The editorial team has a special attachment to our new series, The Trailblazers: Rewriting the Narrative, because so many of us feel that media portrayals of women have been too one dimensional. Today, women are doing incredible things in all fields – from science and technology to finance, law, business, athletics and more. With the Trailblazers series, we hope to highlight and celebrate female role models, encourage more equal and just representation in the media, and help foster a more tight-knit community locally helping women find mentors, business partners, friends and more.
Courtney Collins
I started my hair journey in 2011. I graduated cosmetology and found a job in a high end salon as an assistant. I would go back and forth with being on “floor” and working behind the desk. I eventually became assistant to the owner of the salon which then led me to earning my own chair. Read more>>
Julia Kosta
My husband and I started our construction business with one simple goal: deliver quality work we can stand behind. He was a construction engineer in Albania for eight years before we moved to the U.S., and since 2019 we’ve been building our company step by step. I handle permits, project management, and client communication, while also studying architecture to grow our expertise even further. Read more>>
Carolyn Fenley
EcoClean Guardians began sitting in traffic. Like many New Jersey residents, I found myself stuck on highways lined with litter plastic bags tangled in guardrails, bottles floating in waterways, debris scattered along on-ramps and neighborhoods we call home. I kept thinking: Why does this feel normal? Read more>>
Anabella Mostoslavsky
My story in occupational therapy began in Argentina, long before I ever called myself a therapist. I grew up watching my mother work. She was a pediatric occupational therapist with her own practice, and she also worked in schools. Sometimes she would take me with her. I remember sitting quietly in therapy rooms, watching children walk in unsure and leave a little stronger. Read more>>
Heather Corrigan
I didn’t plan to become a life-transition specialist. I became one because life kept putting people in front of me who were in the middle of their hardest moments. I started my real estate career in Bergen County, New Jersey, and early on I noticed a pattern. The clients who needed the most help weren’t the ones buying their dream home on a sunny Saturday. Read more>>
Amanda Flores
My journey into beauty and wellness has been anything but traditional, and I truly believe every step prepared me for where I am today. Before founding Deflor Beauty Artistry, I owned and operated a successful construction and home improvement company from 2016 to 2025. We managed multiple job sites and created beautiful, safe spaces for families. Read more>>
Sophie Soto
My whole life has been surrounded by plants and nature! My first job was at Centre Ridge Garden Center in Nutley when I was 16 years old. The garden center was down the street from my house and I worked there consistently for 8 years. This amazing little place is what sparked my love for plants, flowers, & nature. Read more>>
Marcela Lopes
In 2014 I moved from Brazil to the United States on an exchanged program called Au pair. i was 22 and I wanted to learn the language and go on adventures! It was a 2 years program. After my contracted ended I continued to work as a nanny while figuring out I wanted to do with my life. Read more>>
Cynthia Shaw
Absolutely! My name is Dr. Cynthia Shaw, I am a licensed clinical psychologist and owner of Authentically Living Psychological Services, a NJ/NY-based boutique mental health group practice specializing in providing holistic, existential, and trauma informed servcies to adolescents and adults struggling with existential depression and angst, relationship challenges and loneliness, identity and meaning making, as well as trauma and grief. Read more>>
Denise Serrato, LCSW
Ever since I was about ten years old, I have been deeply curious about human behavior. I often wondered why people do what they do and what shapes the way they think, feel and interact with the world. From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a healer. Read more>>
INNA SHAPIRO
My life journey started in the beautiful city Odessa, Ukraine. I immigrated to the USA in 1990 and it felt almost like the beginning of a new life. It was a new life and a new adventure! My education and occupation always were in technical fields. I was an engineer and then a computer programmer. Read more>>
Irina Marcoff
The idea for TheraYouth began about 6 years ago with a simple but determined goal: to create a nonprofit clinic where children could receive the therapy services they need, regardless of their family’s financial situation. Read more>>
Aminah Green
My journey to entrepreneurship has been one. I have been on my entire life as a six-year-old. I joined a program at the Newark Boys and Girls Club because my older sister had joined, but there they taught a fundamentals of entrepreneurship so from the age of six I knew that I was gonna be an entrepreneur. Read more>>
Kate Zander
The paths Ellyn and I chose weren’t exactly linear—neither of us started out thinking we’d become therapists. We each found our way to counseling as a second career by a growing curiosity about people, relationships, and the complicated ways we all try to make sense of our lives. What began as an interest eventually turned into a calling. Read more>>
Kristin Kunc
I came to painting the way some people gravitate to sports—slowly at first, then all at once. I grew up in suburban East Brunswick, New Jersey, watching and making things, always noticing the theater of ordinary life: the way afternoon light rests on a table, how a person stands when lost in thought, the quiet choreography of people moving through rooms that hold their histories. Read more>>
Liz Alterman
From the time I could hold a pencil, I wanted to be a writer. As an avid reader, escaping into a story is one of my favorite pastimes. Regardless of genre, I like to infuse my work with humor, intrigue, and relatable characters who typically live in small towns. Read more>>
Heather Squicciarini
For a long time, I didn’t realize I wasn’t choosing my life. I moved through the world focused on what would keep the peace and make things easier and more comfortable for everyone else. I was good at it. Read more>>
Shari Teigman
Honestly, I didn’t set out to do this work, I sort of tripped into it by way of losing the life I thought I was supposed to want. I had the “right’ marriage, the house, the roles. From the outside, it looked like I had it all figured out. But inside? It felt hollow. Read more>>
Zanah Nesheiwat
I was a home base nail technician from 2013-2021. When I opened my first nail salon, it was by force. My father passed away and my mom couldn’t afford to keep paying the rent for his hardware store in Jersey city Nj. Read more>>
Barbara and Danielle Gomes
Cuticle-B-Gone was invented and is helmed by an all-female executive team. Barbara Gomes, Cuticle-B-Gone’s inventor, created the nail care tool out of a need for a better way to care for her and her loved one’s nails. Barbara’s mother was a breast cancer survivor and was left with a lymphedema arm, which put her at high risk for infections. Read more>>
Nicole DeGeorge
I didn’t start writing because I had a master plan. I started writing because my mom was dying. At the time, words were the only way I could place all the things I didn’t know how to handle. The fear, the anticipatory grief, the ache of watching someone you love slowly slip into another world. Writing became my way of breathing through it. Read more>>
Samantha Simone
I am an actor, producer, and college professor! As an actor my journey started from a very young age. As a little kid I would have my parents act out scenes from all my favorite movies in our living room. In my opinion my Belle at age 5 was Oscar worthy! My parents enrolled me in classes and my love for acting grew. Read more>>
Melinda Matticoli
I grew up in Skillman, New Jersey, and am glad to call it my home base for my business. I am a choreographer, filmmaker, and director, and I work across music videos, branded content, and live performance projects. I grew up dancing locally and expanded to train in New York City through high school. Read more>>
Hillary Hawkins
I started out as a little girl in Llewellyn Park, West Orange, New Jersey, with big dreams of “getting inside the television.” That’s what I told my mom, I wanted to be INSIDE the television and actually remember looking at it trying to figure out how to get in there. Meanwhile, I was also very busy as an unofficial Miss Piggy impersonator. Read more>>
Missy Bravo
After about 18 years in the corporate world, I had the chance to leave (I asked and was granted to be laid off) and follow my passion: fitness. It was a big adjustment with a lot of sacrifices and compromises I had to make, especially financially as I was giving up a nice paycheck and benefits for the hustle of owning my own business. Read more>>
Jessica Weaver
I was born into the financial industry as my father has been an advisor for 40 years. I joined his financial firm in 2010, and quickly realized how male dominated it was. After trying to forge relationships with other female advisors, only to be turned down, I decided to create a community for women. Read more>>
Wanda Lopez
HerStoryInASmile is a testimony! Not only of saving my own life, but of women of all backgrounds and ages who are gracefully overcoming barriers, obstacles, trauma, and mental health battles every single day. What began in 2020 as an internship community project slowly became a lifeline. In 2021, I officially named this movement HerStoryInASmile, giving language to something that was already breathing, healing, and growing. Read more>>
Maria Stallone-Soto
I fell in love with the wedding industry while working as an Event Manager for Premier Events by Reema, a luxury floral and event design company in New Jersey. That chapter gave me a deep appreciation for the magic that unfolds when talented creatives come together with intention. Read more>>
Nicole Zamlout
I’m a young indie author whose largely writes in the realms of short stories and poetry. Through those smaller mediums, I tell larger stories of love, adventure, and how powerful storytelling can truly be. I started my writing journey very young (around middle school) and was able to self publish my first book in high school. Read more>>
Hollie Meyer
I was hired in October 2021, when the organization decided to take a chance on me, despite my lack of experience in the nonprofit sector and my previous role as an Executive Director. Read more>>
Laura Cheadle
Philadelphia’s own Laura Cheadle has opened for some of the biggest names in the business and won numerous awards, including “Best Indie Jazz/Blues Band” at WXPN sponsored Tri-State Indie Music Awards. Read more>>
Marlene Wallace
I started my creative journey as a dancer receiving a BFA in Dance from Temple University. While completing my BFA I was asked to do the choreography for a play being produced at a large venue in Philadelphia. The director also asked me to audition for the lead role. Read more>>
Jessica Giovine
I was working as an Art Director in licensing cosmetics in NYC over 8+ years ago. Feeling burned out, I was trying to find stress relieving ideas for commuting and creative plans for the future. I had had the idea of a calligraphy business in the back of my brain for some time, but was unsure where to start. Read more>>
Tracey Zhang
I left home at 16 and went on to live in six cities across the world. Most of those moves were unplanned, shaped by circumstances rather than certainty. For a long time, my life felt like a search—for belonging, for stability, for a place that would finally feel like home. That search eventually became an inner one. Read more>>
Madison Hawkins
I’ve always been creative. Growing up, I was constantly in front of the camera, using my mom’s camera to film, take photos, and just experiment. I never really thought of it as anything serious — it was just how I expressed myself. Read more>>
Sara Mora
At 17 I interviewed the President of Costa Rica and asked him if he knew what DACA was. Fighting for immigration reform began for me as a child, translating for my parents what the government needed for meetings. In 2017 I went viral at a federal level before U.S. Senate as my story was shared amongst other DACA recipients. Read more>>
Jacqueline Kopito
My journey as a writer began with a desire to share my experiences and insights with my friends and family. A favorite topic of mine would be about being an identical twin. This led me to contribute to TWINS Magazine. Writing for this publication allowed me to write about twinhood while connecting with a community that shared my experiences. Read more>>
Jennifer Perkel
Hear Here, LLC began during COVID, when we were all reinventing ourselves—baking sourdough, learning to crochet and knit, and creating handmade soaps, candles, and jewelry. Watching friends pour their hearts into what they were making, Jenn Perkel started thinking about one simple question: Where can they sell this? That question turned into me organizing a local craft fair. Then a farmers market. Read more>>
Kristie Nunez
I started Precision Sculpt Pilates four years ago because I wanted to create a safe, supportive space for women to move, get stronger, and feel confident in their bodies. What began as a small idea grew from teaching classes myself and building real relationships with my clients. Over time, it became more than a studio—it became a community grounded in trust, consistency, and empowerment. Read more>>
Kelley Nazarian
I became a doula during the time of the pandemic and have since expanded into becoming an agency where I have other doulas on my team as well Read more>>
Ashley M. Stephenson
I began my career in the legal field more than a decade ago, drawn to the power of law, strategy, and advocacy to create meaningful and lasting change. Over time, my work expanded beyond traditional litigation support into a broader role at the intersection of law, policy, and leadership, where precision, storytelling, and purpose meet. Read more>>
Rachel Mambach
When I was in second grade my father graduated with his Masters in Fine Arts, and I attended the ceremony with my family. That was when I decided I wanted to be an art teacher. I knew I wanted art to be my life, but I also knew I needed art to be my career. Read more>>
Nanette Fluhr
I didn’t arrive at portraiture in a straight line. I returned to it. As a child, I was drawn to anything creative. Drawing, painting, making things. Faces held my attention. I wanted to capture not only what people looked like but who they were. Read more>>
Tara Montana
I started this journey in my sister-in-law’s backyard with nothing but an iPhone 10 and a vision. No budget, no team — just a desire to tell real stories that mattered. Read more>>
Dr. Anesha Fuller
I began my journey as an educator more than two decades ago, driven by a deep belief in the power of knowledge, structure, and purpose to change lives. Read more>>
Jenna Ricciardi
My work in content creation in the influencer marketing space started almost a decade ago. My educational background is in TV & Radio (undergrad) & Counseling (graduate). I loved working as a counselor, but resigned when I became a Mother. Read more>>
Keanah Rodriguez
Growing up, my father owned a small business and was a highly talented construction worker. From a young age, he taught me the importance of networking and advertising—long before social media made it mainstream. Because of him, I have always made it a priority to support local and small businesses. Read more>>
Tiffany Jones
What started as a passion for creating meaningful, beautifully designed moments quickly grew into a full-scale wedding planning business rooted in intention and excellence. I began my career drawn to the behind-the-scenes details—logistics, timelines, and thoughtful design—and soon realized my strength was bringing order, calm, and elevated vision to some of life’s most important celebrations. Read more>>
Lisa jacovsky
I started my career working in Applied Behavior Analysis, supporting both adults before moving to working with children. Eventually i moved to early intervention, helping families and children under 3 with cognitive delays and autism reach their potential. Along the way, I discovered my lifelong passion for writing and storytelling, which led me to pursue my dream of becoming a children’s book author. Read more>>
Holly Corbella
Business story Owning my own business was my dream and still is. I never really knew what I wanted to do l. I received my masters in social work in 2013 and realized as rewarding the work is I wanted more. I still am a part time social worker. I knew I DIDNT WANT TO WORK AN HELP SOMEONE ELSE ACCOMPLISH THEIR DREAMS!! Read more>>
Chelsea Cole
I started my business for a very practical reason: I wanted the American dream of owning a home. My boyfriend at the time, now my husband, casually mentioned one day that I couldn’t live with my mom forever and that eventually I would need to buy a house. Read more>>
Debbie Abazia
I started modeling on a whim, long before flashy Photoshop and online comp cards. I answered an ad for part-time modeling, and at the time the agent only wanted simple photos I already had at home nothing fancy. I submitted them, not expecting much. To my surprise, I was invited to meet with the agent, and from there everything snowballed. Read more>>
Alexa Durant
Hey Party People! My name is Alexa Durant, Founder & Lead Bartender of In Good Spirits & Company – a Mobile Bar & Bartending Service. At IGS we love celebrating life and making a big deal of all your special moments. This has been a calling and passion of mine for as long as I could remember. Read more>>
Brianne Valentino
From a young age I was drawn to the arts. My first love was photography, I was gifted a polaroid camera from my aunt for my birthday the one year. From there my love of photography grew. I ended up majoring in it in college. I received the area award for my senior thesis at Montclair State University. Read more>>
Janice Kovach
My career has unfolded much like a journey, each chapter marked by curiosity, a desire to make a difference, and a genuine love for working alongside others. Looking back over more than thirty years, I see a winding path through private, public and nonprofit worlds, where I’ve been fortunate to help shape initiatives, build bridges across sectors, and support communities as they grow and change. Read more>>
Ashley Hassard
I’m Ashley Hassard, co-founder of Drawbox, a full-service event design and fabrication agency. My path into this work has always been rooted in storytelling and experience. I’ve spent my career at the intersection of experiential marketing, education, entertainment, and digital lifestyle, so connecting brands with people in meaningful, memorable ways has always felt instinctive to me. Read more>>
Jennifer Plotzke
I have known since a very young age what my ultimate goals were and have always let those be the North Star and the driving force in my decisions. Knowing that I wanted to be an actor, I started performing in theatre as a teenager both in school and in local productions. Read more>>
Andrea Hecht
My story is not about one defining moment, but about paying attention and responding honestly as life unfolded. I began my career in corporate event planning in New York City, a fast-paced and creative role. After witnessing the events of September 11th firsthand, my perspective shifted. Read more>>
Charissa H. Yong
After working for 11 years in the corporate world as a software test engineer and doing a three-hour daily commute as a new mom, I was burned out. While I loved my job and the people I worked with, I knew I had to quit for my health and wanted to pursue something creative and meaningful. In 2018, I started my business, Charissa H. Read more>>
Sophia Parker
I started to work with Project HEAL after my last stint in eating disorder treatment. I had always known about Project HEAL, and had always wanted to work with them, but never felt that I was in the right place to do so – in terms of my mental health and also due to my demanding job. Read more>>
Bhavna Rajesh Devnani
I was born and raised in India, where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy from Dr. D.Y. Patil College, Pune. From the start, I was undoubtedly one of the most ambitious and driven students you could meet. To my surprise, in my first semester, I topped my class of 100 students and was awarded the gold medal for achieving the highest grades. This recognition fueled my determination to pursue excellence even further. Read more>>
Jessica Giovine
I was working as an Art Director in licensing cosmetics in NYC over 6+ years ago. Feeling burned out, I was trying to find stress relieving ideas for commuting and creative plans for the future. I had had the idea of a calligraphy business in the back of my brain for some time, but was unsure where to start. So, I decided to watch some youtube videos, and start teaching myself. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 pre-made wood signs, and decided to practice after a few weeks of learning, and from the power of posting a photo of one of the signs on instagram, I received so many messages asking where followers could buy the sign (personal instagram page). I was in shock! Read more>>
