Today we’d like to introduce you to Celina Colby.
Celina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started Trends and Tolstoy in 2011 because I was having trouble finding outlets that featured both style and intellectual topics. I wanted to illustrate that style and smarts aren’t mutually exclusive. Russian literature is one of my great cerebral passions and I felt that “Tolstoy” was synonymous with higher thought. Since then I’ve incorporated travel and art into the site. Now, Trends and Tolstoy is a multi-faceted business that takes me all over the world writing about cities, style, art, and literature.
The other half of my professional life, journalism, began much earlier. I wanted to be a writer from day one. As a child it was my responsibility to guide around my blind abuelo, a lifelong painter, and describe everything for him. He loved having me describe art, and as an artist himself he didn’t want to know what the image depicted but how it was made, what the brushstrokes looked like, what emotion it evoked. Ironically, it was the blind man who taught me how to look at art. Now, I continue those descriptions in my art reporting for outlets around Boston.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Carving your own path is never without challenges. My best advice is the hardest to take, be patient. It doesn’t happen all at once and it rarely happens the way you expect. I worked as a receptionist for two years to pay the bills while I built up freelance clients. It was miserable working a low-level job in an industry I wasn’t interested in while it seemed like everyone else was achieving wild success. But without those two years, I could never be working for myself now. It may start as a side gig, but with diligence and time, you can make your dream job a reality.
Also, keep in mind that things are never as easy as they appear. No one puts their extra three jobs on Instagram, but that doesn’t mean they’re not working them.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Trends and Tolstoy – what should we know?
I’m a journalist, blogger, and digital marketer. I run Trends and Tolstoy, an internationally recognized platform covering travel, art, and fashion for a demographic I like to call the “stylish intellectual.” I also report on the food and art scenes here in Boston for The Bay State Banner, BrooklineHub, and Exhale Lifestyle Media. As a Latina, I pride myself on covering artists of color and community based, activist projects. Particularly in Boston, artists of color almost never get their due, and I work every day to celebrate them.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
Books about badass women always light a fire under me. Most recently, I’ve read “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez, “The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia” by Susan Jaques and “Me, Who Dove Into the Heart of the World,” by Sabina Berman. They’re all by and about strong women.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://trendsandtolstoy.com
- Email: trendsandtolstoy@gmail.com
- Instagram: @trendsandtolstoy
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
