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.
Below, you’ll find some incredible trailblazers from in and around Coral Gables that we hope you will check out, follow and support.
Jasmine Saumat
I originally went to Florida School of the Arts on scholarship to study and earn my degree in Theatre Design and Technology (Costume Design). I was there for nearly a year before I realized that I no longer had a passion for designing. Read more>>
Jamie Sutta
I’ve experienced on a very personal level, the transformative power that a wonderful music education can have on an individual. When I was 13, I was living a very difficult life. My mother, who had spent most of my life single. Read more>>
Yvette Perez
Ollibelle & Company has been a part of me since before I took the leap to make it a business. It didn’t have a name or a clear definition but it was a passion for getting people together to celebrate life moments by making the celebrations special from overall theme to the tiniest details. This passion for parties and celebrating was passed down from my parents who taught me through example. I was raised to love the act of bringing people together to celebrate life’s moments, big and small. Read More>>
Shayla Chablani
It all begins within yourself, my story is simply stating how you can be a happier person and how you can shift your way of seeing life and shape it in a different way in order for you to see how amazing world we live in and how you can see joy, share joy and most importantly be joy. Read more>>
Estefania Fierro
Looking back on my childhood, the majority of my time was spent in practice or in competition. My mom wanted us to always have sports as part of our routine, and her efforts to keep us physically active paid off. My brother and I both went off to compete at the collegiate level. Read more>>
Yolande Clark-Jackson
The way I got started as a writer was a combination of nature and nurture. I started writing journals and poems in the back of old notebooks and address books my mom left lying around the kitchen. I loved reading and was drawn to words, but my mom also read to me, took me to the library, and often corrected my grammar. Read more>>
Gaby Diaz
When I moved to Miami, I began working as a contract administrator for the first mixed-use urban design development in South Florida: Midtown Miami. There, I learned the legal aspects of the business and was fortunate enough to meet many mentors that taught me valuable lessons. Read more>>
Shania Walker
I started getting into make-up and hair when I was in high school. I was sort-of thrown into doing hair because I was tired of letting people ruin my naturally curly hair- because they had no idea how to work with it. So, I taught myself how to cut and color my own hair and how to install different types of extensions on myself. Read more>>
Paula Phillips
I am originally from Lawton, Oklahoma. I came to South Florida for law school, U.M. Class of 1997. I have been here ever since and now call it my home. I began my practice with a paid internship from 1997-1998 at a small public interest firm practicing Civil Rights Law. While there, I had the experience of. Read more>>
E. L. Lane
I started blogging over two years ago. I hadn’t worked in about four years (since I was pregnant with my daughter), and she had recently started day care, so I took the opportunity to start blogging. At first, the blog was my way to connect with people because being a stay-at-home mom for three years made me realize that being a mom can be lonely. Read more>>
Sophia Gutierrez
I get my creativity and love of photography from my mom. As a young girl, my mom would create mock photoshoots of my family, friends and me at parks, my backyard, Vizcaya, and the Entrance of Coral Gables. Back then, I was totally annoyed when she would direct me to put my chin down, look to the side with my eyes or to look more relaxed, but now that I am behind the camera. Read more>>
