Khutulun, the Mongol Princess of 10,000 horses, was born in 1260, during a period of high conflict within her father’s empire. She stood out from her 14 brothers as the most skilled rider, shooter, and strategic military leader and supported her father’s cause in several battles.   As she got older, her father was anxious for her to marry (strategically). But, Khutulun wasn’t stoked to get married. She made a bet with any potential suitors near and far that if they could defeat her in a...

As a young teenager Scarlett Curtis @scarcurtis had what should have been a very standard operation for scoliosis… but it left her in crippling pain. For a year, she was in pain every day, used a wheelchair for long periods, and couldn’t stand the feeling of any fabric touching her back. She was depressed, lonely, and withdrawn. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and for a long time, many people even within the healthcare community made her feel like it was all in her head and she...

The legend of Lady Godiva (~990-1067) says that this aristocratic, land owning woman stood up to her husband about his over-taxation of the people of Coventry. And despite her continued assertions that he was oppressing his people, he saw her as a nag and basically tried to get her to leave him alone by Triple Dog Daring her to do something she would never actually follow through with… riding her horse naked through town.   Covered by nothing but her long hair, Lady Godiva allegedly rode...

Today I would like to introduce to you: Zarifa Ghafari, an Afghan advocate, activist, politician, and entrepreneur. She’s known for her efforts to empower women in Afghanistan, and is currently one of the few female Afghan mayors and the youngest to be appointed when she was only 26. Zarifa is from the remote, ultra Conservative, Taliban supporting province Wardak. She was the only female applicant to be mayor out of over 130 hopefuls, and though she did not have any political experience,...

Today’s Iconic Woman is Miley Cyrus, who you probably know as a controversial public figure who broke out of her Disney Channel child-star mold as a sexually awakened, drug-using force to be reckoned with.   She’s made a huge splash on the music industry, topping the charts, earning a variety of industry awards, and even being named as one of Billboard’s Greatest Artists of All Time; producing music across several genres and incorporating a multitude of musical styles. And even though she’s...

Do you ever think about what you are doing with the limited time and resources you have in this life? What will you leave behind when you are gone?   Meet Fatima al-Fihri, the founder of the world’s oldest university, which is still operating today! Al-Qarawiyyin was built as a mosque around 840 AD and when Fatima purchased it and rebuilt it into a university, she doubled it in size and opened it as the FIRST institution for higher learning that offered graduate and post-graduate degrees in...

Meet Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in the history of China, who lived from about 624-705 AD.  Now listen, Wu Zetian doesn’t have a reputation for being Miss Congeniality or anything, in fact she’s known for her ruthless determination and brutal violence inflicted mostly by her secret police force, but she climbed the proverbial latter from being one of the lowest-ranking (teenage) concubines in the palace to literally claiming the position of emperor and holding that power for FIFTY...

Today’s Iconic Woman Under 30 is Lauren Singer, an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and blogger in the zero-waste movement.    You’ve probably already heard of “waste management” - which is how waste is handled or redirected once it already exists. But Lauren is bringing awareness to “zero-waste” - which is all about preventing trash from existing in the first place. Or, as she likes to say, making the world less trashy!   Lauren is known for keeping all of her personal trash in one...

Today’s Iconic Woman is Susan Fowler, who gained notoriety as a whistleblower against Uber, a company she worked for at the time.   Finally, she landed at Uber, as a Site Reliability Engineer, where she had finally had enough of the blatant sexism. Her manager propositioned her to partake in illicit, inappropriate activities, and she reported him to Human Resources. However, they refused to punish him because of his productivity. She ended up writing a 3,000 word blog post online about the...

Today I’m excited to be highlighting Boudica, a Celtic queen of the Iceni tribe, who led one of the most destructive and deadly revolts against the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago.    After her husband, the king, passed away, he left his kingdom to her and their two daughters in his will. But in the absence of a male heir, the Roman Empire ignored his will altogether and invaded and pillaged the Iceni tribe’s kingdom. To make matters even worse and even more personal, the Roman soldiers...

Have you heard of “Lesbian Jesus” Hayley Kiyoko? She’s a singer, songwriter, actress, and music video producer… and in 2016, she came out to the public as gay!   She said she has known she was attracted to girls since she was just six years old, but had so much fear and intimidation about coming out and getting rejected. She came out to her family in middle school, and eventually she came out to the public. She uses her music and her videos to share her story with the world, and to...

Today’s Iconic Woman is Jameela Jamil. She’s an incredible comedic actress, model, and radio presenter… but she’s also a writer and an activist! She’s particularly passionate about accessibility and women’s rights, especially regarding women’s value beyond their body shape or size.   One of the best parts of following Jameela on social media or listening to her interviews is how open and transparent she is about simultaneously not taking herself too seriously, but taking her time and her...

Today’s Iconic Woman is Cleopatra, the infamous Egyptian queen. She was born over 2000 years ago in 69 BC. At just 17, she became a co-regent alongside her father, and when he passed away a few years later, he left his kingdom to her and her younger brother in his will.   At 21, Cleopatra was bravely leading armies, practicing diplomacy, tackling economic challenges like famine and a massive inherited debt, and advocating her independence and autonomy.    Cleopatra is famous for her...

Today’s Iconic Woman is Dominique Crenn, a 3-star michelin rated chef. There are only 137 restaurants in the world that have 3 Michelin Stars, and only 15 in the USA - and Dominique Crenn’s flagship, Atelier Crenn, is the only one in America where the chef is a woman.   In 2011, she opened her own restaurant, Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco. The Michelin Guide awarded the restaurant a two-star rating - making Crenn the first ever female chef to receive two stars in the United States....

There are so many iconic stories of women who impacted this election but there’s one that arguably contributed more than maybe any other.   Stacey Abrams is an American politician, lawyer, author, and voting rights activist from Georgia. She served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 10 years before running for Governor in 2018 against Brian Kemp, who was then Georgia’s secretary of state. During that election, there was an unbelievable amount of corruption, interference, and...

Did you know? Women make up only ¼ of workers in STEM-qualified industries and they made, on average, 20% less than men in STEM-qualified industries. And, less than 25% of students pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees are women.   27-year-old Kristine Davis graduated with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University in 2015 and participated in four internships with NASA during her undergraduate education. Today, she works for NASA full time in...

Today we’re talking about Tomoe Gozen, a warrior worth a thousand men. Tomoe is known as a leading commander and the first female general of 12th century Japan. She was extremely talented with bow and arrow, long sword, martial arts, and riding horses.  Legend has it that she was “ready to confront a demon or god, mounted or on foot” and that she “performed more deeds of valor than any other warriors.” She fearlessly beheaded the enemies and presented their heads to her commanding...

Today I bring to you the story of Nadia Murad, an Iraqi activist and Nobel Prize laureate working to help women and children victimized by genocide, mass atrocities, and human trafficking to heal and rebuild their lives and communities. @nadia_murad was born in a village in Northern Iraq to a family of Yazidi farmers. When she was 19 years old, ISIL fighters rounded up the Yazidi community in the village and killed 600 people, including six of her brothers & stepbrothers. They then took...

Kim Petras is best known as an international singer & songwriter from Germany, currently living in Los Angeles. She has been releasing music as an independent artist under her own imprint, BunHead Records. She began recording and releasing music as a teenager and has topped the charts for several singles, as well as received many other awards and recognitions in the music industry.   In 2013, she ranked as number 19 on Billboard’s Artist Chart for developing artists. In 2017, her single...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of 9 female students in her class at Harvard Law School; tied for the top of her class at Columbia Law School; was the first woman to be on two major law reviews; co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the US to focus exclusively on women’s rights; became the first tenured woman teaching at Columbia Law School; co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU; became the second ever female US Supreme...

Have you heard of Olga of Kiev? She was the first woman to rule Ancient Russia and she’s famous for cleverly outsmarting and defeating her rivals (who are the ones who murdered her husband), as well as for her conversion and commitment to the spread of Christianity in eastern Europe. She’s got a reputation as both a “vengeful murder princess” as well as literal Sainthood in the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.    The story of Olga’s revenge against her husband’s murderers is...

Today I want to share the story of Amanda Nguyen… back in 2013, as a senior at Harvard University, Amanda survived rape. She got a rape kit, but she knew as a young 20-something with limited time and resources that she was not well-positioned to handle a lengthy trial that could potentially last several years. Since the statute of limitations in Massachusetts for rape is 15 years, Amanda knew she had time to press charges when she might be better positioned to go to trial, allowing her to...

Today I am excited to bring to you the story of the iconic screenwriter and producer, Shonda Rhimes. You probably know her best as the showrunner for Grey’s Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice, as well as the creator of How to Get Away with Murder and Scandal. Shonda herself and her shows have received innumerable awards, nominations, and other recognition. She also started her own production company, Shondaland, and is a published author with her book, “Year of Yes: How to Dance it...

Meet Hypatia, the world’s first known female mathematician AND the world’s first known female philosopher. She was also the greatest mathematician and greatest philosopher of her time, which is a title that no other woman in history can claim.    Hypatia was an extraordinarily talented and accomplished scholar in Alexandria at an extremely tense time. Scholars of all faiths came from far and wide just for the opportunity to learn from her. She traveled around town in dark philosopher’s...