It's Our One Year Anniversary!

Today is the one year anniversary since Danielle's and my first meeting to discuss The Everygirl.

Wow. Cannot believe a year has flown by.

Funny all the hazy memories I have of times passed... yet, that meeting, I recall like it was yesterday.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon when I headed downtown, laptop in hand, and met Danielle in her apartment building lobby. She was running a little late. (I have since learned it takes her about five times longer than me to get out the door. Anytime. Regardless of where we're going. She checks her bag about a dozen times, only to leave and realize she left something behind. It's crazy all the little things we now know about one another.) But we barely knew each other then and had only hung out in person two or three times. Still, we knew we had a common goal. In fact, I have it written at the top of a google doc that was last edited 335 days ago: "Help real girls figure it all out." That was all we needed to know to get us working on a weekend afternoon while so many others were at the beach, having lunch, and enjoying summer. We left her place and walked around the block to the Caribou Coffee on Kingsbury, found a small table near the window, and settled in for what would be a three-hour conversation. (The first of many.)

We began discussing... I had at least half a dozen questions for any idea she proposed (a regular habit of mine, as well, that she has likely grown all too familiar with). She mentioned her favorite quote from 13 Going on 30 and wanting to see real, relatable girls as inspiration. I mentioned wanting to see in-depth career profiles on accomplished women with dream jobs. The topic of Will this be a magazine or a website was greatly debated, and that debate continued for at least a month afterward, along with what the name should be...

Names we actually considered:
Nori
The Southport (this domain, believe it not, was available for $17,000!)
The Southport Stop
22
Twenty 2
She Creates
a few French words - things like "to create" "to grow" "to be" "to inspire" - that we realized no one would know how to pronounce or spell

Seriously - aren't we all glad it's The Everygirl?

behind the scenes with Ashlina Kaposta, New York City, November 2011

behind the scenes of Three Looks with Liz Schneider, February 2012

behind the scenes of Cooking with Blood Oranges, March 2012

behind the scenes of How to Style an Entryway, January 2012

Six months. It took us six months of discussion, planning, designing the site (which we did ourselves), figuring out how to build the website, registering as an LLC, planning features, reaching out to features, a trip to NYC, recruiting writers and photographers, and helping spread the word leading up to our February launch.

launch night // February 21, 2012

The rest you could say is history... The Everygirl has allowed us to meet, interview, and feature so many extremely talented women and personal role models. Bloggers, entrepreneurs, designers, stylists, PR execs, authors. We've launched a book club with Random House. We hosted our first event at BHLDN with partnerships from some of our favorite brands (Sprinkles Cupcakes! Smilebooth!). We flew to Boston and are headed to New York again next month. And tonight, exactly one year later, we are heading to the suburbs to work on a project with Banana Republic. A brand I've been wearing since I was in sixth grade! Crazy.

behind the scenes of How to Style a Coffee Table

with Caitlin and Danielle at The Everygirl event at BHLDN, hair by Salon Buzz // May 2012

And while it's been one crazy and rewarding ride, by far the most important outcome is that we've done what we set out to do: inspire women. There are readers who have taken the time to send us emails, and handwritten notes, and comments, and Facebook and LinkedIn messages, and Tweets saying The Everygirl is the first site they check in the morning and our feature archives serve as constant reinforcement to follow their dreams. The Everygirl has inspired them to go back to school. To change careers. To start cooking or budgeting or investing or picking up a new hobby or starting a blog. So to all of you who took the time to write us, and everyone who logs on every day and heads over to TheEverygirl.com, thank you so much.

We are so honored and humbled our content inspires and empowers women. And we promise to strive to continue in our mission.