We just wrapped our #RideInStyle contest, where Po Campo collaborated with indie bike brands Vespertine, Sawako, The Willary, and Bookman to give away $600 worth of clothing and accessories for stylish fall riding. Of the 5 brands that participated, 4 were run by women based in NYC. When we all got together to coordinate the photo shoot, I appreciated how special that was.
The designers all hovering around and taking photos. Professional photo shoots are a special treat for a small business - and much easier to do when you share the costs and workload.
About a year ago, I tentatively moved to Brooklyn from Chicago where I was born and raised and matured. I say "tentatively" because my plan was to split my time between here and there and just kind of test out what life in Brooklyn would be like. And, I really like it.
Why did I move? Mostly for a change of scenery. In early 2015, I felt like I was in a creative rut and needed to be shaken out of it. I longed for a nurturing community of women entrepreneurs to navigate the ups and downs of starting a business and just could not seem to find it in Chicago. My husband was feeling similarly constrained and really pushed for us to just take the plunge and just move to NYC already. After all, we always loved visiting the city and hated leaving it. So we went.
Fast forward to a year later. I found myself getting up super early one morning to meet these other women entrepreneurs – who create products for women who love using their bikes to get around no less – to work on the #RideInStyle promotion and photoshoot. That's when it dawned on me that I had found what I was looking for. We were collaborating on a project, sharing the workload, and rooting for each other. We felt stronger together. Now NYC is really starting to feel like home.
