She's In The City By Nasheville

As we approach the holiday season with speed, we’re not going to talk gift guides and travel tips. We’re not going to celebrate the perfect Thanksgiving spread or Christmas decor. We’re going to talk about rest. I know, I know what you’re thinking. REST?? This is the single most hectic, busy, party-filled season of the year, and you think any of us will have time to rest? I hear you on that. And a little more than a year ago, I would have felt just the same way. But a lot of my personal struggles this year have given me no other option but to slow down. Pushing harder didn’t get me further faster, it got me broken down quicker. And regardless of how much we love Christmas and many things about this season, I feel like all of us, especially as women, we push so hard we end up breaking down. I mean holidays are parties and shopping and cooking and traveling and all the things we love on Pinterest but kind of hate in practice. And yes, it’s supposed to be a time of celebration and fellowship and joy. But it’s al

ENDURANCE IS DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO WITHSTAND HARDSHIP OR ADVERSITY; ESPECIALLY THE ABILITY TO SUSTAIN A PROLONGED STRESSFUL EFFORT OR ACTIVITY. If that doesn’t sum up year one of a start up business venture, I just don’t know what does.  One year ago today, we walked into a stunning space filled with plush pink couches, gorgeous flower arrangements, full merchandise shelves, and champagne stocked bars without much more than a calling and a website. With outpourings of help from friends, family, and local businesses, we’d set a big stage for a big project with dreams far bigger than 365 days could realize. But the dreams we have lived out and the successes we have achieved this first year have left us overwhelmed with excitement for all that is to come. In this very special one year anniversary episode, Brooke and I take y’all unedited and behind the scenes of NaSHEville – the laughs, the losses; the struggles, the surprising successes; glimpses at what we’ve given up and what we’ve gained. In order to end

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

Starting today and running through October 30th, She’s in the City is hosting a series called More Precious Than Gold – because all of us are just that! The series will encourage women of all ages on endurance in various seasons of depletion and disappointment and was inspired from the following passage in 1 Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1 Peter 1:6-7  Each week’s episode will focus on a different season of trial or weariness we face as women. Which begs the question: what if this week’s season doesn’t apply to me? My encouragement is LISTEN ANYWAY! If you haven’t yet experienced something, it’s likely a loved one or dear SHE around you has. We hope in those cases, our talks in the coming weeks can foster compassion in you a

You know when you have that golden idea, that perfect dream for a business that no one has done yet and that everyone needs? Mollie Lacher made mine into reality. While entrepreneurs field their business gems from any number of muses and experiences, Mollie and I share a similar one that lead her to founding Sunny Care Services – a concierge and planning services for families who have recently lost a loved one. Mollie worked for years a successful project manager for Bridgestone, fulfilled and propelled in all her achiever, enneagram 3-ness to grow into the corporate framework of the company. But upon the tragic loss of her brother-in-law, Mollie discovered an overwhelming absence in the way families suffering loss were served. She watched her family flounder in the fresh grief of their loss without any direction on what to do, how to do it, or when it needed to be done. Mollie’s natural tendency to step in and get things done left her largely responsible for the endless number of loose ends to tie up and dec

Kathy Thomas is the founder of Collective615, a new to Nashville co-working space designed by women, for women. The space is slated to open by fall of this year and will provide a feminine locale for solopreneurs, start-ups, small teams, and women working remotely. Located in West Nashville in a 1929 hosiery factory, Collective is giving a modern facelift to 20th century narrative: women work harder, smarter, and better together. Adorned with crushed velvet, stimulating color palettes, and floor-to-ceiling windows, they’re bringing the sexy back into successful. After leaving a lucrative, corporate sales position to start her own photography business, Kathy found the key element missing from public and co-working spaces was women! “I didn’t feel empowered by all the masculine designs, environments, and colleagues. The spaces never felt like my office space. They felt like someone else’s I was working in.” So she’s changing the game. When you walk into Collective, it will feel feminine, but it won’t feel like

Who loves the way their hair looks when it’s blown out, but who has the time to blow theirs out?? This week on She’s in the City, we got a glimpse of the heart behind the hair with Ali Ryan of The Dry House. Though her relocation to Nashville over five years ago from New Jersey was far from planned, it didn’t take long after planting roots for Ali to draw up some plans of her own. Denied for more than a dozen jobs at local salons in spite of her impressive resumé, the fearless entrepreneur took her fate in this new city seriously, so she took it into her own hands. “I sat down with myself and knew I [was] either going to make myself a job, or I [was] going to have to leave this city,” she tells us. And since even a Jersey girl knows southerners love to look good, she set out to build what she’d seen have great success in her hometown in Nashville. A huge risk for a new Nashvillian with virtually no community or local support group, fear still didn’t have a place in Ali’s picture of what her salon could be. “S

“If it’s not making me happy, making me money, or making me better… I’m busy.” For the next several weeks, She’s in the City will be sharing the stories struggle, success, and faith that led some bada** Nashville businesswomen onto the entrepreneurial stage. Our Why Nashville? Why Now? series kicks off today with a look at Brooke and I’s journeys to launching NaSHEville, the inception of which took place one year ago this week! Because neither of our life-long business plans started with sights set on women’s apparel, we share more about our previous business ventures – obstacles faced, tough lessons learned, and the convictions and challenges in our faiths that launched us out of comfort zones and into NaSHEville. We take honest looks at our shared Enneagram 3-ness as well as our differences in desire to create versus drive to complete.  Are you more Brooke-minded? “I knew I would create my own brand one day.” Or Mattie minded? “I knew I could build anything I set my mind to and wanted to prove it.” We walk

This week on She’s in the City, we’re celebrating CMA Festival week and talking with one of Nashville’s up-and-coming female artists, Rachel Wammack. The Alabama native hit the ground running in the Nashville music scene three years ago, and her résumé has since accrued quite the credentials. She is not only a part of this year’s CMT Next Women of Country and Bobby Bones Class of 2019, she spent some time on the road with Brett Young and has performed on stages at the Grand Ole Opry, Tortuga Music Festival, Statecoach, and will play twice this week during CMA Fest. Steeped in the roots of southern blues, Rachel found her heart for music as a child growing up in Muscle Shoals, AL, a long-standing recording hub for many of the greats including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Etta James. She began on the piano at a very young age, and though resisting her mother’s request for lessons then, she still includes some intimate, raw moments showcasing just herself and her piano as part of her shows today.  “It is s

  This week on She’s in the City, we’re hanging out with the ladies behind Love One International, our official partner serving vulnerable children and their families in Uganda. The why for Love One was spurred on the heels of founder Suzanne Mayernick’s first international adoption when she brought home her precious, now 13 year old, Josie Love. When Suzanne found Josie at 3, she didn’t walk or talk, having been left not only without family but also suffering from tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV. With very little local understanding or resources for treating these illnesses, Suzanne’s heart was overcome by the medical and spiritual needs of thousands of children like Josie Love. “I WATCHED THIS SHELL OF A CHILD TURN INTO THE VIBRANT LITTLE GIRL SHE NOW IS, WHO TRULY IS A RAY OF SUNSHINE EVERYWHERE SHE GOES,” SUZANNE SAYS. AND THE REST IS HISTORY. Love One is now a community based, non-profit organization serving highly physically at risk children from villages in and around Misindi, Uganda. Suzanne and her da

Not yet having children myself, I watch young women and dear friends chartered on the treacherous path to raise young girls in 2019, and all I can do is pray! As did many of yours, my parents brought up three daughters in an era that while far from the Leave it to Beaver landscape seems worlds away from what young parents navigate now. Parenting today must feel like walking out eighteen years on a field littered with landmines of social media, cyber bullying, naked Snapchats, and as much as we hate to admit it, physical predators. In fact statistics show that 1 in every 3-5 women will be sexually assaulted at one point in her life and that someone is physically assaulted every 98 seconds in the US. I say all this not to lead a plunge into paranoia, but to champion women and men alike who are being proactive with tactics of self-defense. To open all of our eyes as women young and old to the realities of a vulnerable world and to train our hands how to unlock the power that is inherent in all of us to protect t

his week on She’s in the City, we sit down with Laura Lea Bryant, founder of LL Balanced. As we spring rolls into summer, we wanted a refresher on the how-to’s and can-do’s of balanced eating. Laura Lea is a certified holistic chef, recipe developer, cookbook writer, and wait for it, a Nashville native just like us! On this week’s episode, we’ll talk everything from stocking staples in our pantry and shifting our mindsets so diet change is achievable to Laura Lea’s personal seasons of trial and anxiety that ultimately led her to peace, passion, and success.  One of many things we love about Laura Lea is that she practices exactly what she preaches – balance! She doesn’t cut out whole food groups, she doesn’t count calories and carbs, she simply encourages us to keep it balanced. “I’M AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOOD LOVER,” SHE LAUGHS.  Having grown up in Nashville in a family with regular home-cooked meals, many of her dishes have delicious southern roots. “There’s a time and a place for indulgence,” she tells us,

On this episode, we sit down with Courtney Whitmore, founder of Pizzazzerie, our go-to guide all things entertaining and style! On her “good ole blog,” as she calls it, Courtney brings us everything from easy, staple party décor and stunning tablescape themes to daily recipe and cocktail tips. She is a three time published cookbook and entertainment book author and is in the throes of writing her fourth as we speak. In addition to the Pizzazzerie blog platform and books, Courtney is a creator and content contributor for major leaguers like Better Homes & Gardens, HGTV, Target, Pier1, and MarthaStewart.com.   But this stylish, southern hostess-with-the-mostess didn’t always have her sights set on the culinary and the creative. Undergraduate study at Vanderbilt brought and kept Courtney in Nashville, after which she worked as a career counselor for the university. After some time of feeling tethered to her office and burdened in a job that didn’t feed her vibrant spirit, she resorted to throwing small dinne