The editorial team has a special attachment to our new series, The Trailblazers: Rewriting the Narrative, because so many of us feel that media portrayals of women have been too one dimensional. Today, women are doing incredible things in all fields – from science and technology to finance, law, business, athletics and more. With the Trailblazers series, we hope to highlight and celebrate female role models, encourage more equal and just representation in the media, and help foster a more tight-knit community locally helping women find mentors, business partners, friends and more.
Below, you’ll find some incredible trailblazers from in and around Fenway, Symphony, and Jamaica Plain that we hope you will check out, follow and support.
Stephanie Craig
When I was a senior, a friend of mine discovered there was a tiny darkroom hidden among the halls of our high school. It hadn’t been used in years but we fought to get the key and used it as an independent study. The equipment and chemicals were out of date and we had no idea what we were doing but before I knew it, I was spending more time here than in my other classes. A darkroom is a magical place and we’re unfortunate to have so few of them around these days. Read more>>
Cristin Doyle
I was convinced I should go to school for photography but that poster stuck out in my mind and I decided to visit the school in person and see for myself. From then on, I realized my true passion was working with people helping them to feel more beautiful on both inside and out. I began cutting my teeth in the industry by starting my career on Newbury Street in Boston, learning about advanced skin care techniques and the beauty industry as a whole. Read more>>
Lisa Goren
I am a witness. Having read about and dreamed of Polar landscapes since I was a teenager, twenty years ago, I traveled to Antarctica inspired by the frozen disastrous expedition of Scott, and by the unbelievable successes of Shackleton. I brought along watercolors – water to paint water. Read more>>
Erica Kirkwood
Our skincare coach will guide you and up to three other guests simultaneously through the DIY face mask process. We use non-toxic ingredients within all of our products. Each face mask is formulated in small batches using ingredients packed with minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins that help improve and rejuvenate your skin. Read more>>
Stephanie Rondeau
I first developed a passion for health and wellness years ago, following my own struggle with disordered eating throughout high school and college. However, my professional background is in sports medicine, and I worked as an athletic trainer at the high school and collegiate level for 11 years before leaving after the birth of my daughter in 2016. Read more>>
Felicia Deneane
The sense of control I could yield with my body was both empowering and satisfying. It sparked a curiosity in me that fed my work tremendously. Sexually charged body parts, and the politics that are assigned to them, still inform my work today. Read more>>
Beth Yap
Good songs come out of bad times. This is the philosophy behind the music of singer-songwriter-bassist bittymacbeth. She’s gone from indie one-woman-band live-looper to innovative producer and bandleader – her most recent single. Read more>>
Lizi Ham
A couple years ago, I decided to hop on the denim jacket trend, but I wanted my jacket to go beyond keeping me warm by also saying something about my personality. All of the jackets I found were either too expensive or had designs that I had already seen before. I have always been driven by the unique so I figured I would simply paint myself my own jacket. That way, I would have complete artistic control and mine would be the only one of its kind. So, I found a design I liked on the internet, bought some paints, and unintentionally created my first Lizi Phoenix jacket. Read more>>
Christina Kostoulakos
Ever since I was a little girl, I had an itch to perform. My grandparents used to babysit me and they noticed my love for music and dance, so they enrolled me in dance lessons when I was about four years old. I continued that for a few years and as I got older, my desire to sing kept growing. I wanted to perform on stage so badly, but I was always too nervous to audition for anything. In middle school, I finally worked up the courage to audition for the play, “Oklahoma’ but as soon as I got on stage and started to sing, stage fright got the best of me and I ran off! I was mortified. I realized that I had to fix this so eventually at the age of 14, I started taking voice lessons. Read more>>
Lillie Marshall
I began my sites in 2009 when I took a leave of absence from teaching to travel the world alone for a year. When I left the country, I was burned out on education and New England, but getting that global perspective (particularly the months spent teaching in Ghana) renewed my passion for being an educator, and have informed and strengthened my teaching in Boston ever since I returned home. That time abroad also made me realize how much I love my home city! Read more>>
Seantel Trombly
When I first moved to Boston in 2013 to study architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology, I immediately started to discover the ways a diverse city community would alter the way I viewed myself. Soon after living on my own, I started to really uncover a lot of things about myself. Read more>>
