A Word on RBG…

On Friday, September 18, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only the second female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, passed away. She was known affectionately as RBG. She was 87.

This newsletter article is NOT about politics — far from it. Whether you agree with her or not, RBG changed the world by opening up doors for women that were pretty well closed before her. Let me explain…

I wanted to take a moment and get a little more personal with you in this newsletter.

Hopefully you’ll indulge me, and let me tell you a story that stands out in my mind as especially important in light of recent events…

In 2013, I was nominated for the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s BusinessWoman of the Year Award. I was nominated in the Entrepreneur category.

When I heard the news, I was so excited.

My first thought was:

I don’t have a chance at winning. (Spoiler alert: I won!)

My first thought was NOT:

If I had started PostcardMania just 25 years earlier, in 1973, I wouldn’t have been able to get a credit card in my own name without a man co-signing for me.

Did you know that women could not even get business loans without a man’s co-signature until 1988? That’s just 10 years before I started PostcardMania.

It never even dawned on me that I should or could have any trouble in business as a woman. In my world, being a woman and a business owner was a complete non-issue.

THAT attitude is because of RBG. What SHE went through.

RBG was born in 1933 into a world where women couldn’t be educated at the same schools as men. A world where women couldn’t get a bank account without a man present and consenting. A world where women were “protected.”

Thankfully, RBG turned that world on its head — and today, it’s a world that women like me know nothing about.

Here’s an example:

When I was a little girl, I loved to paint and draw. I remember when I was 5, I drew a picture of a bunny.

I truly believed that bunny was extraordinary — I’ve just always had that kind of confidence! — but I just knew in that moment that I would be an artist when I grew up. I told everyone that would listen that I was going to be a very successful artist.

I pursued art wholeheartedly going forward. I focused and propelled myself forward every day, knowing that the only thing that could hold me back was myself. Because it was true.

RBG paved the way for a world where little girls could dream big, work hard and grow up to achieve those dreams.

PostcardMania is the convergence of my love for art and design and my passion for helping small business owners.

And some days, on days like today when I step back and look at the bigger picture, I realize that PostcardMania may not have happened the way it did if there had never been an RBG.

So, here’s what I want to say:

Thank you, RBG (and Margaret Thatcher and Amelia Earhart too).

And even though I’m not wholly a fan of your politics, PostcardMania and I are grateful for the trails you blazed to create equal opportunity for all women.

Best,

Joy