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As a college student at Indiana University, Brooke Van Paris was thriving as a business major, gymnast, and outgoing co-ed. After a car crash left her with two broken hands, she went through years of physical therapy and surgeries. She relied on her dad to help her through domestic tasks, asked friends to help her eat Lunchables before class, wrote papers using voice-to-text software, and graduated as a management major. When she finally got her casts off her hands, she’d experienced depression and claustrophobia – and she didn’t recognize herself as the independent, athletic person she’d been before the accident. She worked for Anheuser-Busch after college as a sales rep, and when a coworker asked her to do an obstacle course race, she agreed, with some hesitance. Brooke became obsessed, completing dozens of races in a year, including the world championships of obstacle course racing. That led to an opportunity to do a reality television show with a fitness angle, then to a new career as a personal trainer.

Features, Health + Wellness, Sports + FitnessSuzanne WilderMarch 15, 2020Features

The Cincinnati Zoo’s Terri Roth: The Great Pursuit of Wildlife Conservation

Dr. Terri Roth at the Linder Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW ) facility at the Cincinnati Zoo where she leads wildlife conservation efforts. She is a leader, problem-solver, researcher, and scientist who engages local and global communities in conversation to reach a common ground on saving endangered species. Her work and passion for animals link the importance of protecting wildlife to meeting the needs of people for a better world and quality of life.

Science + Tech, FeaturesKelly CarriganMarch 8, 2020Features

Good (Man)ners: The Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire’s Brooklyn Steele-Tate

We got the chance to chat with Michael Cottrell a.k.a. Brooklyn Tate-Steele, drag queen and community activist. Michael has seemingly endless energy. He performs as Brooklyn at Below Zero Lounge a couple times a week, is the president of the Cincinnati Pride Parade and the Gay Chamber of Commerce, and is an active member of Imperial Sovereign Queen City Court of the Buckeye Empire (I.S.Q.C.C.B.E.), which has raised over $1.3 million for charities across Cincinnati. Oh yeah, and he has a regular 9-to-5 gig working for a mobile medical company – and he thinks you can do it all, too.

Good (Man)ners, Arts + Culture, Outreach + Advocacy, FeaturesMichaela RawsthornMarch 2, 2020Features

Amanda Stoddard: Poetry, Recovery, and Solidarity

“Community means solidarity; it means reaching out to other people, confiding in other people, helping other people.”

Poet and Recovery Center of Hamilton County project manager Amanda Stoddard works every day to make the world and her community a better place. She does this with compassion and vulnerability. Women of Cincy is excited to introduce you to this phenomenal woman of Cincy.

Outreach + Advocacy, Arts + Culture, Features, Health + WellnessTara KeeslingFebruary 24, 2020Features

A Cup of Tea with Kathleen Kern

All the tea in the world comes from the exact same plant, Kathleen Kern informed me when we sat down to chat at the Rookwood location of her business, Churchill’s Fine Teas. I find this hard to believe as I survey the options available: The whole wall of the shop is devoted to a menu of more than 250 loose-leaf tea blends – green, black, oolong, and more. We covered Kathleen's tea journey up to this point, but it was clear that she has an exciting journey still ahead.

Features, Entrepreneurship, Food + Beverage, Arts + CultureLaura LeavittFebruary 17, 2020Features

The League of Women Voters’ Marie Kocoshis: Votes Matter

The whole concept is that the women were home with their children, so they had time to get involved in organizations like this. That’s not as true anymore; however, it’s important because women didn’t have the right to vote for so long. And we were lucky to get suffrage, but other groups had to wait so much longer. We certainly believe we were on the right track when we got women the right to vote, and that’s our legacy.

Features, PoliticsMaggie Heath-BourneFebruary 10, 2020Features

The Cincinnati Symphony’s Ixi Chen: Creating Harmony from the Classroom to concert:nova

I would say that I’m a supporter. First of all, I play second clarinet in the Cincinnati Symphony. That’s been my position since 2001. I never wanted to be the star and have all the solos and glory. I was much more interested in creating harmony, playing chamber music, helping other voices shine, and being the sideman, like in a band.

Arts + Culture, Education, Features, MusicSandra Okot-KotberJanuary 31, 2020Features

Living Lightly on Earth: Earth Connection’s Sister Caroljean Willie

Sister Caroljean (C.j.) Willie is the program director at Earth Connection, an environmental center affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and adjacent to Mount St. Joseph University in Western Hills. Sister C.j. brings to Earth Connection her years of multicultural work experience from working with teachers in developing countries such as East Cebal, Uganda, Guatemala, and Mexico, her Peace Corps service on the island of Saint Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean, and her work for eight years at the United Nations as the N.G.O. representative of the Sisters of Charity Federation which includes 14 congregations working in 26 countries. As an educator, Sister C.j. quoted a teacher who said, “Everything you teach has to have hooks on it that attach to something else in someone’s experience,” which has influenced her environmental sustainability efforts to encourage communities to work together.

Science + Tech, Features, Education, Outreach + AdvocacyKelly CarriganJanuary 27, 2020Features

Three. Whole. Years.

Women of Cincy began on a whim on January 20, 2017, as a way to document stories from the Cincinnati Women’s March. We were a few 20-somethings with cameras, recorders, and an Instagram account. We had no idea what we were creating, how much it would evolve, or how much it would change our lives.

Since that day, we’ve reached over 93,000 people, graduated 18 students from our residency program, expanded our volunteer team beyond 70 people, and so much more.

Features, Entrepreneurship, Outreach + Advocacy, Arts + CultureChelsie WalterJanuary 17, 2020Features

The Kids Are the Heroes: Sarah Curry Rathel and the Smile Books Project

We met Sarah Curry Rathel at the Ronald McDonald House, where she works with critically ill children and their families. She tells us these children are her heroes, and through her nonprofit, the Smile Books Project, she captures their stories as heroes in their own books. She is a mother, storyteller, and legacy-maker.

Arts + Culture, Health + Wellness, Outreach + Advocacy, FeaturesKelly CarriganJanuary 13, 2020Features

Kate McCracken: Fat, Witchy, and Always Learning

Kate McCracken is a relatively recent Cincinnati resident – she moved here less than two years ago from Los Angeles. But in her short time in the city, she’s joined a local dance crew, found her favorite places, and started a body liberation community. Nestled at Lydia’s on Ludlow, we talked to her about moving to the Midwest, why she describes herself as “fat and witchy,” and more.

Features, Health + Wellness, Outreach + AdvocacySuzanne WilderJanuary 6, 2020Features

‘Regular, ordinary, everyday people’: Mary Aguilera of the Poor People’s Campaign

We met with Mary Aguilera at one of the places where she feels most at home: North Avondale Montessori School, where she works with children ages 3 to 6. From the moment you meet Mary, you notice peaceful energy about her; under that exterior, there is a deep-running commitment to social justice that meshes perfectly with her work in education.

A few years ago, Mary joined the organization Repairers of the Breach, a group headed by Rev. William Barber. The organization argues that the moral issues of today are how our society treats the poor, women, L.G.B.T.Q folks, children, workers, immigrants, communities of color, and the sick. Mary’s journey with the associated Poor People’s Campaign has brought more than political involvement to her life, and it was a joy to learn more about her work, building grassroots movements, and making leadership your own.

Outreach + Advocacy, FeaturesLaura LeavittNovember 11, 2019Features

Chinmayee Nagaraj: Genetics, Music, and ‘Why Not?’

Chinmayee Nagaraj is learning as she goes. She traveled across India performing as a vocalist, unsure if it would lead anywhere. She studied genetics in college, not knowing if it was a realistic career. But she knows herself.

When she speaks, she is deliberate with her words and distinct in her meaning. And her courage has paid off. She now works as a genetics counselor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, testing different medical conditions and interacting with patients. When she’s not in the lab, she still trains as a musician, and she spreads her love for music as a teacher for young pupils. Formed by music, science, and the strength of family, Chinmayee’s perspective is one of radical bravery – to willingly throw yourself into the unknown, because, well, how else will you learn?

Science + Tech, Arts + Culture, Features, Music, Health + WellnessBlaire BartishNovember 4, 2019Features

Learning to Swim: Renee Seward on Design, Literacy, and More

We met Renee Seward on campus at the University of Cincinnati – her alma mater – in the DAAP building, where she teaches, creates, and collaborates to impact the community. Her See Word Design business makes digital tools to help people achieve reading literacy. She identifies with, serves, and encourages people who are struggling to learn something new, and is always striving to challenge what is possible today.

Jamie Jones: Laundry Love Cincinnati

Laundry is a sensory pleasure for me: the smell of detergent and dryer sheets, the warmth of clothes fresh from the dryer, the satisfaction of a stack of clean clothes ready to be worn again. I know that not everyone feels this way, nor that everyone has the privilege of easy access to laundry facilities, but still, I was delighted to sit in a laundromat for this conversation with Jamie Jones, a nursing student who started a neighborhood nonprofit focused on laundry. We met at City Limits Laundry in Walnut Hills to learn more about Laundry Love Cincinnati.

Features, Outreach + Advocacy, Health + WellnessSuzanne WilderOctober 21, 2019Features

Shannon Anderson-Hammond: You Are Not Alone

We met Shannon Anderson-Hammond at Starbucks in Hyde Park – one of her favorite places in the world. For Shannon, coffee is life. With her early wake-up time, intense daily workouts, exceptional work ethic, and passion for creating communities for women on and off social media, it’s no wonder that she needs a little pick-me-up throughout the day.

She’s been through her fair share of hard times, from battles with depression to surviving abusive relationships. She’s an open book who loves sharing her journey with the world to help others. She prizes transparency, encouraging everyone to speak their truth and know that no matter what we’re going through, we’re not alone. In the spirit of that message, she established YANA (You Are Not Alone), an online community where women can connect, share stories, and support one another without judgment.

This is Entrepreneurship: Sew Valley’s Rosie Kovacs

The name “Rosie” just insists on optimism, and Rosie Kovacs was aptly named, for sure. She embodies entrepreneurial determination and a pure force of will to create opportunities and get things done. The C.E.O. of Sew Valley co-founded the nonprofit company in 2017, alongside C.O.O. Shailah Maynard, with the goal of bringing resources to apparel designers and entrepreneurs. The journey, of course, was anything but predictable. She shared with us the ups and downs of stepping away from her and life partner, Hayes’, venture, Brush Factory; the good, the bad, and the ugly that is the fashion industry; and more.

This Is Entrepreneurship: Postwell’s Jess Kerr

Some entrepreneurs have everything planned out, and when the time comes, they’re ready. As we sit in a tiny Oakley duplex surrounded by stacks of pads, perineal sprays, sitz, and more, Jess Kerr tells us she was not one of those entrepreneurs.

The postwell journey started with a moment of frustration on behalf of a friend struggling through postpartum recovery. What came next can only be explained through the perfect storm of a viral internet story, a stack of plain white boxes, and a woman determined to solve a problem.

This Is Entrepreneurship: Cloverleaf’s Kirsten Moorefield

Kirsten Moorefield never intended to start a tech company. Yet here she is, the co-founder and C.O.O. of Cloverleaf, an H.R. tech platform that allows individuals and employees to be their best selves both at work and at home. She sat down with us at Rhinegeist Brewery – back where it all began in 2015 – to chat about her journey as a tech entrepreneur; the many, many challenges along the way; finding her support network; and what it means to be a female leader in this space.

This Is Entrepreneurship: Originalitees’ Khisha Asubuhi

My favorite people are those who tell it like it is, and Khisha Asubuhi is no exception. At 5’11’’, she’s fierce inside and out, but she’s as real as it gets, and you find yourself instantly at home chatting with her. We sat down with the owner of Originalitees just a few weeks after the company celebrated 10 years in business to chat about Khisha’s journey of entrepreneurship, dreams for the future, and being more than “just a T-shirt shop.”