the women supported by the Women supporting women project:
Meagan Gilner
Being the “maiden” featured female entrepreneur (pun intended–if you’re familiar at all with my greeting card line, you know that puns are kind of my jam) for #womensupportingwomen is a tremendous honor.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a conference in California called Paper Camp. This was an intimate, 30 person gathering exclusively focused on individuals in the greeting card and paper good industry to learn how to push our businesses to the next level, whether that be creating or expanding a wholesale line or exhibiting at trade shows. The knowledge I gained here is invaluable, and I am both ready and excited to take what I have learned and use that palpable momentum to keep propelling forward.
More specifically, I would use the money donated through #womensupportingwomen to polish and expand my wholesale greeting card line. I have an ever-growing list of ideas for new cards and paper goods. I want to print my first paper catalog and mail it out to as many retailers as possible to spread the word about The Brocade Blackbird. I also would like to invest in a more professional printer to produce my greeting cards in-house.
As cliché as it may sound, I am beyond blessed to live my dream every single day. I am able to work from home with my three-year-old daughter, Penelop. I want to show her that putting in the effort, working hard, and succeeding is possible. Even though she is still young, I think she “gets” what I do. We have a funny system at our house, but it works for us! When it is time for Mommy to work, I turn on a light that we picked out together from IKEA that is the shape of a red balloon. It is happy and a tangible visual that it is time for me to work and time for her to play. Continuing to grow my business would allow me to remain home with her and keep living my dream of being a kick-ass work at home mom!
It is thrilling to live in a time where women support and encourage each other the way we do! There is a quote I love that says, “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” Thank you all for this opportunity and for supporting me and The Brocade Blackbird.
@thebrocadeblackbird
Emily Schwank
Emily has been known to characterize herself at unguarded moments as "stubborn, arrogant, smart, insecure, confident, curious, noisy, and a middle child." She has brown eyes, small wrists, and believes she walks too fast, which she uses as an ineffective excuse for her clumsiness. . This un-solitary life is formed by tragedy and beauty, love and anger, in equal doses. In this, Emily finds purpose: whether it is found in busy foreign streets, wild holy places, or her own back yard, she stumbles across images and finds them irresistible. She strives everyday to see, really see; it seems so many images of grace and tragedy slip by without acknowledgment because the world is unwilling to open its eyes -- not only to the obvious, but to the possible. While in a new place, all is strange and astounding and beautiful to her. When she returns home things become clearer: the torn curtain, the dingy wall, the beautiful, overgrown garden, the people in the city walking down the street who turn toward or away from each other in hope and agony. Despite situations and visions of a nation, a world, that seem increasingly dark, Emily retains an absurd and steadfast sense of optimism.
Visit my website & blog! http://raincliffsphotography.com/
Like me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/emilyschwankphotographer/
Follow me on Instagram @emilyschwankphotographer
Tatjana Rebelle
Tatjana Rebelle is a mother of three, activist, organizer, writer, performer and promoter. She has lived in Indianapolis most of her life. Which is where she learned to use her writing to deal with growing up in the midwest as a bisexual, biracial daughter of an immigrant. She is the founder and host of VOCAB. An all-inclusive monthly spoken word and live music event that is in the midst of its 11th year. She has been fighting for social justice for communities of color and LGTBQIA+ rights for several years on her own. As well as, works for American Friends Service Committee, where she gets the chance to follow in her idol, Bayard Rustin’s, footsteps in taking a nonviolent stance against global and local oppression. Her goal is to bring art and activism to the people that need to hear it the most, with every action she takes. Being a beneficiary is helping her to launch her youth program, and it helped with the printing costs of her first solo publication, This Is America.
Kit Malone
Kit Malone (she/hers) is an advocate and educator at the ACLU of Indiana, where she oversees the LGBTQ Rights Project. This includes the Trans Justice program, a public outreach effort to identify transgender advocates and help them engage their communities on the importance of passing comprehensive civil rights protections for all Hoosiers. A former organizer at Freedom Indiana, Kit helped advance the cause of statewide equality for LGBTQ people in her home state and helped successfully organize local battles to pass non-discrimination protections in over twelve Hoosier towns.
She has served as Indy Pride’s Director of Diversity, was instrumental in the development of Pride's yearly Trans Pride Night, and co-organized the first transgender marching contingent in the Indy Pride parade’s history. Kit also currently serves as a member of Indy’s Race and Cultural Relations Leadership Network and is a board member of Trinity Haven, Indiana’s first transitional housing service for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness.
Sylvia Thomas
Sylvia Thomas is a poet, writer, advocate and community organizer based in Indianapolis. In her full time work, she works at Step Up Inc. as a case manager for underserved communities living with HIV. Sylvia is also an organizer for the annual TRANSGLAM through Indy Pride. Through her poetry and writing, she critically challenges oppressive rhetoric towards LGBTQI+ communities. She is currently working on a full-length book of poetry focused on her experience and the roles transgender woman take on in their community.
Alexandra Geske
Alexandra Geske is a woodworker that crafts artistic heirlooms for the kitchen and home. She balances single motherhood with working full time in her Indianapolis based studio. Her recent selection in the Indiana Arts Commission’s Creative Entrepreneur Course has acted as a catalyst for her career. She is currently working towards her next shows and having a booth at the Indy Winter Farmers’ Market. Her work can be seen at the Studio of Alexandra Geske, Facebook and Instagram
elle roberts
elle roberts is a writer, artist, and facilitator based in Indianapolis, exploring the connections and collisions between the political, personal, and poetic. She shares her essays, music, and political education workshops in community spaces throughout and beyond Central Indiana. You can engage with her work at elleiswrite.co, and when she's not working, you can usually find her twirling on a dance floor.