Grace Bonney - The Community Issue

Editors Letter

H ave you ever dreamed of starting your own something? Maybe your own business? Have you ever imagined what it would feel like to turn your passion into a project that supports you? Have you ever pictured turning the key to the door of your first store or handing someone a business card with your name at the top?

You are in good company.

You are holding what Ive always dreamed of creating. Its a magazine that is a conversation. Its a place for people in the creative community to connect, share, and learn together. Not just about ways to start and run businesses, but also about ways to live fuller, more meaningful lives and to find (and be) the support we all need to do our best.

This first issue is all about community. Well look at the ways people within the creative world have banded together to create safe, supportive, and inspiring spaces. Well look at how theyre transforming representation in the media. And well talk openly about the importance of community health, both mental and physical.

In the stories that follow, youll meet people who share your goals and aspirationsboth big and small. They know what it feels like to dream big, overcome obstacles, and be vulnerable.

Good Company was inspired by a book I wrote called In the Company of Women that features over one hundred women who run their own creative practices and businesses, from painters and poets to heads of national corporations. In the Company of Women taught me that there are an infinite number of paths to success and each story is worth telling and listening to. It also taught me that nothing great is ever created alone. When we work together, we succeed.

Good Company continues the conversations started in that book. Here well discuss, in great depth and with honesty, the challenges and triumphs of work life.

Thank you for joining the conversation. Im so happy to be in your company.

Love,

artwork by Robert & Stella

Contents

Bakers Cheryl Day and Krystal Mack discuss the lessons theyve learned from all stages of business life.

Shauna Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl talks about how she stepped offline to find her community IRL.

Women are changing the face of tattooing across the world. We talk with four studios about their impact on the industry.

Artist Grace D. Chin walks us through building your own community with intention and purpose.

Step inside a Baltimore, Maryland, woodworking studio transforming the world of craftspeople and creating a new generation of makers.

We talk with ten creatives about the people who inspire them to dream bigger.

How does living in a rural area change your life and business? Megan Wood profiles three business owners whose town in Maine has shaped their work.

The design duo of GabiFresh and Nicolette Mason discusses how their lives as activists informed their successful new fashion line, Premme.

Writer Nora Gomez-Strauss talks with three journalists creating new platforms to celebrate underrepresented voices and communities.

Two women working to make the images around us more inclusive discuss the power of representation.

The illustrated evolution of artist Mimi Ponds life and work.

The story of a game-changing website for women in illustration, told by the artists themselves.

Author Emma Straub talks to two women working to change the way we read, shop, and interact with books.

Tony Awardwinning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo discusses how physical fitness empowers her biggest dreams and goals.

Miriam Klein Stahl shares the illustrated history of her work as an artist and activist.

Four business owners devoted to giving back to their communities discuss how they make it workand how we can do the same.

Trainer Tanya Miszko Kefer shares her story of building a safe space for people to feel strong and empowered.

Heather Barmore talks about why its so important to discuss mental health at work and how her breakdown led to greater clarity.

Educator Rebekah G. Taussig explains the importance of discussing and representing disability.

Contributors

We were so lucky to work with an incredible team of writers, artists, business owners, and activists to bring this first issue to life. Please follow their work online and off for more inspiration and motivation.

1 shauna ahern Shauna Ahern has been writing since she could hold a pen. She currently writes recipes for her much-loved website, Gluten-Free Girl, and for her upcoming book of essays, Enough. She lives on Vashon Island, in Washington State. Shes either eating, laughing, or sleeping as you read this. glutenfreegirl.com @glutenfreegirl

2 heather l. barmore Heather Barmore is a political communications professional who currently serves as the Director of Digital and Organizing Strategy for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. Her career in politics and activism started with an affinity for C-SPAN, particularly US Senate procedure. She believes in political engagement, storytelling, and dresses with pockets. @heatherbarmore

3 rebekah carey Rebekah Carey is an editor, stylist, and creative director. She currently lives in Berkeley, California, but her heart is never far from her native Oregon. She is passionate about social justice, small space design, adoption, budget-friendly creativity and design, and rescue dogs. aandbcreative.com @aandbcreative

4 grace d. chin Born in Hollywood, California, Grace D. Chin now proudly claims Lawrence, Kansas, as home. She holds a visual arts BFA (with an emphasis in printmaking) from the University of Kansas. Her favorite pastime is to gain increasingly impractical skills making things with paper. gracedchin.com @gracedchin

5 cheryl day Cheryl Day is a James Beardnominated baker and author specializing in Southern American baking. She is passionate about passing on the traditions of hospitality, community, and celebration, and preserving these recipes for future generations. She and husband Griffith established Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia, in 2002 backinthedaybakery.com @starbrownie