It all started one year ago. At that point, I hopped up on my soapbox one afternoon and ranted and raved about a topic that truly riled me up. I sometimes do that: don’t think before I write and instead, spew brain vomit onto my blog. I guess that’s the beauty of owning your website, right?!
Truly, I was shocked by the attention that singular post received. It was shared all over the flipping place. Magazines shared it on their Facebook walls, female outdoor groups circulated it through their networks, and thousands of readers posted it wherever they could. It made me feel good to know my word vomit had resonated with people. {It even led to The Bivy issuing an explanation of sorts that was–in a word–bullshit.}
All of these photos are by my husband…but the goal is to have photos of OTHER active women!
After that whole scene, I thought about my bottom line. My final takeaway was this: stop bitching and do something. Will is fond of telling me that I can’t complain about something if I’m not actively trying to fix the problem. Even though he ruffles my feathers when I’m angry about something, he is right. But what to do?
Enter: Anagha Bharadwaj
Right around this time, Anagha emailed me, asking to be my intern. She appreciated my perspective on the topic and wanted to help me do something about it. And that’s what we’re doing now: something.
Beginning in a few weeks, Anagha and I will be featuring cool, adventurous, active, outdoorsy, badass women on my blog. These features will be once per month on Wednesday; a new version of #WCW, if you will! Instead of focusing our attention on cleavage and butt grabbing, let’s put it somewhere more deserving: women that are doing stuff.
Who Is Eligible:
Anyone! Perhaps your neighbor is a 12-time marathoner who juggles a job, family and her running schedule? Great. Or your best friend is a mountain guide who leads guests up Denali on the regular? Fantastic. We’re looking for anyone who is doing their thing, doing it well, and inspiring others through her actions. We want to hear about all of them!
And if you’re a guy? That’s good too. If you think your story would be a great fit, I’d love to hear from you.
How to Apply:
You can let us know in one of a few ways:
1. Shoot us an email! JustAColoradoGal@gmail.com
2. Track us down on Facebook
3. Use the hashtag on Instagram for us to see: #JustAnOutdoorGal. We will contact you from there.
4. Leave a comment on this post, or any post really. I’m not picky!
Who Is Anagha?
Anagha is a budding writer and social justice enthusiast who drinks a little too much lemon-ginger tea. She loves to hug trees, and she’s just about convinced herself that they hug her back. The highlight of her life was the day she got within five feet of a baby deer, and he let her sit with him for a bit. She’s about 90% of the way to her yoga instructor’s certificate, and wants to eventually find a chill, social justice-oriented, environmentally-friendly studio that she can flow at. Anagha loves to leaf through the internet, get lost in novels, and reduce her carbon footprint by biking everywhere, reusing everything, and refusing to use straws or plastic micro beads that are “good for your pores.” In her spare time, she’s a law student in D.C.
She’s a strong believer in the idea that women don’t have to be naked/scantily clad in order to: run, jump, ski, throw, lift, compete, love themselves, or be on magazine covers. So often the focus is on what women look like, and people totally miss all the amazing things women are doing. It’s time to shift that focus by talking about what women do. Women are pretty amazing, and society so frequently misses the “amazing” for the “pretty;” this feels like a good time to change that.
What Do You Get Out Of It?
I’m not sure if that is really a point of interest, but figured I’d head it off anyway. No, you will not be financially compensated if interviewed….unless you consider virtual warm fuzzies as payment!
In all seriousness, the point of this project is to adjust the societal focus by focusing on awesome ladies. If you are looking for more, all I can offer is some attention. My blog isn’t massive, but it reaches 25-30k unique viewers per month {with roughly 50-55k pageviews}. Through all of my social media platforms, we’re looking at ~50k unique sets of eyeballs per month. That’s what I’ve got to offer you {and your blog, if applicable}!
How Will It Work?
Apply. Apply, apply, apply. Then nominate some other women. Maybe you know them, maybe you’re inspired by their Instagram photos. Whatever the case may be, put them on our radar!
Once that’s accomplished, we’ll compile a list and take it from there. Anagha will reach out to you for interview questions and photos. We’ll handle the rest. All you have to do is check back once your story is live!
Ready? Set? GO!
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