September 2015

Austin Woman MAGAZINE | september 2015

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” —Coco Chanel

2015 EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS

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SOURCE: Car and Driver 2015 Editors’ Choice Awards - April 2015. caranddriver.com MPG estimated highway on base trim level models. Results vary.

2015 Mazda3 5-Door

Austin Thyroid & Endocrinology ENDOCRINOLOGY

is the science of hormones, substances released by glands that regulate every cell in your body, for both men and women.

Examples of endocrine diseases: thyroid disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome and obesity, hirsutism, menopause, pituitary and adrenal pathology, low testosterone in males, andropause and impotence, polycystic ovaries, recurrent kidney stones, irregular or lack of menstrual periods, high and low calcium, diabetes.

We provide a comprehensive assessment of your hormone balance, in-house hormone testing, thryoid ultrasound, and bone density testing.

THYROID DISEASE affects thirty million Americans, half of which do not know they have the disease. Examples: hypo and hyperthyroidism, Graves and Hashimoto disease, goiter, thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer. Each person has a different genetic set point for TSH. Thyroid problems require lifelong attention.

We are the premiere thryoid clinic in Austin, and offer the latest treatment for thyroid disease, aggressive management of thyroid cancer with radioactive iodine and second opinion consults for thyroid surgery.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR TSH?

HAVE YOU SEEN AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST?

OPTIMAL HEALTH BIOLOGICAL AGE

deals with your health before disease prevention or treatment.

OSTEOPOROSIS

is a disease in which bones become fragile and more likely to break.

Osteoporosis affects one in two women and one in four men over 50 and is generally missed.

Bone fracture is the “heart attack” of the bone. New treatments reduce the risk of fracture and build new bone. A bone density test is the only way to test for osteoporosis. We have the latest bone density testing equipment in Texas, and provide instant bone metabolism, medical consultation, and treatment options.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BONE DENSITY?

Optimal health is the ideal, yet achievable, health of your body as you reach middle age and beyond. Your biological age is a measure of how well your body functions, compared to your actual calendar age.

Our specialized equipment allows us to measure and evaluate your biological age, a composite of your brain age, bone age, heart age, and vessel age. We help you achieve your optimal health, a major factor in the quality of your life as you age.

TEST YOUR BIOLOGICAL AGE TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL HEALTH.

DR. SIMONE SCUMPIA, FACE, FRCP BOARD CERTIFIED IN ENDOCRINOLOGY AND METABOLISM Fellow American College of Endocrinology Fellow Royal College of Physicians Assciate Clinical Professor of Medicine

2200 Park Bend Drive • Building 3, Suite 300 Austin, TX 78758 • behind North Austin Medical Ctr. Mon-Fri, 7 am to 4 pm • www.austinthyroid.com

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Baylor Scott & White Health Primary Care Clinics. Everywhere you need us.

With numerous locations, you’ll find them at every turn. You’ll also find something other clinics don’t have. The Baylor Scott & White name.

Which means they’re part of a large network of physicians, specialists and advanced technology.

In case you need care that goes farther.

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Physicians are employees of Scott & White Clinics, an affiliate of Baylor Scott & White Health. ©2015 Baylor Scott & White Health SWTEMPLE_13_2015 CE 04.15

Christopher Brennig, MD

Austin Vein Institute State-of-the-art Varicose Vein Treatment

C h r i s t op h er W. Brennig, M.D. CERTIFIED: The American Board of General Surgery SUB-SPECIALTY CERTIFIED: The American Board of Vascular Surgery

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Dr. Brennig is Board Certified in Vascular Surgery and in General Surgery. He is recognized for his expertise in the minimally invasive treatment of varicose veins, spider veins, recurrent varicose veins, and complex venous disorders including DVT. Please call the Austin Vein Institute to schedule a comprehensive consultation.

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I AM A TEXAS MBA “While getting my Texas MBA, I not only learned from my professors, but also from my classmates.

My Texas MBA didn’t just expand my network, it catapulted me into markets

Andra Liemandt I had not imagined.”

The Mrs.

BLANCA LESMES Co-founder and President, BB Imaging Diagnostic Ultrasound Mother of two Travel enthusiast Tequila aficionado Texas MBA 2011

Texas MBA Evening & Executive Programs

EXPAND YOUR NETWORK

Photo by Korey Howell.

TexasMBA.info

62

68

feature

feature

Andra Liemandt AND The Mrs.

catching up and looking back

Our favorite Things

By shelley seale

Photo by Annie Ray.

73

On the cover

Tina & Jo black-and-white dress, $175; Heather Hawkins pendant necklace, $215, Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com; Saint Laurent Tribute metallic leather platform sandals, model’s own.

Contents

RetailMeNot photo by Thomas McConnell.

SEPTEMBER

56 on the scene 25 KRISTY’S TOP 10 28 Philanthropy

September’s To-Do List A Night at the Museum

HOME 56 O ffice Space Creative Spaces for the Creative Mind

savvy women

GOURMET

MUST LIST

POINT OF VIEW

81 me nu Elegant Entertaining 31 Entrepreneur Korey Howell 34 Anniversary preview Ingrid Vanderveldt wellness 36 Austin innovator Sally Jacques 86 nutrition Ten Foods You Should Never Eat 38 finance Sara Glakas 88 HEALTH Combating the Stress Hormone 42 M ust Read Off the Shelf 92 memo

from JB Before It Festers 44 M ust Travel Travel Like a Cover Woman 94 HOROSCOPES Happy Birthday, Virgo!

96 L ast Word Why Austin Woman Matters style 51 f ashion

Like a Boss

on the cover Photo by Annie Ray | Styled by George Ocean | Hair by Jasmine Stelly | Makeup by Donna Bruns Silver statement necklace, $280, Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com; jacket, pants and shoes, model’s own.

12 | Austin Woman | september 2015

Volume 14, issue 1

Co-Founder and Publisher Melinda Maine Garvey vice president and Co-Publisher Christopher Garvey associate publisher Cynthia Guajardo Shafer Co-Founder Samantha Stevens

EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief Deborah Hamilton-Lynne associate editor Molly McManus copy editor Chantal Rice contributing writers

Deborah Alys Carter, Jill Case, Kim Eagle, JB Hager, Jasmina Kuenzli, Kelly E. Lindner, Lydia McAllister, Daryl Mogilewsky, Macy Moore, Victoria Mycue, Kristy Owen, Shelley Seale, Olivia Sylvain, Brooke Watson, Kristi Willis

ART CREATIVE Director Niki Jones ART DIRECTOR Lucy Froemmling CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Rudy Arocha, Tom Athey, Matt Beard, Donna Bruns, Cyler Daigle, Jack Edinger, Burk Frey, Mario Gonzalez, Ashley Hargrove, Korey Howell, Thomas McConnell, Daryl Mogilewsky, George Ocean, Lynn Peters, Annie Ray, Maggie Rester, Ted Sabol-Williams, Jasmine Stelly, Edgar Valdes

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Katie Paschall

ADMINISTRATION Operations and Marketing manager Maggie Rester

Interns

Megan Bedford, Jasmina Kuenzli, Lydia McAllister, Daryl Mogilewsky, Macy Moore, Victoria Mycue, Olivia Sylvain, Brooke Watson

Austin Woman is a free monthly publication of AW Media Inc., and is available at more than 1,150 locations throughout Austin and in Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville. All rights reserved.

For submission requirements, visit awmediainc.com/contribute.

No part of the magazine may be reprinted or duplicated without permission.

Visit us online at austinwomanmagazine.com.

Email us at info@awmediainc.com.

512.328.2421 • 3921 Steck Ave., Suite A111, Austin, TX 78759

From the PUBLISHER We start our 14th year with a new logo, a strong branding campaign in place and renewed energy to bring women together in a rapidly growing city that can quickly become depersonalized. Austin’s appeal is about being personal, and we have doubled down our efforts to celebrate and inspire Austin’s amazing female population. We are wives, mothers, business owners, best friends and sisters. We try to stay true to ourselves while dealing with constant change, technology upgrades and an exploding population. As we look back at the last year and the amazing women we have featured in our pages, I am quickly reminded that we are living out our mission to encourage, educate and inspire women, even among all the change and chaos.

We at Austin Woman have dealt with all these things and more, but what we came back to was that now more than ever, women are looking for connections. And not just superficial business networking, but real connections that inspire, support and take our businesses and personal lives to a new level. This is the year of the woman; you can’t open a newspaper, turn on the TV or read a magazine and not find something about how women are coming into their own and changing the world.

For example, take Stephanie Sonnabend and Malli Gero, who founded 2020 Women on Boards with the goal to have 20 percent representation of women in board seats by 2020, or our two female presidential candidates, and female tech leaders like Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg. And, of course, there are many of our own Austin women who are leading the charge for women worldwide, like Ingrid Vanderveldt, who, with the launch of her company, EBW2020,

aims to empower a billion women by 2020 who are leading the charge for women worldwide. It is exciting to be part of this movement.

As we close this issue and begin our 14th year, we also must say goodbye to a couple of very important people in our Austin Woman family. First, Associate Editor Molly McManus will be moving on after four years to new adventures in the digital-media world. Molly started out as an intern for AW in 2011, and has become an important part of not only our small but mighty editorial team, but also our AW family. She will be sorely missed. Make sure to read her Last Word column on Page 96. But never fear; it will not be the last word she writes for us.

We are also mourning the unexpected passing of our wonderful printing customer-service representative, Loretta Teague Vinson. We worked with her for nearly 10 years, and credit her passion for her job, her love for her clients (like AW) and quick responsiveness to any issue or challenge in helping us realize the success we have today. We send our love and blessings to her family and the team at Midway Press.

In a few weeks, we will celebrate with 550 of you at our annual anniversary event. I look forward to connecting with each of you. If you can’t make it to the luncheon, reach out to us, tell us what and who you want to read about, comment on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Austin Woman magazine is for and about you!

Melinda Garvey Co-founder and Publisher

Melinda Garvey photo by Korey Howell.

LOOKING BACK AT 2015

16 | Austin Woman | september 2015

From the Editor If you are fortunate to attend the anniversary celebration, then— ding, ding, ding—you will also hit the jackpot when you attend Ingrid Vanderveldt’s workshop in a box. Vanderveldt was our March 2014 cover woman and is an amazing source for all things inspirational for entrepreneurs. Do you have the next great idea?

Lucky you! Walk away from Vanderveldt’s workshop with a path to securing business cash flow in 30 days.

I think one reason I am not a gambler is that I don’t have to be.

I am fortunate to have so many sure bets each month: JB Hager’s Memo From JB column always makes me laugh, AW February 2006 cover woman, Deborah Alys Carter, leads me in the right direction with her horoscopes, health writer Jill Case keeps me healthy and in the know on the latest innovations in the health field, Publisher Melinda Garvey and our staff are extraordinarily supportive and collaborative, while visionary Creative Director Niki Jones always brings together the most dedicated and amazing crews for our photo shoots. Sure, I roll the dice each month, but they must be loaded because they always come up winners.

On a personal note, let me say luck was a lady when Associate Editor Molly McManus walked in the door of the old offices of AW. She had recently arrived from Seattle with a smile that made me laugh and ambition to become a writer and learn the business.

She achieved both goals in spades. Molly began as an unpaid intern, became a freelance contributor and I hired her as associate editor—twice! She has been by my side for most of my tenure as editor, and I will miss her greatly. There are so many things I never could have done without her. It is with great pride that I wish her the best in her new position as city editor for CultureMap. They have hit the jackpot, and I hope they appreciate her talent and dedication as much as I have. Please read her offering this month in the Last Word column.

As we at AW close out our 13th year, here’s wishing you all the luck 13 can bring. Here’s hoping you hit the jackpot, and when you do, please let us know. We would love to write all about it!

deborah hamilton-lynne Editor-in-Chief

Molly and Deb

18 | Austin Woman | september 2015

Deborah Hamilton-Lynne photo by Korey Howell.

Lucky 13! You heard me right, lucky 13! I always like to go against the grain and, for some reason, I have always thought 13 was a lucky number (even though I am respectfully cautious of all things on Friday the 13th). Forget the superstitions and naysayers. Have no triskaidekaphobia.

(Look it up.) I am not alone in this. Mary Kay Ash, the ultimate female entrepreneur, so believed in the number 13 that she founded her mega company Sept. 13, 1963, and she built her headquarters with 13 floors served by 13 passenger elevators. There were 13 original states, are 13 stripes on the flag and 13 stars in the great seal of this land I love. It’s a prime number and the karmic symbol of upheaval so new ground can be broken. The 13th amendment to the Constitution forbids slavery, and in Italy, they say, “fare tredici,” which translates “to do 13,” meaning to hit the jackpot!

These are all good things.

So on this, the 13th anniversary of Austin Woman, in my best Sophia Loren accent, I say, “fare tredici!” and assure you that we have indeed hit the jackpot. We live in one of the most exciting cities in the world, and we get to bring you the stories of accomplished women, the innovators and creators who are making incredible things happen, and the fearless risk takers out to make a difference and not only make Austin a better place, but to make changes for the better of the world as a whole. How much more exciting can it be? Forget Vegas. For me, I hit the jackpot every day when I read a press release, hear from old friends and our cover women about new adventures and the success of their ventures, and share the dreams of budding and hopeful entrepreneurs. I feel such joy when I get to bring their stories to you.

Many articles in this issue feature women near and dear to my heart, but none makes me more proud than that of Sally Jacques, founder of Blue Lapis Light aerial-dance company. Her incredible 10-year journey is inspirational and symbolizes the determination to succeed, no matter what, and the desire to share a creative vision with the city from which it sprang. As for innovation, look to another woman dear to my heart, Korey Howell, who trusted her gut when she had an idea she thought would work for her and went for it without hesitation. She is now booked solid in her latest incarnation, a mobile photography studio. Our cover woman, Andra Liemandt, has a story that will not only inspire, but also make you smile as you are reminded that you are enough and that it is never too late to pursue your dreams.

We definitely hit the jackpot when we selected three of our most talented, creative and versatile cover women for this year’s anniversary panel. The panelists, along with our beloved moderator, Judy Maggio, share the 13 things they cannot live without. And I assure you, AW cover women, all of them are also on my list of things I cannot live without. We mined our list and asked our former cover women to share their favorite books, destinations and accomplishments to bring you up to date on their lives and interests. AW April 2006 cover woman, Quincy Adams Erickson, shares her secrets and her favorite recipes for throwing a great cocktail party. Finally, we asked long-term AW staffers to share their most memorable stories, the ones that touched their hearts, minds and souls.

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austinwomanmagazine.com | 19

contributors

Austin Symphony Orchestra

This month, we asked our contributors: What is the one attribute that makes a woman most attractive and powerful?

ANNIE RAY

Cover Story photographer, “ANDRA LIEMANDT and the Mrs.,” Page 62 Since 2005, Annie Ray has focused on bringing out the “real stuff” in everything she shoots. Her relationship with every subject will make 1,000 words say so much more.

“Being comfortable in your own skin makes anyone attractive, and power comes from believing in yourself.”

SHELLEY SEALE

COVER STORY Writer, “ANDRA LIEMANDT and the Mrs.,” Page 62 Shelley Seale is an Austin-based freelance journalist and author who has written for National Geographic, USA Today, The Guardian and Texas Monthly, among other publications.

She loves yoga, indie movies, wine and books, though not necessarily in that order. Shelley has performed a catch on the flying trapeze, boarded down a live volcano and was once robbed by a monkey in Nepal. But she doesn’t know how to whistle.

“I think the one attribute that makes a woman most attractive and powerful is confidence. Belief in yourself and following your own path and dreams without letting others bring you down is both attractive and inspirational.”

Perfect date nights start here.

RUDY AROCHA

photographer, “like a boss,” Page 51

U p c o m i n g e v e n t: SeaSon opener September 18 & 19, 8:00 p.m.

Long Center’s Dell Hall André Watts, piano Music of Puts, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff

André WAtts Se A Son SPonSoR

Tickets/Info (512) 476-6064 or austinsymphony.org

M e DiA S PonSo R S All artists, programs, and dates subject to change.

Photographer Rudy Arocha is a native Texan who moved to Austin to pursue his education in fine arts as a sculptor. He later rediscovered his passion for photography when his grandfather gave him a camera as a gift. Rudy graduated from the Art Institute of Austin and specializes in portrait photography. When not photographing, Rudy enjoys music, the outdoors and spending time with his wife, Maggie.

“I think confidence and intelligence make a woman attractive and powerful. But you can’t forget a sense of humor!”

JB Hager

Writer, “before it festers,” Page 92 JB Hager is a regular contributor to Austin Woman magazine. JB has been waking up Austin for the last 20 years on the radio. After 19 years, he made a move to a locally owned independent station, Classic 105.3, and can be heard 5 to 9 a.m., Monday through Friday. JB is also a local entrepreneur, spending time with his music series, onairstreaming.com, and the Ferris mobile-video app. His free time is most often spent cruising up and down Lake Austin with his wife and daughter, pro wakesurfer Raleigh.

“Especially in Austin, I think a woman is most powerful and attractive when she is comfortable in her own skin, casual and confident. I think it’s great when a woman can just throw on jeans, pull her hair back and roll downtown.

It has a great swagger to it.”

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Connect with us! find us online at austinwomanmagazine.com.

FEATURED EVENT

EDITOR’S PICK A Jazzy Ladies’ Night

Edge of Grace

Sept. 16–20, 24–27, 10331 Old Manchaca Road bluelapislight.org

Grab a cocktail at The Townsend and head across the street for a hot night of cool jazz. Women in Jazz presents A Jazzy Ladies’ Night, featuring the sultry sounds of Jeanette Harris, Althea Rene and Pamela Hart for an unforgettable evening of contemporary jazz.

To win a pair of tickets, post a request for your favorite jazz tune at facebook.com/austinwoman

by Sept. 6, and your wish may be granted.

For the past 10 years, award-winning choreographer Sally Jacques and Blue Lapis Light have thrilled Austinites with spectacular aerialdance performances. Each original performance has been one for the memory book, and Edge of Grace is guaranteed to not disappoint. The Sept. 20 event will include a gala dinner and grand opening of the new studio, as well as a performance. Join AW in celebration of this unique Austin treasure.

Can’t get enough of this issue?

Check out austinwomanmagazine.com

➥ More recipes. Get quick and easy breakfast recipes perfect for the kiddos or to grab and go on your way to work.

Win This!

broadwayinaustin.com

➥ The perfect slumber party. No matter your age, slumber parties are

an essential part of the female connection. We help you plan your next sleepover, with film selections, snacks and pampering activities for you and the girls.

➥ More office spaces. Monique Penner gives the play by play on her design for the new Austin Woman offices.

➥ Austin’s best dog parks. In this photo essay, we take a look at one dog’s journey through Austin’s top parks for play.

Based on the Disney animated film and hit Broadway musical, The Little Mermaid is making its Austin debut at the University of Texas Bass Concert Hall. The engagement runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 4.

Celebrate good times! Did you attend the AW 2015 anniversary event? Post your photos and comments on facebook.com/austinwoman or tag @austinwoman on Instagram and Twitter

by Sept. 24 to win a family pack of four tickets for opening night, Sept. 29.

➥ More fashion. We help transition your summer wardrobe into fall while

also providing tips on how to incorporate fall fashion, even in the Texas heat. Plus, we look at the best Austin fashion bloggers and how to utilize Pinterest to complete your look with unique wardrobe pieces.

➥ Work it, girl. We explore what makes women feel like a million bucks and how to achieve the feeling and radiate confidence from the inside out.

➥ More events. Austin Museum Day is Sept. 20, and we have the full details on museum activities, exhibits and more. Also, get the inside scoop on the Austin Music Video Festival, running Sept. 16 through 19.

➥ Beauty advice. We look at some of the best and worst ingredients for your skin and how to make the most of your skincare regimen.

Follow us

@austinwoman

22 | Austin Woman | september 2015

like us

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Edge of Grace photo courtesy of Blue Lapis Light. A Jazzy Ladies’ Night photo courtesy of Women in Jazz. The Little Mermaid photo courtesy of Broadway in Austin.

Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m.

Stateside at the Paramount, 719 Congress Ave. womeninjazz.org

OUT WITH THE OLD. IN WITH THE REBATE. Good news! You can get a $225 rebate from Texas Gas Service when you purchase a new natural gas dryer and an extra $300 rebate if you need to install a new natural gas connection in your laundry room.

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ON THE SCENE

kristy’s top 10

September’s to-do list from 365 Things To Do In Austin, Texas.

Blue Lapis Light Grand Opening Performance: Edge of Grace

Sept. 16–20, 24–27, Blue Lapis Light’s new studio, 10331 Old Manchaca Road bluelapislight.org Blue Lapis Light is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and the opening of its new studio with a special large-scale aerial performance.

Blue Lapis Light is a unique aerialdance company that transforms urban environments into works of art.

Edge of Grace will feature multiple dancers on a scaffold that’s 48 feet wide and 25 feet high with a custom wall and rope structure.

Photo courtesy of Blue Lapis Light.

By kristy owen

1

austinwomanmagazine.com | 25

2

n the scene

KRISTY’S top 10

Wipeout Run

Sept. 26, Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Lane wipeoutrun.com

You may have heard of the hit TV show Wipeout. The producers of that show wanted to give Austinites the chance to participate in the larger-than-life obstacle course, so they created the Wipeout Run. The 5K will host the most epic and ridiculous obstacle courses, all inspired by the TV show. Having actually participated in the Wipeout Run, I can assure you it will satisfy the inner thrill seeker in you, not to mention that it’ll leave you soaking wet from all the exhilarating obstacles.

Eat East Series

4

3

Austin Free Day of Yoga

Sept. 7 freedayofyoga.com

This is a great opportunity for anyone wanting to try yoga. All ages and skill levels are invited to come out for the day. You can use this to try a new style of yoga, a new studio or a new instructor. Classes take place throughout Austin, from studios to parks. To plan your day and decide what is best for you, check out the course schedule. The Free Day of Yoga has been an annual event in Austin since 1999, and has now spread to other cities.

Austin Museum Day

Tuesdays through Sept. 8 facebook.com/events/1674821236064309

Sept. 20 austinmuseums.org/museumday

Looking for a Tuesday happy hour? Look no further.

Eat East summer series is offering a whole load of options.

Eat East launched from an effort to encourage people to get out and try new places. Select restaurants offer a drink and an appetizer in the $8 to $10 range.

Austin is filled with museums. When you live here, they may be something you take for granted about our city. Austin Museum Day is the day to go explore all the museums you have been meaning to go to. There are far too many museums to visit in one day, so check out the whole list to plan your day. My advice is to check out the museums that usually charge an admission fee. Here are a few of my favorite participating museums: Thinkery, Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Harry Ransom Center, Texas State Capitol, Texas Military Forces Museum, Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Laguna Gloria and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Here’s a list of participating restaurants. Follow them on social media to stay up to date with specials and offerings.

The Hightower: The High Tail (Bulleit rye, honey syrup, house-made allspice dram, lemon) with Brussels sprouts, $8 Tamale House East: Two margaritas and a small queso, $10 Gardner Austin: Fried sweet potatoes with urfa mayo paired with their take on a Kalimotxo, a Basque combination of red wine and soda, $10 Gelateria Gemelli: Small gelato (two flavors) and an amaro, $10 Spartan Pizza: Signature jalapeño dip and premium beer (draft or bottle/can), $8 The Silo on Seventh: Frozen margarita with fried deviled eggs, $9 Buenos Aires Café: Empanada with red or white sangria, $9

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Weather Up: Smoked whitefish pate with a Champagne cocktail, $10 Jacoby’s: Melvin Mule with an onion ring appetizer, $10 The Silo on Seventh’s fried deviled eggs

5

Pluckers 20th Anniversary Party at ACL Live With Passion Pit and Bleachers

Sept. 5, ACL Live, 310 W. Willie Nelson Blvd. pluckers.com Local company Pluckers is celebrating 20 years of slinging wings. So it’s throwing a Texas-sized party to celebrate. Pluckers is hosting a free concert with indie favorites Passion Pit and Bleachers at ACL Live. Pluckers will start the party in true Austin fashion by turning the venue into a University of Texas Longhorns viewing party as the football team kicks off its season against Notre Dame. The concert is open to Pluckers Club members. (To become a member, visit pluckers.com.)

Pluckers will also give away tickets via social media, so be sure to follow.

26 | Austin Woman | september 2015

2. Photo courtesy of Wipeout Run. 4. Photo courtesy of The Silo on Seventh. 5. Photo courtesy of Austin Museum Partnership.

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Cirque Du Soleil: Kooza

Sept. 2–27, Circuit of the Americas, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/kooza

7. Photo by Matt Beard. 9. Photo courtesy of Mongers Market + Kitchen. 10. Photo courtesy of the Texas Craft Brewers Festival and Second Shooter.

I adamantly believe a Cirque Du Soleil performance is something that everyone should see in his or her lifetime. The acrobatics, lights, music and performers provide a show that will likely leave you with goose bumps and completely mesmerized.

7

Women In Jazz Presents:

A Jazzy Ladies’ Night Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m., Stateside at the Paramount, 719 Congress Ave. womeninjazz.org/ht/next.html Jazz aficionados are doubly blessed in September, as Women in Jazz presents two stellar concerts, including Tribute to the Legends of Jazz, featuring Tatiana Mayfield, Mike Malone, Courtney Santana, Fredrick Sanders, Pamela Hart and more, which will showcase some of jazz’s legendary tunes. Sept. 11 will be a sizzling hot concert, A Jazzy Ladies’ Night, featuring Jeanette Harris, Althea Rene and Pamela Hart with their bands. Both concerts will be sure to have you groovin’ all night long!

Kristy Owen is the event mastermind and blogger behind 365 Things To Do In Austin, Texas. To stay up to date on the best Austin has to offer, visit her blog, 365thingsaustin.com.

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Mongers Market + Kitchen 2401 E. Cesar Chavez St. mongersaustin.com

8

Tribute to the Legends of Jazz Sept. 4, 7 p.m., One World Theatre, 7701 Bee Cave Road

9

Mongers Market + Kitchen opened this spring and has become a goto location for seafood. The restaurant provides a cozy interior with an Eastern-shore vibe both inside and out. Upon entering Mongers, you’ll find fresh fish and shrimp from the Gulf on ice and available for wholesale, as well as an oyster bar with full service that provides guests a glimpse into the kitchen while they dine. There are exquisite dishes from dry land as well (Try the 44 Farms chuck steak.), and beer and wine offerings that will enhance any menu selection. Wednesdays, Mongers celebrates an Afternoon Oyster Social. Half-priced oysters are accompanied by $5 select wines and $1 off all drafts from 2 to 6 p.m.

10

Texas Craft Brewers Festival

Sept. 19, 2 p.m., Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St. texascraftbrewersfestival.org A festival dedicated entirely to the Texas craft-beer community. Need I say more?

austinwomanmagazine.com | 27

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n the scene

philanthropy

A Night at the Museum

Maria Hernandez hosts an evening to remember at nonprofit Growing Roots’ annual fundraising event.

By Victoria Mycue

“The focus is on offering classes and support groups and case management,” Hernandez says.

This unique objective has helped the organization gain traction quickly. After establishing in East Austin in 2010, Growing Roots now serves families in 49 zip codes. With the annual fundraiser event on the horizon, Hernandez speculates the event will be a success.

“Come, have a good time. It’s really going to be fun,” Hernandez says, noting the event is open and welcoming. “We’re going to have live music, Peached Tortilla is catering and there’s an open bar. The idea is having fun together.

[Experience] an event where you’re going to get to be playful.”

A Night at the Museum is Sept. 25 at Thinkery. Hernandez says holding the event at a children’s museum allows adults to “remember how to be a kid again.” Hernandez also wants to maintain a lighthearted atmosphere at the event, something all too rare at other nonprofit galas.

“Sometimes, when you look at nonprofit events, they feel a little serious and very formal, and we wanted this to be more about community and remembering why we do this work,” Hernandez says. “The Thinkery is an awesome place. It’s all interactive exhibits. … This way, it can be adults playing.”

Keeping with the kid theme, the event will

28 | Austin Woman | september 2015

have an adult mac-’n’-cheese bar, complete with toppings like bacon jam and truffle oil, and a build-your-own-taco bar.

“Because a lot of events are expensive or because there’s a little bit of exclusivity to them, we really want this to be communityfocused. That’s why we make it 35 bucks,” Hernandez says. “Most people can come, and if that’s the most you can give when you come, then fantastic. If you are able to get there and say, ‘Hey, my business will do this at this capacity,’ it allows for both.”

Because of this, Hernandez expects a diverse group of people, estimating 250 attendees at this year’s event.

“Many attendees have experience with children with special needs,” Hernandez says.

“Because we work a lot with the health-care community and the school community, we have physicians and health-care providers, and then we also have educators and school administrators, as well as parents of special-needs children and philanthropic businessmen. … A parent who has recently gone through our programming who can tell the story of why this was helpful for them and their family will speak at the event.”

The goal of the Night at the Museum annual event has always been twofold, Hernandez says.

Half of it is maintaining stable funding to keep Growing Roots running and expanding. The other half is “shifting the language around disability to talking about ability.” Through Growing Roots, Hernandez has strived to educate communities about special needs and disability.

Instead of saying, “There’s a limitation; there’s something you’re not able to do,” Hernandez says we should be asking, “How do we empower strengths?

“The platform of the event helps us do both: allow attendees to consider becoming partners for our work while at the same time rethinking disability and how to re-language it,” Hernandez says. “It’s going to be a great way to connect to our work while coming together to have a good time.”

Sponsored Events Fab Ladies Luncheon Sept. 3, 11 a.m., Avery Ranch Golf Club, 10500 Avery Club Drive meetup.com/fabulousworkingladiesaustin Women in Jazz Tribute to the Legends of Jazz Sept. 4, 7 p.m., One World Theatre, 7701 Bee Cave Road A Jazzy Ladies’ Night Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m., Stateside at the Paramount, 719 Congress Ave. womeninjazz.org/ht/next.html Blue Lapis Light: Edge of Grace Sept. 16–20, 24–27, Blue Lapis Light, 10331 Old Manchaca Road bluelapislight.org Texas Women in Business Sept. 18, 11 a.m., Shoal Crossing Event Center, 8611 N. Mopac Expressway texaswomeninbusiness.org/luncheons Austin Woman Anniversary Luncheon Sept. 18, 9 a.m., The Westin Austin at The Domain, 11301 Domain Drive austinwomanmagazine.com/anniversary Growing Roots: A Night at the Museum Sept. 25, 8 p.m., Thinkery, 1830 Simond Ave. growingrootsaustin.com/2015-night-atthe-museum Texas Mamma Jamma Ride Sept. 26, 7:30 a.m., 409 Main St., Martindale, Texas mammajammaride.org NOCC: Eighth Annual Run/Walk to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer Sept. 27, Camp Mabry, 2200 W. 35th St. nocc.kintera.org/faf/home/default. asp?ievent=1134126 NAWBO: National Women’s Business Conference Sept. 27–29, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, 200 E. Market St., San Antonio, Texas nawbo.org/section_231.cfm

Photo by Cass Studios.

July 2014 AW cover woman Maria Hernandez is the president and founder of Growing Roots, a nonprofit that works with families of children with special needs. Different from other special-needs organizations in Austin, Growing Roots uses a through-theparents approach.

Enduring Legacy

The latest from philanthropic AW cover women.

Sarah Evans December 2013 AW cover woman Sarah Evans is the founder of Well Aware, a nonprofit that provides clean water to East Africa. Since the release of her cover story, Evans and her Well Aware team have put in 11 more high-yielding water systems. The number of people served by these systems has increased from 35,000 to 96,000. Evans and two of her team members traveled to Haiti last month to advise NGOs on existing water-system issues. As an expert in her field, Evans will continue to work toward internationally sustainable water infrastructure.

The Gift of a Bright Future FOR NICU FAMILIES

Friday, November 6, 2015 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Hyatt Downtown Austin Featuring NYT Bestselling Author Glennon Doyle Melton Lunch, Baby Shower Games, and Champagne Individual Tickets $150, Sponsorships Still Available Presenting Sponsors:

handtohold.org

Courtney Santana May 2012 AW cover woman Courtney Santana is a musician and the founder of Survive2Thrive, an organization that helps survivors of domestic violence. Survive2Thrive is partnering with August 2006 AW cover woman Kendra Scott to create a public-awareness campaign called We Are Worthy in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This October, Kendra Scott Jewelry will feature designs with the official DVAM color—purple—as a part of the campaign partnership.

Caroline Boudreaux July 2008 AW cover woman Caroline Boudreaux is the founder of The Miracle Foundation, an organization that works to transform orphanages throughout India, turning under-providing, overcrowded, oftentimes neglectful orphanages into loving, nurturing children’s homes. In May, Boudreaux gave a TED talk in Austin about her unexpected first visit to an Indian orphanage and her journey while creating The Miracle Foundation. Boudreaux and The Miracle Foundation were also featured in Country Woman Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor earlier this year.

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SAVVY WOMEN

entrepreneur: Korey Howell

Headshots Y’all is changing the focus and the locus of the ATX personal photography scene.

Photos courtesy of Korey Howell.

by Macy Moore Growth: We crave it, strive for it and struggle to achieve it. Photographer Korey Howell is on a constant mission to grow, and she just launched her latest innovative venture.

She’s not your average photographer. Unlike many photographers, Howell wasn’t always passionate about her camera lens. Her true interest was in hair and makeup, and though she would sometimes document her work with photos, it took some time for her interest in photography to take center stage.

“Photography is not my hobby,” Howell says. “My husband and I don’t take selfies when we’re out. I don’t take a camera when I go on vacation. The only thing I take pictures of is my dog, Kona.”

After three years of studying speech communication at the University of Texas, Howell graduated and sought a job doing hair and makeup. She was hired as a makeup artist for Headshots, a portrait company, fixing up clients before having their photos taken. It didn’t take her long to notice that the photographer couldn’t quite bring out the best features of the customers. So, being the bold and determined woman she is, Howell asked for the opportunity to shoot her own photos.

“The place where I think I am creative is in highlighting the right features,” Howell says. “I can look at any face and see the best facial features immediately and know how to highlight those.”

When she began to shoot, the Headshots owners saw an increase in business and offered Howell a trainer position for glamour studios throughout the country. This is when mobile photography first inched its way into her career, as she traveled to shoot photos for Mary Kay and later for Sam’s Club. By 1999, Howell became partners with Headshots.

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entrepreneur

After feeling a little burned out, Howell and her partner at Headshots sold the studio and equipment, and she pursued a career in marketing and graphic design.

“Basically, I took people’s pictures and put them on business cards,” Howell says. “The marketing company I put together was called Athena Marketing, which was geared toward female business owners. Then I started creating websites and worked for smallbusiness owners.”

In 2005, Howell’s career took a pause when her husband was diagnosed with cancer, her brother was injured in a car accident and her mother and father passed away. She sold her marketing company in order to have the resources and time to care for her family.

“My mother was working up until the end,” Howell says. “The lesson I learned from her was when she told me she did it wrong. She told me, ‘I worked, and then I died.’ ” When she realized she didn’t want to live that way, Howell decided it was time to open her own photography company.

In a space of just 100 square feet, Howell began her business shooting professional photos geared toward the corporate market. When claustrophobia set in, she moved to a 1,000-square-foot space and began hiring staff. The studio sustained a consistent rate of success, but her ambitious attitude persisted and she knew it was time to grow again. With her studio located in Northwest Austin, the idea of a second studio came to Howell, and she decided opening a location in South Austin would be her next step.

The increasingly high rents for business space concerned Howell, and as she searched for a spot, the idea of a mobile photography studio crossed her mind.

“If I had a truck, that space could be anywhere,” Howell says. “If it didn’t work out on South Congress, then I could try someplace else. So we started exploring that idea instead of a second location.”

She discovered Cruising Kitchens, a food-truck-design company located in San Antonio. The business caught her eye after she watched a Cruising Kitchens video and paralleled it to the characters from Duck Dynasty, so she knew she wanted to work with Cruising Kitchens.

“I called [Owner and President] Cameron [Davies] and loved his energy from the beginning,” Howell says. “He understood me, and I felt like I could tell him what I wanted and it would be delivered. He exceeded my expectations. It’s better than I ever thought it would be.”

The exterior of Howell’s truck matches the magenta hue of her Michael Kors purse, as she requested. Inside, the wood floors, pink leather seats and patterned curtains give off a fun and relaxed vibe. The truck comes complete with a makeup station studded in light bulbs and a refrigerator holding cold drinks, so it’s easy to forget it was once a FedEx truck. Though there are studio lights inside, Howell is a big fan of using

natural lighting to shoot photos, so the back door of the truck can be opened to flood natural light into the studio.

Howell named the new mobile photo-studio company Headshots Y’all, and in just five weeks, the truck was finished and ready for business.

Cruising Kitchens completed it much sooner than Howell anticipated, so everything launched very quickly.

The truck, which goes by the name Honey, works in three ways. First, there’s the “homestead” side to the mobile studio. Each Friday, the truck is parked at 1700 S. Lamar Blvd. to shoot photos by appointment. The “corporate roundup” aspect of the business has Howell traveling to various businesses during the workweek to shoot headshots for companies with 10 or more employees.

Lastly, Howell describes the truck as a “party wagon” on evenings and weekends, when it acts as a photo booth for events and happy hours.

“For those coming to the truck to have individual headshots taken, they would make an appointment online, and when you come in, you have the option of having your hair and makeup done,” Howell says. “We have the studio-light option and the natural-light option when you’re getting your picture made.

To make your final selection on the photos, you’ll go over to the co-working space called Fibercove, and you can sit with a professional to help you pick out your best images and do the retouching.

The photos will then be emailed to you, and you’ll have the digital files before you leave.”

When it comes to her secret, Howell says she is “first a businesswoman, second a marketer and a photographer third.” While there are so many passionate photographers out there, Howell’s attitude toward photography is her key to success.

“I’m not sure that I’m creative in the same way that traditional photographers are,” Howell says. “I’m not all about the light and the composition. I shoot in [the] raw. I’m much more interested in the person having the right experience, and the photos are a souvenir of our time together.”

As for what’s next on her list, Howell plans to begin another business.

“I’m starting a newsletter for women entrepreneurs called Girls Call the Shots, and that will be what we concentrate on next,” Howell says.

“We’ll be bringing together women business owners and helping them with their businesses.”

Her acceleration through life has moved as quickly as bringing her mobile studio from idea to reality, and Howell isn’t planning to put on the brakes any time soon.

“My philosophy is that I move forward when I see an open door,” Howell says. “If doors don’t open, I may knock, but I’m not going to struggle against a locked door. When things just fall into place, I go with it.”

For more information, visit koreyhowellphotography.com. austinwomanmagazine.com | 33

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avvy Women

Anniversary Preview

When You Set Out to Empower a Billion Women, the Sky is the Limit

March 2014 cover woman Ingrid Vanderveldt brings her EBW2020 Workshop to the AW anniversary celebration.

By Daryl Mogilewsky, photo by annie ray Luckily, for Austin Woman magazine and our devoted readers, especially those with an entrepreneurial bent, our March 2014 cover was only the beginning of our relationship with the former Dell entrepreneur-in-residence, Ingrid Vanderveldt. Sept. 18, Vanderveldt will conduct a workshop for attendees at the Austin Woman anniversary event.

Vanderveldt is considered the ultimate role model for those trying to turn their entrepreneurial passions into careers. Her deep sense of faith, desire to work globally, zeal for women empowerment and knack for entrepreneurism led to her goal of empowering a billion women by putting a mobile device into each of their hands by 2020.

Her colleagues and friends often describe Vanderveldt as a “force of nature.” A tech entrepreneur, television personality, investor and philanthropist, Vanderveldt is the founder and chairman of the global movement Empowering a Billion Women by 2020, the $100 million IV Credit Fund and Vanderveldt Global Investments. She is well-known as Dell’s first entrepreneur-inresidence. In that position, she headed global entrepreneurial initiatives for the company, creating the Dell Center for Entrepreneurs

34 | Austin Woman | september 2015

and the Dell Innovators Credit Fund. She is a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council and advisor to Belle Capital and Springboard Enterprises.

Both globally and domestically, she works to empower women each day.

“I do not do anything that does not relate to empowering women. Everything I invest my time in is related to that goal,” Vanderveldt says. “We know that women tend to invest 90 percent of what they earn in their communities, families and businesses.

I look at the domino effect: If I can influence women to be successful, they will turn around and do the same for other women. I always invest time in other women.

“An idea that comes up often in my workshops is I’ve had 20 years now of sitting inside the old boys’ club as an entrepreneur, as a Fortune 500 executive, as an investor, as a board member. While I’ve had access to great mentors, I’ve never had anyone tell me, ‘This is the real deal as to how this happens,’ and that’s probably because most of my mentors have been men who are part of the old boys’ club. Things that I’ve learned are things that I now pay forward and share with other entrepreneurs, so I can say, ‘No one will tell you this but this is exactly how deals are done

Three Takeaways From the EBW2020 Workshop 1. A how-to breakdown of getting 30 days of cash flow into your business 2. S trategic and tactical advice to make cash flow happen 3. A customized go-forward offer made especially for Austin Woman readers to empower entrepreneurial women throughout the next 12 months

and decisions are made to move forward.’ ” AW asked Vanderveldt to preview what attendees can expect from her workshop at the anniversary event.

“The workshop is built around my businessin-a-box concept. What we’re going to focus on is 30 days of cash flow,” Vanderveldt says.

“What I like to do with my workshops is meet women where they’re at. So I try to relate to all the women in the audience, whether they are hiring, maybe they’re building an idea, searching for what it is or already doing it. We all have these ideas inside of us, if you will, that are calling us to move forward.

“My workshops look at how to identify ways to move forward and how to very quickly take an idea and develop a 30-day implementation strategy after the workshop. I’ll go over how to pitch and what to pitch to make your idea happen. Whoever comes to the workshop will pick up top strategies that I’ve learned and will create a plan to get to 30 days of cash flow in their business, regardless of their starting point.

“All of my workshops are different from standard workshops. Of course, you’re still working, but if people are coming to invest their time with me, I want not only for us to have a hands-on learning experience, but I want you to take away from that workshop actual items that you use and can see results with quickly.”

As a leader, Vanderveldt works to inspire, empower and motivate, as well as to enable.

She believes the essential pillars of success are passion, persistence, having a mentor and financial literacy, and has designed her workshops to reflect the most effective ways to use these pillars. Invest time with Vanderveldt Sept. 18, and walk away from her workshop feeling empowered to take your business, idea or passion up a notch.

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avvy Women

austin innovator

Celebrating 10 Years of Blue Lapis Light

The compassion and creative genius of Sally Jacques.

By Deborah Hamilton-Lynne

Austin Woman: Pretend I know nothing about you and Blue Lapis Light. Who are you and what do you do?

Sally Jacques: The simple answer is that I am the founder of Blue Lapis Light, create and choreograph site-specific aerial-dance works.

But what I am is a seeker on a journey to find what is purposeful with passion and would connect me with the vision of understanding and practicing compassion. As an artist, I studied with many notable people to learn how to create art that spoke to political and social issues through performance that would connect people to that compassionate concern. I named my company Blue Lapis Light because I didn’t want the name to be about me. Gandhi said when you touch the blue light in meditation, you are merging with God consciousness, which was my intent when I founded Blue Lapis Light. My work has focused on the problems of the homeless, war, rape and abuse of women, abuse of power, death and loss, which all seem very dark and hopeless. But what I try to show is the incredible beauty of life. My intent is to reflect the light that shines through these struggles and connects us to something grander and more majestic, something universally benevolent and powerful. It has always been 36 | Austin Woman | september 2015

important to me to connect with people rather than alienate people.

AW: Your work always has an overarching vision and a message. You refer to it as “prayers for the planet.”

SJ: My intention is to shine a light into the darkness and help people look at their fear.

There is a point when you face your worst fears or losses that you have to find that place that moves beyond sense of self and expands your soul, allowing you to contribute in ways that are expansive and remarkable.

If you don’t find a purpose or light in a dark experience, then you can literally destroy your spirit, and nothing is worse than that. Grief, anger, suffering, loss—yes, it is a terrible part of the journey, but if you are open to it, there is a moment where you begin to feel the little bit of light and can breathe in possibility. You can express your humanity in ways you never dreamed because you have been made to be more compassionate. My prayer is to create art that allows each individual in the audience to enter into that space. I want people to experience beauty in all of life’s drama.

Each performance always begins with the intent of sending peace into the world.

he knew were necessary to live in peace.

That is the ultimate depth of peace and what, as a human being, you can withstand. Maya Angelou had an incredible story of abuse and yet, she became a poet, actress, writer and a teacher, and never stopped being an activist for the things she believed in. She was a joyous person, but it didn’t mean that she hadn’t experienced terrible tragedy in her life. It is all about handling life with compassion for yourself and for others. Your life shapes who you become. You can be overwhelmed by darkness or you can look to what you can give and how you can inspire others. That is always my intent. The power of peace can always defeat the power of darkness.

AW: Your work is site-specific. How much do you draw from location and how much do you draw from the message of your piece? Where do you find inspiration?

SJ: The thing that makes my heart sing is creating site-specific works, having a relationship with nature and the environment, as well as man-made architecture, and being able to explore the body in space. For the

AW: Peace is very important to you. Your role models—Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Mother Teresa— were all about peace.

Define peace and what it means to you.

SJ: Peace, to me, is harmony and balance and respect for all of the species we share this planet with. You cannot be at peace without compassion for others.

AW: How do your role models exemplify peace and what it means to you?

SJ: Nelson Mandela transcended years in prison in unbelievable circumstances because he understood that if he allowed anger to destroy him, he would never be able to make the changes

Photo by Edgar Valdes.

When people refer to Sally Jacques, it is often for the many accolades she has gained for her work. Among others, she has received the Susan B. Anthony Award for Peace, the Samsung Signature Peace Award, the 2006 Greater Austin YWCA Woman of the Year Award and the 1994 New Forms Regional Initiative Grant, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation.

To say her work is innovative is an understatement. The word “genius” is bandied about and not undeservedly. I dare you to witness a Blue Lapis Light performance and remain untouched. This creative force has been bringing her original site-specific aerialdance performances to Austinites through Blue Lapis Light for 10 years. Dedicated to raising the collective consciousness about the social, political and spiritual issues that touch us all, her work is compelling and compassionate, thought provoking and inspirational, disturbing yet eloquent. Jacques is a woman deeply committed to peace in the largest sense of the word.

We set out to capture her spirit and her story in 10 questions, taking a look at her journey during the past 10 years.

most part, location and message are simultaneous because I find my inspiration from within. The message has been living inside of me for a long time and it must be communicated. From that feeling, I develop the story line from the images that float around in my head. I set the intent for the vision of the piece and translate it using the site and movement.

AW: Most of your pieces are topical. Requiem was about the 2004 tsunami, 64 Beds was about the plight of the homeless, Body Count addressed AIDS awareness and Inside the Heart confronted issues relating to war. As an artist, how do you address these concerns through dance and movement?

SJ: The human body is an incredible instrument. Just by a contraction or the way you open your arm or extend your leg, you can create an emotional connection. I use movement to suggest a non-verbal poem.

Nature is part of my site-specific pieces. Whether it is the full moon or cranes flying, it is bigger than anything we could do in a theater because nature is a part of it as well. These coincidental things are really part of the universal mystery, and being connected to that mystery feeds me.

AW: Your work is highly acclaimed. 64 Beds aided Help Our Brother in securing a $1 million grant for the homeless. What is the most rewarding or satisfying thing that has come from 10 years of Blue Lapis Light performances?

SJ: Part of adversity is finding the courage within yourself to stay connected to your dream or your vision. The question you have to ask yourself is what controls your life: fear or love? Love always starts you on the path to fulfilling your dream or vision. You have to make a contribution to the world. Find purpose in something bigger than just you. There is not one way to pray or meditate. I meditate as I swim each day and I sit quietly in the night. [It’s] whatever connects you to your source individually.

AW: Looking back at the last 10 years, what are your fondest memories?

SJ: The shooting star that appeared over the dancers when we were doing Requiem. The cranes and the doves that flew overhead during performances. The full moon that rose as the dancers were in midair on a building. The voices of Eliza Gilkyson and Tina Marsh as they drew the audience into the piece. It was transformative.

AW: Looking forward, what’s to come for you and Blue Lapis Light?

SJ: We will celebrate the opening of our new studio with a new piece, Edge of Grace, this September. It is about recognizing grace in the midst of war and moving toward light and calmness, despite the madness of darkness, moving toward peace. I would also like to create a work in a sacred place, to show the power of peace and harmony in a troubled part of the world, possibly the Middle East.

For more information about Sally Jacques and Blue Lapis Light, visit bluelapislight.org.

Photo by Tom Athey.

SJ: The most rewarding thing is the journey that allowed me to commit to living my faith, and the grace of all of the people who showed up to embrace my work and encourage me. That has been a revelation to me.

When I give up resisting, those people show up and the path is clear.

Resistance shuts the flow. I learned to let go and take a breath. The space opened up for other things to come in, and it has happened that way. Now I recognize and address fear and practice letting it go.

AW: You have overcome some daunting obstacles and have said you rely on prayer and meditation to get you through. How have they helped and what advice can you give others who are dealing with adversity?

austinwomanmagazine.com |  37

S

avvy Women

finance

Sara Glakas: There’s Just Something About a Black Barn

2014 AW Small Business Grant winner makes financial education a women’s priority.

By Kelly E. Lindner, photo by Daryl Mogilewsky In 2007, Austin Woman launched its Small Business Grant program, which provides grants to women-owned local businesses in the Austin community.

Today, the grant program continues to help women in Austin move forward successfully, and is awarded annually at the Austin Woman anniversary luncheon celebration in September.

The 2014 grant recipient was Sara Glakas, founder of and investment advisor at Black Barn Financial LLC, an independent, feeonly registered investment advisory firm in Austin that provides full-service financial advising to individuals and families. With an eye on keeping her clients informed and engaged, Glakas put the grant money toward investment-reporting software that provides her clients with a weekly snapshot of whether their investments are up or down.

38 | Austin Woman | september 2015

But why did she name her finance company Black Barn? To understand that, you need a little of her history. Glakas grew up on a family farm in Marengo, Ill., about an hour outside Chicago. She went to Marengo Community High School, what she calls “literally the only high school in town,” but didn’t “really have an aptitude” for math. In fact, she didn’t become interested in finance until she attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she pursued a degree in environmental studies. It was Professor Michael Gordinier’s personalfinance class for non-business majors that originally piqued her interest.

“He was so passionate and inspiring,” Glakas says. “You never know where that spark is going to come from.”

Despite her piqued interest in finance, Glakas moved to Austin in 2001 with the goal of going to law school. It was during her work as a legal

assistant that she found her greatest passion at the intersection of women and finance.

“During divorces, women were at a remarkable disadvantage if they didn’t have investment knowledge,” Glakas says. “That’s when I realized that financial education is a women’s issue.”

In 2003, Glakas attended the St. Edward’s University business school in the hopes of becoming a personal-finance advisor. But she soon noticed she was more drawn to the corporate side, so she graduated in 2006 with a master’s degree in corporate finance.

Glakas started her career in finance as an investment analyst for a hedge fund, but soon felt the need to pass on her investment knowledge to others.

“Most people seem to have this black hole when it comes to money and finance,” Glakas says. “Either they’re not interested or it’s too

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finance

math-centric and they’re not good at math. But if you simplify and get down to its essence, people get it.”

In 2011, Glakas started teaching through the University of Texas Informal Classes program, including Investing for Beginners, Investing for Women and Intro to the Stock Market. She also co-created the very popular Austin Woman Investing Group on meetup.com. What began with a meeting with her friend Michelle at a coffee shop to discuss investing has grown to a group of more than 500 members.

“We used to have meetings in living rooms, but now it’s hard to find a space big enough to fit this growing group,” Glakas says.

At these monthly meetings, expert speakers take an investment topic and translate its financial jargon into something accessible.

“When you explain investing in the usual way, you can see people’s eyes glaze over,” Glakas says. “But when you boil it down or give them an analogy, their eyes light up.”

Glakas enjoys seeing this light in people’s eyes. As if leading these free, informative gatherings to clarify the minutia of investing weren’t enough, Glakas started teaching an Introduction to the U.S. Capital Markets class to international students in 2014 through UT’s International Office.

She also founded her finance company in 2014. Now Black Barn Financial consists of Glakas, another employee and one intern.

“I’m not concerned with scale,” Glakas says. “Some companies are very focused on growing, getting bigger and scaling up, but scale is not my focus. I just want to help people make good financial decisions.”

She also doesn’t accept fees from third parties to push any investment products. Her business model is fee-only, which means she works solely for her clients.

“I’m not beholden to anyone,” Glakas says. “I just want to give my clients the best advice I can.”

But why did she suspect clients would find the image of a black barn comforting?

“There’s just something about a black barn,” Glakas says. “I wanted to use the imagery of a farm to evoke the idea of planting then waiting and growing, which is so important in investing, and I’ve never seen a black barn. Our barn on the farm was red, but red is not a good color in investing. You want to be in the black, not in the red.”

For more information about Black Barn Financial LLC, visit blackbarnfinancial.com.

Sara Glakas’ Five Tips for Women Business Owners 1. Invest in yourself. Spend time and money learning everything you can about whatever it is you want to do. Your clients and staff will rely on your knowledge and expertise.

2. Own your financials. The success of a business ultimately depends on its bottom line, so learn everything you can about money and how it works. Even if you outsource financial matters, stay involved in the decision-making. That goes for your personal and family finances too.

3. Find your people. Your most valuable asset is a strong network of people willing to sing your praises. Seek out the advice and friendship of people in your industry that you might even consider your competitors. I’ve learned these relationships can be invaluable.

4. Go big. Figure out the most natural way for you to promote yourself and go for it.

5. Be generous. Your knowledge and talents will make the world a better place. Share them with people. Plus, the best way to learn is by teaching others. You’ll hone your skills, build your expertise and meet lots of great people while putting your gifts to good use.

M

ust list

Must Read

Off the Shelf

Top literary recommendations from former AW cover women.

By Jasmina Kuenzli When we interview cover women for Austin Woman, the conversation often veers toward books: books they are reading with their book groups, books that have made a difference in their lives, books that have informed them and books that have inspired them. In celebration of our 13th anniversary, we asked former cover women to share their favorite books and their reasons for recommending each selection.

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Fiction to Inspire

The Amado Women

Abundance

Olga Campos, former KVUE morning news co-anchor, December 2007 AW cover woman and aspiring novelist, recommends Désirée Zamorano’s The Amado Women.

“This heart-warming novel explores the dynamics and challenges faced by a mother raising three fierce, strong-willed, beautiful but very different daughters,” Campos says.

Sarah Evans, founder and executive director of clean water nonprofit Well Aware and December 2013 cover woman, recommends Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler for a positive outlook on the world’s most harrowing issues.

“Abundance imparts an intelligent, easily digestible overview of the world’s biggest challenges and offers data-driven solutions for positive change,” Evans says.

Life After Life

Ruth Pennebaker, author, blogger, ageless source of wisdom and June 2012 AW cover woman, recommends Life After Life by Kate Atkinson “for its vivid characters and the ways it makes you think about the vicissitudes of a life, anyone’s life.”

The Road Less Traveled Caroline Boudreaux, founder of The Miracle Foundation and July 2008 cover woman, re-reads M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled about every five years.

“I started with the chapter on love when I first started The Miracle Foundation because I wanted a better understanding of what it was going to take to get people invested in the children,” Boudreaux says. “The book deals with how to lead a life full of purpose and grace.”

Monday, Monday Valerie Davis, EnviroMedia founder and April 2013 cover woman, recommends the most recent novel from Elizabeth Crook (who also happens to be a former AW cover woman), Monday, Monday.

“Monday, Monday is based on the real events of the Charles Whitman shooting at UT in the ‘60s,” Davis says. “I’m a Texas Ex and worked at UT for seven years, so, though this book is based on a tragic event, it’s interesting seeing familiar places woven into a good love story that takes place over the span of decades.”

Go Set a Watchman Sarah Bird, award-winning author and May 2005 AW cover woman, recommends a book she’s still itching to get her hands on, Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman.

“What I love about this book I haven’t even seen a word of is how it is forcing our national conversation about race to mature and shuck off the comforting fairy tale that To Kill a Mockingbird was for so many of us,” Bird says.

42 | Austin Woman | september 2015

The Generosity Network Maria Hernandez, founder of Growing Roots and AW July 2014 cover woman, recommends The Generosity Network by Jeffrey C. Walker and Jennifer McCrea.

“This book redefines generosity,” Hernandez says.

“As a nonprofit leader, it was incredibly refreshing and ignited a new way of talking about the opportunity to do great work as a community.”

The New Jim Crow Christy Pipkin is a filmmaker and executive director and co-founder of The Nobelity Project, and graced the AW cover in October 2009. While she enjoyed reading many biographies this year, such as Wangari Maathai’s inspiring Unbowed and Keith Richards’ “surprisingly insightful” Life, it was Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness that placed as her top pick, “a sobering and brutally honest book about mass incarceration, how we got to this point, and how, hopefully, we can address this inequity in the U.S.”

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morning featuring JB hager 5-9am monday - friday

See JB’s monthly column on page 92.

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M

ust List

must travel

Travel Like a Cover Woman

Create your bucket list with these favorite destinations from 21 former AW cover women.

Compiled by Brooke Watson

Nearby or far-flung, these destinations come highly recommended by former Austin Woman cover women.

The Davis Mountains Laura Huffman, April 2012 cover woman “The Davis Mountains offer some of the most breathtaking views in Texas, and there are so many things to do, including backpacking, bird watching, mountain biking and stargazing. (Those clear, dark skies are amazing!) It’s also home to Mount Livermore, which, at 8,378 feet, is the second-highest mountain in Texas, and one of my favorite places to hike. The Nature Conservancy hosts several open weekends each year where the public can enjoy these spectacular vistas as well.”

Italia The Davis Mountains

Italy

Camille Styles, November 2013 cover woman “For me, you can’t beat the food, wine and joie de vivre of Italy. My very favorite travel memories are of the cobblestone streets of Florence, [which I visited] in college, stunning Amalfi coastline (my honeymoon) and the rich history of Rome, [which I visited] later with my husband. The common bond between all those very different places is the best food in the entire world that’s inspired so many of my own recipes. When you’re in Italy, you can’t help but linger over three-hour lunches, order just one more glass of vino and throw any kind of dietary restraint to the wind!”

Belize Terri Givens, June 2011 cover woman “My most recent favorite destination is Belize. There’s so much to do there, including snorkeling, cave tubing and hiking in the tropical forests.”

South Africa

BELIZE

Patti Smith, January 2005 cover woman “If there’s one place on earth I’d suggest as a Must Travel destination, I suggest experiencing South Africa. When you’re there amongst nature and animals in their own habitat, there’s a sense of peace that’s hard to describe, but one that stays with you for years to come. I tell my friends I imagine it’s experiencing our world the way God created it in the beginning, without man-made intervention. It’s a soul-renewing experience, and one I highly recommend.”

Isles of Capri, Naples, Fla. Angela Beck, August 2014 cover woman “The reason that I like to visit this quaint island is because my deceased parents used to own a home there and it brings back so many great memories. My parents always tried to make each place they lived a little better, so they decided to plant palm trees all along the boulevard of this island. There is also a great restaurant called Mickey’s. At Mickey’s, you can sit in the Tiki hut and hang out with the locals. The wall is decorated with license plates of visitors and locals, including one of my mom’s.”

Orcas Island, Wash.

Lucia Athens, September 2010 cover woman “Here is a photo of my husband and me on Orcas Island.

We took this picture in the same spot where we were 13 years ago as a new couple on our first romantic getaway.”

44 | Austin Woman | september 2015

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Bonnie St. John First African-American ever to win Paralympic medals in ski racing, business owner and leadership consultant PluS 4 Breakout sessions on leading business and advocacy topics 4 Exhibit hall packed with the best tools and resources 4 Chapter, member and video contest awards 4 Hundreds of women entrepreneurs from across the U.S. who understand that their voice matters and they are “better together”

Visit nawbo.org for more information and to register The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS, NAWBO, and the Interlocking Dollars Symbol are registered trademarks of NAWBO. © NAWBO® 2015 All Rights Reserved.

46 | Austin Woman | september 2015

must travel Southern California

Blue Hole, Wimberley, Texas Elizabeth McQueen, October 2014 cover woman “My Must Travel is Blue Hole, Wimberley. This is a perfect day trip with kids for Austin families looking to get a break. It’s such an idyllic spring-fed treasure.”

Santa Fe, N.M. Barbara Morgan, October 2013 cover woman “My daughter is about to turn 10, so I thought it was the perfect time to introduce her to an American institution, the road trip. We decided to head to the mountains and along the way, visit one of my favorite cities, Santa Fe, where we ate great food (and some junk food) and took a memorable balloon ride. Santa Fe is pretty amazing from the ground, but the landscape by balloon is even more dramatic.

We had so many incredible moments on our eight-day journey through the West, but the balloon ride was an outstanding mother-daughter experience.”

Southern California Olga Campos, December 2007 cover woman “Our family traveled to LA/Southern California last summer. We spent an amazing time with friends in Venice, sailed from Marina del Rey and explored rooftop restaurants near Santa Monica before driving to Los Olivos. There, we rented a private home, toured extraordinary vineyards and sipped delicious vino during the day and grilled and swam in the evening. Heaven on earth!”

New Mexico

Montana

Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana Sarah Weddington, January 2006 cover woman “My favorite destination was a six-day horseback trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana. We camped at night, had a mule team that carried supplies, cooked meals over an open fire and had wonderful campfire conversations.

The surroundings were beautiful, the company was fantastic and I kept thanking my lucky stars for my Texas horse-riding background.”

New York City Ruth Pennebaker, June 2012 cover woman “My favorite destination is always New York. If you’re a total theater nut, as I am, you can’t stay away long. [The] photo is of me in NYC, where I am uncharacteristically at a Yankees game.”

Las Vegas Tiffany Chen, April 2010 cover woman “I love to travel to Vegas. We go about once a year with friends. It’s a place where everyone can let loose and make memories. No advance planning is needed because everything you want to do is right there. I prefer to go in the summer so we can spend the day at a pool cabana. They have the most fantastic spas there, so I always hit the spa.”

austinwomanmagazine.com | 47

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48 | Austin Woman | september 2015

must travel Spain

Spain Sarah McIntosh, December 2014 cover woman “My favorite travel destination has to be Spain, specifically the Balearic Islands. I spent time on Majorca. It’s beautiful and the food is amazing!”

Home

Home Missy McCullough, February 2014 cover woman “No matter where life takes me during the day, my favorite travel destination is always my home. In this precious space, everything that is dear to my heart can be treasured: my beautiful partner, my precious family, friends, animal companions and all the amazing mysteries of each day. From the red cardinals that greet me in the mornings, to visits from my grandsons, to the peace and beauty of the sunsets each night, there is no place better than this.”

Greece Margo Sawyer, October 2008 cover woman “We all must do our bit to support Greece. I was just there and I had the honor of having dinner in Athens with dear friends sculptor Danae Stratou and her husband, Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece.

Much heated discussion was had. Then I spent five glorious days on the island of Hydra in a wonderful lighthouse overlooking the harbor.”

Greece

Kenya Rochelle Rae, January 2011 cover woman “I have been lucky enough to travel the world and I love it. My favorite has always been the place I am experiencing at the time. Right now, I happen to be in Kenya, Africa. I was fortunate to spend some time with the Austin-based Nobelity Project and it is a life-changing adventure. Our visit was amazing, the children, teachers, everyone. The children I met were bright, excited and curious.”

Christy Pipkin, October 2009 cover woman “I am fortunate that I get to visit our work in Kenya once a year, so I guess that has to be my must-visit. Wonderful country.”

Orvieto, Italy

Icelan d

Italy

Karen Hughes, January 2009 cover woman “Our favorite vacation destination is Orvieto, Italy, a gorgeous hilltop town in Umbria about an hour and a half north of Rome on the train. Great food, great wine, gorgeous Gothic cathedral and beautiful ceramics: What more could you want? The entire town comes out to stroll in the evenings.

Relaxing and romantic.”

Iceland Sharon Watkins, December 2012 cover woman “I have been to Iceland many times with my friend and guide Runa Bergmann. Runa has now started an Iceland tour business. She can make anything you want to do happen.”

Destin, Fla. Courtney Santana, May 2012 cover woman “We love Destin, Florida! The water is beautiful, the sand is white, the beaches are open 24 hours and the sunsets are magnificent. Destin is only a 12-hour drive from our home and they have amazing restaurants, shopping and attractions as well.”

Tanzania Niyanta Spelman, April 2014 cover woman “I am currently traveling through Tanzania, my birthplace, and through Central Africa. Connecting with my roots has left me reinvigorated and excited for what’s to come. I am always amazed by the clarity and joy that comes when traveling.” austinwomanmagazine.com | 49

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austinwomanmagazine.com austinwomanmagazine.com |  51

Timo Weiland Makenzie ribbed collar dress, $425; Givenchy medium black shark shoulder bag, $2,290, available at By George, 524 N. Lamar Blvd., 512.472.5951, bygeorgeaustin.com.

Opposite: Akris Punto Ultramarine black jacket, $1,390; Akris Punto Ultramarine black trousers, $495; Alice & Olivia cream pussy-bow blouse, $275; Prada Rouge Saffiano large tote, $2,430, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com; BP black patent-leather heels, $52, available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500.

52 |  Austin Woman |  september 2015

austinwomanmagazine.com |  53

54 | Austin Woman | september 2015 2015

Clover Canyon neoprene dress, $288, available at Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com.

Opposite: Timo Weiland collar-pleat Meredith dress, $375, available at By George, 524 N. Lamar Blvd., 512.472.5951, bygeorgeaustin.com; Stone lapis and pink cuff with gold, $145 each, available at Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com; Valentino green rockstud heels, $1,145, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com; Oliver Peoples glasses, stylist's own.

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austinwomanmagazine.com |  55

H

ome

Office Space

Creative Spaces for the Creative Mind

Austin is full of interesting companies, but what’s a successful business without an interesting space to accompany it? When it comes to creative offices, these companies don’t mess around.

By Macy Moore

Studies have shown that the space a person works in affects his or her overall job performance. White walls, cubicles and dull atmospheres simply won’t emit the highest level of creativity and efficiency from employees. Austin employers are beginning to realize that in order to gain and retain talent for their businesses, it will take more than high salaries. More and more companies are renovating their offices into creative spaces with fun designs and amenities to keep employees excited to come to work.

We spoke with PollyAnna Little, principal interior designer with architecture and design firm STG Design, who led the design of the following office spaces, and she truly believes in the power of a creative office.

“When we talk to companies about what they want for their office, so much of it is about recruitment,” Little says. “They want their employees to want to work and stay with the business.”

From businesses focused on shopping to those with a passion for technology, each of these local companies offers an office ideal for innovation and productivity.

Photos by Thomas McConnell.

Spredfast Media Originally known as Mass Relevance, Spredfast Media provides large businesses with a social-software platform to manage social-media accounts, campaigns and performance.

Located in a historic building, the office space is both rustic and modern, and is full of life and character. The kitchen area has contemporary barstools and new-age lighting, but also has an exposed ceiling and concrete columns that give off an industrial vibe. The space was designed with clean lines and bright colors, so it’s simple for employees to get their heads in the game while working with a creative mindset. Using oranges, blues, greens and grays, the design is bold and sophisticated.

“We used honest material when we designed the Spredfast Media office space,” Little says. “Using honest material is recognizing that a column is made of concrete and letting it be just that. It’s not clad in any other type of material; it just is what it is. The exposed mechanical system is also honest in that it isn’t being hidden by something decorative.”

56 | Austin Woman | september 2015

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austinwomanmagazine.com | 57

Business banking in Austin comes with a personal touch

Our dedicated business bankers get to know you and your business, then help you to get the financing you need. We have lending options including: • Commercial real estate loans • Vehicle financing • Construction loans • Lines of credit • Equipment financing • And more Financing your business may be one of the most important steps you’ll take. Talk to a Wells Fargo business sales officer today to see how we can help: Olivia Juarez-Reid, North Austin • 512-296-8105 Gwendolyn Dayton, South Austin • 512-422-7677

wellsfargo.com All credit decisions subject to credit approval. © 2015 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. ECG_1206583 58 | Austin Woman | september 2015

Photos by Thomas McConnell.

OFFICE SPACE

RetailMeNot RetailMeNot first renovated its offices in 2011 with STG Design, and the company makes over the space about once every year. The international company serves as a marketplace to promote sales and engagement between retailers and shoppers.

Beginning with only 12,000 square feet, the business now has 100,000 square feet. As employees enter the building, they’re greeted

with a red neon sign reading “Hello” before being given a complimentary drink from the bright-red coffee bar. No need to step outside the office for fresh air; RetailMeNot has a balcony with turf benches and tables for recharging. There’s also the game floor, which features Monopoly flooring, a Scrabble ceiling and two truck beds that stick out of a wall and, when open, give way to ice-cold brews.

In August, STG Design completed another renovation for RetailMeNot in the company’s original 12,000-square-foot space.

“We designed the office around the threedimensional online-shopping experience,” Little says. “It’s based off of a home page or a hyperlink. The different themes you’ll find on the websites are found throughout the office space.” austinwomanmagazine.com | 59

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OFFICE SPACE

Ultra Electronics photo by Burk Frey. Picnic table photo by Maggie Rester.

Ultra Electronics With open ceilings, modern furniture and word-embedded walls, Ultra Electronics is a communications company serving the defence and aerospace, security and cyber, transport and energy markets. Several employees have military backgrounds, and the business directs a lot of attention to the military, so the design team added several subtle military icons, such as conference-room walls exhibiting the logos of different branches, and

integrated images of the globe and a compass throughout the office. The office has a modern vibe, with cool colors and geometric elements, as well as a warm atmosphere with comfortable seating and dark wood features. It feels like a homey office, but also includes industrial ceilings with pipes and interesting lighting features. The design allows for a comfortable office while simultaneously incorporating the electrics aspect of the company.

“We always want to reflect the company, and Ultra Electronics was the first client that really got engaged in the design process,” Little says. “We delved into who they are as a company and researched the different military branches to incorporate into the design. … A good design accommodates their employees. You can have a nice space, but you have to identify the wants and needs of the company for it to work.”

From the Austin Woman Offices Austin Woman enlisted interior designer Monique Penner with Posh Interiors to repurpose an old picnic table to grace our brand-new office space. In the past, Penner reimagined picnic tables to use for conference meetings, dining and arts-and-crafts areas. She implemented the signature AW blue when creating this personalized DIY workspace for a cozy intern nook.

Below, we share Penner’s step-by-step directions to achieve the perfect picnic table for an office or at-home space. Then all you need is to make it your own with uniquely you elements.

2. C hoose a base color and paint the entire table. Be sure it’s a color you like and that will complement the topcoat color you will apply later. For this table, we used a turquoise color for our base coat.

3. A pply the topcoat color. We used a medium gray.

Directions:

4. Distress any areas on the table where you would like to see the base color come through. Start with light distressing and keep sanding until you get the look you desire. Medium to heavy paper works best.

1. A cquire a picnic table from a local hardware store (or Craigslist). Make sure it has a non-treated top (safe for foods) and treated legs to provide protection against wear and tear, mold, bugs, etc.

5. Upholster the bench seats so they are more comfortable. Add 1 to 2 inches of foam and then choose the fabric. This bench has leather to provide more of an office feel, and it’s easy to clean.

austinwomanmagazine.com | 61

62

Andra Liemandt and The Mrs.

Empowering women young and old by proving it is never too late to be what you might have been.

Story by Shelley Seale Photos by Annie Ray Styled by George Ocean | Hair by Jasmine Stelly | Makeup by Donna Bruns

W

hen she was 10 years old, Andra Liemandt would sit in her bedroom for hours listening to her record player, singing and dancing along to the music. Usually spinning on it was Boy George, Madonna or George Michael. For Liemandt, these were magical hours in which her bedroom transformed into a stage where anything was possible. There, in the small town of Victoria, Texas, a young girl’s dreams of becoming a musician and performing onstage were born and began to blossom.

Flash forward 25 years and Liemandt was a married mother of two with a life filled with most of the daily things a family’s life is filled with. But those music dreams that had found their way into her heart never died and were whispering quietly in the back of her mind.

Despite never having picked up an instrument, Liemandt fell in love with the drums and decided to take them up and form a band with her best friend, Jenny Mason. This was not your typical 35-year-old-mom decision.

Skull Cashmere sweater, $160; Talia Don Designs emerald earrings, $240, Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com; jeans, model’s own.

Photo by Lynne Peters.

Andra Liemandt’s Favorite Things to Do in Austin Andra Liemandt and her family live downtown and love the lifestyle. Here are a few of Liemandt’s favorite spots and activities.

Date night: “We love to pop over to the Violet Crown to catch a movie and stop for a drink at The Townsend.”

Fun with the kids: “We head to Wahoo Taco one night a week, and you’ll just as often catch us searching for the perfect book at BookPeople or grabbing a yummy ice cream at Amy’s Ice Cream (with sprinkles, of course).”

Live music: “It’s always fun to catch a live show at Moody Theater or Lamberts. I love that we live in a town that has so much talent!”

Happy hour with girlfriends: “We love to sit on the lawn at Josephine House, catch up and sip on a cocktail.”

Dinner on the town: “My favorite food on the planet is a burger with egg on it, and my favorite burger in Austin is at Trace.

Seriously, try it. I’ve done my research!”

64 | Austin Woman | september 2015

ened a part of myself that yearned to create The two women—Liemandt, a burgeonand be seen and to stand for something.” ing drummer, and Mason, a bass player— But where had those childhood dreams set out to find other women who not only been hidden all those years? Back in her shared their passion for music, but also childhood in Victoria, Liemandt simply wanted to share in their mission of emhadn’t felt those sorts of dreams were pospowering women. sible for a girl from a small town.

“We weren’t hearing music on the radio “I never thought people like me had a that reflected our own lives,” Liemandt says. “Our goal was to create a new genre of shot at being Madonna. Those kinds of dreams just weren’t available,” she says. music that is relevant to and liberating for Instead, she indulged the dance side of women in their 30s and 40s. We are those music, immersing women, and we herself in ballet. understand the “Dance was my struggles that “They all told us we would avenue. That was others face in never get radio airplay because acceptable in a lives that are small town.” busy and comwe were simply too old.”

Now, finally, plex. We are not Liemandt is alalone, and we lowing those music fantasies to resurface, want to celebrate the amazing strength of but with an even bigger dream, that of women all over the world.” making music to encourage and empower The first obstacle to this ambitious goal, young girls and women everywhere, to of course, involved Liemandt’s determinainstill self-confidence and self-acceptance, tion to become a drummer at the age of 35. the belief that they are good enough just as “No one believed me that I wanted to they are. try, and, to be totally honest, I’m not sure “Music is something we all experience I even believed I could do it,” she admits.

“But I absolutely fell in love with it. Playing in some way every day: on the radio, in advertising, at the gym. The music around us the drums gave me a sense of who I am, a piece of me that I hadn’t felt in a really long becomes something of a soundtrack to our lives,” Liemandt says, noting she wanted time and a way to express myself. It awak-

to add something positive to that soundtrack for women. “I want women to see that they aren’t alone and that we are all connected through our experiences and what is important to us.”

She and Mason found other female musicians who shared their vision—Mandy Prater, Jennifer Zavaleta and Larissa Ness—and named their band The Mrs. The three women share something else in common with Liemandt; they all come from small towns: Prater from Kendallville, Ind., Zavaleta from Jesup, Ga., and Ness from Sargent, Texas. Liemandt calls her bandmates “really talented and amazing women,” and says one of the most beautiful things to come out of her all-female band is the friendship she’s developed with each of them.

Once The Mrs. was formed, they began reaching out to musicindustry giants from Los Angeles to New York.

“They all told us we would never get radio airplay because we were simply too old,” Liemandt says. “I am not kidding.”

Hearing from the pros they would never make it was a huge disappointment and threatened to destroy Liemandt’s lifelong musical dreams. But true to her tenacious spirit, she and her fellow band members decided not to give up.

“We couldn’t prove them right,” she says. “Instead, we inspired each other to work hard and see how far our dreams could take us.”

As it turns out, they took The Mrs. further than they or those music-industry insiders ever imagined. Their breakout song, Enough, was written after Liemandt had a really bad day.

“It started off as one of those days you would like to forget, where just about everything that could go wrong did, and I felt like I was letting everybody down, especially my kids,” she says. “After a long day of feeling like I was barely getting by, I was tucking my eldest

#ImEnough and The Mrs. Magic Mirror Campaign “It starts with the belief that each of us is enough,” Andra Liemandt says. “We believe this message is the foundation from which we explore what we write our songs about. We write about topics that we feel are important and meaningful to women like us. For instance, what we see when we look in the mirror, lifelong friendships, the life lessons we’ve learned from our mothers and letting go of the things in our life that don’t matter while focusing on the people that do.”

The Mrs. want women to know they are enough—all the time—and encourage them to accept themselves just as they are. The Mrs. Magic Mirror app allows women to send encouraging notes to each other called “Enoughies” every day.

One hundred percent of the women the band surveyed said they want to be there for their friends, but many women keep these feelings to themselves when they need help.

“We’re trying to send a message that you need to reach out to your friends when you need support,” Liemandt says.

Get the app at themrs.com/app.

austinwomanmagazine.com | 65

throughout the country. They were also profiled in Billboard, People daughter into bed and she looked up at me and said, ‘Mom, you’re the and Parents magazines and interviewed on radio shows, including by best mom in the world!’ ” At that moment, Liemandt crumbled. Her daughter’s words were the Jenny McCarthy, who featured the band and Enough in her Mother’s Day Sweepstakes. kindest ones she had heard all day.

From her humble beginnings of daydreaming about being a music “You see, I had spent the day beating myself up with the millions of performer onstage, to being told by industry execs she couldn’t do it, ways I perceived that I could be a better mom, friend, wife and band Liemandt says success is now so much sweeter. mate,” she says. “It was in that special moment that I realized I was “We were so excited watching the YouTube numbers as the Enough treating myself badly, speaking to myself in a way I would never speak video went viral,” she says. “I cried tears of joy and pride when we beto a friend or one of my daughters.” came the No. 1 artist in the Mediabase Independent AC artist rankings.”

The next day, Liemandt shared this story with her band. It turned And for that little girl from Victoria, Texas, who sang and danced out, like most women, they each had similar stories of days when they to her favorite superstars, perhaps the ultimate validation came when had been incredibly hard on themselves. That feeling was used as the band’s second single, You Told Me, released April 21, 2015, made inspiration to write the song Enough, with lyrics that include: the Billboard Top 30 alongside Kelly Clarkson, Rob Thomas, Meghan “Sometimes I dream that there are two of me Trainor and none other than Liemandt’s childhood idol, Madonna.

One is real, and one, a fantasy “The 10-year-old girl in me is so excited that The Mrs. was on the She’s a perfect ballerina dancing on a cloud Billboard chart at the same time as Madonna,” Liemandt admits. “At I still have to struggle, stumbling on the ground” each rehearsal, I still get goose bumps of gratitude that we get to conThe song was also inspired by Liemandt’s childhood experiences in tinue to create music we love.” ballet and her visions of what a perfect ballerina was.

Now, at the age of 42 and the mother of two daughters of her own, “Those lyrics came from feeling like there needs to be two of you in she is also proud and determined to pass this order to be perfect,” she says. “But that permessage along to her girls. fection doesn’t exist, not even for ballerinas.

“Being a mom is the most important thing At the end of the day, the person I want to “We conducted a survey and found I do,” Liemandt says. “My relationship with be is the one who’s stumbling around on that almost 95 percent of women feel my daughters is very much about teaching the ground. And that’s OK.” When Enough was released in July 2014, inadequate at least some of the time.” them through the way I live my life: through my music, in my marriage, in the way I take it had immediate impact. The words and care of my body, through my friendships, message seemed to resonate with women even the way we pray at night. I try to do my best to give them all the everywhere and the song took the Internet by storm. tools they need to be happy and to show them they can be successful in “We conducted a survey and found that almost 95 percent of women whatever they choose to do.” feel inadequate at least some of the time,” Liemandt says. “That’s really Liemandt hopes the music she and The Mrs. are creating sends not OK, and The Mrs. are on a mission to change that.” a message to her daughters and all the girls out there that they can The band took the message a step further, starting a campaign with the hashtag #imenough that utilized a “magic mirror” they created that become successful at anything they choose—and that they are enough just as they are. asked women how they rated themselves. The mirror then talked back “I do believe my message is positive, and I believe all children should to them in a personal way to reflect their true beauty, encourage them be hearing the message that they are enough every single day,” she says. and remind them of all the ways in which they are indeed enough. The “Once they internalize this message, they can do better in school, be movement is changing the way women see themselves in the mirror, which has traveled throughout the country, giving thousands of women kinder to others and realize they can be successful and ultimately lead fuller lives. They can be so much more if they just believe in themand girls the chance to stand in front of it.

“We’ve seen people from every walk of life stand in front of the mirror, selves. We, as the adults in their lives, have to give them these tools. It takes everyone in the community coming together to spread that mesand it has been amazing to realize how the struggles of women are so similar,” Liemandt says. “We really are all connected and ultimately want sage to the children.”

As a parent, this might mean standing in front of the mirror each to know we’re enough. Once we can actually see ourselves through the morning and telling yourself you’re enough. It might mean playing the eyes of those who love us, we realize we are, in fact, enough.” song and dancing along while you get dressed. It might mean singing a Liemandt says she and the other band members had no idea the lyric like “Don’t tear apart this work of art” to your son or daughter. impact would be so huge. The YouTube video for Enough climbed “Whatever it takes,” Liemandt says, “we need to feel this message to 5 million views and counting, and The Mrs. was featured on ourselves and spread it to our children daily.”

Good Morning America, The Queen Latifah Show and news stations

What’s Next for The Mrs.

way, all inspired by the mission of empowering women and encouraging children The band has a lot of exciting things on the to stand up for themselves.

L U pcoming EP releases include Light It Up and Between the Sheets.

L T he band will participate in an anti-bullying campaign in Dallas.

66 | Austin Woman | september 2015

L The Mrs. will be involved with multiple upcoming charity events.

L They’ll release their first Christmas song later this year.

Check out the music at themrs.com and follow the band on Twitter @themrsband.

Sam & Lavi Phoebe romper, $195; long arrowhead 24-karat gold necklace, $155, available at Cove Boutique, 108 Gibson St., coveclothing.com; sunglasses, stylist’s own.

austinwomanmagazine.com austinwomanmagazine.com | | 67 67

&

13 Catching Up Anniversary

Roundup

Inspiration from the accomplished women featured in the pages of Austin Woman.

Story by Jasmina Kuenzli, Olivia Sylvain and Brooke Watson

Award Winners

Literary Ladies

Margo Sawyer

Elizabeth Crook

Fans of Texas-based artist Margo Sawyer will tell you her architectural installations are nothing short of inspired, and critics agree. Recently, October 2008 Austin Woman cover woman Sawyer was recognized locally as Artist of the Year by the 2015 Austin Critics Table Awards, and also on the statewide level as Dimensional Artist of the Year by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Novelist Elizabeth Crook, October 2014 cover woman, has recently enjoyed the success of her latest book, Monday, Monday. The emotional novel delves deep into a Texas tragedy, the first mass shooting on a university campus in American history. The gripping subject is beautifully explored in Crook’s expert writing, and the novel was lauded by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Fiction Books of 2014, and was awarded the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters.

Jeanne Goka-Dubose Principal of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Jeanne Goka-Dubose has inspired much success in the nine years the school has been in operation. Her commitment to her students and the institution has earned the school the title of No. 19 Most Challenging School in the 2015 Washington Post Challenge Index, and inclusion on the 2015 U.S. News and World Report Best High Schools list, on which it was ranked No. 123 on a national level.

Lorie Marrero Longtime Goodwill advocate and creator of bestselling book The Clutter Diet, August 2012 cover woman Lorie Marrero utilizes the influence she’s earned as a successful author and blogger to further Goodwill’s mission. Thanks to her longtime commitment to the nonprofit, she was named the 2015 Elaine Katz Volunteer Leader of the Year by Goodwill Industries International at its recent Delegate Assembly conference in San Diego.

Patti Smith President and general manager of the ABC affiliate in Austin, KVUE, and former AW cover woman Patti Smith knows a little something about great leadership and business practices. In fact, it’s those same business practices, as well as her exemplary ethical leadership, that have earned her the 13th annual Ethics In Business & Community Award from RecognizeGood, a program designed to highlight the good in communities and encourage others to practice acts of kindness.

Smith is the Individual category winner and beat out finalists Jack Allen and Ron Mullen.

Kendra Scott Kendra Scott, founder of Kendra Scott Jewelry, August 2006 AW cover woman and philanthropist extraordinaire, recently added another accomplishment to her teetering mountain of accolades: She was named to the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

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Shauna Martin Breast-cancer survivor, CEO and November 2014 AW cover woman Shauna Martin has an impressive tenacity and commitment to promoting healthy living. The founder of Daily Greens, a green-juice company based in Austin, has had great success with her business venture, but it’s the debut of her new book, Daily Greens: 4-Day Cleanse, that has really caught the attention of the media. Her passion for healthy living is contagious, proven by the high-level press coverage the book is enjoying. With coverage on Fox News and MSNBC and in publications such as The Huffington Post, SELF, Cooking Light and Glamour, Martin is inspiring others to hit the nutritional refresh button.

Lucia Athens Sustainability queen and September 2010 cover woman Lucia Athens was selected by the Rockefeller Center to receive a fellowship at the Bellagio Center on Lake Como in Italy. She’ll spend her time there during the month of November to work on her next book, Sustainability Is a State of Mind.

Sarah Bird Above the East China Sea, the latest novel from author and former cover woman Sarah Bird, has received rave reviews since it hit shelves in late May 2014. The book delicately and reverently delves into the story of a teenage girl in wartime Okinawa. Bird’s eloquent writing has earned the novel many accolades, including being named one of the Best Books of 2014 by The Seattle Times, landing on the Chicago Tribune’s Editor’s Choice list, listed on Daily Beast’s Hot Reads, grabbing a spot on Marie Claire’s Best Summer Beach Reads and being named as a YALSA Alex Award nominee.

&

13 LOOKING BACK Anniversary

Roundup

In 156 issues of Austin Woman, we have shared the stories and the lives of remarkable women living and working in Austin, Texas, and beyond. Their stories make us laugh and make us cry. They inspire us and challenge us to find the best in ourselves and our community. They encourage and inform, urging us forward. As we begin year 14, we catch up with several of the many women who have graced our cover and continue to inspire us with their accomplishments and recognition, and we look back at the memorable stories selected by our staff. Please celebrate these remarkable women and the stories that make Austin Woman resonate with you, our readers.

Career Updates

Music Makers

Terri Givens

Anne Akiko Meyers

Terri Givens is no stranger to accomplishments. When she was featured on the AW cover in July 2007, she was an associate professor at the University of Texas, the genius behind Take Back the Trail and one of those people who just tends to be great at everything. Today, she has landed a new position: provost at Menlo College in California.

Anne Akiko Meyers is a famed concert violinist residing in Austin. Featured on the May 2015 cover, she has been in the spotlight for more than 30 years and has collaborated with the best in the business. Her upcoming album, Serenade: The Love Album, is set to release in September. The album is Meyers’ collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and was conducted by Keith Lockhart.

Heidi Marquez Smith Heidi Marquez Smith, former executive director of the Texas Book Festival and the AW cover woman for the October 2011 issue, will continue to promote her passion for children’s literacy by rejoining the Texas Book Festival as a board member.

Sheryl Cole Sheryl Cole, the February 2013 cover woman, turned heads as the first African-American woman elected to the Austin City Council and as mayor pro tem from 2011 to 2015. Now that she’s become successful in the political spotlight, Cole plans to return to the Cole Law Firm, where she will serve as an attorney in government relations and public finance.

Olga Campos Olga Campos, former KVUE news anchor and recent novelist, continues to find time to pursue her philanthropic goals since her December 2007 feature. In June 2015, she was named a trustee of The Long Center.

“Serving this community is so rewarding,” Campos says.

In October 2014, Campos was also honored by the City of Austin Commission for Women as an inductee into the Austin Women’s Hall of Fame.

Natalie Madeira Cofield Natalie Madeira Cofield is an entrepreneur, speaker and diversity advocate. She currently serves as the president and CEO of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, and graced the AW cover in February 2015. Recently, there has been a buzz throughout Austin in anticipation of the upcoming opening of Cofield’s Urban Co-Lab. The space will serve as a co-working community for global social changemakers and urban innovators, and is set to open this fall.

Patricia Vonne San Antonio native and former AW cover woman Patricia Vonne is a singer and actress with more than 10 years in the industry.

Her music features unique Tejano and folk influences that have attracted fans from throughout the country. Her sixth album, Viva Bandolera, released in June 2015, is now available on iTunes, at patriciavonne.com and at Waterloo Records.

Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling (Again) Rhoda Mae Kerr When Rhoda Mae Kerr became the first woman to serve as deputy chief at Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, which foreshadowed her rise to the chieftainship at the City of Austin Fire Department, she shattered gender barriers. Her solid commitment to her profession led to the July 2009 cover feature in AW. Given her history of breaking through glass ceilings, it’s no surprise Chief Kerr was recently elected as the first female president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

austinwomanmagazine.com | 69

13 Memorable Anniversary Anniversary

Roundup Roundup

AW staff members look back at the stories and the women who touched our hearts and minds.

We asked staff and former staff members to look back on the last 13 years of Austin Woman and choose the cover women or the stories that were most memorable or had made a lasting impact.

Here are their choices:

From Co-founder and Publisher Melinda Garvey:

From Co-founder Samantha Stevens:

Andrea McWilliams. I ran into a woman in an elevator in the doctor’s office and I happened to be carrying that issue of Austin Woman with the cover showing.

She said to me, “Oh, I just read that article about Andrea McWilliams talking about dealing with breast cancer and I brought it to my sister, who has stage four ovarian cancer to give her hope.”

It was a great reminder of the mission of Austin Woman and why I do what I do. We impact people’s lives, and the stories we put on the cover and inside the pages make that possible.

I would choose the first cover story ever: Amy Simmons of Amy’s Ice Creams, September 2002, debut issue. Melinda and I had been hard at work trying to speak and believe this new magazine concept into being. We kept talking to prospective advertisers and sharing our vision, and finally, once we had a confirmed first cover woman that people recognized, we started to get real traction. Amy said, “Absolutely,” the minute we asked her to be on the cover.

I have loved and admired Amy Simmons ever since, appreciating the unconditional kindness she and her business bring to everyone in Austin.

From contributing writer and Editor-in-Chief Deborah Hamilton-Lynne: Coming to AW as a writer before I was the editor gave me the opportunity to get to know many of our cover women and establish relationships with them, which continue to this day. Two cover stories stand out for me, both of women who were mentors and close personal friends. Both lost valiant battles with cancer and remain my inspiration and true North Star. Just say the name Molly Ivins and you start a conversation. I loved her with all of my heart and know that I can never be as witty, funny, informed or strong as she was, but her largerthan-life persona is one that I was so honored to bring to Austin Woman.

In true warrior-woman fashion, when she insisted that we photograph her with a shaved head, I couldn’t have been more proud of her or the magazine. It made a powerful statement. Karen Kuykendall was an Austin theater legend as well as a genuine character in her own right.

The week that she passed away, she was talking with me about performing a one-act play I had written that was perfect for her to raise funds for the Karen Kuykendall Stage at the Zach Scott Theatre. She passed away Oct. 31, 2007, the day before her AW cover story hit the stands. We were pleased that her family felt the cover and the story were fitting tributes for this amazing woman.

70 | Austin Woman | september 2015

From Creative Director Niki Jones: My most memorable photo shoot was when we shot the “Ladies, Start Your Engines” fashion story at the Circuit of the Americas. They let us have access to everything, including the tower, so we got some amazing shots from 251 feet up. I even got to drive the entire track in my friend’s Shelby Cobra, which we were using as a prop. It was about a million degrees that day, but Annie Ray nailed it. And it was the very first time we got to use real models!

13

Women

Anniversary Anniversary

Roundup Roundup

Andrea McWilliams photo courtesy of Andrea McWilliams. Amy Simmons photo by Mario Gonzalez. Molly Ivins photo by Thomas McConnell. “Ladies, Start Your Engines” photo by Annie Ray. “Motherhood (By Other Means),” photo by Rudy Arocha. “Mi Comadre es Su Comadre” photo courtesy of Las Comadres para las Americas. Julie Tereshchuk photo courtesy of Julie Tereshchuk.

From former Executive Editor Mary Anne Connolly (August 2005 to August 2011): Well, it’s been next to impossible to summarize (or pick a favorite) story or cover from my 72 issues and six years at Austin Woman, so here are some highlights: breakfast at the Four Seasons with Andrea McWilliams revealing her secret personal journey to me; a completely bald and bold Molly Ivins looking resolutely and positively into our camera for her cover shoot while battling the cancer that eventually took her from us far too young; shooting movie producer Elizabeth Avellán on set at Troublemaker Studios; having a peek into The Salonniere creator and founder Carla McDonald’s closet at her phenomenal, gracious home; a young Kendra Scott bursting with confidence and pride at her fast-growing, global jewelry empire offices; Rochelle Rae stunning us in winter white and my favorite flawless makeup. But the one cover that really brought it all home for me was Kathy Valentine. Here I was hanging out in her Westlake home, listening to one of my favorite band members rock out on guitar after seeing the Go-Go’s for my first concert ever in high school at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, nearly 30 years before. For me, as a singer and huge music fan, this pretty much brought it all full circle. The insight, brilliance and generosity of so many women (and men) who have contributed to the magazine as subjects, supporters and creators continues to inspire me every day.

From Copy Editor Chantal Rice:

Dr. Jennifer Walden with her twin sons.

For me, one of the most memorable AW stories was Joelle Pearson’s “Motherhood (By Other Means),” which appeared in the Fertility section in the May 2012 Motherhood issue. I was particularly touched by Joelle’s personal story of selflessly enduring the lengthy and painful process of donating her eggs so another woman, a woman she’d never met, could become a mother.

Joelle’s was a moving story of sacrifice, and I was truly impressed by her resolve and commitment to such an earnest act, and by her bravery to share this experience with thousands of readers.

From contributing writer and former Features Editor Julie Tereshchuk: I’ve written for Austin Woman since the beginning, so many memories came to mind: Tish Hinojosa, my first cover; the powerful intellect of Betty Sue Flowers and her stories of working with Jackie Kennedy; the thrill of finally getting a “Yes, I’ll talk to you” note from Kristin Armstrong; the friendships that endure with Foo Swasdee, Judy Maggio and many others. However, I choose the personal essay I wrote in June 2013 about how my father found his family again in Ukraine after 45 years. He died three months after the magazine was published, and last summer, I cried tears of sadness and joy with my cousins over the story when we took his ashes back home so he could be reunited one final time.

From Associate Publisher Cynthia Guajardro Shaffer: I related to the article, “Mi Comadre es Su Comadre.” It just resonated with me. Dr. Nora de Hoyos Comstock’s wish to affirm her identity as a Mexican-American woman as well as a Latina really hit home. I am a native Austinite and also was a student at the University of Texas at Austin. I concur that Latinos weren’t very visible. Therefore, it was easy to lose our cultural connection. Her vision to unite Latinas through the Internet was groundbreaking and sets the foundation for us to relate with other Latina professionals and empower each other.

For memories from Associate Editor Molly McManus, see Last Word (Page 96)

austinwomanmagazine.com | 71

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a fundraising celebration

a fundraising celebration

Quality time with a good book

My bike | Belly laughs My grandbaby’s toes

Our Favorite Being a teacher | Spending time with my kids | Swimming Things Yoga | My close friends Four AW anniversary luncheon panelists reveal 13 things they can’t live without.

Watching my daughter mother well

ballet education | Foot massages

Singing | My hubby’s popcorn Morning time for prayer Fortunately for AW, we celebrate our 13th anniversary with a stellar panel of accomplished women comprised of our anniversary-issue cover woman, Andra Liemandt, (See her story on Page 62.) and former cover women Jan Ryan, China Smith and Heidi Marquez Smith, and moderated by Judy Maggio. Diverse as their experiences and interests are, they have many things in common with each other and with the readers of Austin Woman. Sept. 18, they will share heartfelt wisdom and insight, as well as a few laughs, and may possibly divulge a secret or two. You never know what to expect when you gather a group of AW cover women.

While some may consider 13 an unlucky number, we think it is just right—a baker’s dozen, if you will—and we asked these lovely ladies to do some soul searching and share the 13 things that mean the most to each of them. Here’s a preview of what’s to come when they take the stage at the anniversary event. —Deborah Hamilton-Lynne

Creating things | Sticky notes

and spiral notebooks Headshots by Korey Howell. All other photos courtesy of the respective cover women.

Talking with female entrepreneurs

The dog park on Lady Bird Lake

Spending time with good friends

Vince and Joie | ACL | Travel

Food | Vino | Just-because flowers

Looking like an African queen My community | Icees and Popsicles

Latin-style dancing 73

Snuggle time on Saturday mornings

1. My daughter. She is my pride and joy and much more talented than I’ll ever be.

JUDY MAGGIO, Moderator

2. My husband. He supports me in all of my pursuits, loves me through thick and thin, and makes me laugh. He is my rock and my soul mate.

For Judy Maggio, an esteemed and beloved former news anchor, slowing down is not an option. Since her October 2003 cover, Maggio retired from the news desk but continues to expand her career. She is writing more, does media consulting, is filming a documentary and finding plenty of time to enjoy herself.

Maggio’s love for Austin continues to grow and has inspired her to keep working within the community. She has led the panel at the AW anniversary event for 10 years, and it was there that she was inspired to start her own company.

“I love the way the magazine connects and empowers women every month. The anniversary event puts that networking front and center,” Maggio says. —Olivia Sylvain

3. Our dog, Duncan. He’s a quirky mutt who loves me unconditionally. Our daily walks give me time to reflect and him time to pee on everything in sight.

4. Swimming. Swimming keeps me sane and semi-fit.

5. Yoga. Yoga helps me focus and destress. I’ve been in regular practice for a decade and it’s a real gift in my life.

6. My close friends. They keep me grounded, provide endless hours of listening and laughter, and are always there when I need them.

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7. Singing. My mother died of Alzheimer’s five years ago, but she never lost the ability to sing and still knew the lines to every song she’d ever learned. Music was one of the few joys in her life at the end.

So I sing at Alzheimer’s homes in her memory.

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8. Live music. One of the things I love about Austin is you can pop into a small music venue just about any day of the week and hear incredible talent.

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9. Travel. I love learning about other cultures and seeing natural beauty.

10. Wine. It’s my guilty pleasure. Perhaps because I’m half Italian, I simply love wine—the taste, the smell, the experience.

11. Austin. I’ve had a lifelong love affair with this city through its many transformations. The people, the rhythm of life here and the natural beauty will always keep us in Austin.

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12. Storytelling. I’ve spent a lifetime sharing and writing stories.

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13. Talking. I am one of those extreme extroverts who loves lively conversation.

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74 | Austin Woman | september 2015

china smith, panelist Dancer and instructor China Smith has been busy since her May 2014 cover story. She is in the process of opening a new location for her dance company, Ballet Afrique, in Northeast Austin. Not only did this require picking up and moving mid-season, but she also had to have an entire dance floor rebuilt.

Smith underwent a personal change during all the chaos with the move: She decided to shave her head.

“I did it because I felt like I needed to tap into the warrior within me,” she says.

A major project on the horizon for Smith is taking her academy to the next level. She wants to push her dancers technically while transitioning them into pointe technique. —Lydia McAllister

1. Girls’ night out. I have to have girls’ nights. I love having them not only with my girlfriends, but with my students.

2. Cold fruit in bed. I love frozen oranges and grapes.

3. Looking like an African queen. I love tribal prints and the contemporary African look. Dressing up is fun because I’m always in dance clothes.

4. My community. I grew up in the “23,” which is Austin 78723.

I love every part of it.

5. Icees and Popsicles. I love Jim Jim’s Water Ice on Sixth Street.

6. Latin-style dancing. Salsa dancing, merengue: I have to go out and do that.

7. Erykah Badu. I cannot live without her on my playlist.

8. Midtown Live Sports Cafe.

It has food and dancing, and I like the people there.

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9. Thai food. My whole favoritethings [list] will be food!

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2

10. Continued ballet education. I can’t live without continuing to be a student of dance and picking up classes.

11. Foot massages. Being a dancer, I can’t live without these.

12. Being a teacher. I love getting to work with kids. Being a dancer without being a teacher wouldn’t mean as much to me.

13. Spending time with my kids. I love being able to wake my kids up in the morning.

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12. Photo by Dwayne Hills.

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austinwomanmagazine.com | 75

Heidi Marquez Smith, Panelist Heidi Marquez Smith is reinventing herself. Like many successful women, Marquez Smith has various passions and interests, and she wants to incorporate them into her next career move. Since her October 2011 cover, Marquez Smith gave birth to a third child, stepped away from her position as executive director of the Texas Book Festival and started her own consulting firm. She epitomizes the savvy woman, and she learns from the best by perusing the pages of Austin Woman.

“You see these women and they’re actually setting their dreams in place,” Marquez Smith says. “It’s a great way to virtually connect with other women.”

Marquez Smith resides in Austin with her family and is taking more time to spend with her children. Her favorite thing about Austin is the accessibility of wonderful music, movies and food.

“Austin offers so much and I’m so blessed to be here,” she says. —Olivia Sylvain

1. Quality time with my family.

As with all families, we are busy.

Even our toddler doesn’t stop.

Finding time to disconnect is a challenge and a gift.

2. Quality time with a good book.

There is nothing like time to read and sometimes finish a book without interruption.

3. Running/walking/riding on Lady Bird Lake trail. [It’s] one of Austin’s many treasures. I always leave the trail feeling great.

4. The beach, any beach. I’m particular to those with white sand and clear water.

5. Spending time with good friends. As I’ve gotten older, my close friends have become increasingly valuable.

6. Vince and Joie, [my] favorite clothing designers. I love everything they do!

13

7. ACL. I love live music and how it can energize and bring people together. It works for my family.

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8. Travel. Although I am not on the road as often, I love it!

9. Learning. I never claim to know it all, but I want to know as much as possible.

10. Food. I do not discriminate.

11. Vino: red, white and sparkling 12. Just-because flowers.

Receiving flowers without occasion is a treat.

13. Reading Austin Woman!

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76 | Austin Woman | september 2015

7. Photo by Jack Edinger.

7

JAN RYAN, Panelist

1. My bike. My bike makes me feel like I’m 10 years old again. It’s also where I do my best daydreaming.

A serial entrepreneur, Jan Ryan is a current partner and mentor at Capital Factory, the Austin-based incubator and mentoring program for startups.

As she graced the AW cover this April, we took a look inside her off-the-grid ranch, which uses solar power, reclaimed materials and water from the property itself.

Tapped into Austin as a center of innovation, panelist Ryan will share her many years of mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners looking to grow their companies. —Molly McManus

2. Belly laughs. Life can be tough, but it’s also joyous. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body into balance than a good laugh.

3. My grandbaby’s toes. Being a new nana is such a kick. My granddaughter defines the word “cherish” for me.

4. Watching my daughter mother well. Seeing my daughter experience motherhood herself and be so awesome at it is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

3

5. My hubby’s popcorn: just the right oils and shaking. Everyone knows Bob makes the best popcorn in the world, a staple for great TV parties.

6. Morning time for prayer. Starting the day with quiet time is one of my life’s essentials. [It’s] a time for gratitude for God’s blessings and to ask for direction.

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11 7

7. Creating things. I learned a long time ago that I just like to create stuff, initiate things, start movements and build companies. That passion and curiosity has only intensified over time.

8. Sticky notes and spiral notebooks.

I’m a goal-driven list maker. [I] always have a notebook in my hand. I think I have a ruled-paper fetish.

9. Talking with female entrepreneurs.

One of Austin’s best-kept secrets is our female entrepreneurs. I’m blessed to be able to mentor many of them and be part of their journey.

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9

10

10., 11. Photos by Matt Lankes.

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10. The dog park on Lady Bird Lake.

We recently moved downtown, and running lakeside with my dog, Gracie, is my favorite way to unwind. The scenery of Austin’s new skyline at sunset there just takes my breath away.

11. Our off-the-grid ranch. Our ranch in the Hill Country is the perfect foil to downtown’s crazy action. The yin and the yang is something I need in my life to stay creative.

12. Sno-Beach snow cones. You can always find me lined up at the SnoBeach trailer on a scorcher day in ATX. Pineapple rainbow rocks!

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13. Snuggle time on Saturday mornings. Needs no explanation! ’Nuff said.

austinwomanmagazine.com | 77

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GOURMET

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April 2006 AW cover woman Quincy Adams Erickson shares her secrets for throwing a memorable cocktail party.

by Kristi Willis, photos by annie ray

austinwomanmagazine.com |  81

G

OURMET

menu

After decades of catering Austin’s premier cocktail and dinner parties, Chef Quincy Adams Erickson, owner of Fete Accompli, takes great pleasure in delighting guests and making their events memorable.

“When you do something for a living, you want to have fun,” Adams Erickson says. “Sometimes we laugh so hard we can’t even stand up— me, my team and the guests.”

Adams Erickson’s joy for cooking and love for her clients have earned her wide praise, including being named The Austin Chronicle’s

2008 Best Female Chef Community Asset. She’s also been included multiple times on the Austin American-Statesman Fortunate 500 list.

Fete Accompli’s stand at the Sustainable Food Center Farmers Market downtown has also merited repeated accolades for its flavored hot chocolates and refreshing summer fruit drinks. The market stand gives Adams Erickson the perfect venue for trying new things, and Fete Accompli fans can expect to see new product lines rolling out this fall.

“I’ve never stopped experimenting,” Adams Erickson says. “I love that part of the business.”

Quincy Adams Erickson’s Tips for a Successful Cocktail Party 3L ook at your overall menu and make sure you only have a few things you have to assemble at the last minute. Little hors d’oeuvres require assembly. When we do an event, we make sure we have three to four items that require very little assembly and a few more items that require more labor.

3 Hire someone to help you. I had 25 family members over for barbecue that we picked up, but made the mistake of serving a cocktail that required a lot of effort. I ended up making basil-lime refrescos all night. Hire a bartender or someone to help serve or clean up. It’s worth spending an extra $100 to have someone help you so that you can spend time with your guests.

3 Look at your color palette with your menu. People eat with their eyes first and if there is color, they are more likely to eat it. You have to have color. Instead of a plain flour blini, make a sweet-potato blini to add orange to the plate. You want to have things that pop with color.

3 Always give people vegetables, even if there are no vegetarian or vegan guests. Even though it is a cocktail party, you want it to be a balanced meal.

For more information, visit fetetexas.com.

Quincy Adams Erickson

82 | Austin Woman | september 2015

Three Tasty Treats Perfect for Your Next Soiree Turkey Albondigas With Chipotle Crema The equipment needed includes a stainlesssteel mixing bowl, a food processor, a half-sheet pan, a 1- to 1.5-inch scoop and a sauce pan.

Turkey Albondigas Ingredients: 3 pounds ground turkey 3 eggs 1.5 cup panko crumbs 4 garlic cloves 1 large white onion, peeled and quartered 1 tablespoon coriander 1 tablespoon dried oregano 2 tablespoons cumin, toasted 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 cups fresh organic corn kernels 2 cups green pepper, diced Directions: Using the “S” blade on the food processor, process the onions and garlic until they’re cut into a small dice. Add every ingredient to the bowl and mix completely with your hands. Fry a small amount of the meat mixture in a skillet. Taste the seasoning and re-season if needed. (You can do this many times until you feel you have the flavor that you want.) Use a 1-inch or 1.5-inch scoop to make the meatballs. Scoop them out onto a halfsheet pan, placing them side by side.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Don’t overcook the meatballs, as they will get hard.

Hold until ready to serve.

Chipotle Crema Sauce Ingredients: 2 28-ounce cans tomato puree 3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce 2 cups organic cream Salt and black pepper to taste Cotija cheese, grated Cilantro, chopped (for garnish) Directions: In a food processor or blender, mix the chipotle with adobo sauce with the tomato puree.

Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and add the cream. Heat over low heat and add the salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over the warm meatballs. Garnish with cotija cheese and chopped cilantro.

Note: The albondigas and the sauce can be made days ahead and reheated on the day of the party.

austinwomanmagazine.com | 83

Passion Fruit Mousse With Kiwi The equipment needed includes a bain-marie (a stainless-steel bowl that fits into a sauce pan without the stainless-steel bowl touching the bottom of the sauce pan) to create a hot-water bath, a whisk, a plastic spatula, a cutting board, a peeler, a paring knife, a 1.5-inch scoop, a small spoon and a zester.

Passion Fruit Curd Ingredients: 1 cup frozen passion-fruit concentrate, available from Hardie’s Produce Supply 1 cup granulated sugar 3 large whole eggs 3 egg yolks Pinch of salt 8 ounces butter, cut into eight pieces Directions: Mix the sugar and the passion-fruit concentrate together in a large stainless-steel metal bowl. Whisk in the eggs very quickly. Add a pinch of salt. Place this mixture in the bain-marie and heat the water in the sauce pan to boiling. Using a plastic spatula, stir the mixture until it thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly and whisk in the butter until it is completely incorporated. Seal the top of a bowl and let it cool completely in the refrigerator. This mixture can be kept refrigerated for one week or frozen for three months.

Passion Fruit Mousse With Kiwi Makes 15 to 25 dessert shots, depending on the size of the small dessert glasses Ingredients: 1 cup passion fruit curd 1 cup cream, whipped until holding peak Zest of one orange 2 kiwis, diced Assembly: Fold the passion-fruit curd into the whipped cream.

Hold in the refrigerator. Using a scoop, carefully fill the shot glass or a tiny bowl with the mousse. Using the tip of the spoon, place the diced kiwi on one side of the mousse. Place a pinch of the orange zest on top of the kiwi. Serve with a small spoon.

Note: The curd can be made long in advance of the party. The mousse should be made on the day of the party and the kiwi should be cut up on the day of the party.

Cucumber Arugula and Mint Lemonade Makes 1 gallon

The equipment needed is a really good blender.

Ingredients: 1 medium-sized cucumber (without the wax coating)

2 handfuls baby arugula

1/2 cup mint leaves

2 cups sugar

2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice Directions: Place everything in a good blender and blend until you cannot see any green spots in the liquid. Add ice-cold water to make a total of 1 gallon of liquid. Serve over ice.

Note: This recipe needs to be made on the day of the event. Hold cold.

84 | Austin Woman | september 2015

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Ten Foods You Should Never Eat and 10 More to Add to the Almost-Never List If you know when to say yes and when to say no, you don’t have to starve to lose weight.

By Kim Eagle

People often ask me, “What do you eat? I want to eat what you eat.” I generally respond, “It’s not what I do eat; it’s what I do not eat.” It’s almost like riding a bike: You need to learn how to stop (brake) before you learn how to go. So check out my list of top 10 foods I never eat.

Kim Eagle’s Top 10 Foods to Never Eat Soda. This includes diet and regular soda. The chemicals in it are terrible for you! And diet soda is worse than regular soda. Diet soda can actually mess with your hormones, making weight loss more difficult.

Soup. I will never order soup in a restaurant. Why? Because the sodium is off the charts. High sodium leads to water retention. You can be up 1 to 2 pounds in weight the next morning from eating soup in a restaurant.

It’s just not worth it.

Ranch, Thousand Island or blue cheese salad dressing. Nope, I don’t do it. I always opt for the balsamic vinaigrette and use it in moderation.

There’s far too much fat in the other dressings.

Cream sauces. You will never see me eat or order any food item that has a cream sauce. If I see the word “cream” in the description of a menu item, I automatically go to the next option. I always opt for the tomato-based sauces.

Milk. This is a personal choice and I don’t necessarily recommend this for all people. I found when I drank milk, I was bloated and my skin would break out. I also realized that I never ate anything really healthy with milk, so giving it up meant I no longer reached for dry cereal (loaded in carbohydrates, not enough fuel, not enough protein). Or how about milk with cookies or graham crackers? Without the milk, these items are just not as appealing to me. This is great! Now I skip those treats more often.

If you do decide to drop milk, you might still eat Greek yogurt. You still need the calcium, and Greek yogurt does not usually negatively affect digestion. So what I am saying is that I am not dairy-free.

Steak. This is also a personal choice and not something I tell my clients to avoid. You can have a steak. I just personally do not like it. If you do enjoy a good steak, have it in moderation (once a week max).

Frappuccino. You know the drinks I’m talking about. I never order one.

If you are drinking these items, I encourage you to read the amount of calories and sugar you are ingesting in a few quick sips. It’s just not worth it. I would rather eat real food for that many calories.

Hollandaise sauce. I love eggs benedict, but I will never eat the sauce.

It’s loaded with calories. I always ask for no sauce on this item. I prefer to just break the yolk of the egg all over that delicious meal.

Protein powders. I stopped ingesting protein powders a couple years ago when I read how many of the brands have heavy metals in them. I was enjoying a protein shake daily after my workouts and even used an organic, vegan brand. And that very brand (among many other popular brands) was found to have heavy metals. The reality of protein powders and other supplements is that they are not regulated, so you truly do not know what is in them. I prefer to get my protein shake from all-natural food items now. Check out my Eagle Protein Shake recipe at earnthatbody.com/ the-eagle-protein-powder-free-shake.

Fast food. You will never see me go to McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A or even Subway. The only fast food I eat is Chipotle or P. Terry’s. These are also foods I eat very rarely. But you might see me eat them once in a while.

86 | Austin Woman | september 2015

Kim Eagle’s Top 10 Foods to Almost Never Eat Bagels. They’re all carbs and no nutrition.

Juice. There’s way too much sugar.

Bacon. It’s hard to keep your fat and sodium down for the day when indulging in bacon.

Caesar salad. It’s not the best salad option because of the creamy dressing.

Doughnuts. Once a year, I eat one with my sister’s family.

Potato chips. This is a very rare indulgence.

More than one cocktail. I am pretty much a one-glass-of-wine gal.

Anything more than that makes me feel like crap and leads to bad eating.

Tuna-fish salad or sandwich at a restaurant. This is one of the worst sandwich options you can choose because of the high fat content.

Cream cheese. I’ll have it on that bagel once in a while.

Smoothies. They’re loaded in fruit and therefore, crazy high in sugar.

It’s not worth it.

So, there you have it. This is how I eat and I don’t feel like I live on a diet.

Sometimes, making a few hard rules for food can make your calorie intake a lot lower and sticking to nutritious foods a lot easier. If you are not a very healthy eater and looking to lose weight, I bet you could drop those pounds just by following these never-eat rules. Give it a try, and remember food is fuel. Healthy food is good for you. Don’t starve yourself to lose weight. Just eat real foods and live life fully.

Kim Eagle is a personal trainer, group exercise instructor, weight-loss and get-ripped coach. She has a master’s degree in science and Eastern medicine, and is the owner of Earn That Body, through which she offers online personal training. You can also tune in for her nutrition and fitness advice on JB in the Morning on Classic 105.3 every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.

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Combating the Stress Hormone

How stress and cortisol affect your health and what you can do about it.

By Jill Case Stress. We all have it. But some people have chronic stress, suffering from its ill effects daily. If you are one of those people, you need to be aware that stress doesn’t just affect your emotional health, but can affect you physically as well, in part, thanks to the excess production of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to danger or threat. Your body may perceive any kind of emotional or physical issue as a threat, anything from a fight with your spouse to tight deadlines at work.

Cortisol’s main purpose is to provide your body with the fuel it needs to escape a dangerous situation. Long ago, these threats were often physical.

For example, you needed to escape from a wild animal or dodge another danger in the natural world. Today, however, our stressors often occur as we sit at a desk or in our homes. The things that stress us out do not require that we run away or even move to escape. Therein lies the problem. The issue is that we may have almost constant stress, which puts the body into a constant state of alertness, causing the release of cortisol, the fight-or-flight hormone.

“Cortisol’s function in the body is to try to help the body handle stress by raising your blood sugar (glucose) so that your body has an immediate energy source for your muscles,” says Kim Eagle, an award-winning personal trainer in Austin.

When too much cortisol is released, insulin production is inhibited so that the glucose is not stored.

“Insulin’s function is to basically clean sugar out of your blood, but excess cortisol tells the body to leave the sugar alone so that it can be used to provide more energy,” Eagle says.

This can lead to excess blood-glucose levels remaining in the body, and having constantly high blood sugar can lead to pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

While there is no definitive study that shows a link between cortisol and weight gain, some experts do believe that excess cortisol can lead to weight gain. One reason?

“Cortisol lingers in the body after stress to bring rebalance back to the system and help restore the nutritional needs,” Eagle says. “Basically, it tells your body you are hungry so that you will take in calories. Unfortunately, the

fuel needed is sugar, which means we will have carbohydrate cravings. That, coupled with eating comfort foods when we’re stressed, is a major cause of the weight gain.”

Excess Stress, Cortisol and Cardiovascular Disease

Studies have shown a direct correlation between too much stress and cardiovascular disease. Another hormone that is released during the fight-or-flight response is adrenaline, which raises the heart rate and blood pressure. The combination of an almost constant production of adrenaline and cortisol due to stress can be very damaging to the heart. In addition, it can also contribute to problems with depression, digestion, sleep and the immune system.

The best advice to help reduce the amount of cortisol is to reduce and manage your stress. There are no magic diets, foods or pills to help with this problem; it all starts and ends with you and learning to balance your life to make it less stressful as often as possible.

Special Diets and Supplements Some studies have shown a relationship between stress and extra belly fat. This has led to many special diets to reduce belly fat, as well as supplements that claim to cause weight loss by blocking cortisol. Austin Woman asked Kim Eagle about using special diets and supplements to reduce belly fat and lose weight. She told us: r “ I don’t believe in any supplements. I believe in real food. I really think if you eat properly—two to three fruit servings a day, five servings of vegetables each day, proteins, carbs, fats, all in moderation—you’re doing the right thing.” r “ The reason I’m not a fan of supplements is because they’re not regulated by the FDA, and we don’t know what’s in them. It’s not the supplements that are going to help you; it’s decreasing your stress level by changing your diet, getting exercise and limiting the cause of your stress. There is nothing you can take that will take away the excess cortisol created by too much stress.”

r “ I also don’t believe in rash diets or detox programs. If you want to detox, stop drinking alcohol and limit your sugar intake. Our bodies need carbs, proteins and fats. It’s all about balance.”

Doctors and experts agree with Eagle. In fact, there are indications that taking some supplements that claim to block cortisol can be harmful to your health, particularly if you are diabetic or have high blood pressure or other health problems. Never take these supplements without having a discussion with your doctor.

Kim Eagle is the owner of Earn That Body (earnthatbody.com), where she offers online personal training.

88 | Austin Woman | september 2015

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austinwomanmagazine.com | 89

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health

Kim Eagle’s Tips for Managing Stress and Reducing Cortisol The good news about cortisol is that managing your stress can help reduce the amount of cortisol your body produces, improving your health and helping to prevent problems. Austin Woman asked Kim Eagle for her top stress-management tips.

1. Pinpoint what is causing the stress in your life.

Identifying the source of your stress is important because it helps you to focus on ways to cope with it, as well as identify potentially stressful situations before they happen.

2. Clean up your diet.

Ridding your diet of processed foods, foods that are high in sugar, diet and regular soda, and foods that are high in sodium can make your body healthier and more able to cope with stress when it does occur.

3. Exercise regularly.

Cardio workouts—walking, kick boxing, cycling, jogging—are extremely beneficial when dealing with stress because they help use up the high blood sugar that occurs when your body releases cortisol. Exercise can help you deal with the emotional aspect of stress.

4. Get enough sleep.

“Another important one that I think a lot of people overlook is sleep,” Eagle says. “Not getting enough sleep is actually a stress on the body. If you’re not getting six to eight hours of sleep each night, you’re probably putting your body through a state of stress without realizing it.”

5. Avoid training too much.

If you’re working out more than two or three hours each day on a regular basis, you are putting stress on your body. Forty-five minutes to an hour is a good amount of time to aim for when working out.

6. Develop and nurture healthy relationships.

Try to spend time with people who make you happy. Healthy relationships have been shown to be beneficial to your physical health. Getting rid of relationships that consistently make you sad or upset will also reduce your stress.

7. Meditate.

Eagle emphasizes that you don’t have to know how to meditate.

“It could be as simple as taking five to 10 deep inhalations and exhalations,” she says. “Sitting quietly and breathing this way will actually drop your heart rate and decrease cortisol levels, as well as help manage your stress.”

She also recommends yoga.

8. Consider therapy.

If you feel that you have tried many methods to cope with your stress and nothing has worked, consider seeing a therapist to help figure out what is going on at a deeper emotional level and learn to cope with it more successfully.

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memo from JB

Before It Festers

Honesty is the best policy when reviewing date-night disasters.

By JB Hager, photo by rudy arocha our first date, we absolutely would never go out with each other ever again. No question.

From that day forward, usually mid-date, we ask ourselves what this would feel like if it were our first date. We’re honest with each other, and it often snaps us out of our dating funk before the date is ruined.

I could give you 100 examples of bad dates that we have acknowledged, like the time she made me go to Tina Turner in San Antonio, or the way she hates when I think I’m being cute with the waitress when she asks if we would like a to-go box and I say, “You can keep the food but I’ll take the box.”

This tradition started because our very first date was a complete The glare is enough to say, “If this were our disaster. I tried too hard to impress. At the first date, never again.” It keeps us in check. For time, I drove a Jeep with no top and no doors “It would take me days to tell you us, acknowledging that it is or will be a bad date that bounced like a ranch horse. I took her to why a blind couple date is horrific” is often enough to correct it before it festers. a dive Thai restaurant that was BYOB. Turns out, she does not really like to BYOB. She likes IPEBOW (I prefer expensive bottles of wine). My pre-purchase of beer from Thailand failed to impress. I thought I was pretty slick ordering everything for both of us, items not featured on the menu. I ordered a specialty soup that she later referred to as “tree-bark soup.” I slurped it up like a chocolate fountain. I ordered a whole grilled fish that stares at you as you dig into the sides with chopsticks. She was not impressed and found it disgusting. The date ended all too quickly with her hardly touching her food and me asking for an entire fish and tree-bark soup to go. We wrapped up our date early and uneventfully, considering it was a work night and I had to get up at 4 a.m. for my radio job. We ended the date with a Japanese-like bow to each other and sprinted to our respective homes.

I realized the error of my ways early the next morning. I looked for an opportunity to redeem myself. We lived in the same building, so I hung all the leftovers from her doorknob with a note letting her know how much I wished for her to enjoy them as much as she had the night before. Somehow, she found it amusing that I hung tree-bark soup and leftover rotting fish on her door handle, and went out with me again.

It wasn’t until many years later we started playing the “If it was our first date” game. We started playing this game when she took me to a couples’ dinner and concert. This sounds good until you break it down. I did not know this couple, nor did I like the performing artist that evening, the DJ Girl Talk. It would take me days to tell you why a blind couple date is horrific, so I’ll focus on why an evening of Girl Talk was like a living nightmare. It was an awkward evening of small talk followed by waiting to get into Austin Music Hall to see the computer perform. I say that because Girl Talk has never done anything other than mash up popular songs using his Mac computer.

Everyone attending is chemically altered (if you know what I mean) and dancing to a computer on autopilot while Mr. Girl Talk pretends to touch a button every now and then. Eventually, there is no clear division between the people onstage and the people in the crowd, other than I’m the only one not tweaking my brains out, along with my wife, who gets a natural high hearing Erasure mashed up with Led Zeppelin.

I was such a cranky, bitchy old bastard that this was the night that we started the game. We both adamantly agreed that if this had been

My wife and I like to play a little game. This game is either the worst idea for a relationship or the best. I’m not sure. I call it, “If this was our first date, would we go out again?” We literally have the conversation, sometimes mid-date, often post-date, and ask ourselves, “If this truly was our very first date, would we go out with each other again?” You might be surprised at how often the answer is no, but just asking the question seems to snap us back into place. This prevents what moms often call “letting it fester.”

92 | Austin Woman | september 2015

THEREʼS A NEW RANGER IN TOWN. Waco has long been home to the legendary lawmen of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. Still are, and proud of it. But we’ve also made room for a new ranger in town—a National Park Ranger, here to protect the Waco Mammoth National Monument and show you around this nationallyrecognized site, where more than 24 Pleistocene mammoths have been carefully excavated and preserved. Before you leave, stop by Balcones, Waco’s award-winning distillery, and raise a toast to our newest rangers!

Visit WacoHeartofTexas.com or call 800-WACO-FUN to plan your visit.

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horoscopes

Happy Birthday, Virgo!

Aug. 24–Sept. 22

Your Month: You Virgos are so cute and you get enthusiastic about so many things. You’re ambitious, ridiculously committed to your work, determined and resourceful. But isn’t it also true that you’re just a teensy bit involved in intrigue and high drama, and sometimes your ubiquitous energy level is too chaotic to manage? No wonder Virgos are famous for developing stomach problems. Hopefully, you found a non-mundane professional path in which your unique brand of energy is appreciated. But if not, change your job because you need a practice of daily self-restraint while creating high drama in your career. It can be done. ➺ The recipe this month is to think outside the box. Whether you’re cooking up a project alone or with a team, the best results can be had by keeping everything creative and fun, brave and experimental. Relationships in September are all about a good time and more playful than serious, so use your intuition to add spice to your romance. Sprinkle a little independence and freedom around you and everyone else in your bubble.

The results may surprise you. FYI: Mercury goes retrograde on the 17th and isn’t direct until Oct. 9.

Libra (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): Most call you a diplomat, a peacemaker, a good communicator. But this month, you feel intellectually bulletproof and you don’t mind forcing your ideas on other people. In fact, you can be sort of snarky about it, so wrapped up in your own brilliance that you may not appreciate the brilliance of other people. Different points of view are important, especially from your brilliant and dynamic friends. You can trust them to work on your pet projects with you, but you just might be mistaken about the brilliance of your own ideas. Mercury is retrograde in your sign this month, so double check your facts, OK? Scorpio (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): Don’t be surprised if you suddenly decide to try a new diet this month, or join a gym or change your work schedule.

You might find a more interesting route to the office, even if it’s not faster, or a quirky, risky new way to do your job. Don’t be surprised if you get a raise or promotion or an interview with a star reporter. In October, a year’s worth of stored personal goals and visions kick into high-speed production. But that’s next month. This month?

Hang out with as many friends and social groups as possible.

You’ll find out why later.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Lately, you’ve felt like a basketball player on the UT football field, just a little concerned you weren’t in the right game.

This month, you finally feel a

surge of the old vitality and efficiency shoot through you concerning anything game/ work related. Your plans get executed because you’ll have everything you need, exactly as you expected and without unnecessary problems or delays.

But here’s the hitch: It comes without the support of a team.

You’re in the game, but you’re in it alone. Keep in mind that the more ambitious the desired result, the more effort you’ll have to make.

Capricorn (Dec. 22–Jan. 20): Your urge to communicate who you are and how you think about work could backfire this month, so it’s vitally important that you don’t, as none of your audiences are favorable to your words. Unusual and uncharacteristically original action determines your safety.

Look around. Somewhere lurks a verbal blowup and some serious damage to either your career or your home and family, or both. Be very sure of what you say before you say it.

Don’t ask too many questions and certainly don’t demand anything. Be as unobtrusive as possible and act to surprise opponents. But warn allies.

There’s no point in startling them. Otherwise, you’re in for a bumpy month.

Aquarius (Jan. 21–Feb. 19): What drives you? Are you aggressive in the pursuit of it or are you waiting? Your insane need to express yourself creatively and be recognized for what you do this month shows up in dramatic ways. You want,

94 | Austin Woman | september 2015

no, need to make an impact but keep your freedom, even when it’s one on one, and this can wreak havoc on intimate relationships. This is where it hurts. Be empathetic but don’t neglect your own needs. The imbalance makes you resent your partners. Nurture yourself and trust your own wisdom.

Your fiery enthusiasm and passion will be an inspiration.

Pisces (Feb. 20–March 20): Be very careful with friendship, business and money partnerships. Maybe a friend asks for a loan and you have difficulty saying no. Maybe a money decision you make upsets your partner. Maybe you sign an open-ended contract in good faith. Any of these scenarios could end badly for you, so find the loophole and close it.

Maybe you lack confidence in your unique strength to help yourself because you have so much empathy for other people’s suffering and want to fix them instead. Fortunately, you have an almost magical ability to simultaneously heal yourself and anyone else that needs you.

Aries (March 21–April 20): Your primary relationships are vital now, so no running away, no matter what comes up for you. Your traditional “m.o.” is do it till it’s not fun anymore then leave. Not this month.

Intimate partnerships, good or bad, easy or difficult, fun or not fun, make you feel alive. Here’s where you learn the most about yourself. Partnerships, conventional or unconventional, will bring you the biggest bang for your buck. Put some energy into your one-on-ones.

Instead of stomping your foot and demanding your own way, or retreating, try listening. You’ll get a bigger payoff.

Taurus (April 21–May 21): It’s vital this month not to let depression about politics, work, foreign affairs and health-food fads infest you with dark thoughts. You might need to uncover the meaning of life, but any bandwagon you jump on this month isn’t the right one for you. It’s like that old Rodney Dangerfield joke: “I wouldn’t join any club that would have me as a member.” If you become dogmatic about certain philosophies, that’s your cue to back off. The

need to force your viewpoint in September is particularly acute and could permanently alienate the very people you’re trying to convert.

Gemini (May 22–June 20): September forces a festering wound to the surface. Could it be connected to your past or directly related to your future?

Whatever you’ve been ignoring, covering up or hiding erupts now. You’re so busy juggling work and home, you’re unprepared, and this “little problem” feels like it’s coming from left field. The treatment is communication. Send emails, post on social-media sites, write letters with pen and paper and send them snail mail, make phone calls or work it out on a radio talk show. All forms of communication are as good as cash and heal all wounds, even old ones.

Cancer (June 21–July 22): Cancers, when you find yourself at home or near family, you need to watch your back, or your step or your words.

In fact, if you have an apartment near the office, maybe you could hang out there for a month. You usually play the role of peacemaker, but this month, your most important job is to look after yourself and your sanity. You don’t like confrontations, especially family confrontations, but they are almost impossible to avoid in September, and the more you try to fix them, the more convoluted they get. Why not just take a break from the family thing? Get some work done.

Leo (July 23–Aug. 23): Here is your mantra for September: “I can cope with any situation. I will not give up, even if it seems the solution isn’t feasible or the goal is unattainable. All problems can be solved.” The question for you is always which decisions are acceptable compromises and which aren’t. But if you would just be patient, stretch your tolerance level a teensy bit and listen more than talk, you’ll see some pretty drastic, unexpected and positive developments on the romance front. Be prepared: Some serious problems suddenly resolve themselves in the best possible way.

By Deborah Alys Carter deborah@pinkaustin.com

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last word

Why Austin Woman Matters Lessons learned while working for the magazine.

By molly mcmanus, illustration by jessica wetterer As someone involved in more than 50 issues of AW, I was approached to write this month’s Last Word topic: “Why Austin Woman Magazine Matters.” From intern to freelance writer to associate editor, I have plenty to say on why the magazine matters. But first, I want to share how it’s influenced my own journey, inevitably altering the course of my life.

Four years ago, my application for a marketing-and-events intern was mistakenly filed into the editorial-intern stack. Halfway through my interview, we realized what happened. Being a desperate college graduate, I was eager to do anything. You need help at events? I can do that. You need me to write? I can do that. Looking back, this “mistake” turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me. Having always written as a hobby, I never thought I could actually make a living as a writer. Boy, was I wrong.

Editor-in-Chief Deborah Hamilton-Lynne saw something in my writing and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in the editorial industry. While she’s provided unwavering guidance on writing, interviewing and the ins and outs of magazines, I’ve learned the most from her allowing me autonomy, to make mistakes and learn from them, truly trusting me to get the job done. She, along with AW Publisher Melinda Garvey, gave me my first real job out of college, and for all the life lessons that came along with that, I am forever grateful.

Austin Woman gives a voice to the women of this city and a place to turn each month. With every issue, I’m reinvigorated by the flourishing female spirit and inspirational stories that help make Austin what it is today. The lessons learned from the female perspective gracing AW’s pages are

insurmountable and nearly impossible to encapsulate. I’ve done my best to articulate the wisdom many of these women have passed down.

Ballet Afrique Founder China Smith taught us about the power of dance and how teaching children to love themselves in order to love others can transform a community. Novelist Elizabeth Crook exhibited the power of the written word coupled with extensive research. Psychedelic jazz band Jitterbug Vipers solidified that finding your tribe is essential and that it can be found in the least likely places. Musician Elizabeth McQueen taught us about being vulnerable within the work we create and that life doesn’t end when you get married or have children, contrary to what society seems to tell women. Entrepreneur Magatte Wade taught us to never compromise what you ultimately want in business and in life, proving that you really can have it all.

The lessons in every issue of Austin Woman make it an invaluable resource, as we seek out women who are unafraid to speak their truths, laying a foundation for those of us who may be less inclined to do so. This ongoing conversation among Austin’s women has allowed me to find my own voice in the process.

Sadly, by the time we go to print on this issue, I will have left AW. While it was a tough decision, I blame the 60-plus women I’ve interviewed for the magazine, who, through their own hard-earned successes, have encouraged me to pursue my career goals and challenge my comfort zone in order to reach new heights. These are the female trailblazers and the everyday heroes who make our city awesome and who make us at Austin Woman get up and go to work every day. We hope their stories encourage you as well, to learn it’s never too late to change your course, find your voice and unearth your passion.

November’s Last Word topic will be “My Home-makeover Disaster.”

To be considered, email a 500-word submission by Oct. 1 to submissions@awmediainc.com.

96 | Austin Woman | september 2015

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