyContiJoibyPhoto

WP ENGINE W P Engine is one of the most successful startup growth stories in Austin. CEO Heather Brunner has led the company to unicorn status and financial success while fostering an inspiring culture of inclusion and empowerment. After taking the helm in 2013, Brunner helped introduce the company’s core values, building a framework for a principled, value-driven company. It is from these core values that Annette Alexander builds company-wide programs to enhance the company’s inclusion culture. In 2017, Monica Cravotta founded Sheroes (now Roar), the first employee resource group at WP Engine to provide a safe haven for women and nonbinary employees to educate, advocate and inspire. When Tarsha McCormick joined at the beginning of 2021, she brought a new depth of thinking and planning to mature the WP Engine DEI strategy. Ezinne Udezue’s focus on the future of the company will help ensure that the culture thrives as it expands the business and grows product offerings. Today 35% of managers are women/nonbinary and 42% are in technical roles. And they’re just getting started. wpengine.com

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S haring her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, Gena Hall began her career owning three small businesses, demonstrating the value of hard work, drive and dedication. After a sudden stage 4 cancer diagnosis, she swore to herself she would make helping others a true focus in her life. Halcyon helped her wish come true, standing by her side and offering her career flexibility and success, while affording her personal fulfillment to make a positive impact on others over the past six years in the role of CNA - Caregiver. Hall’s greatest accomplishment has been providing for her daughter’s education, now finishing her doctorate in physical therapy. Hall boldly shares, “I love Halcyon, and I’m not just spewing words! Diane, director of nursing, has been amazing, and the clients I have cared for have touched my life.” Halcyon would not be what it is without caregivers like Gena Hall demonstrating strength, resiliency, compassion and care daily.

halcyonhome.com GENA HALL HALCYON HOME | CNA – CAREGIVER Vila.SydneybyPhoto

Vila.SydneybyPhoto

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LESLEY ROBINSON | DIRECTOR KENDRA SCOTT WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN 42 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM

L esley Robinson is the founding director of the KS WELI at UT Austin, where she empowers students—especially women—to “take the world by the horns.” Her passion is supporting students to find the best path to their own destination. Through the newly launched Women in Entrepreneurship specialization at UT, she is a lecturer in the McCombs Schools of Business, where she co-created the Entrepreneurial LeadHERship course that takes student leaders on a journey to discover their personal values, strengths and authentic leadership styles through a genderenlightened perspective. By being “foundHER” focused, Robinson redefines leadership and entrepreneurship by building a diverse, inclusive and welcoming community; encouraging creativity and innovation; representing that “if you can see her, you can be her”; challenging barriers women face; and growing the number of women-owned and -led businesses. A Ph.D. candidate in higher education leadership from Colorado State University, her dissertation work is focused on gender-aware approaches to teaching entrepreneurship education. Empowering women to lead. Encouraging the world to follow. kswelinstitute.utexas.edu

D EN Property Group prides itself on having built a team of dynamic entrepreneurs with a combination of experience, knowledge and passion for hospitality. With over 20 women on the team, the women of DEN are leading the charge to connect with and serve the Austin community. A mix of long-established Austin-area players, young up-and-coming agents and transplants who now call Austin home, these influential women carry a myriad of perspectives and a strong dedication to their relationships that empowers them to cater to all who come to Austin in search of a forever home. As Austin continues to evolve with an ever-changing skyline, these ladies are at the forefront cultivating a world-class experience for their clientele. The women of DEN are proud innovators paving the way for women in real estate, and much like their clients, they are here to stay. findyourden.com

THE WOMEN OF DEN PROPERTY GROUP LEFT TO RIGHT BOTTOM: EMILY KNIGHT BROWN, KRISTIN ARMENIA, EMILY LOTTMAN, KELLY PORTER, ERIN LEFTON, MICHELE AUBRY, JULIA HUDSON, MEGAN GALLAGHER, EVA LOVELY, MARICELA DELGADO, AMY BREES, MARIA QUIROZ, CHELSEA BUCKLEW, EMILY WALDMANN, SUSAN LAITALA, TRISHA REANEY, JENN HERRERA. NOT PICTURED: ALI CLAYTON, BEATRIZ SALDANA, KRISTEN THORSEN, LESLEY SANCHEZ, MEGAN COLWART, NICOLE BERTRAM, ROGENE BUHRDORF, SASHA DOO, SUSANNE PATTERSON, VICTORIA DAVIS ATXATX WOMAN to WATCH ATXWOMAN.COM | SPECIAL PROMOTION | 43 LLC.PhotographyContiJoibyPhoto

REBEKKA GLASS CASA METTA | FOUNDER, INTERIOR DESIGNER ATXATX WOMAN to WATCH 44 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM

R ebekka Glass, founder of Casa Metta, is now garnering the attention of clients across the country, most recently AREA15 in Las Vegas, an immersive art and events space. After finding success in corporate interiors, including multiple award-winning projects with notable design firms, Glass launched her own design studio in 2017 focused on residential, entertainment and hospitality clients. With a passion for transforming spaces through conscious design practices, she approaches each project mindful of how impactful even small details of the physical environment can be. Specializing in bespoke design, from custom joinery and furnishings to commissioned art, Glass collaborates with local artisans, master craftsmen and architects to create a truly personalized approach to design. Currently, Glass is working on an 8000-square-foot luxury home in Houston, a residence in the Austin Proper and a highly anticipated entertainment venue in Austin, among other projects. casamettadesign.com

LLC.PhotographyContiJoibyPhoto

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Six women of sincere intention pave the way for Austin Woman magazine’s new era. BY CY PHOTOSWHITEBYANNIE RAY, WITH EDITING ASSISTANCE FROM JAIME ALBERS. HAIR BY CRYSTAL GUTIERREZ OF GLAM HAUS BEAUTY LAB (INSIDE OF JEREMIE KENDAL SALON) AND DELMICIA JOY WILLIAMS OF JOY WILLIAMS BEAUTY MAKEUP BY JANAY HARDY (@JANAYTHEMUAATX) AND KAREN POWANDA + ADELA TOUVELL OF KISS N' STYLINGMAKEUPBYSTEPHANIE COULTRESS O'NEILL WITH INSPIRATION FROM ESTILO SHOTBOUTIQUEONLOCATION AT FAIRMONT AUSTIN. SPECIAL THANKS TO ASHLEY MORAN AND GARRETT BORDEN.

“This was in January of 2002,” Garvey recalls. “It was actually with Sam [Stevens] and some of her friends. I was having a pity party: ‘What am I going to do? I have to get out of this place; I have to find another job.’ One of the women, Robin Campbell, she says, ‘Hey, I just got back from Des Moines, Iowa,’ and I’m kind of like, ‘You’re kidding, right? We’re going to talk about your trip to Des Moines, Iowa, when I’m having my pity party?’” Her voice goes comically flat, living in the moment. “She said, ‘There was this really cool magazine there called Des Moines Woman. You know what, Melinda, you have a publishing background, and no one’s talking about women in this town. That’s what you should do. You should start a magazine.’

“I can remember like it was yesterday, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck,” she says, voice soft as if the phenomenon is happening as she speaks. “I was instantly passionate. I had never thought about starting my own businesses. It’s not some longtime dream. I was happy with the corporate thing and the 401k and somebody else dealing with all that. I literally never thought of it. I see it as a God thing,” she continues. “I knew that’s what I was supposed to do, and I’d never felt that way before. I was like, ‘This is it.’

—Melinda Garvey

As a journalist, it’s considered gouache to insert one’s self into the narrative. After all, this isn’t a story about the writer; it’s about the person in the headline. However, when exploring the lasting impact of a publication like Austin Woman magazine, it’s hard to remain the silent omniscient entity pounding away at the keyboard. This is personal for me on a scope that reaches far beyond a job. When I stumbled upon this magazine, my mind was opened to the very real possibility that I could be a part of something necessary and truly

“The real story is I had to take a few Advil because I’d had a few drinks the previous night.” She chases the statement with a laugh. “But I did indeed start writing a business plan the very next day. Two weeks later, I left my job, and seven months after that, in September 2002, we launched the first issue of Austin Woman magazine, with Amy Miller Simmons, the founder of Amy’s Ice Cream, on the cover.” “I see it as a God thing. I knew that’s what I was supposed to do, and I’d never felt that way before. I was like, ‘This is it.’

Butrevolutionary.thiswasn’tMelinda

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Garvey’s mission 20 years ago. On the contrary, upon her arrival to Austin in 2001, she landed a decent position at a big company, and while it wasn’t what fed her soul, it was comfortable. After eight months of wallowing in stagnant corporate water, she knew it was time for a change. A chance girls’ night out with a group of her friends, including the woman who would become the magazine’s co-founder, Samantha Stevens, would forever change her trajectory and lead her on a path that she couldn’t have imagined when she first stepped foot in the city she’s called home for two decades.

A GOD THING

Then inspiration struck like the phosphorous head of a match on the edge of a bar counter. For those who grew up in the church, there’s a belief in something called the “anointing,” a spirit drenched in the blessings and holy eyesight gifted from a divine being. Cece Winans called it “the Everlasting Love”; Garvey calls it “a God Thing.” That whisper of divinity that creeps into your soul when you’re in a dark place. Storm clouds build in your spirit, and in place of self-assuredness you have a tempest of doubt and uncertainty. Then like a piercing guidelight in the maelstrom, a moment of clarity hits you in the face, warmth envelops you to soothe and whisper that everything will be okay. This “God Thing” came in the form of a rude chainsmoker at the pool of the Horseshoe Bay Resort, as Garvey was taking advantage of a quiet moment at the Austin 100 conference that took place this year on April 18. “I had just sat down, and damned if somebody didn’t start smoking,” Garvey says, animation and a lingering feeling of annoyance coloring her tone. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So I walk all the way around the back of the pool, the back corner, and who was in the back corner? Terry [Mitchell] in her cute little bikini. I sat down. Thank goodness that woman started smoking; I might have missed [Terry] because I was around the whole other side [of the pool] and had my nose in my book. God works in mysterious ways.”

Garvey seems prone to these flights of fancy. A conversation over cocktails and moaning about the “Evil Day Job” led to an obsession about Austin women that’s lasted for 20 years. To hear Garvey tell it, it’s been mostly smooth sailing. Her first and longest advertising partner, Twin Liquors, was all in from the moment she had her first meeting with co-owner David Jabour. Co-owner and executive vice president, Margaret, David’s sister, was even a cover woman in September 2008. But after 20 years of running the singular woman-focused publication in the city, and in that time launching her software platform On the Dot Global in 2017, Garvey realized something had to give. “I’ve got to come up with a plan,” she says. “To be quite frank, most of it is because it needs something more than me. Even if I was doing this 100%, I’m not diminishing myself, but it needs more than me. That’s what I was just trying to figure out: How do I give this more? How do I build a plan around giving this more? What’s the next step?”

This became Garvey’s newest battle: letting go. “I was looking at it like, ‘Okay, so are there any big companies that I can sell this to that have a lot of means?’” she reveals. “Some of my struggle was I knew how hard we worked to establish ourselves [as] the voice for diverse women, and I didn’t want to unravel that; that was really important to me. So I was sort of resigned to, ‘Well, I may just have to let go of that and hope and pray that whoever is going to do this will actually honor that.’ It was definitely something that was weighing on me a lot: How do I do this?”

“I’ve been to quite a few Austin Woman events

AND

Terry MITCHELL

End scene, end Act I, end the current era. Melinda Garvey is no longer the central figure of a bona fide legacy publication in a city full of legacy publications. The curtain closes, and we head into the intermission, the moment of transition. Once the lights blink, the audience meanders back to their seats, discordant notes from the orchestra waft from the pit. The curtain rises. THEN THERE WERE Seven

ATXWOMAN.COM | 49 7

“My name is Terry Mitchell. I’m a born-and-raised Austinite. I was born in what I call old East Austin, and I was raised by a single mother and am the eldest of three. I am a serial entrepreneur. I own a few businesses. My husband and I co-own a software SAS services business called E & Co Tech. I also have a salon in Pflugerville called Glam Beauty Bar. I’m the founder and publisher of the Austin Socialite, which is social impact, kind of urban events, news media type thing. I’m honored and privileged to be the founder of the Black Leaders Collective, which is made up of about 120 black leaders who forged a vision together on what Black liberation in Central Texas looks like seven generations from now. We’re working with that plan. Foremost I’m a mom and a wife, a friend and a sister and a daughter, an auntie. I wear many, many, many hats.”

Our first new players, Mitchell and Neha Sampat, are already in place. Sampat, Contentstack founder and November 2021 cover woman, has known Garvey for several years (a common theme amongst the women). Before she even thought about moving to Austin, Sampat met Garvey at a conference in San Antonio over 10 years“Sheago.instantly embraced me,” Sampat recalls. “She introduced me to her group of friends that were at the same conference. I showed up not knowing anybody, and by the time I left I had friends who all lived in different parts of Texas. I was still living in California at the time, so she’s one of the few people who I continued to stay in touch with over the years. One thing I remember fondly, when I finally did decide to make the move, I had told her I was coming, and she opened up her life to me, her friends, her family. It was like, ‘Welcome to Austin; my tribe is your tribe.’” Mitchell, however, found in Garvey a mentor and someone she counts as a “co-conspirator,” more than an ally, someone who digs their hands into the soil of change and asks, “What can I do to help you?” Mitchell and Garvey’s first meeting was more a crazy twist of happenstance than a calculation on either of their parts.

Given their close connection to Garvey, it’s no real surprise that when the moment of inspiration struck, Sampat and Mitchell were right there at ground level. “We’d randomly seen each other at the pool on our off time and got to talking about Austin Woman magazine,” Mitchell recalls. “She started telling me about her intent to level up the company and how she knew she would need partners to do that. We just started toying with ideas on what that would look like. I remember sitting there, and there was this epiphany like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m sitting here with this woman talking to her about her next steps in her company!’” Mitchell can’t keep the awe out of her voice. “It’s so real and serendipitous that we’re here now.”“[Terry and Melinda] had actually kicked off the conversation about, ‘Well, why does it have to be one person that’s involved? Why don’t we have a few people involved?’” Sampat says. “Then I joined like, ‘Yes, let’s do this!’ We went into the dinner and kept talking about it. I think all of us collectively felt like there’s something bigger that we can do if we can combine voices and bring our ideas and our influence together.”Almost as quickly as the first spark hits her, Garvey is stricken with another wave of inspiration, this time in the form of Shuronda Robinson. Unlike her fellow board members, Robinson hadn’t had many opportunities to really get to know Garvey. Though her name is always in every room where women of influence are being discussed, the stars were very rarely aligned for Robinson and Garvey to actually have many genuine conversations. However,

Neha SAMPAT “My name is Neha. My day job is CEO of a company called Contentstack. Contentstack is a digital experience platform that essentially empowers really large brands to do really cool digital things. I am a founder of the company, have been there since day one, and we’ve now grown to 400 people in 18 countries around the world. I’ve raised about $90 million in capital, which has been part of the experience as a female doing that. Only about 2.5% of all venture capital goes to female-led companies, and I have a really strong affinity toward changing that playing field. So that’s kind of what I stand for; my mission outside of my day job is to really open and unlock pathways so that people can dream big, build things, lead and really set the example for the next generation.”

throughout the last 10 years or so,” Mitchell says. “I remember in my journey going to the events to meet people and to stay motivated and to stay connected. I would always see [Melinda] as this public figure. Then I randomly got nominated for the Woman’s Way awards and followed through with the instructions to become a finalist, and was truly baffled and surprised when I won in 2019. Then directly after was the reception, and I got to finally catch her. The work that I’m doing is truly moving our community forward, and she wanted to support me in any way.”

Shuronda ROBINSON “I’m Shuronda Robinson. I am an entrepreneur and a journalist, and actually really excited right now about this opportunity to support the growth and expansion and impact of a powerful institution in our community.” as with Garvey’s influence, Robinson’s omnipresence is felt in important rooms where important people are having important discussions. It was almost inevitable that these two powerful women would connect. This connection proved to be the driving force behind the second most inspired idea Garvey had: Shuronda Robinson as Austin Woman magazine’s new CEO.“We needed a strong leader who really can take that vision and really say, ‘Okay, what do we need to be for the next 20 years to have the kind of staying power, influence, sustainability that we had the last 20 years?’” Garvey says. “That’s a vision that Shuronda has, and she not only has vision, but she’s got the skill set. She is a storyteller by trade. She understands publications, has worked with them. She understands advertising; she understands theEvenbusiness.”thedecision to make Robinson the new CEO seems part of that “God Thing” that has followed Garvey from the magazine’s inception, both women coming to the same conclusion at almost the exact same“Thetime.more we talked, the more I recognized, for me, that I wanted to not only support the new direction that she was taking, but play a more instrumental role,” Robinson says. The Adisa Communications founder and CEO has a subtly powerful presence. Her voice never rises above a gentle coo, but when she speaks people lean in to listen. Her influence in the magazine’s next era was a seeming nobrainer for both women. “We are all aligned,” Robinsons says. “We are coming in as co-owners, as partners in Austin Woman magazine. Our mission is to lift other women. I have great respect and admiration for someone who will contribute their expertise to doing that for someone else. Each individual woman offers something different that’s needed to really create a strong brand, to help guide the“Youtrajectory.know, you have that voice inside your head or in your heart,” she expresses. “I try really hard to listen to my heart when my head often tells me it doesn’t make any sense. But the more she talked about it, the more I was like, ‘Wow, this is a perfect opportunity for me to leverage my expertise in a way that can be really beneficial, that can expand this platform.’ I think I was actually in the nail salon. Often things happen in the nail salon.” A soft smile graces her lips. “I called her back, and we were both talking about something related to board recruitment. And I was like, ‘Melinda, I just want to tell you, I’ve been thinking about this.’ She said, ‘Oh my goodness, Shuronda, I had been trying to figure out how to ask.’”

THE REAL Melinda Garvey is a realist. So let’s get real. Garvey is an able-bodied cis-hetero white woman from pretty well means. While she’s paved her road with good intentions, her experiential scope is limited. When she came to this second groundbreaking epiphany, it was with the subconscious understanding that in order for Austin Woman to continue to live in its legacy, something had to change. For 20 years the magazine thrived on the premise of representing all women, but as

52 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

“My name is Ana Ruelas, and I’m a connector. I am happy; I’m a mama of three kids, and a wife. I love people. I love helping people grow. I’m authentic, pretty authentic, actually. A little too authentic for some people sometimes. What I do best is connecting. We own a team, a luxury real estate brokerage firm. I’m an investor. I love music. I love having music around the house. Our daughter plays the piano, and I actually specifically wanted her to learn at home so I can hear the music. My father-in-law was a strolling musician, so my husband, of course, loves music, and my father adored music. I love things that help children and women, so I’m involved in anything literacy. I truly, truly, truly believe that if you teach a child to read, they’re more likely to go to college. When I first started doing stuff for children, I was at an organization called REACH. Here in Austin, Texas Book Festival, of course, Con Mi Madre. I think that I’m pretty blessed.” Garvey recognized multiple times throughout this journey, that wasn’t always the case. Where the lines of what it means to be a woman in Austin intersect, some key inconsistencies continued to crop up. As Ana Ruelas attests, they’ve spoken in the past about the lack of Latina and Latine representation. Ruelas, founder and managing partner at luxury real estate agency The Agency Austin and board advisor at Texas Book Festival, is another on the board who’s known Garvey for nearly 15 years. Like Robinson, a fiercely honest woman with a soft-spoken nature, Ruelas carries an enviable strength of purpose and vision. She’s unafraid to dig deeper into a person’s motivations, their fears and hesitations, to get to the truth of their character. She most certainly meets Garvey where she is to give her the real deal. “I’ve always been involved in going to the events,” she reveals. “I was chairing some of the awards. One particular event, Melinda and I had lunch at the Four Seasons. I brought another friend of mine with me. The conversation was about having more Latinos on the cover. Why were we not having more Latinos on the cover? If they were supposed to be about women, there should be more brown women, period. That was one of my first conversations early on in our relationship that we had, about making sure that we have more diverse women on the cover.”

Ana RUELAS

When she signed on to be a part of Austin Woman’s board expansion, Ruelas did so because she understands the publication’s legacy and knows it can become more.

“I think that there has to be a little bit of controversial material,” Ruelas reveals. “I don’t mean controversial like trouble. I mean things that create, question, things that begin conversation. It’s not always happy-go-lucky. Let’s also have some thoughts about things that are affecting women right now. What impact is that going to have long term?”

As this new vision continues to unfold, more women of influence, power, intention and immense conviction join the cast. These women are determined to make sure this magazine lives up to its lofty moniker.

Expedia Brands’ head of PR, Americas and August 2022 cover woman Gretel Perera speaks of first meeting Garvey and bringing some of Austin’s most influential Latina business owners into the conversation—something she did with intention because

I’m just really proud of most of my professional career and my full-time passion of advocating for others.

To continue and make sure her legacy lives on and even prospers even more. To take it to the next level.” To ignite that level up, each woman offers a unique vision. Mitchell envisions a publication that more fully embraces seeking out and spotlighting the spectrum of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ communities, while also spanning generations. “I find that, although we’re on the good foot, we still have a little bit more work to do in demographics, where there’s people of color and all the people of the BIPOC community,” she says. “Our job is to continue to plant seeds so that the next generations can stand on those to grow

ATXWOMAN.COM | 53 she noticed a seeming lack of Latina presence in Austin Woman’s stratosphere and wanted Garvey to see where she could expand her“Iview.waslike, ‘We need to have a seat at that table, literally,’” Perera says. “With this group of community women, Latino leaders, I was like, ‘Let’s go to this event together. I’ll buy a table; let’s all go and sit together and learn.’ I think what impressed me just from a distance about Melinda is the way she portrays herself, the way she’s very human, but then she was very much an advocate for everybody in that room. There were 10 of us in all. They met with her after the event; I went to introduce myself and expressed admiration for her event and everything that she’s built over the years. I explained that I brought all these amazing Latinas [she] probably had no idea existed, but they do exist in Austin. These are all executives; very powerful positions in the biggest tech companies in Austin came to this event. It was important to us.”

Gretel PERERA

“I would summarize myself in two parts. One is professional. My full-time jobs over the past 20 years, mainly I’m a PR professional working mainly in tech, and have really been specializing in companies that want to focus internationally and work with diverse audiences. Now I’m at Expedia Group leading PR across all three brands for Expedia in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. My full-time passion has always been advocating for other women, specifically Latinas, and I’ve narrowed it down the last few years to really Latinas in tech, and really making sure we have a voice, that our stories are told, and that we’re supporting and advocating for each other as a community, but then to the broader tech community. I have another nonprofit called L500.

A text message while Perera was driving put her on the track to helping bring Austin Woman magazine into the future. The phone call that followed sealed the deal. “I remember I was driving, so I pulled over to listen to what she had to say,” she says, a huge grin brightening her already jovial countenance. “Honestly, I was blown away. Our meetings had been few until then, but meaningful. It was just really an honor to even be considered as one of these people who she was thinking about to kind of follow in her footsteps. That’s basically what it is, right?

54 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 even further. This is already a legacy brand. All we’re doing now is scaling that work even more. What’s going to be important in this legacy work is ensuring that all young women see themselves in this magazine.”LanaMacrum-Craig, who’s known Garvey the longest, has a unique perspective on what could help Austin Woman step strongly into its future. The J.P. Morgan Private Bank managing director and banker was there from the publication’s inception. She’s watched not only the magazine’s growth, but also the growth of its founder. As with the other six women bringing Austin Woman into the future, MacrumCraig’s vantage point allows for a wider perspective on what the magazine is and what it could be. “I’ve picked up Austin Woman for years,” she says. “As a young woman starting my career, reading Austin Woman helped me forge my own path to the community and to grow my network. It’s an amazing resource for young women in their careers, a resource for mothers, a resource for CEOs. It gives you a place to relate. That’s what I saw from the first time I opened it. I’m 44, and I’ve been reading this magazine since it launched.”Havingbeen in Austin since 1996, Macrum-Craig has actively watched the city’s evolution and seemingly never-ending expansion. She fully embraces the influx of new companies and talent from all over the country. “I think this is the right time in Austin to do it, with the growth in our city and the fact that we have so many great leaders,” she continues. “Austin Woman is in such a strong place because a) you already have an amazing platform, and b) you’re going to bring in such diverse perspectives,” she continues. “Anytime you bring a

Lana MACRUM

“My name is Lana Macrum. I am a banker at the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. My role is a managing director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, and I serve as a banker, working with families, and endowments and foundations to achieve their wealth management goals. I have a very strong focus on philanthropy, both in my career and personally, so it all kind of weaves into the work that I help my clients do in their community, and my personal commitment to our Austin community. I feel very fortunate that I get to help people with their passion, but also pursue my own, both in my day job and outside of it. I’m married to Jeff Craig, and we are celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary this year. We have two children, Connor and Sarah Craig, and they both live in Austin. They both went to school at Ole Miss and moved to Austin after school. So we’re all in Austin. I see them frequently, which is great. We are lovers of English bulldogs and have two right now, our four-legged kids.”

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Fairmont Austin is a landmark hotel situated in the heart of the vibrant downtown area alongside the lush greenery of Palm Park and Waller Creek. The 37-story luxury property is composed of 1,048 richly appointed guest rooms and boasts 140,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. The Forbes Travel Guide four-star-rated property offers the highest level of service along with picturesque vistas of Lady Bird Lake and the sparkling cityscape, as well as the largest rooftop pool in downtown Austin. Guests can enjoy an array of amenities, such as top-rated Fairmont Spa Austin and five restaurant and bar offerings, including the hotel’s signature restaurant Garrison. From a private dining room to chef’s counter, Garrison exceeds expectations with a chef-driven open-flame kitchen led by Chef Jakub Czyszczon, where guests experience elevated classics like truffle tater tots and tomahawk steaks.

MAINTAINING THE LEGACY

“We are equally as committed and excited about being these champions and ambassadors and influencers on behalf of Austin women,” Garvey insists. “Knowing that keeping this voice alive is so critical. It’s not just women, but then you layer on any level of diversity, any lens, and the need becomes exponential. I think that we can actually close the gap. If we come together and we share our networks, if we truly have a place where we can do that and support one another and make those key introductions, we’ll be unstoppable. Shuronda has a lot of incredible ideas. But that is the goal, to really make sure that every last living person who identifies as a woman knows about us and knows and understands and feels like they have a place.” This is a simple tale of a woman, who, disillusioned with her 9-to-5, turned to her friends for consolation and a solution to her corporate-world malaise. However, this isn’t really about Melinda Garvey. This is about a movement, a passion, a drive to honestly and intentionally include every single woman that’s in the city. One doesn’t often get the chance to speak to people at the ground level, to get into the minutiae of what it means to drive a company forward from the place it’s been to where it could be. Being able to speak with the women who genuinely want to revitalize, reimagine and reestablish this publication as a place where all women can feel like they belong, I do not take it for granted. This is a blessing and an honor, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to first hear what these women want to do, then see it in action. Only time will tell if what they want equates to what they’re able to deliver. This publication has given every woman and woman-identified person in this city license to look inside themselves and really believe they are what this city is about. Beyond the glossy cover of this publication, the pages are filled with treasure. Each woman who’s been featured has given Austin its heartbeat. So, you see, this is personal. It’s about you; it’s about me. The past 20 years have culminated in this moment, a time to really look into who we are and say proudly, “I am Austin Woman.”

LOCATION: FAIRMONT AUSTIN

It’s a question that every new member has pondered. How do we keep this 20-year train on track to keep providing women in Austin a source to really see themselves in all facets of the community?

ATXWOMAN.COM | 55 group together that has diverse perspectives, you get much better outcomes.”

20 YEARS AND BEYOND

“We’re taking it from impacting one generation to impact for the next three, four, five, six,” Mitchell says. “What we’ve been talking about is what does our exit strategy look like? What is our succession plan? I think a lot of institutions don’t put those things onto paper until it’s too late. Someone has passed on or no longer wants the job, wants to retire, and now you want to think about your succession? Know your succession,” she urges, “that way you can know how to easily track success. Furthermore, it tells you from the beginning that you should be rearing somebody else up so you’re ready to pass the baton on to them. My job is to start bringing folks up that I know can take on my seat at some point or be able to impact Austin Woman magazine in some way. Start with your succession plan in mind from the jump; your legacy will continue to grow from there.” This notion of “legacy,” of leaving a tangible trace of your impact on the world, is really what this new direction is about. For Sampat, who doesn’t have any children of her own, it means tapping into the potential of future generations. The seed has already been planted; it’s time to water and make the soil fertile for the next great“It’sharvest.abouthow many lives you can impact,” she says. “Not financially, necessarily, but in unlocking their potential to do their best work. That could be creative, or it could be for artists to find a way to make a living off of being creative. It could be for a 13-yearold to realize that she wants to be a CEO. To me, it’s unlocking the potential for somebody who would otherwise not have gotten there without some impact. It’s also doing that in a way that helps those women create multigenerational impact in their family. That’s real; that’s leveling the playing field or changing the playing field. That, to me, is real legacy: I die knowing that I helped make an impact with the magazine. Can we build a mentorship program that really helps people navigate the challenges and start something so that they can become builders? I think of the next generation as the next stage of this platform.” “I think to build on that legacy, it’s about how we make Austin Woman more accessible to a larger group of women,” Robinson says. “When we look at Austin, [it’s] booming. This is the place to be. How do we find those folks who are new here, those women who have moved into Austin and are looking for that sense of community and help to serve their needs? It really is the power of what is happening for the future.”

Ana: “To me, its value is actually standing up for something important. I always tell my kids, ‘I will buy you the bike, I will get you on the bike, I will give you the push, but you have to pedal.’ For the magazine, it has to be about standing up for women; it has to be about not just showing the pretty things that you know. At least show both sides. At least have a voice. You can’t ignore it, because if you ignore it, then you’re not really in the conversation. We should be in the conversation. I think there has to be a little bit of a shift somewhere where you talk about those hard things that haven’t been discussed in the magazine in the [last] 20 years.”

Shuronda: “It’s about telling the stories of other women and highlighting other women so that they can be more effective, more known in the marketplace, in our communities, and inspiring women, educating women, creating a community and nurturing that community of women in Austin. I want Austin Woman magazine to be similar to the influence and impact of Austin, selling a locally developed product and program, but the impact is national and global so people look at the magazine to understand what it means to be a woman in business. I also see us really expanding in the event space. What is the feedback that we need to be hearing from the audience that is going to engage with us so we can address their needs?” YOU SEE Austin Woman GOING IN THE FUTURE?

Terry: “I totally see this as a multimedia vehicle, where we may have just been a print publication and had some events here locally. I also see us on TV. I see us having a bigger digital presence, creating a whole multimedia conglomerate and then naturally duplicating this process in other cities and other states, if not throughout the world. For me, it will be a natural progression for us to continue to highlight local women, socialites, celebrities and boss women in every city and state, ultimately growing into a national conglomerate. Lastly, I’d love for there to be a festival of some kind, something where we’re bringing in national if not global names and attendees. Go bigger, go better.”

WHERE DO

There’s an opportunity for us to really unlock the potential of young women who would otherwise not have seen it or been exposed to it. That’s the long-term impact. The magazine right now probably appeals to 30-something, maybe, but [mainly] 40-something women.

Gretel: “The legacy of Austin Woman is that ability to shine the light on the amazing women having an impact in Austin and a lot of these women that we don’t know about. It’s not just about the women. It’s different companies that we lead; it’s different things that we stand for, the different backgrounds that we bring to the table. I would love to be able to bring my 20 years of communications experience to the magazine to help take it to the next level. We can bring a lot of these women’s stories to life over social media. How do we take an award-winning digital magazine into the future? Make sure we’re in the moment of where the media industry is.”

Lana: “When I think about the legacy of Austin Woman, I go back to the fact that this is a magazine that I read when I was building my career, and I was looking to learn from all these women who were ahead of me. I grew up in a really, really small town and moved to Austin when I was 20, and it was very overwhelming. [The magazine] immediately invites you in, providing a kind of home for women to do what they do best. I want our online presence to grow so that we can access and touch more women more frequently and more in real time for all of the women in our community.”

If we start to figure out how to appeal to 20-something women, that carries the life of the magazine.”

Neha: “Every woman who’s been on that cover has had an impact. Every woman who’s been written about has been recognized for what they bring to the table. [We should] multiply that, not just in the magazine, but across new mediums, opening and widening that gate to more women from different backgrounds from different age groups.

58 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

OCTOBER 2007 Elizabeth Avellán is a film producer, VP of Troublemaker Studios with Robert Rodriguez and president of EYA Productions in Austin. She produced Desperado, the Spy Kids series, Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Predators, Machete and DEADLAND. She’s the mother of six children.

A heartfelt thank you to these amazing Cover Women who sponsored this issue to celebrate our 20th Anniversary! 58 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM

Elizabeth Avellán

Terri Givens is currently a professor of political science at McGill University and a former professor and vice provost at UT Austin. She is the author of Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides and has authored books and articles on immigration policy, antidiscrimination politics and comparative race politics. Givens uses her platform to develop leaders’ understanding of the importance of diversity and encourage personal growth through empathy.

Rochelle Rae JANUARY 2011

Professor Terri E. Givens

Rochelle Rae is the owner and creator of Rae Cosmetics, a perspiration-resistant line of makeup designed for busy, active women looking for beauty as well as performance from their products. Gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin but strong enough to stay on when you sweat.

ATXWOMAN.COM | 59

JUNE 2011

Carla McDonald

Carla McDonald is the founder and managing director of Dynabrand Ventures, which invests capital and marketing expertise in early-stage consumer product companies. An advocate for women entrepreneurs, McDonald is also chair of the board of Beam, a nonprofit that supports women founders, and a mentor at SKU, a leading accelerator.

NOVEMBER 2010

ATXWOMAN.COM | SPECIAL PROMOTION | 59

60 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM

Patti Rogers is the founder and CEO of Rallyhood, a social-collaboration platform for purpose-driven organizations. Rogers recognized that enterprise collaboration apps didn’t address productivity needs of nonprofits. Rallyhood’s solutions enable organizations to build a network of microsites for their groups and subgroups, giving members a holistic suite of collaboration tools to communicate, share and store files, collect money, manage events, and stay organized—all in one private, secure and ad-free space.

Elaine Garza is founder and CEO of Giant Noise, a public relations and social media agency with offices in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. The agency works with an eclectic mix of clients in Texas and beyond. Garza sits on the board of ILHIGH, Texas Exes, KUT 90.5 and Moody College Advisory Council.

Patti Rogers AUGUST 2013

FEBRUARY 2017

Elaine Garza

Mellie Price is a widely respected educator, thought leader, consultant and public speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship. She is the co-founder of Front Gate Tickets, Major League Pickleball and Capital Factory. Price recently launched Purposeful Capital to educate, inspire and support a movement of small-business owners, regardless of size, who are focused on sustainable, organic and profitable growth and who need access to capital and community to expedite their success.

Mellie Price MARCH 2016

60 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

FEBRUARY 2019

Stacy Johnson

APRIL 2017

JULY 2018

Kim Hanks

As an entrepreneur and the CEO of Whim Hospitality and Camp Lucy, Kim Hanks has grown her business from a small rental company to one of the fastest growing woman-led businesses in the country. She has an incredible gift for growing her teams, brands and community.

Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine, Heather Brunner has steered WP Engine through hyper-growth into global technology leadership. She has led WP Engine from Austin startup to a global brand with 1200+ team members and six offices around the world to serve millions of customers in more than 150 countries.

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Heather Brunner

Stacy went into the foster care system at age 2, spending the next 14 years moving from foster home to foster home and dreaming that someday she would open a children’s shelter and help other kids like herself. In 2014, she opened Central Texas Table of Grace.

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Katie Fang is the founder and CEO of SchooLinks, an education technology company that offers the most advanced college and career planning solutions on the market. Fang was listed among Forbes ’s “Top 30 under 30,” and SchooLinks was named one of Inc. Magazine ’s 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2022.

Jamie Ivey is an author, speaker and podcaster who has hosted her show, The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey, since 2014. In 2022, Ivey launched the Ivey Media Podcasts network, along with a podcasting course, “I Am A Podcaster,” to help aspiring podcasters bring their shows to life.

Jamie Ivey DECEMBER 2019 control.providesafer. place.”intofallwillelseeverythingandpassionyour“Pursue Giffords–Gabby

APRIL 2019

Marissa Tarleton is currently a managing director at Haveli Investments, focused on fundraising, investing and operating partnerships with portfolio companies. Prior to Haveli, Tarleton has over 25 years of experience as an operating and marketing leader in technology. She was most recently the president of Aceable, the chief executive officer of RetailMeNot, as well as the chief executive officer of RxSaver.

Katie FangMAY 2019

Marissa Tarleton

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Amber Allen, CEO and founder of Double A Labs, is a leading expert on metaverse and community building. Allen is passionate about creating experiences that promote human connection and boost productivity. For the past decade, Double A Labs has leveraged immersive technologies to help brands connect with customers. They recently launched Double A, a proprietary metaverse platform where people chat, learn and play to optimize sales, employee training and customer experiences.

An accomplished HR/DEI practitioner of over 20 years, Ada-Renee Johnson leads a team responsible for driving equity across Google’s hiring system and partnering to inspire change. She’s committed to lifting the experiences and outcomes for all, in particular, communities historically and currently underrepresented in tech, intentionally bridging the digital divide.

Andi Scull

MAGAZINEWOMANAUSTIN makes.”onechoicestheinexpressedisitwords;expressedbestnotphilanthropy“One’s2020APRIL

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Ada-Renee Johnson

APRIL 2020

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Andi Scull is an Asian-American creative director specializing in innovative branding, program development, taste-maker communications and nontraditional event production. She is the founder of the HOPE Outdoor Gallery and HOPE Events, the nonprofit producing the HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Campaign. She is also a partner in Native and provides consulting through her company Scullpower Creative while also raising two amazing daughters in Austin.

VOLVOAUSTIN.COMmatters likefrom

DECEMBER 2020

Amber Allen JUNE 2020

VOLVOAUSTIN.COM

JANUARY 2022

Rose Smith is the award-winning CEO of Black Women In Business, which has 10 Texas chapters. She’s a motivational speaker, published author, brand and success coach, and creator of the COVID Community Food Relief Program. BWIB has provided free groceries to 95,000 families without any governmental funding. She’s dedicated to serving others and helping women rise. Coach Rose received the 2022 I Am Austin Woman Award, and Mayor Steve Adler proclaimed Aug. 2, 2022 Coach Rose Chase Smith Day.

JULY 2022

64 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 202264 | SPECIAL PROMOTION | ATXWOMAN.COM

Denise Hernández

Denise Hernández is the Judge-elect for County Court #6. Driven by her lived experience, Hernández has made a commitment to justice and equity work. To honor Hernández, she received the Women Making Change Award, was recognized as a Champion of Change and was nicknamed “The People’s Judge” by Austin Woman

Kendall Antonelli

Kendall Antonelli spreads joy through words and cheese. Public speaker, writer and founder of Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, Antonelli mixes humor with self-reflection through stories of entrepreneurship, depression and balance. Antonelli, certified cheese professional and sommelier, leads awardwinning food experiences and was named an Austinite Under 40 and Mental Health Community Champion.

Rose Smith FEBRUARY 2021

Boss Babes ATX is now Future Front Texas, and the nonprofit is building a creative community across our state with women and LGTBQIA2S+ innovators front and center.

66 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022

Optimism-fueled Evolution BY STACEY INGRAM KALEH

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“When this all started as a blog I created in college, alone, it was about these questions: ‘What does it look like to be supported at work in a creative career?’ and ‘What does it look like to be in creative community if you’re a woman?’ Those questions have expanded to really reflect on gender and sexuality and equity in our communities,” Hervey explains. “We’re still asking that question, ‘What does it look like to be supported in your creative work?’ But we’re asking it together.” Through Boss Babes ATX, Hervey found the creative community she sought and dreamed of from the outset. That community has now built Future Front Texas alongside her. The rebrand and new name for this collaborative, co-created vision better represents where the organization is today, who it serves and what’s to come.

Future Front Texas wants us to know that creatives can come from anywhere and from any background. Creatives and creativity fuel our communities across nonprofits, industry, government and small businesses. However, when it comes to equitable representation of women, LGTBQIA2S+ folks, BIPOC folks and people with disabilities across creative disciplines and sectors in our state, there’s much work to be done. What does it look like to center these marginalized creatives? That’s a future the team at Future Front Texas (FFTX) asks us to imagine and realize. Bringing together women and LGTBQIA2S+ creatives, founders and leaders, FFTX is a small nonprofit dedicated to building an inclusive community that nurtures creativity and professional resilience. They design spaces, resources and opportunities to help creators in Texas thrive. Formerly Boss Babes ATX, the nonprofit recently underwent a transformation and rebrand, resulting in the Future Front Texas of today. “We let go of the pressures of having to be one thing and not change,” says Jane Hervey, founding creative and executive director. “One thing I find really inspiring about our evolution is what I think we genuinely believe at Future Front and hope to inspire in other people, and that is giving yourself the room to experiment and to change. We know more now than we did when we started. We do more; our team is bigger. We’re different. With this rebrand, we gave ourselves permission to rename ourselves, to get specific about what we’re really doing and to do that together.” Homegrown in Austin, the organization began in 2015 as a grassroots initiative when Hervey started a meetup series born from a blog and the hashtag #bbatx. Boss Babes ATX meetups were designed as spaces where women in creative industries could connect, share resources and support each other. Hervey conceived of the meetups to address a need she identified when conducting a study at the University of Texas at Austin; she examined the ways lack of representation in media and festivals influenced women working in those industries, particularly when it came to their concepts of self, professional aptitudes and ability to build community. In a short time, the meetups grew and evolved into something bigger than expected: a shared mission. The organization became a nonprofit with four staff members and 15 volunteers in leadership that, in its first six years, hosted more than 100,000 people from across the state at markets, festivals, workshops and conferences and distributed more than $100,000 in grants, commissions and community funds.

IT’S OKAY TO CHANGE: ACKNOWLEDGING A NATURAL EVOLUTION

“When you start as a series of meetups run out of someone’s savings, and you turn into this nonprofit that is not only doing these meetups but is now doing workshops, markets and festivals and welcoming 20,000-plus visitors a year…there was just this moment where it was like, we are not what we were,” says Hervey. The organization started working on their name change and rebrand in 2019. Muñoz explains that the organization spent a long time preparing for the rebrand by prioritizing audience research: focus groups, stakeholder meetings and community feedback. “It was a very collaborative process, and we were all really invested,” she says. “What Boss Babes had created was really good, and we didn’t want to lose any of the magic that Jane had created. It was important to us that when we created this new thing that it was just as meaningful and just as welcoming and innovative as the old version of it.”

WHAT’S IN A (NEW) NAME? Hervey and Muñoz make it clear that the community has embraced the name “Future Front Texas” because it was crafted with intention and a desire to authentically reflect the organization and the people it serves. Each term within the name holds great meaning. “Future” serves to recognize that the work the nonprofit does is forwardthinking, creative and a catalyst for change. It also captures the team’s expectation that they will continue to evolve. “Any time you create something, you’re thinking of the future,” says Muñoz. “‘Future’ allows room for growth; it allows room for development and for you to change.” What does it mean to be at the front? “I think it means being seen, being visible,” says Muñoz. “It also means being heard, being prioritized, and it’s about uplifting people who are typically kept on the sidelines and focusing on highlighting these people and what they’re creating.” She shares that “front” represents a repositioning, a shift that moves people typically without power to positions of power.

Cynthia Muñoz FFTX’s founding vice president of innovative impact Jane Hervey Founding creative and executive director

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While there was a lot of love for and attachment to the “Boss Babes ATX” name, there were also issues with it. “Our name felt gendered and loaded, and it started to carry some baggage with it,” says Muñoz. “‘Future Front’ feels more inclusive.” For her, the new name feels “exciting” and “right,” and when the organization officially announced its rebrand, it meant a lot to the organization to receive positive feedback from their community. “It just clicked, and that love kept pouring in.”

The journey from Boss Babes ATX to Future Front Texas was a natural evolution, but not without growing pains, according to Hervey and Cynthia Muñoz, board member and FFTX’s founding vice president of innovative impact, where she has a hands-on role in the nonprofit’s programming and community infrastructure.

“When I think about putting femme and queer voices at the front, and LGTBQIA2S+ folks and women at the front, and people of color at the front, and all of these identities we serve, I think it’s that intentional act of acknowledging who gets air time, visibility and

ATXWOMAN.COM | 69 storytelling,” says Hervey. “It’s looking at who’s at the front of our communities and spaces and challenging that to include more. I love that ‘front’ is part of our name and that we can put things we care about and that we want to see in the world at the front.”

Future Front’s rebranding process has helped the team to hone in on its core values and to crystalize its vision of making a welcoming space for people to come together, to participate in this kind of imagining and shaping of a shared future. “Future Front is this imagining of the future, and it’s about making that the now instead of cutting yourself off and maybe not being hopeful,” Hervey proclaims.

Donate!

When I think about putting femme and queer voices at the front, and LGTBQIA2S+ folks and women at the front, and people of color at the front, and all of these identities we serve, I think it’s that intentional act of acknowledging who gets air time, visibility and storytelling.

The Future Front leadership team is now comprised of nine women, nonbinary and LGTBQIA2S+ leaders, all of whom have a “co-founder” title. This team is modeling the inclusive, collaborative spirit they want to foster and grow.

Apply for microgrants and community funding opportunities

How can you get involved with Future Front Texas?

“Texas” aims to be more reflective of the artists and visitors the organization attracts from across the state and also positions Future Front Texas for focused growth, celebrating roots in Texas and building strong, connected communities across the state. In essence, the name seems to embody the co-founders’ effervescent hope for the future and infinite possibilities for supporting marginalized creatives and advancing inclusion.

Learn more at futurefronttexas.org.

“There’s so much we want to change about the world or about ourselves, so many things we want to be, so many things we want to see or accomplish before our time on this earth is up. What I like about Future Front is that it’s this very simple idea that, well, maybe instead of applying all of that pressure now—‘This is what I have to be now. If I’m not this now, then I’m doing something wrong’—I think it just offers this openness of, well, what could you do now where a future like that is possible? If we can imagine it, we can become it,” Hervey conveys with passion. “I really think that when it comes to creative careers and creative work, so much of that is imagining. So much of making art, and making spaces and festivals and markets, is imagining. My hopeful belief is that everyone in our community feels like they can make something. That we can step outside of our day-to-day roles and routines and make what we want to see.”

— Jane Hervey

Attend a market, festival, workshop or join a member-led club

MODELING INCLUSION

Become a member

OPTIMISM

Staff and board members at the Future Front ATX space, a small but vibrant outpost at Canopy in East Austin, also seem to embrace multidimensionality. They pursue multiple paths simultaneously, working in nonprofits or industry, creating art, DJing, side-hustling and volunteering for causes that are close to their hearts.

María Rivera Felizardo Founding programs manager and staff member Hali Martin Founding vice president communicationsof Xochi Solis Founding board president

Xochi Solis, founding board president, is an established mixedmedia artist and community organizer. Beyond her nonprofit leadership and studio work, Solis advances the preservation and performance of Tejanx culture by DJing with the Austin chapter of the Chulita Vinyl Club. After coming to the organization as a volunteer, she became board president in 2020 and helped lead the team through the rebrand and transition. “This organization has given me a platform to explore community organizing beyond the realm of a single industry or a boxed-in cultural narrative,” reads a statement from Solis. “I have learned it takes responsibility, ownership, compassion, consideration and love to actively build and maintain the spaces we want to see in our local communities.” Hervey, Muñoz, Rivera Felizardo, Martin and Solis work alongside colleagues Jonnyka Clouds Bormann, Aisha Lewis, Amanda Vaughn, Ph.D., and Lina Zuluaga, rounding out the board. Each founding team member brings a unique perspective and professional skill set, but all have been involved with growing the organization in a variety of capacities and exude passion for bringing creatives together and supporting one another through a culture of mutual respect.

PROGRAMS THAT NURTURE FUN AND UNAPOLOGETIC

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Hervey is a sixth-generation Texan and grew up on the border in the rural farming community of Rio Hondo. She moved to Austin in 2011 to attend the University of Texas and search for her place in the city’s music scene. While she’s now a nonprofit founder and director—her daily responsibilities include everything from fundraising to team management to building sets, tie-dying T-shirts and working at events— she’s also a writer, electronic musician and vocalist and runs her own design house, group work creative house.

After a couple of years of digital and hybrid activities, the team is eager to get back to high-energy in-person events. Future Front will continue to host two big flagship events that build on the foundation laid during their Boss Babes days—the biannual The Front Market and annual The Front Festival (formerly craftHer market and Babes Fest, respectively). The Front Market showcases around 400 art and design businesses led by women and queer entrepreneurs each year between spring and fall events. The Front Festival 2022 took place Aug. 25 through 28 at multiple venues across the community, closing out Austin PRIDE and celebrating post-pandemic abundance with a pool party at The LINE hotel, music showcase at the Parish, film showcase at The Contemporary Austin - Laguna Gloria, giving everyone a space to celebrate and plenty of good times. The lineup of almost entirely local and independent artists included We Don’t Ride Lamas, Kiki Machine and Future Front’s resident DJs as well as filmmaker Katie Broyles, writer and director of the short film Moondog, and many others.

Muñoz, for example, works for the social impact team at Indeed, is a Notley Fellow and is a visual artist working under the name Cindy Popp. She has been involved with the organization in a number of roles, from the first meetup of Boss Babes ATX to today. “Before I was on the board, I was on the programming committee, helping to shape events like our work conference—a professional development program. Before I was on that committee, I was a resident artist, and before that I just hung out at all of the events.” Muñoz is focused on creative approaches to fundraising, like hosting tie-dye workshops, and contributes to overall strategy for the nonprofit.

Founding programs manager and staff member María Rivera Felizardo is a multimedia artist whose work incorporates video, augmented reality, electronic music, online media and performance, often combining all of the above. Under the name p1nkstar, she produces nightlife experiences showcasing trans and queer talent and performs as a futuristic pop star. Her work has been exhibited nationally, and she has received three “Best of Austin” awards from The Austin Chronicle for creating art that makes space for everybody. At Future Front Texas, you can find her designing and coordinating programs like The Front Market and The Front Fest Hali Martin, founding vice president of communications, has extensive experience in digital marketing for technology companies, film festivals and universities. They work at Bonterra, a technology company dedicated to social good. In addition to their creative communications work with Future Front, Martin explores a passion for diversity and inclusion and queer theory and teaches workshops on Google Analytics and SEO.

All of the founding team members are creatives in their own right, in their work at FFTX and beyond.

Martin and Rivera Felizardo share this enthusiasm for the future, as they look forward to growing the funds they are able to give to artists through grants, increasing their membership to see member-led clubs flourish and securing a physical space to call home and infuse with their caring creative culture.

COMMUNITY UNBOUND As Future Front Texas grows its community-building initiatives, it’s constantly reexamining what it means to be a community. Hervey thinks about serving her community in the broadest sense. She draws no boundaries between the people she works and collaborates with on a daily basis, the 100 or so volunteers and 20,000-plus visitors Future Front engages and the Austin and Texas communities as a whole. “We have to make space for everyone to participate in art and culture,” she states. “At Future Front, we want to make space for people who are creating creative businesses in their backyards, doing creative projects on their own and trying to change their creative workspaces.” She is consistently challenging herself and her organization to be more inclusive when defining community. “I have to ask myself who’s missing, all the time. I have to ask myself, ‘What can I do about who’s missing, and do I have the resources to try to better include and better acknowledge the communities and the systems we’re a part of?’ I think we have a responsibility to question the communities we serve, the communities we are a part of and to question whether or not that is actually a reflection of the communities we are truly in. When I think of serving the community today, in Austin right now, it’s reconciling the histories and the past and the inequities and the celebrations and the cultural traditions and the attitudes with who I am today, with who we are collectively, and doing the best we can with what we’ve got. That’s what serving the community looks like. It’s hopeful. It’s celebratory. It’s healing. It’s creative. It’s a good time!”

Jonnyka Clouds Bormann Year-round, FFTX serves creatives across the state through educational workshops and meetups, grants and commission programs designed to support a diverse group of women and LGTBQIA2S+ founders, designers, artists and innovators. These include a Community Leaders of Color Mental Health initiative that provides 50-plus pro bono therapy sessions for BIPOC women, nonbinary and LGTBQIA2S+ creators and a residency program for 15 Texas-based artists.“People are gathering, meeting up to learn with each other over creativity and also exploring concepts of professional resilience, equity at work, wellness at work, creative work in general,” Hervey describes. “We’re still putting out lots of community guides and resources. So we collaborate with a lot of different organizations to bring resources forward, whether that’s our pro bono therapy initiative for community leaders of color or our Creative Future of Texas Fund, where we award micro-grants to women and queer founders, designers, artists and innovators.”AllofFuture Front’s programs and events are guided by their core values—creative thinking, collaboration, professional and personal curiosity, experimental entrepreneurship and intersectional action— and their “Be a Good Human Guidelines,” which include being kind and courteous to yourself and others and eliminating racial, sexual or gender discrimination, ableism, fatphobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination, for starters. These values help create an inclusive culture that is poised to help participants embrace fun and optimism in creative“Livingpursuits.outour values is important for us,” says Solis. “They’re for the people we serve, but also for us. Solis looks forward to the continued growth for FFTX and to bringing more donors to their mission to help scale their programs.

Austin ARTS Belonging

Sept. 14 to Sept. 24, 2022

Blue Lapis Light’s Belonging returns to the historic Austin Seaholm Power Plant. Blue Lapis Light, Austin’s site-specific aerial dance company, is delighted to bring Belonging to the Seaholm Plaza this September. Belonging is an original site work performance that highlights the beauty of our earth and our relationship to one another. The performance features aerial dancers on the Seaholm architecture with aerialists swinging from the stacks, ground dancers and projected imagery focused on the sustainability of our environment. This performance also has award-winning ground dance choreography featuring company soloists Anika Jones and Sunny Jun Shen. Blue Lapis Light has been a part of Austin’s unique dance community since 2005. Renowned for daring performances on urban and natural landscapes, Artistic Director Sally Jacques and her dancers are known for creating movement and adapting to new spaces and edges at each new site work location. Belonging opens Sept. 14 and closes Sept. 24, 2022. Tickets can be purchased at bluelapislight.org/belonging. bluelapislight.org/belonging

“Blue Lapis Light has soared since the first performance we attended years ago. Sunday night was not just cohesive, consistent and striking; there were moments of sheer grace when, impossibly, one could almost hear the doors of transcendence creek open. Moments when one wished to embrace humankind at the sight of dancers in suspense, gliding across beams of light in seas of music…” —Blue Lapis Light fan

McGehee.EarlbyphotographyAll

Salvador Dali's Naked Feast

November 2022 to June 2023

The (one-act) Play That Goes Wrong (Nov. 18 to Dec. 18, 2022) Agatha Christie meets Noises Off in this hilarious new farce. Nightbird (March 3 to 25, 2023) What should be built in place of a recently removed Confederate monument? Join us for the premiere of this wildly funny and thought-provoking new play. Indecent (April 21 to May 14, 2023) Dive into the fascinating true story of Sholem Asch’s controversial play The God of Vengeance, and the passionate artists who risked everything to bring it to the stage. Big Fish (June 2023) An extraordinary musical that celebrates the magic of theater.

AUSTIN PLAYHOUSE

OCT. 22

AMidsummerNight’sDream

The VORTEX Theater We’re kicking off The VORTEX’s 35th Coral Anniversary season with Austin’s biggest party of the year! Bring on your surreal as we enter Dali’s universe with a performanceinstallation-cocktail party embodying his aesthetic. The event includes live music, tango, human canvas, photo ops, Dali’s original Casanova Cocktail and delicious food art. The audience will have opportunities to observe or participate in an outrageous blend of spectacle, food, art and dream. Contests and prizes! Costumes encouraged!

Sept. 29 to Oct. 16 Penfold Theatre Company As Lysandra and Hermia flee into a forest full of meddlesome fairies to escape Athens’ oppressive laws, will love come out on top? This new spin on the classic story places all 21 characters in the hands of four virtuosic performers. We’re back for the 10th year of Penfold in the Park! Memberships are available now for the 2022-23 season and are the best way to receive priority seating, discounts and more, all while supporting the arts. Memberships start at $79.

The launch of MindBar eliminates the financial and mental stress of therapy, and there is a program suited for people in every stage of life. “There are therapists who go deep, focusing on your upbringing, childhood trauma and help you realize patterns,” O’Neill says. “But there are also counselors who help you work with what you are dealing with right now, as well as coaches who focus on what you want right now and how to help get you to that goal.”

“My life just completely changed for the better,” she says. “I got out of a bad relationship, a bad job and started to recognize patterns I wasn’t aware of and began to improve my relationships. I started telling all my friends how much I loved therapy and how much it was doing for me. Then they all started going to my therapist, and we became this little community that started by us all going to Barbara.” It was at this moment that the idea of MindBar was created. If businesses such as Orange Theory and SoulCycle offered group personal training at a lower cost, why couldn’t the same apply to mental health? “I wanted to create a SoulCycle for mental health.”

The feature that MindBar has been tirelessly working on for the past eight months is the masterclasses for mental health, where they take what you would learn after many sessions with a therapist and compile it into a singular class. “People can now learn these tools at their own pace and to what fits their schedule and go deeper if they would like to.” Each MindBar therapist has instructed at least one masterclass for the app. The masterclasses are made up of modules and workbooks that you can do in real life, so you can keep the skills flowing and going, at your pace, on your schedule. “You can do one a day or one a week,” O’Neill says, “but it is designed to be like you are going to a one-on-one session with them.” MindBar offers versatility and affordability while simultaneously making mental health approachable to people worldwide. “My ideal dream is I want therapy to feel cool; I want it to feel like something you are proud of going to and you talk about all the time. My ideal future is to get everybody to go to therapy proactively, to be able to afford it, to be encouraged to realize it is cool, to realize how great it is. At MindBar, we have written the content to help guide people.”

Therapy can be quite the daunting concept to those who have never gone. Accessibility and affordability are often not words associated with mental health. This is precisely what Hailey O’Neill is looking to change with the founding of MindBar, a mobile app that is self-proclaimed as a “masterclass of mental health,” with a price tag as low as a Netflix subscription.

Therapy is revitalized through the MindBar app, which offers accessible and affordable mental health for anyone, anywhere.

The Masterclass for Mental Health

74 | AUSTIN WOMAN | SEPTEMBER 2022 Eveland.MackbyPhoto H ealth & WELLNESS

BY LAUREL SANCHEZ

O’Neill found herself in a very similar position as many first-time therapygoers: in a state of curiosity about it but with no knowledge of how to dive into the world of mental health. In 2015, after a paycheck hit her bank account, she decided to take the jump. “I’ve already invested in my physical health and nutrition, and I’m curious about therapy,” O’Neill recalls. “Even though I don’t feel like I need to go, I am curious about it.” And so her journey started. She began furiously googling therapy and met with over 10 therapists, who she ultimately didn’t feel she clicked with, while simultaneously paying $150 an hour for each session. “I was lucky enough to be able to access and afford that,” she says. After many tries and even more failures, she finally found a therapist who was the right fit for her: her eventual MindBar co-founder, Barbara Nadalini-Priesnitz.

This was how “MindBar 1.0” was created. O’Neill and NadaliniPriesnitz started doing in-person classes and workshops on different topics. Then COVID-19 happened, forcing them to alter the structure of their class format. “The more we did online, the more we got people emailing us asking for the recordings,” says O’Neill. “So we got on this different journey from in-person to online live [classes].” While these online sessions were a great success, they were limited to the Austin area. The classes were intimate, with only around five to six people being able to join, and members were subject to the therapist’s schedule. They took this minor setback and treated it as the learning curve for the launch of the new MindBar, which offers “all of the areas of mental health under a singular platform.”

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BY TENESHA WARDS D.C., A.C.N.

TOP CAUSES OF CHRONIC FATIGUE

Toxin overload: Toxin buildup from food, environment, stress and bodily functions can interfere with gut health and cause extreme fatigue.

Chronic fatigue isn’t easy to identify because the root cause is often hidden deep in our bodies. The top causes that I uncover in my patients’ labs are:

Step 3: Support & Enhance My team provides ongoing support to help our patients feel (and look) their best through sustainable lifestyle changes. Our solutions are focused on long-term, science-based wellness, not instant gratification.

Viral infections/immune system dysfunction: Viruses or low immunity can drain the body of energy and upset the gut microbiome.

Step 1. Discover & Reveal We complete an in-depth health history, physical exam and lab tests to reveal imbalances in the body. We ask questions and listen to you to find the core root cause of the exhaustion.

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The Journey to ChronicOvercomeFatigue

Being a mom, wife and entrepreneur means juggling a lot at once. Years ago, I was building my dream life with a young baby at home and my own functional medicine practice. Like so many women who I was helping at my practice, my candle burned at both ends and I had no energy for my husband, my baby or myself. I thought that being burned out was a normal experience—I was just “mom-tired.” My exhaustion was costing me my marriage and taking a big financial toll on my business. This wasn’t sustainable. When I couldn’t find a solution that worked for me, I created one. My blood work and panels indicated that my fatigue was caused by poor gut health, Epstein-Barr virus and autoimmunity caused by too much stress. The Infinity Way™ I took this data and created a new protocol—my now-proprietary process, The Infinity Way™—that I would follow to heal myself and get my life back. After only two months, I started to feel better. I use this three-stage process to create personalized wellness plans for thousands of women at my practice, Infinity Wellness Center, in South Austin.

CHRONIC FATIGUE TIPS FOR WOMEN

As busy women, it’s so hard to make time for ourselves. I get it. But I challenge you to listen to your body. Your body needs a reset to help heal and regain your energy. Often, the most powerful solutions are the simplest, if followed consistently.

My team advises how to cleanse, repair and fortify all the body’s systems based on the root cause. We monitor symptoms and start to notice positive changes in the first one to two months.

Genetics: Certain genes make it possible or more likely to develop chronic fatigue under certain conditions. Hormonal imbalances: Proper metabolism requires the right balance of hormones for energy level maintenance.

Functional medicine doctor and energy recovery expert Tenesha Wards discovered how to regain vitality in her own life, and now she helps other busy women heal.

Step 2. Cleanse & Heal

Refine your responsibilities: Be prepared to make lifestyle changes with work, household duties, leadership roles and exercise in the short term. Chronic fatigue sufferers need to rest to rebuild. Cleanse your gut: Gut imbalances cause most issues in our bodies. Eat whole foods like vegetables, healthy fats and lean protein and reduce sugar, complex carbohydrates, caffeine and alcohol. Support your microbiome with good bacteria from a probiotic and fermented foods. Commit to light exercise: Practice low-intensity exercise, like walking or slow flow yoga, that can gradually increase over time. Intense exercise may make your chronic fatigue worse. My mission is to help women recover their energy and realize their full potential by identifying and treating the root causes of chronic fatigue. I’m here to tell you, you have an endless source of energy inside you to live a life of vitality. All you need is the right process to tap into it.

According to Dr. Pankaj Mehta, clinical president at Pain Specialists of America, “The priority of interventional pain management (IPM) is finding the root cause and interrupting the pain cycle. IPM is an ideal treatment for both acute and chronic pain and can be used to alleviate even the most complex source of pain.”

Patients frequently come to us with multiple “pain generators,” which are sites of illness or injury that contribute to pain and suffering and detract from your quality of life. It is our job to identify the source of the pain and treat it at the source. Pain not only affects you; it can also affect your friends and family and potentially your work productivity. It can impact every aspect of your life, from difficult physical exertion to everyday tasks, like tying your shoes. Our Process Our approach to interventional pain management begins with a conversation. We listen to your concerns and your needs, how pain is affecting your life.

September is Pain Awareness Month

Our goal is to create a comprehensive approach to treat your suffering, to allow you to enjoy the quality of life you want.

We’re not limited to back and neck pain. We treat all kinds of pain, from headaches down to foot pain and neuropathy—and all points in between. Interventional Pain Management Services a lower back pain a spine arthritis disease a sacroiliitis/SI joint pain a spinal stenosis a headaches and neck pain a abdominal and pelvic pain a degenerative joint disease a prolonged postoperative pain a extremity pain a vertebral compression fractures a complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) a other chronic painful conditions

To describe what we do as “pain management” would be true, but it wouldn’t tell the full story. Yes, we provide pain management, but it goes much further than that. We provide a variety of interventional treatment modalities to help manage or treat your pain by creating a personalized plan—no matter what the cause or source. We treat all types, from head to toe.

We believe it’s critical to listen to the patient, to go beyond the traditional doctor-patient relationship and create a partnership. Plus, no two people experience pain the same way, so personalized plans are critical. This is the purpose of the pain management specialty; it’s no different than visiting a specialist for any other chronic condition.

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We create a “pain management ecosystem,” a complete program of the specialists, therapies and other elements needed to reach your goals. A vital part of this ecosystem is your involvement.

What Is an Interventional Pain Doctor?

Along with our care team, we thoroughly process the information, imaging and diagnostic testing to determine a diagnosis. The diagnosis helps us determine the range of treatment methods to address your pain. We take the “S.A.V.E.” approach to your course of treatment: Surgery At the Very End. There are many less invasive options to help you regain a functional life. In fact, we have partnerships with some of the top orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons in Texas, to help patients if that will result in the best outcomes

#StopTheStigma

Conventional pain management includes medication treatments and over-the-counter medication to manage pain flare-ups, essentially any type of treatment that does not invade the body to alleviate pain. It does not address the root of the problem; it simply band-aids it.

As Mehta says, “We partner with patients suffering from pain. We help them optimize pain control, enhance daily functionality and improve physical and psychological well-being.”

“This is why a partnership is important,” says Mehta. Because if you don’t individualize the pain treatment for each patient, the outcome may not be as effective.

If pain is disrupting your life, there’s hope. Our interventional pain management team helps you take control of your health by providing you with information and treatment options. It’s time to get your life back. There’s no reason for you to suffer. Visit our website at psadocs.com to see our patient’s stories, learn about our top-rated expert pain physicians and learn more about the services we offer. Our care team is ready to walk you through your recovery step by step. We provide expert pain care close to home.

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DR. TENESHA WARDS INFINITY WELLNESS CENTER | FOUNDER AND MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Finding and Fixing the Core Root Cause of Chronic Fatigue and Other Medical Mysteries. 1201 West Slaughter Lane Austin, Texas 512-328-050578748 austinholisticdr.com

DR. TENESHA WARDS