This Is What #PinkEntrepreneurship Can Do

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A few weeks ago, I nervously walked into a Bay Area library, camera in hand, to meet and photograph our APW + Squarespace small business scholarship winner. For those of you who have been following along since January, the originally selected recipient will not be assuming the scholarship. APW wishes them much continued success! But that means today I get to introduce you to our new recipient, Tristen Chang of RCG Education, who runs a tutoring business in the Bay Area.

When I first spoke to Tristen on the phone, I was surprised to discover that she’s actually been an APW reader for almost as long as the site has been in existence (this is her testimonial from one of the very first sponsored posts we ever published, in fact). So all of my nervousness upon entering the library melted away once I saw a friendly face look up from a table and wave me over, because it turns out that meeting Tristen was like meeting an old friend.

Tristen started RCG Education in 2007, largely in response to No Child Left Behind. She told me:

Schools were slashing their reading and writing programs to spend more time on standardized test prep, and parents were concerned that their children were not actually learning to become strong readers, writers, or critical thinkers. These complex skills take years to develop, and cannot simply be assessed using multiple choice tests. Plus, they suck the joy out of literature!

In 2007, I only had four students. Over the next few years, I slowly gained more and more, until 2010, when I had to decide between turning students away or focusing exclusively on RCG. I had never expected that this little business would actually be my long-term career, so this was a terrifying move for me! But, once I hit about thirty students, it seemed to be the tipping point—I no longer advertise, they just keep coming. In 2012, I started my scholarship program, and hope to expand that in the future.

Reading Tristen’s application, I understood logically that what she was doing was important. (An understanding that was only reinforced when I started talking to former students and parents of students, who describe Tristen’s work as life changing.) But then I got to witness it for myself. As I walked quietly around the library, photographing Tristen for this post, I had the pleasure of spending about half an hour watching her interact with one of her students. He had come to his session looking shy and unsure of himself, and when I left, he and Tristen were cracking jokes while learning complex vocabulary.

When we started talking about this scholarship (many many moons ago), Meg and I knew we were entering into a realm of unknown. Would anyone apply? If so, who? How would we choose the winner? And could we really help make a difference in someone’s business? But watching Tristen with her student, it all sort of clicked into place. We’ve had the great fortune of working with Squarespace to provide this scholarship opportunity and pay it forward to a member of our community, who it turns out has been supporting us for over half a decade. In turn, that person is paying it forward to kids in our community who are probably going to grow up and be the future CEOs of companies like Squarespace. I mean, this is the Bay Area we’re talking about. And that is some kind of full-circle feel good magic. That, to me, is the purest illustration of what #PinkEntrepreneurship can do, when given the right resources.

For the rest of the year, we’ll be working closely with Tristen on growing a few key areas of RCG Education, including:

  • A brand new website, courtesy of Squarespace. One of the first things Tristen said to me in our interview was that her website could use a makeover, so we’ll be hunkering down this summer to implement all of the tools and tricks we’ve learned from the past year of working with Squarespace, to give RCG Education a brand-new website that’s easy to navigate and not too bad to look at either.
  • Figuring out what’s next, courtesy of the APW staff: One of the hardest parts of running your own business is figuring out what direction to expand when you’re ready to take things to the next level. Meg and I will be meeting up with Tristen to discuss her goals, offer guidance on how to hire smart, and figure out how she can use her scholarship award to take RCG Education to the next level.

I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Tristen and welcoming her (officially) into the APW fold. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring.

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This post was sponsored by Squarespace. Thank you Squarespace for helping make the APW mission possible, and our dream of supporting #PinkEntrepreneurs a reality. The Squarespace mission is to provide creative tools that give a voice to your ideas, and a home for your business. In conjunction with the APW + Squarespace small business scholarship and our #PinkEntrepreneurship series, Squarespace is offering APWers a 10% discount on yearly subscriptions when you use the code APW15 at checkout. Click here to get your business website started today with a free 14-day trial from Squarespace.

10 Simple Ways to Make Your Wedding Greener (And Easier)

Eco Friendly Wedding Ideas

I’ve worked as a photographer and server at my fair share of weddings, and based on the number of bouquets, appetizers, and decorations I’ve saved from the trash and taken home, I feel like I can say one thing for sure: weddings cause waste. Now, I’m lucky enough to have worked with tons of ethically minded clients, so I’ve been shielded from the worst of it, but I’ve still seen boxes of leftover favors, piles of plastic, and trash bags full of… whatever, at almost every event I’ve been to.

And here’s the thing: I get it. Wedding planning is intense. You’re trying to figure out the right combination of venue, food, decor, outfits, all within a fixed budget, all while trying to please as many people as possible. So adding another element, attempting to source locally, or Fair Trade, or cruelty free, or eco-friendly—it can feel like too much. In fact, it’s a classic catch 22: you have the opportunity, numbers, and resources to make a real impact, but you’re too overwhelmed to actually make it happen. So what do you do?

We asked that exact question a few weeks ago, and you all gave us some seriously awesome ideas, but the best advice probably came from reader N, who said:

I think it’s important to remember that lots of green choices can be cheaper (and sometimes easier!) choices, too. Options that reduce things tend to be both cheaper and better for the environment.

Or in layman’s terms: an eco-friendly wedding doesn’t need to be one more thing to worry about it. In fact, in a lot of cases, simplifying can be the easiest way to make your wedding more eco-friendly and cost-effective. So with that in mind, here are ten #Lazygirl tips for making your green wedding happen, while saving yourself money, time, and effort.

1. Cut down on flowers AND/OR GO LOCAL

Sadly, traditionally cut flowers have a pretty serious carbon footprint. Luckily these days there are so many options for alternatives to flowers that you might be overwhelmed, but if you’ve got your heart set on fresh flowers at your wedding, there are still options. Check your farmer’s market rates and swing by the day of to snag in season flowers and to support a local farmer. And you can always cut down on your impact by doing fresh flower bouquets only and going non-floral for other decor, like centerpieces.

2.Rent your linens

You know what makes renting linens awesome? There’s zero ironing involved. You don’t have to purchase or transport new linens, and someone else will take care of the washing and sorting after the event. And don’t stop at linens; rent anything you can. Repeat after me: renting is always greener (and easier). Another green alternative: crowdsource and find out if any aunties or family friends have linens or other decor they’ll loan.

3. Encourage people to share

Let’s hear it for family style and buffet style food! In short: less waste, less expensive, and what you don’t want hasn’t been contaminated, which means your friendly wedding server can take the leftovers home for her roommates (just saying).

4. Reconsider the favors

First of all, you don’t need them. But if you really, really want to give your guests something to take home, aim for edible, useful, or recyclable things in order to avoid piles of unwanted plastic after all the guests are gone.

5. Go vegetarian for the day

You may have read the statistics: the production of meat takes a lot of water. But you don’t have to be a practicing vegetarian (and neither do your guests) to have an awesome, eco-friendly vegetarian dinner at your wedding. There are so many options (Mediterranean food! Delicious pasta! Even veg-friendly BBQ), that are tasty and filling; your guests won’t even notice the difference.

6. Pick a venue you don’t have to decorate

Venue decor can be fun, but not strictly necessary for creating a beautiful space. Sometimes the beautiful spaces exist as they are, and you don’t have to bring in anything extra (or stay up for several nights DIYing the perfect craft to hang). Pro tip: if you want to do minimal decorating, but still have a beautiful venue, look for outdoor spaces with lots of natural beauty (weather permitting), or historical structures that have built-in character.

7. Email your Save the Dates

More and more people are moving toward sending out Save the Dates electronically (you can still include engagement photos) and using recycled paper to print the actual wedding invites (or alternatively, only printing the invitations that really need to go out via snail mail, and sending the rest electronically). I promise, most of your guests won’t even bat an eye. (And if they do, that’s what the phone is there for. Maybe put your number on the RSVP card for your Nana.)

8. Have your wedding nearest the most guests

Travel in and of itself has a carbon footprint, so reducing the travel needs of your guests can go a long way to recovering that footprint. For some, finding a place that’s near the majority of your guests won’t be too hard. But for the adventurous destination folks (or just… folks whose loved ones are flung near and far): you can still reduce your footprint by making sure the wedding venue is walkable from the place most people are residing (hotel weddings and camp weddings can be great for this). And for the city kids: public transport, or pre-arranged buses, can make a big difference.

9. Be Mindful of your registry

Being eco-conscious doesn’t have to stop with the wedding. If you’re creating a registry, you don’t have to limit yourself to big box retailers and national houseware brands. Most universal registries will let you add ethically sourced, eco-friendly, sustainable, vintage, or even just more durably made versions of the items you’re already looking for. Basically, you get to harness the generosity of your wedding guests, and use it for even more good. It’s like being a superhero, kind of.

10. WHEN IN DOUBT… CROWDSOURCE

You might need a thing, and maybe someone has that exact thing lying around. Ask! I’ve heard stories of people getting all their flowers from a neighbor’s garden or glasses from an aunt, or you know, DJ equipment from a friend’s girlfriend’s roommate. Anything is possible. There’s no shame in asking for help before feeling like the burden is on you to find all the things. That’s what community is for. And if working with the community isn’t the biggest part of a green wedding, then I don’t know what is.