From the Drafts: Quotes Worth Saving
At Women of Cincy, our feature articles are in the Q&A format because we want our interviewees to speak to our audience in their own words. However, as journalists and editors, sometimes quotes get cut for time or clarity. Editors live and die by time and clarity, and editing for these principles is a daily practice in all newsrooms, including ours.
These are some of the quotes from our interviews that were deleted from an original piece because either it didn’t fit with the rest of the article, or the interviewee had already said something to a similar effect earlier in the interview, and it didn’t make sense to rephrase it. There’s nothing wrong with any of these quotes; we’d have loved to have included them in the original story, but time and clarity must always prevail. Think of these as “deleted scenes,” they’re great but didn’t have space in the original piece.
We still find these quotes inspiring, and we don’t believe they deserve to stay in the drafts forever – find wisdom in the words that were left unheard.
Interviews and photos by the Women of Cincy staff.
Monique Gilliam on forging your path.
Interview by Kristyn Bridges. Photography by Stacy Wegley.
Do what works for you because everybody’s journey and path are going to be different. Some of us have to go through some pretty significant changes to be our greater selves. And honestly, formal education isn’t necessarily the path everyone should take. Knowing what I know now, I wish that I would have walked on this entrepreneurial path at a younger age and made a name for myself instead of working for someone else [at a corporate office]. The work I’m doing now, I feel passionate about.
Working in a nonprofit, for me, is the type of work that is rewarding. Other people may love to be in the corporate sector – it’s what they thrive on – and that’s great! How else would we have the brokers and the wheelers and dealers that we have? It really should be about what moves you and what you are called to do. Whatever that is, live by that.
Em Joy on finding power through your talent.
Interview by Michaela Rawsthorn. Photography by Aurore Fournier.
The advice I give is to think about your passions and your skillset. Say you’re a person who can write well or has a gift of language, then maybe your activism is through your writing – writing letters to legislators or op-eds. Or perhaps you can do academic research to support the work others are doing.
If your gift is cooking, do that. The people in these movements need caretakers. Activist movements are built in kitchens, and they’re built in living rooms. They’re built in homes where people with common minds come together to take action. The people who offer their homes, who feed others at meetings, are just as important as those of us going out onto the streets protesting.
The movement isn’t just people taking to the streets; the movement is making phone calls and supporting other people. It’s showing up to educational meetings. It’s donating money if you have the means and resources to give to organizations doing the work.
It is about finding that place where your skills and talents meet the needs of the movement.
Renee Seward on teaching across learning styles.
Interview by Kelly Carrigan. Photography by Katie Ferchen.
How do you connect with a community or students through your teaching when there are some barriers to understanding?
You find what takes hold. One thing about learning is that every person has an imprint for learning, and each one is just as unique as a fingerprint, and you have to figure what yours is. As an educator, you have to interact with your students. Get to know them! You might try many things before figuring out what helps this person learn.
Catherine Manabat on redefining the homemaker.
Interview by Gina Regan. Photography by Chelsie Walter.
That rebelliousness and that idea of, “You can be whoever you want” is really meaningful for women. I think the biggest thing is you're not less of a woman if you decide not to stay at home and have kids by the time you're X years old. Or you're not less of a woman if you do. Nobody decides for us anymore. We decide for ourselves who we want to be. I love the idea that the title homemaker isn’t assigned to a gender. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. You don’t ever want to feel like you’re living up to someone else’s standards of a successful woman and what it means to “have it all.” There are impossible expectations that are put on women. You feel like you have to try twice as hard to feel like you’re being heard.
Dr. Angelica Hardee on grocery store access in urban environments
Interview by Tracy Van Wagner. Photography by Stacy Wegley.
The American Heart Association is new in the game when it comes to healthy food access here locally. I love that work! I brought it with me from the Health Collaborative and have really been involved with the Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council. I live in Bond Hill. I love it, but we only have one small grocery store. If you want to go to a full-service grocery store, where you have lots of options – vegetables, fruits – you have to drive to Norwood, take the bus, or walk. It’s a long walk!
I lived in Walnut Hills when they closed the Kroger there. I saw the impacts on that community. I remembered all of this when I had this opportunity to engage with the Food Policy Council. If people don’t have access to fresh produce, how do we expect them to be healthy? When thinking about the choices made when it comes to development, we need to think about the implications of what it means for a neighborhood to only have unhealthy food options surrounding it. When the only food accessible isn’t healthy, you’re less likely to make healthy choices. It’s not like people just decide, “I don’t want to be healthy.”
Shannon Anderson-Hammond on the importance of her organization, You Are Not Alone.
Interview by Kristyn Bridges. Photography by Angie Lipscomb.
If they feel like they’re depressed, “I have all of these negative thoughts,” or if they want to celebrate or need advice with careers and personal goals – they want to have that support system where they can be like, “Girl, guess what!” or “Girl, I’m feeling this way.” As women, we have such a closed-off boundary when it comes to meeting different women or having a new circle of friends. So, I wanted to give women a space to feel comfortable talking about whatever they want to and not feel like there’s a competition or people are looking at them in a negative light. I wanted to have a platform for women just to be themselves and have a voice.
Nahamani Yisrael on being entrepreneurial.
Interview by Kelsey Graham. Photography by Emily Palm.
I’ve learned that there’s always someone out there that needs what you have. It doesn’t necessarily matter if what you’re doing is changing the world, but that you’re helping to make someone’s life easier. I always tell my students there’s a big hole in everybody, and there’s something in us that just needs to be filled, and if you can figure out what that is and connect that with what you’re offering, then you’re always going to eat. You’re always going to have customers. What I’ve learned about entrepreneurship is that it’s really a matter of finding the people who need what you have, and then having those conversations with them to let them know that they need what you have.
So, you gotta do the marketing, you gotta do the branding, you gotta do all of that, but it’s all about building that connection and letting people know, “Hey, I can really help you with your problem.” Entrepreneurship is everywhere around us.
Kendra Davis on giving yourself grace.
Interview by Kristyn Bridges. Photography by Chelsie Walter.
I'm honest with my daughter, making sure that she knows that good days and bad days happen. It’s okay if something doesn’t get accomplished in a day; there’s always tomorrow. Keep focused on moving forward and be able to apologize to yourself. Sometimes you need to apologize to yourself, and that’s a big thing I try to teach her: It’s not about disappointing Mommy; did you disappoint yourself? Are you okay with what you did?
I love mindfulness – sometimes just breathing or taking her to the woods. Even sometimes in the morning, letting the kitchen get messy and making a smoothie is taking care of your mental health.
Dr. Pratima Shanbhag on what she loves about Cincinnati.
Interview by Chelsea Weaver. Photography by Nicole Mayes.
This city has so much to offer. There’s so much diversity here. People are interesting here, and the city is always changing to me, you know? Parts of the city I knew nothing about growing up, and I’m now learning more about them and finding all these different neighborhoods. The diversity here is so inspiring. There are different religious communities, immigrant communities, and diversity of thought. I love living in Cincinnati. It’s definitely my home.
Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from a beautiful hodge-podge of Cincinnatians. Nominate folks for us to spotlight.
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