Raised By Women, Chapter 1: Dr. Sandra Combs
I’m overjoyed to see Dr. Sandra Combs walk through the door of Roebling Point Books & Coffee on a rainy Sunday morning in February. I’m good friends with her whole vivacious family, and while she stands in line for a large coffee, we gush about her daughter Emily, who just found out she’ll be having a baby girl this June. We make our way to the comfy armchairs in the next room, and as she begins to tell me about her journey – sharing her gift as a speech pathologist, finding a home in Covington, and more – her bracelets jingle like a soundtrack to her words.
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Rachel Hodesh: Stories on Life and Aging
Rachel began her career in geriatric care at Glen Manor Home for the Aged in Bond Hill. She has a master’s degree in health and human services and is a licensed nursing home administrator, but she will tell you that her best experience – where she learned the most about aging – was working in Israel and the Chicago Housing Authority. Today, Rachel works for Queen City Home Care as a geriatric care manager and marketing coordinator, crediting her long career to the many seniors who have touched her life over 25 years. She’s a huge piece of the stories of innumerable seniors throughout Cincinnati.
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Because of Her: A Celebration of Cincinnati Moms
From those first steps to that first heartbreak to the first moment we master a generation-old family recipe, mothers have been through it all. Our relationships with our mothers vary: whether we can’t get enough of their advice and support, or sometimes it feels like we have too much of it, moms continue to shape the stage that we dance upon.
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Leslie Stevenson: Building a Council on Community
Leslie Stevenson made history last year when she became the first African American to run for City Council in Norwood. And in November, Norwood voters made history when they elected her, the first African American Council member in the city’s 129-year history.
Women of Cincy recently had a chance to talk with Stevenson about Norwood’s past and present, and how her work in the nonprofit sector led her to public service.
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Rachel Roberts: Leap and Trust
A happy childhood didn’t keep Rachel Roberts from leaving her hometown of Cincinnati the moment high school was over. From her start as a ski bum and whitewater rafting guide to her positions in the corporate world, she built a life in Colorado that hit all the adult milestones – some good, some not so good. She married, divorced, and discovered yoga. But it was on a solo trip around the world where she finally found her future and her way back home.
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Julie Fay: Preserving Treasures
Iris Book Cafe was the perfect spot to spend a cold and rainy Sunday morning, surrounded by books and the comfortable crowd while sipping coffee, listening to Julie Fay’s story, and looking at pictures of her past projects in Over-the-Rhine and her current project: the Imperial Theater in Mohawk.
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Stories Behind the Booze: Listermann’s International Women’s Day Artists
In this special edition of Stories Behind the Booze, we sat down with three artists on an uncharacteristically warm and sunny mid-March day. The trio came together over Listermann Brewery’s International Women’s Day event to create beer label designs.
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Tamia Stinson: Cincinnati Style
Start a fashion blog before it was mainstream hip? Check. Co-launch Over-the-Rhine’s super popular Second Sunday on Main and one of its first pop-up shops? Check. Land a coveted magazine stylist position? Check. Run your own podcast? Check. Win a prestigious grant to work on a project you’ve dreamed about for years? Check. Be an all-around badass cool cat? Check.
And the list goes on. Tamia Stinson is a creative pioneer in Cincinnati. Let’s dive in to our conversation, which took place at Iris BookCafe in Over-the-Rhine.
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Leah Stewart: Writing Is a Weird Career
Leah Stewart is a novelist, with six published books and a 10-year history in Cincinnati. Her newest book, What You Don’t Know About Charlie Outlaw, will be released March 27.
We talked about her latest book, the weird career of writing, perspective on place, and her lovably eccentric neighborhood of Northside. Our conversation unraveled in her office at the University of Cincinnati, where she is head of the English department.
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Morgan Owens: A Babe in Business
On a rainy morning, we sat down with Morgan Owens, entrepreneur and founder of Curvy Cardio. Morgan brought her own sunshine to the conversation as she spoke about helping young women boost their self-esteem and empowering them to be better every day.
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Lauren Eylise: Life, Death, and Black Girl Magic
People don’t always find it easy to reveal their true selves. Singer-songwriter Lauren Eylise, on the other hand, welcomes you with a smile and vivid stories. She’s expressive as she spills her convictions and details new music that’s on the way. We’re huddled in one of her favorite spots in Over-the-Rhine, 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab.
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Mary Ellen Mitchell: From House to Home
Five years ago, Mary Ellen Mitchell co-founded Lydia's House with her friend Meridith Owensby and husband, Ben Eilerman. Mitchell was expecting her second child and Eilerman, an architect, had a full-time job. Both Mitchell and Owensby had left their positions with local nonprofits. It wasn't, Mitchell acknowledges, an ideal time to be starting a nonprofit organization.
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Christa Hyson: ‘Keeping my sunshine.’
Christa Hyson had worked in public health for years, navigating government, health statistics, and community needs. But when she moved back to Cincinnati, she was struck by the devastation that the opioid epidemic was causing on her hometown. She started researching prevention programs and discovered a curriculum called HOPE (Health and Opioid Abuse Prevention Education).
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The Confidence of Glam: Shanequa Johnson
On a cold winter day in early December, Shanequa Johnson, founder of Barcode Glam, had her business displayed in a shoe- and accessory-packed pop-up boutique in College Hill. When I walked in, hip hop music was playing in the background, and I immediately felt surrounded by glam.
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Annie Woods: The Richest Life
It was 6 degrees above zero when we started the 30 minute drive from Cincinnati to Dark Wood Farm. It was 3 degrees by the time we arrived. We knocked on the door of the small cabin set back along the treeline, hoping for a quick reply and shelter from the cold. The door swung open immediately, and we were greeted with the ready smile of Annie Woods, along with the much appreciated sound of soup bubbling on the stove.
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Nancy Yerian: Reflecting on Vibrant Kin
One drizzly Monday in December, we sat down with Nancy Yerian. We drank coffee, ate muffins, and talked about Nancy’s journey to becoming a public historian. She shared her experiences finding a sense of community in the Ohio Lesbian Archives, managing heavy workloads, and the creation of the Vibrant Kin exhibit.
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Abigail Murrish on Our Midwestern Life
Abigail Murrish is Hoosier turned Ohioan, a born and bred Midwesterner. A year ago, she started a podcast, “Our Midwestern Life,” to tell the stories and share the wisdom of all the people around her. Women of Cincy sat down with Murrish to talk about the podcast, life in Cincinnati, and the differences between the national idea of the Midwest and real life here in the center of the United States.
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Lourdes Ward: Forever the Reach Out Lady
We chatted with Lourdes Ward on a drizzly Saturday morning in her office in West Chester. The Director Emeritus of Reach Out Lakota sits at her desk, “a nice one from Costco” that she says is a bit of an improvement over the green metal table in between clothing racks that she used when she first became director of the pantry 25 years ago.
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Sheryl Rajbhandari: ‘I’m Not Going to Fear the Hate’
Walking into the Wave Pool art gallery, temporary home for The Welcome Project, I was greeted by a flurry of activity. Sheryl Rajbhandari, her mother Shirley Richards, volunteers, and a group of refugee women meet there every Monday through Thursday for what they call “girl time.” Everyone is happy, laughing, and smiling as they participate in the week’s sewing project, creating passport covers for the Pasaporte Program, which processes passport applications for children who are unable to do so themselves. You can feel the camaraderie, even though many of the women don’t speak English.
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Women of Cincy: The Origin Story
Sometimes the best things happen by accident.
Around 6 a.m. on January 20, 2017, I woke up feeling unsettled. A divisive election had come and gone, but it felt like an unprecedented cloud of negativity was only just starting to gather. Even friends and families who would usually put their differences aside were attacking one another. What ever happened to simply seeing one another as people?
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