The editorial team has a special attachment to our new series, The Trailblazers: Rewriting the Narrative, because so many of us feel that media portrayals of women have been too one dimensional. Today, women are doing incredible things in all fields – from science and technology to finance, law, business, athletics and more. With the Trailblazers series, we hope to highlight and celebrate female role models, encourage more equal and just representation in the media, and help foster a more tight-knit community locally helping women find mentors, business partners, friends and more.
Jane Gottlieb
I have been expressing my joy of art with paint, shapes and colors since I was very young. I started as a painter, evolved into a photographer, and eventually began hand-painting on my Cibachrome prints over 35 years ago. Before Photoshop I found a way to express a new magical reality with the vivid, saturated and unrealistic colors I painted into each individual photographic print. For the past 30 years, I have been scanning my one-of-a-kind hand-painted prints and my library of 35mm Kodachrome color transparencies taken over the last 45 years. I love to paint, combine and enhance them with Photoshop, creating my own idyllic world! Read more>>
Brittany Drozd
Iteration and grit. When your start new business, you have to make sure what you’re selling is what people want to buy. Finding that product-market fit. So, you have to be willing to look at the product or services you’ve design and ask “Is this what people want?”. You will likely get feedback that some of what you’re offering is great, and some parts could be better. Once you receive this information, you need to be willing to shift, incorporate the feedback, and put it out there to the market again. In the past 10 years, my services and offerings have shifted at least 5 times. It reflects my growth and evolution, as well as what people are looking for. Read more>>
Hanna Mehrabani
My mission at Seeb Organics was to create formulas that bridge + honor ancient alchemy of the East and the modern science of the West through sophisticated technology such as Ozonation + Sound frequency harmonization. My mission at Seeb Organics skincare was to formulate with our wild harvested ingredients from the farms we co-manage internationally with the main focus on optimal healthy soil as well as my own beekeeping practices extracting raw and unfiltered honey and include it in every formula. All of our biodynamic and regenerative farms have beekeeping practices. This is to ensure biodiversity of soil and crops. Read more>>
Kara Capaldo
The past few years I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world. I’ve been to Kenya several times, Svalbard, Norway, and Alaska to photograph bears. As I’ve built my portfolio, everyone has been so supportive. A couple years ago I started participating in the Santa Cruz Open Studios Art Tour where over 300 local artists open their home studios to the public. I’ve also been invited to show my art in local galleries and shops. The success I’ve had recently has encouraged me to start teaching photography classes and I am now leading photo tours to Kenya and soon to Alaska. The process of starting my own business has taken decades. Part of that was gaining the confidence I needed to move out on my own. Part was gaining the skills needed. It’s a continual education and improvement process. There’s always something to learn. I hope to be doing this for many years to come. Read more>>
Kyla Hinkle
I think it can be extremely beneficial to outsource your social media game plan. While, I have learned to do it myself, I can see the disconnect between working IN your business and within your craft versus working ON your business ( i.e socials). Social media is more than just posting each day. It’s understanding your audience, it’s connecting with a community, and it’s making your offers known in educational, entertaining, and empowering ways. I want to be the one to relieve you from the stressors of trying to understand and manage your social media so that you can be focused on what your business has to offer. Read more>>
Heather Arena
I have a background in music and performing arts and as such, I am used to seeing the big picture production and making sure all the pieces to come together. When I was selling skincare and cosmetics, I started to see the vision for an event planning business with my sisters; I could do sales and bookings, the second sister, Brittney, has a background in communication, admin and business and she could do contracts and timelines, and the third sister, Courtney, was training as a supermarket florist. It felt like a perfect fit! Read more>>
Sarah Ingram
Since my last interview in 2018, so much has happened! Four years later, we have grown extensively. Business gained a lot of traction from 2018 to 2020, and then the pandemic hit. This was by far one of, if not the, most challenging points in my personal and professional life. Since the pandemic, we have had an opportunity to expand! Next week, we will be taking over the suite directly next door to us and adding on almost double the square footage. We will be expanding retail, creating a whole new lounge experience, building a new practice space that will be unheated (our current space is heated), and adding more staff areas. We are also building in a massage/healing space so folks can get treatments before or after class. This new expansion is expected to open up toward the end of the year or early next year. We are really looking forward to inviting more of the Ventura community into our little home we call Grassroots Yoga. Read more>>
Heather Bond
At 33 I was on top of the world living a real action hero’s life. My passion to push my physical and mental states led me into the world of extreme sports, careers, and lifestyles. I trained alongside America’s most elite special force teams; Marine Recons, Navy Seals, and Hot Fire Fighters. Being dropped off by a helicopter into a remote region to face a fires fury was exhilarating. I relished in the satisfaction I received while being thrown through a window or being shot in a fight scene as a Hollywood stuntwoman. I had it all until a twist of fate robbed me off my physical prowess and identity. I searched for answers and with my mother by my side we set out on a spiritual journey that landed us both in a West Bengal Indian prison accused of terrorism…Thirteen years later I am a mother, business owner of Bond Fitness and Adventures, author of a book, Athena Rising – A Memoir, and the founder of a non-profit, Trekking Ambassadors. Read more>>
Tal Avitzur
While I was in college studying math, I was fortunate enough to work for and get to know a number of artists, some of whom are no longer with us. I have many of them to thank for getting me on my path. I remember being with George Rickey in his workshop, while he was getting the balance and movement just right on one of his kinetic sculptures. He said to me, “Whether or not it is art, it is interesting to me.” That stuck with me since he said it about 30 years ago. I decided early on not to take commissions and just make what I want, what I find interesting. Thanks, George. I also worked for Beatrice Wood. She once told me that her craft did not come easy to her, she just worked hard. Prior to that, I always assumed artists had a natural gift, something I didn’t think I had. It was thanks to Beato that I realized maybe I could make a go at it, with some hard work. Read more>>
