The Boss of You

So, I’ve been meaning to write this post for more than a week now, but in all of our pre-SXSW insanity, there hasn’t been time. No wonder, what with hiring a new staffperson *yay! more on that later), and all the furniture-ordering, computer-setup, software-installing, and so on that goes along with that — not to mention the run-of-the-mill craziness that comes with both of us taking a full week away from the office. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we’ve also started the interview process for our book, and boy oh boy has that ever been fantastic! Thanks so much to everyone who has shared their precious time and energy with us on that front; we are now more convinced than ever that our book is going to rock. Hard.

Anyway, I thought that those of you who are coming to SXSW in Austin might like to know why we selected our fabulous co-panelists: Alex, Jenny, and Vickie.

We met Alex years ago, when we were editing Soapboxgirls. She profiled us on her Another Girl at Play website, and over the years we stayed in touch, our online lives intersecting from time to time. Alex is such a multi-talented woman that we are perennially inspired by her, whether it’s her sage and down-to-earth career advice, her incredible eye for style, or her adventures as a world traveller. Not only that, she’s a hub — one of those people who seems to know simply everyone, or everyone cool anyway. Once you know Alex, you’re connected to a network of other incredible people doing fabulous things with their lives.

Jenny Hart is someone we’ve admired from afar for a long time. Her creative spirit, and her business success — not to mention her ubiquitous presence in all the cool indie media outlets (Bitch, Bust, Venus, and ReadyMade) — made her an obvious fit for our panel. (Plus, she’s a founding member of the Austin Craft Mafia, and we just gotta represent them on the Boss Lady panel!)

Vickie Howell is another Craft Mafiosa whose accomplishments could fill a book: author, knitter, television host, Stitch ‘n’ Bitch founder, yarn designer, helmswoman for several businesses, and oh yes, mother to two children. Holy smokes. I’m particularly blown away by her new yarn collection (particularly “Rock”, where each colourway is named after a rock icon), which is made out of lovely-sounding eco-materials like bamboo, silk, organic cotton, hemp, and something called “milk fiber”. (Anyone want to enlighten me on that one? I suppose I could just ask Vickie…) We’re so fortunate to have Vickie on board, especially as SXSW falls hard on the heels of her recent book tour.

We’re going to talk about things like what you need to know when you’re starting your own business; how to market yourself online; staying true to your values and creating your own definition of success; the highs and lows of our own business stories; what we would do differently if we could go back in time; and, as they say, much more. We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a jam-packed hour of information and insights from women who are running successful ventures, both on- and offline. Our panel runs from 5pm to 6pm on Saturday, March 10th. We hope to meet some of you there!

(Oh, and pardon the non sequitur, but congratulations to Vickie and her beau, Dave, who recently got engaged! G’ahead and read the story — it’s a good one.)