On the importance of honoring her Chicana heritage, Amalia said, "My motto is La cultura cura, or 'culture heals.'" The way she returns, over and over, to the rich familial and artistic traditions of her culture inspired me to look into my own family history to see how that affects the work I do now and how I view the world. Owning the rights, trademark and copyright to your business, content and branding is crucial.Īmalia Mesa-Bains, an incredible artist and curator with over 50 years of experience in her field, passed on a piece of insight that has stayed in the forefront of my mind since we spoke last summer. Tavi Gevinson of Rookie, who was 19 when I interviewed her, shared the incredibly wise words, "Own EVERYTHING." It's a lesson I have repeatedly learned the hard way and need to be reminded of more often: Owning the rights, trademark, and copyright to your business, content, and branding is crucial. Some of my favorite advice from In the Company of Women came from women at very different stages of their lives and careers. No one should ever be discounted because they, or their businesses, are too young or too established. But what I learned from writing this book is that inspiration, great ideas, and motivation come from every stage in life and business. We marvel at teenagers with multi-million dollar YouTube empires and too-often overlook people who have been running successful and sustainable businesses for 40+ years. So much of the online world is dedicated to celebrating what is new and young. And it was in those emails that I heard the repeated request to highlight women who had greater work and life experience. While I took everyone's recommendations to heart, it was the personal, private emails I got that had the biggest impact on me. When I set out to write my new book, In the Company of Women, I heard from just about everyone in my work and personal life with suggestions.
Here, the Design*Sponge founder cautions against discounting any woman because she's too young, too established, or too anything, really.
GRACE BONNEY IN COMPANY OF WOMEN HOW TO
Your Best Year Ever continues into 2016! This month, Grace Bonney, who just published In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs, serves up advice on how to be an even more badass business woman.