{Follow Your Dreams Friday} Megan Whitmer, Author of Between

This is one of my very favorite posts from the HerKentucky archives, as it's an awesome story of a dream come true. Early last year, HerKentucky writer Megan Whitmer learned that her novel Between was being published! I thought we'd revisit the post because Between is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com! Have a great weekend, and remember to follow your dreams! -- HCW

As many of you know from my very first post here on HerKentucky, I've been working on a young adult novel, BETWEEN, for about two years. I wrote it, then re-wrote it, re-wrote it, and re-wrote it again. I'm talking major, beginning-to-end rewrites, not including all the minor revisions I made on those drafts along the way.

Many times, usually about halfway through a rewrite when I realized I had written myself into a corner and couldn't find a way to make my plot work, I thought about giving up on it.

I'm glad I didn't.

I decided pretty early in life that I was going to write books. I gave up on that dream several times as I got older. Writing was always something I enjoyed, but I quit looking at it as something I would seriously pursue. I didn't even really understand how a person got a book published, and when I started looking into it, the whole process seemed so big and terrifying that it just felt too far out of reach for a girl from a tiny town in Kentucky with no publishing connections and no idea of where to start.

One day, I'm going to sit down with my daughters and tell them that. I'm going to explain how I almost let my silly fear of the unknown keep me from doing the one thing I'd known I wanted to do since I was old enough to make up stories. Some dreams might actually be a bit out of reach. (For instance, my goal of marrying Prince Harry is probably not going to happen and might even be slightly creepy at this point. And also I married a pretty stellar fella already.) But other dreams only seem out of reach because you're told that they're impractical, or that they're the kinds of dreams only certain people get to have.

I'm so thankful that I have the kind of family who never said, "This is ridiculous. Grow up."

This morning, I gave my six-year-old a really long, thought-out speech about how I had wanted to be an author ever since I was a little girl and it's important to never give up on what you want in life. She looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, my dream is to make toys and houses for all my Little Pet Shop animals."

I nodded, hugged her, and told her to go after it.

Get Ready for Spring with Macy's, Estée Lauder, and Lilly Pulitzer!

Here at HerKentucky, we're all about women who followed their dreams and started their own businesses. I was so excited when Macy's asked us to pass along the details on an exclusive deal, because it combines two of my very favorite female entrepreneur success stories -- Lilly Pulitzer and Estée Lauder!

Estée Lauder's business model was so simple and yet so brilliant: You can sell more face cream if you offer your customers a free tube of lipstick.  And Lilly Pulitzer -- well, y'all already know how much I love her -- wasn't comfortable sitting around living the life of a socialite, so she started selling dresses inspired by her Florida citrus groves.

Now through March 23, you can choose a free 7-Pc. gift with any $35 Estée Lauder purchase through Macys.com. The free gift with purchase includes free makeup valued at $120 and a one-of-a-kind Lilly Pulitzer cosmetic bag available only through Macy’s. (You can read all of the details of the exclusive gift with purchase.)

The best part? You don't have to go to a Macy's store to find the perfect products for your skin! You can use the Macy’s Estée Lauder Skincare Finder and the Macy’s Estée Lauder Foundation Finder to find exactly what you need!

After a short interactive quiz, the calculator helps you identify the perfect product for your skincare and beauty needs. These tools are a great way to ensure you're selecting the right products for your needs and skin tone.  It packs the basic knowledge of a beauty consultant into a simple, interactive quiz!

(HerKentucky was contacted by Macy's to spread the word about this special offer. No member of the HerKentucky writing staff received any form of compensation for this post.)

Celebrating the history of women in Kentucky politics

Only 26 states have elected a female governor. Kentucky is one of them. 

There is no discussion of women's history in this state without the mention of Governor Martha Layne Collins.

Elected in 1983, Governor Collins was only the seventh women in history to serve as Governor of her state and she served us well.

I was honored to meet Governor Collins last weekend when she was recognized at Women Turning Kentucky Blue: Celebrating 5 Years of Emerge Kentucky.

Emerge Kentucky is the premiere political training program for Democratic women considering public office. The evening was a celebration of not only the women considering a run but the ones who have already taken the leap. 

We celebrated Governor Collins for paving the way for so many. We celebrated Alison Lundergran Grimes, whom we hope to be the first female Senator from Kentucky. We celebrated Sannie Overly, the first female in Kentucky history elected to party leadership.

However, we all know the victories we celebrate as women in Kentucky politics are too few. 

Kentucky still ranks 47th out of 50 states in female political representation. While the numbers of female state Supreme Court justices have increased in recent years along with representation in our state legislative bodies, women are over half the population in this state and we deserve to see faces like ours at the table.

Governor Collins is a pioneer but as Representative Overly so eloquently said Saturday night, "I look forward to the day when the novelty of a woman in an elected position is no more."

Secretary of State Alison Lundergran Grimes, Attorney Jennifer Moore, Governor Martha Layne Collins, Representative Sannie Overly, and The Honorable Crit Luallen ~ Sarah Stewart Holland

Shipwrecked at the Circus in Louisville

Did you know that there is a cirque-style circus in Louisville? Annual shows began in 1948 following World War II, featuring members of a professional Circus troupe wintering in Louisville.

Photo credits: Rebecca Hellemans Foley

Over 60 years later, Tuners Circus is still performing annually with shows including people of all ages who train throughout the year at Louisville Turners. This weekend and next, Turners is having their annual Circus, themed "Shipwreck." Come out to enjoy daring feats by aerial artists, fire performers, jugglers, and more!  This is their primary fundraiser for the year and is a fun experience for the entire family.

• Show dates: March 14, 15, 20, 21 or 22 at 7:00pm and March 16 or 23 at 2:00pm 
• Cost: Advance tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under, available by contacting Turner Circus at www.turnercircus.org. Tickets purchased at the door are $15 for adults and $10 for children 
• Location: 3125 River Road, Louisville

See you at the circus!

Daniel Boone's Expedition

If you were once a Kentucky school kid, then you remember at least one anecdote about Daniel Boone from grade school. It probably has to do with carving "D. Boon Kilt a Bar" on a tree. (His father, Squire Boone, is believed to have said of his own children's education, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting.") As much as it pains this editrix to say, I suppose spelling isn't the most important skill one needs for the trailblazing life of a frontiersman. 

What is important to the Commonwealth of Kentucky is that, on March 10, 1775, the soldier and explorer Daniel Boone, working for Judge Richard Henderson of the Transylvania Company, undertook an expedition that would lead to the settling of Kentucky. Exploring the new Transylvania Colony, Boone foraged a trail known as the Wilderness Road into central Kentucky. There he founded Boone's Station (later Boonesborough) as the capital city of Transylvania County, in an area near the modern-day town of Athens in Madison County. He later said of first spotting the area:

We viewed Kentucke situated on the fertile banks of the great Ohio, rising from obscurity to shine with splendor, equal to any other of stars of the American hemisphere.

Boone's adventures have become the stuff of legend. The kidnapping of his daughter Jemima, along with two other young women, was the basis for Last of the Mohicans. Boone himself was robbed, kidnapped, and attacked many times along the way.

In his later days, Boone was a statesman and businessman, and emerged as a symbol of frontier life and the establishment of Kentucky.Two hundred thirty-nine years later, we still remember Daniel Boone as the trailblazer who faced unknown circumstances, violence, and physical hardship to found our beautiful Commonwealth.

Follow Your Dreams Friday: 5 Questions with Lori Cheek of Cheek'd

Have you ever seen that show Shark Tank, which pairs entrepreneurs with potential celebrity investors? Tonight's episode features Kentucky native Lori Cheek, whose NYC-based startup Cheek'd is the next big thing in online dating. Lori graciously sat down for five questions with HerKentucky. 

Photo by

Kim Preston Photography

. 

HK: Tell us a little about yourself. 

LC:I was born and raised in a tiny, one stop light town in Taylorsville, Kentucky, which I thought was the smallest place in the world. As early as I can remember, I knew there was something out there I had to find and it felt far, far away. I eventually stumbled into a bigger city and studied architecture at University of Kentucky. During my studies, I guest interned at a New York City firm for just one week and was immediately hooked on the magic, diversity and energy of the city. On Graduation Day, in May of 1996, I tossed my royal blue tasseled hat into the air, sped home to pack up my Ashland Avenue apartment into a U-Haul and without a job or much of anything lined up, I headed straight for the big city to start building my dreams. 

After working in architecture, furniture and design for 15 years for companies such as Christian Dior, Goldman Sachs and Vitra, I came up with an idea that lead me into the NYC World of Love and Technology and am now solving missed connections one card at a time. I completely threw away my design career and am no longer building structures… I'm now building relationships.

HK: How does Cheek’d work? 

LC: Cheek’d bridges the gap between online dating and real-world romance by providing members with physical cards that they can use to entice people from the real world to flirt with them in the virtual world. It’s the 2.0 version of “Call Me.”  The cards offer a real purpose and advantage to other online dating sites and expand a subscriber’s dating opportunities beyond the pool of people registered with an online dating service.  By bringing the social aspect back into dating and moving it from your computer to your everyday life, Cheek'd is giving its members an opportunity to leverage technology without completely depending on it, while promoting a safe and playful interaction in the physical world at a time when virtual interaction is growing and online privacy is scarce. Cheek'd, coined by The New York Times as “the next generation of online dating” has gone global with customers in 47 states in America and 28 countries internationally.  And I know it works because after decades on my own relentless pursuit for love, one day a couple of summers ago, I was sitting solo at a Crab Shack in Montauk and with no AT&T signal, I decided to toss my best friend, “iPhone,” into my beach bag and when I looked up, a mysterious, gorgeous man in Ray Bans and a baseball cap sitting right next to me said, “Nice tattoos.”  I handed him the Cheek’d card that reads, “let’s meet for a drink.”  We met for that drink and now we're engaged!

Photo by

Ted Schafer Photography.

HK: Cheek’d is such a great concept — it adds a personal edge to online dating. How did you come up with the idea? 

LC: Six years ago, I was out to dinner with a friend & architectural colleague and I had excused myself from the table.  When I returned, my handsome dinner date had scribbled on the back of his business card, “want to have dinner?”  As we were leaving the restaurant, he slid that card to an attractive woman at a nearby table. He left with a pending date.  I left with an idea...  It had happened to me a thousand times during my NYC commute—spotting that intriguing stranger on a train, in a café, crossing the street, at baggage claim, etc. and nearly 999 of them got away.  Handing a business card could have been one answer, but I was entranced by the mysterious gesture of handing it to the object of your affection and removing the personal details included on a typical business card, which is simply too much information to hand to a total stranger.  A person’s name on a card, alone, could potentially lead you to their front door. My solution to the problem would apply a personal approach to online dating by moving the initial encounter offline with a smooth physical introduction.  In May of 2010, I launched Cheekd.com —my solution to the 999 missed opportunities I’d personally experienced.

HK: What was it like to be on Shark Tank? It had to be so exciting and surreal. 

LC:The journey leading up to the Shark Tank has been the most exciting year of my life. With 8.5 million viewers, I've finally been given the opportunity to share my million-dollar idea with the world. Deal or no deal, this experience has been life changing.  For weeks leading up to my pitch, I suffered a lot of anxiety and panic.  I’ve put everything I have into this business and the stakes are just about as high as they can get when you’re in front of the Sharks.  I’d never been more nervous in my entire life as I walked down what seemed like an endless hallway into the Shark Tank.  My heart was about to beat out of my body.  You’ve only got one shot and you can trust that I gave it my all.

HK: Here at HerKentucky, our motto is “Follow Your Dreams.” What is your advice to female entrepreneurs, especially those who have been told that an idea is too quirky or “unique” to work?

LC: My advice for other women in the entrepreneurial world is if you truly believe in your idea, give up excuses & doubt, surround yourself by a trusted and talented team, bulldoze forward and DON’T. LOOK. BACK. And if you’re single, you might even just find yourself a husband while you’re at it.  I did.

Thanks so much to Lori for taking the time to chat with us! Be sure to tune in to Shark Tank tonight at 9PM EST on ABC.

Create Easter Memories with Louisville Stoneware!

Spring is just around the corner, y'all.

I know, it's still ridculously cold outside. And, some of us even awoke to a bit of snow -- oh, I can't even bear to say the "s" word anymore -- yesterday morning. But, believe it or not, March begins this weekend. I saw a few brave tulip leaves peeking up in my backyard yesterday, and was encouraged to see my neighborhood garden-supply store stocking up with a semi-truck's worth of mulch this morning! Before you know it, we'll be wrapped up in college basketball tournaments, planning trips to Keeneland, and planning for Easter.

One way you can get started planning for Easter is with one of these adorable Easter Bunny Creating Memories Platter. Our friends at Louisville Stoneware have designed a simply adorable personalized Easter keepsake for those of y'all with kids or grandkids. The design features your child's footprint on a 14" stoneware platter, along with the child's name and the caption "is someBUNNY special. This keepsake is recommended for infants, toddlers and preschoolers with a shoe size up to 3. The Creating Memories pattern requires you, and, of course, your little one, to visit the Louisville Stoneware retail store, although no appointment is necessary. The Creating Memories Platter is $95, which includes cost of plate, staff assistance with capturing your child’s footprints and artists’ time. UPS delivery is available for an additional charge. Creating Memories Plates purchased by March 15 will be guaranteed complete no later than April 19. Personalized items take 4 to 6 weeks, and because the platter is specially made for you, cannot be returned. 

With a little positive thinking, and some early planning for Easter keepsakes, it is starting to feel a bit more like spring!