Welcome to The Fempire

Close your eyes and try to imagine a world without women. At least for me, it's impossible to picture. We are born from women. We are raised by women. We are taught by women. We are protected, and cared for by women. Women do so much for this world, and often get too little credit. Through this blog I plan to shine light on some of the amazing women in this world, and to give them the acknowledgement they deserve. I hope that you will join me on this journey as I highlight accomplishments from women not only in the Ithaca community, but around the world. I welcome you to what I call The Fempire

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It is impossible for me to talk about amazing women without talking about the woman who inspires me most, my mother. My mother, Judy, is the smartest, and most creative woman I have ever met. She grew up in a (very small) house with five other girls, not including my grandmother. Despite their differences in age and interests, they are the closest group of siblings I’ve ever seen. They taught me how important family is.

My mom and I, 2003.

My Aunts and Great Grandmother

My grandmother ran a ceramics shop out of their house, which taught the girls to appreciate creativity. My mom says that there was always something to paint, cross stitch or make. This passion to create continued through my mother’s whole life. Our house was always filled with arts and crafts and my mother was always encouraging us to make things. I think this is what allowed my sister and I to feel comfortable following the career paths we wanted. My older sister, Jessica, majored in Creative Art Therapy at Russell Sage College. She dreams of working with middle school and high school students as a counselor running therapy groups that use creative art therapy (if you haven’t heard of this, I encourage you to look it up!). My passion to create things came in a different form, writing and storytelling, which then became journalism. If my mom wasn’t as passionate, kind, and creative as she was she might have tried to steer us more towards jobs that would satisfy our wallets, and less towards jobs that would satisfy our hearts.

Left to right: Me, my mom, my sister Jessica.

My mother’s creativity didn’t just teach us to follow our hearts by letting us choose our own paths, she led by example. My mother wears many hats. During the day she works as Manager of NYS Education IT Portfolio and Business Analysis Services. Nights and weekends she spends making merchandise for her business Treecycled. Treecycled crafts are all made of recycled books that my mother turns into anything from paper flowers, to trees and even hedgehogs. She started this business in 2015, selling her things at craft fairs and through facebook. Now she has expanded to Etsy and gets steady orders year round. She plans to do this full time after retirement.

Some of the crafts sold through Treecycled.

My mother has done so much to inspire me, it’s hard to even put into words. She has filled our house with love and laughter. She has always made me feel like I have a safe place to go, and someone to turn to. She has taught me that you can travel the world, be filthy rich, have a fancy job, and still the most honorable thing you can possibly be is a mother.

My family