She's In The City By Nasheville

We love when beautiful things are used for beautiful reasons. Like handmade jewelry that employs and supports Nashville’s homeless. On this episode of She’s in the City, we sat down with Alexis Cook, Co-Founder of Unlocked Nashville, a social enterprise jewelry company that employs people transitioning out of homelessness. That’s right, not only do the company’s funds company go toward securing wages, housing, careers, community, and confidence for Nashville’s homeless, but the actual hands behind the product and names on the payroll have been hired off the streets and set in motion for hope of a better future.  A Nashville native with compassion for humanity and compulsion to initiate change, Alexis launched Unlocked last year, her senior year as an undergrad at Vanderbilt, at age 22. She’d studied human organization and economics, but getting out of the classroom and onto the streets (figuratively and literally) left Alexis with what she laughingly calls, “an MBA on the fly.” The year prior, she had been fo

“WHAT IF THE PRIORITY AND METRIC FOR HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES ISN’T A NUMBER ON A SCALE OR A PHOTO ON INSTAGRAM, BUT IS REFRAMED IN LIGHT OF INTERNAL HEALTH AND CONFIDENCE IN THE INHERENT BEAUTY WE’RE ALL MADE WITH?” Let’s be honest. None of us are batting 1,000 when we look in the mirror. Even on our best days at our best weights, insecurity somehow slithers and deceives its way in. Women’s Health data tells us that 91% of American women are dissatisfied in some way with their bodies – 9 out of 10! Who are we to blame for this staggering issue? The $6 billion per year beauty, health, and fitness industry? To an extent, yes. While most corporations, health products, fitness instructors, and dietitians do have our ultimate health and longevity of life in mind, it’s no secret that many are toxic market machines, fueled by inauthentic-comparisons, empty promises, and disappointing how-to’s.  Doctors and nutrition specialists tell us that the “ideal, marketed female body type,” the kind we see promot

Staggering data from 2016 tells us that in the state of Tennessee alone, we see more than 8,000 children processed through the foster care system each year with less than 4,000 families willing to provide care. These children’s separation from family and/or consistent, stable home environments can be brief or tragically prolonged. Statistics even tell us that children who enter the system over the age of 8, have only a 20% chance of being fostered, which leaves them “aged out” after 10 years, after which many face homelessness. We share these numbers not to guilt or exhort, but to give a much needed context for the issue of foster care. One that no longer plays out like musical scenes from Annie, but one locked in a stalemate between much needed progress and antiquated, red-tape protocol. One I knew virtually nothing about before working with NaSHEville and amazing organizations like Bloom Family Design, whose founder and owner, Melissa, shares more on the issue with us on today’s podcast. We are also joined

NANDA SANTOS CO-FOUNDER A native Brazilian by way of Michigan, Nanda Santos sat down to share her new international platform for all women in business – entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives alike. The company is SHE-The Project. And for anyone, like me, who has ever sat in front of a spreadsheet or tax return or website smattered with coding at 5am or 11pm and needed desperately to phone a friend, Nanda may have your solution. Built after finding a disheartening lack of network when Nanda opened both her first business, a flower shop in Michigan, and her current photography company, Nanda Santos Photography, Nanda partnered up with friend and entrepreneurial powerhouse, Clavia Castilhos, fellow Brazilian in Toronto. Together the two crafted SHE-The Project, a global online platform providing Support, Help, and Empowerment to women in all industries, across all borders. SHE-THE PROJECT Get it? S-H-E. Even beyond the resources The Project will provide via networking tool kits, online classes, and essential

  Brand new podcast. Same great NaSHEville! We’ve finally done it. We’ve embraced that it’s 2019, and we’re here to take the NaSHEville blog and the hearts it represents to the next level! Be sure to subscribe to our “She’s in the City” podcast on all platforms podcasts are found, or stream them right here from the blog. Why a podcast? We have already felt overwhelmingly grateful for the community that has formed to support NaSHEville in our first few months of inception. We’ve got just as many SHE’S following from outside Tennessee as we do right here at home, and we wanted to make sure everyone could tune in, share the love, and spread the message of our organization. How will it be different from the blog? First and foremost, easy to listen! Ain’t nobody got time to sit down and read when they’re kicking butt, taking names, chasing kids, or serving their community. It will also allow a more intimate platform for us to share greater depth and detail with our guests and with our listeners. We want y’all to g