Like all great stories, this one started at a boozy brunch with my favorite girlfriends. They were beautiful, strong, intelligent women, all working in healthcare while also juggling multiple careers and side hustles. One of them – working as both a registered nurse and a published model – expressed her fear of posting her modeling photos online.
Would beautiful images of her in a bikini somehow diminish her role as a healthcare professional? We found ourselves asking, why is it that women are not celebrated for excelling in multiple roles and careers? Does excellence in one field preclude one from participating and excelling in another?
She is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Published Model.
I am a Registered Nurse as well as an Entrepreneur.
The next day I created the hashtag #SheCanBeBoth and highlighted dozens of photos of women who inspired the message. Within days, the hashtag began trending and went viral after 10,000+ women from around the world posted side-by-side pictures of themselves in different uniforms and roles, encouraged by and in solidarity with our message.
I was in awe of all the stories shared by women who identified as both business professionals and mothers, healthcare professionals and small business owners, lawyers and artists, CEOs and models, and on and on…
At that moment, I knew our stories needed a home to be collected and shared.