a reintroduction

Hi, @colleencassandra here.  I’m the creator of @womenofcolorcreate and wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and tell you a bit about where this concept comes from.  I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks as I get ready to share what I’ve been working on, and how I’m pivoting this project to move forward.

Let’s start with the basics.  I live in Los Angeles with my partner and our 2 sons.  I was born in New York but was moved to Oregon as a young kid, and I’m a west coaster all the way through.  Some of my favorite things include all things about making a home, The Real Housewives franchise, butter, cashmere, white sheets, farmers markets, museums, making jam and dismantling oppressive dynamics and structures.  I have degrees in Interior Architecture and Ethnic Studies as well as 7 years working in the fashion industry.  Women of Color Create is my own expression for my desire for these two parts of my identity to exist and interact with each other in wholeness, something I struggled with both in school and work.

The first leg of Women of Color Create I was focused outward and on building a tool and resource for BIPOC creative women.  That is still the ultimate goal of the work I want to do for my community.  But part of what happened for me over the last year of quarantine is meeting myself and how I relate myself to my goals at some of the most honest places.  That has led to a subtle but deep shift in how I want to relate and be in this space.  Before I build a community, I am feeling a deep call to do some healing and maturing around my own relationship to my creativity.  

For however big and needed my initial dreams for this space were, the current form that I’ll be sharing feels like the heart of the matter which is where I like to live.  It also feels scarier than those bigger dreams because rather than trying to build some brand I can hide behind I’m centering my insecurities and hoping that in sharing my process maturing them and stepping in to my creative power, it invites others to do the same. 

So here I am, here’s my face, and here’s some of my deepest fears I was hoping to never have to share.  It’s my sincerest wish to grow my insecurities in to curiosities and I invite you to come along.