BROAD STORY
Once upon a time, I started a passion project called Shecago. I researched and read up on as many iconic Chicago women as I could find in the grand hopes of evening out the city’s historical representation scales. Chicago women’s history *did* exist and the stories were fascinating, profound, and essential. So much so, that clearly (as I came to tell myself) I was out of my depth…
“What am I doing? I’m not trained in this. This is important stuff. What if I mess up? Who am I to play the expert? What if I say the wrong thing? Maybe I should just stay in my lane.”
I write, but have never called myself a “writer.” I design, but hold no formal degrees in this field. I read books aloud joyfully, but have never “narrated.” And I could research women’s history for the rest of my days and quite possibly never breathe the title “historian.”
Enough.
Seriously, enough.
As women, we’re trained to doubt ourselves before burdening anyone else with the task. The dutiful student in me aced that lesson. And now I’m ready to fail it… and then learn how to fail forward a bit more every day. I will, most definitely, mess up. The project won’t be polished and perfect. Dear girl, the most meaningful things never are.
So here we go. Women’s history passion project, take two. Welcome to @thebroadstory
(Am I narrating an audiobook now too? Why the hell not. Join me for a good ol’ fashioned read-along of Helen Keller’s The World I Live In. Now imperfectly streaming on Spotify + Apple Podcasts.)
