I met Allie first through Instagram, then on my birthday this year at her Inspire Midtown Minute Mentoring event. She was such a gracious host and encouraging of everyone there. I'm thankful we've been able to connect outside of social media because, as you'll read below, she's a pretty incredible woman...

What is a recent book or article that you’ve read that has challenged your thinking, inspired you, or changed you?

I keep going back to a podcast on NPR. The podcast series is called, How I Built This. And the one I keep listening to is, How I Built This with Joe Gebbia of Airbnb. It’s just such an exciting story to listen to about how he built a business that, at one time, was a weird concept to basically everyone. He talks about how he believed in the concept and they strategized on how to make this relevant and sort of change the way we go overnight to places, where we stay and how we stay, and what we consider community and normalcy.

That’s inspired me because it makes me feel like I need to just keep chugging along with my passion, which is Inspire Midtown. It’s exciting to hear about the start-up phase and tweaking things, making it work, and finding the market.

I’ve seen this trend of people on social media, especially the ones that have a large following, talk about quitting their corporate jobs because they were miserable and then made it as a blogger or travel Instagram account or photographer…but it’s more realistic to see those individuals as the anomaly, not as the majority.

Watching people quit their day job with no real plan in place is often a mistake. And I do think that social media beautifies that idea. It takes a long time to get someone to pay you for what you want to be doing. And it’s so unknown.

That’s why there’s this focus on it being a “side hustle.”

Absolutely. I think it’s the people who are willing to moonlight who are able to make that transition. If you have that drive to work your day job and give time and energy to your side hustle, then you maybe transition to being able to either work less or totally leave. But in doing so you have a plan in place to take care of yourself.

I wrote an article for Girls on the Grid about five freelancing women and their journey through it all. Some had made it, some were working on making it. And a lot of them said it’s financially hard to do it alone. In fact, I think all of them had, to some degree, assistance from a significant other to pursue freelance without personally taking on 100% of the financial burden.

One really great piece of advice I got through this research and writing process was to make sure you have irons in the fire before you make the switch the fulltime freelance. Make sure you have clients lined up. Make sure you have some contracts solidified. It takes a lot of time and is a lot of work.

Who is an influencer in your life?

I think the most natural answer is my dad. While he and I maybe don’t see eye-to-eye on the things I’m passionate about with Inspire Midtown, I work with him directly one-on-one at work and he has been the best mentor for me. And it feels funny to say that my parent is also my mentor, but I just couldn’t image not being mentored by him. My experience in working with him has been wonderful, and I’ll always cherish that. He inspires me to be the best I can be at my work, and in everything I do.

What does feminism mean to you?

Feminism means that you can be exactly who you want to be. You don’t have to answer to society. And that can be hard for me. I feel like I was raised in an environment where I was told, “no, you need to conform.” And part of feminism is learning to question that need to conform. College taught me to be a feminist. And I think questioning conformity is a big part of feminism.

Most importantly, what I think I’d want everyone to know about feminism, is that it means that you want equality for all.

Do you have a favorite quote or mantra that you try to live your life by?

My photography teacher in high school was this very easy going, very balanced, relaxed teacher. Which wasn’t really normal for high school teachers. And she said something that has really been true for me. She said that life is really about balance, and that was so real for me. It has helped me come back to equilibrium in so many different areas of my life.

What are you most passionate about?

I get a fire in my belly about justice. I might not wear that on my sleeve. But those who know me intimately know that I can get really passionate or aggravated when I see injustice. It started when I was a kid. And I don’t even know what it was that made me think, “This isn’t fair!” There wasn’t that defining moment. I think it’s just one of those things that I’ve always known. I used to want to be a lawyer and fight for justice. That puts a fire in my belly and makes me passionate.

There’s a lot of injustice that I see, not just in our community here with women’s rights, but also across the world. It affects lives and economies, on a micro and a macro level. Fighting injustice towards women, that’s my life’s calling…that is my life’s calling.

How are you an agent for justice and feminism, and those things that are important at your core?

I think I try to find a positive way to speak up about it. I learned at an early age that when you respond with fire, people often don’t listen. In fact, they disengage. So it’s important to find the right way to educate and communicate a message of injustice or inequality. That is how I will be an agent of change.

Finish this sentence: I am _______________.

I am in love with myself. There are bad days and sad days. But there’s not a day where I wish I were different. I think I really created the space in my twenties to love myself by following this calling to create Inspire Midtown and making some bold moves and taking risks. I learned to listen to my internal voice, which is something I’ve worked really hard on.

Allie's got your back.

xxo