On one of the few non-muggy days this summer, I walked through the bright and bustling streets of Westwood to my neighborhood arcade, Wondercade. It’s a well-worn path. My kids and I make the trip often to this cherished piece of our community. This time, though, I wouldn’t be trying to beat my high score on Pac-Man or Q*bert. I was there to talk with Leslie Mattie Rich, Wondercade owner, life-long Westwood resident, and incredible creator of community. As the sounds of joy spilled in from outside the party room where we sat, Leslie shared her passion, and gift, for making space and place for the people around her.
Read More
Talking to Kelly Collette is so easy. From the moment I met her, it felt like I’d known her as a friend for years. She is the person you spend a Friday night with on the couch with a glass of wine, talking until 3 a.m. She is a warm, comforting presence wrapped in a mischievous smile, and finished off with a joke.
Kelly has toured comedy clubs and performed on stages across the country. She has headlined festivals, worked with the Cincinnati Reds, and opened for sold-out crowds. We met on a sunny afternoon in the middle of a buzzing Findlay Market – grills were smoking meat while families ate at nearby tables. Our conversation – filled with laughs and jokes – spanned from Kelly’s earliest days of open mic nights to the moments she said, “Oh, I’ve made it.”
You can see Kelly perform live at Sam Adams Taproom on October 6 along with fellow comedians Karinne Turnbow, Gretchen Schultz, and Ossia Dwyer! All ticket proceeds go toward Women of Cincy.
Read More
With the weather turning, and the Cincinnati summer fading as the months march on, our community continues to reveal hidden treasures, and I’m sure many of us only brushed the surface. With new and recurring events, gatherings, and get-togethers, there are numerous ways to support and connect with your community this autumn.
Read More
The Women of Cincy residency isn’t like any other journalism or communications internship; our residents are not nameless fact-checkers – we want them to leave with both professional and personal growth; we want them to go out into the world more confident and capable human beings.
Read More
On a sunny day in June, I was excited to sit down and talk with Priyanka Desirazu. She came highly recommended to Women of Cincy: biomedical engineer, STEM mentor, race car driver, chef, swimmer, world traveler. She is empowering young women to take up STEM education and STEM careers. Priyanka recently won the ‘Leader of Impact’ Award from the Entrepreneurs of Success organization. She is a speaker at events such as Girl Start: Women in STEM Series, STEMlytical, STEM 4 Everyone, and HerSTEM.
Read More
It only takes a few milliseconds to feel the sparking energy that radiates from Cynthia Lockhart—it’s the kind of glittering comfort you want to bottle up and drink when you’re having a low day. She exudes confidence through a contagious smile, fabulous wardrobe, and lively charisma; her words travel with passion and leave a residual feeling of encouragement.
Read More
Women of Cincy sat down with Brittney Kane, co-founder and executive director of Foreverland Farm to learn about her journey with this sanctuary for farm animals. Foreverland Farm’s mission is to provide a permanent, safe home and daily care for the most vulnerable animals, including those abandoned, abused, neglected, and slaughter-bound, while sharing their stories of survival and perseverance to create a more compassionate community.
Brittney’s love and admiration of the animals was front and center throughout our conversation and visit to the farm. She knows each of her 90 animals at the sanctuary intimately and cares deeply about providing them safety and peace to live out their days. Her compassion for these animals knows no bounds.
Read More
There may be no better place to spend a rainy Monday evening than amid the shelves of a cozy bookstore. Add coffee, laughter, and great conversation, and it’s instant magic.
This was the setting in early June when I sat down with Sheila Williams at Roebling Point Books & Coffee. Williams is the author of six novels, including Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, adapted into a Netflix film starring Alfre Woodard in 2018, The Secret Women, and the recently released Things Past Telling. Today, Williams calls northern Kentucky home, but she proudly notes that she is “a product of Columbus Public Schools.”
Read More
Cincinnati kicked off Pride Parade 2022 this past Saturday, June 25 in downtown Cincinnati. Thousands of people cheered, danced, and embraced – celebrating love in all forms. We asked local Pride goers to tell us what Pride is to them and why it’s important to celebrate publicly.
Read More
Each June for 35 years, Lydia Morgan has brought the Cincinnati community together to celebrate Juneteenth – gathering in Eden Park to eat, listen to music, dance, connect, and remember. Lydia takes us through the complicated feelings around the holiday, the family-friendly activities at the Festival, and relearning history through joy and celebration.
Read More
A career in fiction writing seemed out of reach for Emery, but she had been writing from a young age. She started writing with silly, sarcastic, and fun end-of-year newsletters that her parents sent out to their friends – in one, she talked about how her brother won the Nobel Prize at 10! So it makes sense that she eventually landed in writing young adult fiction and that she’s still writing today with five books published. Emery and I talked about being passionate about what you’re writing, the core questions at the center of books, and whether writers are our characters.
Read More
Each day begins with big toothy smiles,
But these tragic events have left us all in denile.
There is no answer or magic potion
No way to quell the brimming sea of emotions.
Read More
Sitting in Kate Hanisian’s office in the Y.M.C.A. on Elm Street, there are whiteboards covered with diagrams and Post-Its. There’s Play Doh on her desk. Her office is curated for creativity, for collaboration, for bringing people together, for problem solving. And that’s exactly what we talked about.
Read More
It’s a beautiful spring day, and I’m sitting at one of the picnic tables at Washington Park. The birds are chirping, music is in the air, and in the middle of everything, I find myself happy to sit down with…my gynecologist. While this may sound unusual, it’s actually the start of a very fun, light-hearted conversation with Dr. Shwetha Manoharan, a gynecologist with a devoted clientele, as evidenced in Cincinnati moms’ groups on Facebook.
Dr. Manoharan is a busy professional woman with young children of her own and a full schedule of patient visits. However, she was able to break away for a quick moment to talk to us about being a doctor, where she draws her strength from, and why you shouldn’t feel guilty about saying “no.”
Read More
Growing up in Hong Kong, visiting bakeries every day for bread or pastries for breakfast was a big part of my life. It was something I dearly missed when I moved to the United States. I had a hard time finding creative pastries until roughly two years ago when my roommate brought home some ube croissants from Cafe Mochiko. Since then, I witnessed how the business and its reputation grew.
As a pastry lover and cafe explorer, I was over the moon when I found out Mochiko opened up its own brick-and-mortar cafe on Madison Road. I visited the sunlit cafe on a chilly fall morning. As I was sipping my hojicha milk tea, it felt like home. That was the moment I decided to chat with the cafe owners.
From her childhood stories to getting a physical space for Cafe Mochiko during COVID time, co-founder and chef Elaine shared with us her journey of finding herself and her connection with communities through cooking and food.
Read More
Mothers are pathmakers for the younger generation. Caretakers who lead with courage, strength, and empathy – all values which we uphold at Women of Cincy. To little surprise, when asked who the most influential woman in their life is, many of our interviewees immediately thought of their mother.
Read More