the women who blew my mind last week

My time in New York has my wheels turning in ways that they haven't turned in a long while, and i'm thinking of all sorts of things I'd like to try this year.  First step:  narrow them down to doable steps.

Because I like to share who inspires me, here are the people I met last week, who blew my mind:  

• Ibtihaj Muhammad, the Olympic fencer, and the first Muslim woman to wear hijab on Team USA (and also the designer behind this gorgeous clothing line).  She's smart, and funny, and so, so kind.  Wonderful person.
• Caryn Franklin, one of the most stylish women I have ever met, and fierce image activist with deep understanding on the politics of image and self-esteem.
• Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum, the mother-daughter team behind StyleLikeU.com, a provocative and inspirational site on personal style as defined by people all over the world of different cultures and backgrounds. Their What's Underneath series is mindblowing; and I've featured this video that they created in collaboration with Allure Magazine before, featuring another person I admire deeply, Michaela Angela Davis.
• Daphne Selfe, Britain's oldest professional model. She is 88 years old, and is full of fire and passion, and has no intention of ever stopping.  She "loves being around the young people," she says.
• Megan Jayne Crabbe of Body Posi Panda, a woman so full of joy and confidence and true pleasure in being in her own body that it's breathtaking.  

Being around all of these women, albeit for a brief time last week, shifted something in me.  I'm not sure what this means, exactly, but I do know this: today, International Woman's Day, I love that they've continued to make me think.