Name: Courtney Van Nostrand

Age: 35

Location: Long Island, New York

Occupation: Pharmacist

Courtney Van Nostrand does drugs…in a good way! This Long Island pharmacist sympathizes with the difficulties her patients are facing, in part because of her own recently-diagnosed struggle with MS.

Courtney has been a pharmacist for nearly ten years. “Being a pharmacist is hard because you’re constantly torn between having a high work load and wanting to help your patients, which takes time away from production. It’s a constant battle to be quick, accurate, and efficient, and still have time to spend time with them,” she says.

Unfortunately being behind the pharmacy counter isn’t the only familiarity Courtney has had with serious illness. In February of 2010, everything in her life changed.

“I was taking my girls to dance lessons near my home. I was at a traffic light and suddenly everything just started looking double,” she explains. “I blew it off thinking it was a headache or the glare from the snow, but it got worse over that weekend. I went to the optometrist thinking maybe my glasses were screwy, and he sent me to the doctor.”

After a series of tests, they recommended an MRI. “They discovered the lesions on my brain,” Courtney says. “Then I went to the neurology clinic at Stony Brook, and they confirmed what the specialist thought…”

It was Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS.

“In one aspect it was great being diagnosed so quickly. I had symptoms in mid-February and was diagnosed late March, while some people go for years without a definitive answer. But it hit me hard because it was the last thing I’d expected to hear.”

The problem with MS is that it presents differently in everyone.

This is me in Costa Rica November 2010 (My husband & I went to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary) I got to hang out with the sloths at the Jaguar Rescue Center.

“In MS, the body’s own defense system attacks myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in the central nervous system,” Courtney explains. “The damaged myelin causes scar tissue, which is called sclerosis. Depending on where that damage is, people have different symptoms. In my case, the damage is mostly behind my eye which caused the double vision. Fortunately I had a steroid treatment that stopped the damage from happening, and my vision is normal now.”

Although the double-vision has gone away, Courtney’s not sure when, or if, it will return. Additionally, she’s heat sensitive, occasionally to the point of fainting, and sometimes she needs to take naps during the day to cope with the fatigue caused by her MS.

“If I could get one message out to anyone reading this, it’s that MS can be invisible!” Courtney stresses. “You wouldn’t know any of this about me if I didn’t tell you. There are over 2.5 million people worldwide affected by this disease.”

And because MS can be so hard to diagnose, it’s important for attention to be paid to fundraising events like Climb to the Top, which Courtney is participating in next month. The climb is a 66-flight stair ascent at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City on March 4th. Courtney will be climbing with Team Long Island to help raise funds for Long Islanders with the disease.

“I will crawl to the top if I have to, that’s just the type of person I am,” she says. “I know that there isn’t much I can do to stop MS – hopefully the experts will figure it out soon! – but I can keep myself in shape both physically and mentally. Besides the Climb, I also co-captain Team CVAN for Walk MS, which is at Jones Beach on May 6th this year. Right now, I’m working on a yoga fundraiser and a bar event to get donations for our team.”

Because Courtney Van Nostrand helps people stay healthy and raises awareness about MS, we thinks she’s a super-duper Cool Girl! Go, Courtney, go!

To donate to Courtney’s Climb to the Top team, check out their website, or the Team CVAN Facebook page. Whether or not you donate, you can click on either site and see what the team is up to, as well as getting more info about MS.

Name: Melissa Farley
Age: 33
Location: New York City, New York
Occupation: Certified Holistic Weight Loss and Wellness Coach, CHHC, AADP and Image
Stylist

Growing up in Wilmington, Delaware, Melissa Farley dealt with low self-esteem and poor body image as a result of judging herself against her size ‘0’ friends. “As young girls, we want to look like our classmates or what we see on TV,” Melissa explains. “We equate being skinny with being beautiful and happy. It’s hard to see that beauty is so much more than that. It’s about being healthy, not being rail thin. It’s about accepting and taking care of yourself, not comparing and despairing.”

After college, Melissa set a goal to become more healthy and learn about proper nutrition. She tweaked her diet and became more active. Fitness quickly became crucial to her daily life. She loved to sweat away her stress, and her morning workouts helped set a positive tone for her day working in the fashion industry. At around that same time, she began to suffer from a stomach illness. That’s when Melissa found the power of a holistic lifestyle.

She decided to forgo conventional medicine, replacing her prescription with natural remedies. “Through holistic nutrition, supplements, and maintaining my new healthy routine, I was able to find some relief. Eventually this whole-body approach led to me getting better. I’d cured myself!” she says. “I’m really glad I chose the alternative because the medication I was originally prescribed was pulled from the market seven years later for causing strokes, heart attacks and blood clots.”

Melissa took her new-found health even further, competing in a fitness competition for the first time. She won second place in the Best Body Division in the International Natural Body and Fitness North East Regional, an all-natural fitness competition. “It was one of the many experiences that helped me to learn how to love my body,” Melissa gushes.

But good health and a renewed sense of self-esteem weren’t enough for her. She wanted to give these gifts to other women who struggled with their weight and body image.

“I wanted a career where I could help women who felt stuck and unhappy,” she explains. “I wanted to inspire women to make changes towards a healthy lifestyle, and to let them know that they have the power to create the life and the body of their dreams. I know first-hand that negative feelings make it hard to feel in control or to make changes on your own.”

Through sessions with her clients, she’s able to guide them towards achieving their goal weight and a healthier way of life, not to mention overhauling their closets if they’d like some help there, too.

“It’s a unique program because it involves an inner and outer body transformation at the end, you learn how to dress for your body type and play up your assets,” Melissa says. Her clients receive custom designed fitness  and nutrition plans, wellness coaching and a style makeover if they choose.  “Most importantly, I don’t want women to feel like their weight controls them or their happiness. They’re in control. That’s a huge message that gets lost too often today.”

And what about New Year’s, a time so often tied to personal growth, aspirations, and that dreaded list of resolutions?

“I personally believe New Year’s resolutions set people up for failure because all too often the list of resolutions is a mile long. It feels daunting and becomes unrealistic,” Melissa says. “I believe every day is your opportunity to take steps towards your goals and make changes in your life. The amazing thing about life is that we have the power to do and change whatever we want at any time. It’s empowering!”

You can check out her website to read more about makeover guidance, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook for loads of healthy lifestyle tips and beauty tricks.

Jessica Fragoso looks before she leaps…out of planes at 13,500 feet! This multi-talented skydiving TV reporter is remarkably down to earth for a woman who spends almost as much time in the clouds as she does on the ground.

On Memorial Day Weekend of 2010, Jessica profiled a fallen soldier named Michael Tarlavsky. An adventure-loving Army Captain who was killed in Iraq in August 2004, Jessica was inspired by Michael’s courage to take her first skydive.

After that first taste of sky, she knew she had to jump again, and quickly started training at Skydive The Ranch in Gardiner, New York. The skill of the Scarecrow skydiving team stoked Jessica’s ambition, and she decided she would do whatever it took to train and compete at a national level within a year. Ever since then she’s been regularly training at a wind tunnel at SkyVenture in New Hampshire, under the guise and mentorship of Scarecrow national competitor Rob Antalocy, who soon became her teammate.

“Rob has been such an inspiration and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else by my side,” Jessica says. “His hard work, dedication and love for the sport is truly inspiring…and he’s extremely talented.”

Jessica now has completed over 300 jumps and her team has just completed the 2011 United States Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships in Arizona. “We joined 500 of the country’s finest and most fearless aerial athletes, all competing for gold in their events,” she gushes.

Jessica and Rob were set to compete in the artistic event of freestyle jumping, which is like an aerial ballet with a routine performed during the freefall. “I’m the performer and Rob is the camera flyer who captures and presents the performance,” Jessica explains. “Our team is judged by the video. Our team was called Team Wonderland, inspired by the adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Through our flying we wanted to take people on an exciting, topsy-turvy adventure into our magical and mad world!”

Unfortunately, the madness of an upside-down adventure became a little too real. “On competition day, Rob got sick,” Jessica explains. “He had a double ear infection and sinus infection. He tried to jump that day, but after a few jumps he had to go see a doctor.”

But all wasn’t lost. “Two people stepped in to help me,” Jessica continues. “Former freestyle gold medalists, Karl and Merriah Eakins. Karl stepped in to shoot my video.”

They did seven rounds that day, and finished 4th out of 6. “I was really happy with the results,” she says. “Karl and I just went out there and had fun!” Two days later, Rob and his team finished the competition. “It was incredible to see the team finish,” Jessica says. “It took such dedication and heart, which is exactly why these guys inspire me.”

From April through November, Jessica takes to the sky almost every weekend that weather permits. When it’s inclement out, or during the winter, she’ll often take jumps in a wind tunnel. “I sometimes drive 3 ½ hours there and back in one day, just to get some training time in the wind tunnel,” she says.

Jessica’s goal is to push her limits. “We’re all in this sport for different reasons,” she explains. “For me, I like the competitive side. This has also become one of my creative outlets and I just love it! I can’t imagine my life without skydiving now.”

Beyond her aerial acrobatics, Jessica enjoys trapeze flying, dancing, indoor rock climbing, yoga, learning about wines, and hanging out with her Chihuahua, Peanut.

For never giving up and for setting her limits beyond the sky, we think that Jessica Fragoso is a Cool Girl!

Check out Team Wonderland on Facebook and let them know you ‘Like’ them!

Name: Franziska Stolz
Age: 36
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Occupation: Cleaner, pro skateboarder, beanie-knitter

As a child in Mosnange, Switzerland, Franiska Stolz’s mom used to have to drive a half an hour simply to get food from the store. Growing up in a town of 700 people, no one could have ever predicted that Franziska would rise through the ranks to become an internationally-acclaimed professional skateboarder.

As an adventurous youth in boarding school, Franziska took up snowboarding as a hobby and instantly became hooked. It was only after falling in love with shredding the slopes that she decided she needed a similar pastime that she could indulge in all year round. That’s when she discovered skateboarding.

“In 1995, there was a workshop for people new to skateboarding and in-line skating at a skateshop. It was a bit easier for me to try skateboarding that evening because I wasn’t the only girl or the only beginner. That night I learned how to do an ollie, which is an important basic trick,” she recalls. After only three hours, Franziska could do an ollie that was a half-foot high. “I was so stoked!” she exclaims.

But because she didn’t own a board, and because the streets where she lived weren’t skateable, she had to put her four-wheeled dreams on hold. A year later she moved to Thun, Switzerland for a new job. It was there that she discovered an indoor skatepark with a miniramp, a small vert ramp (an extreme form of a half-pipe), and a streetpark. She bought a skateboard and joined a circle of skaters who welcomed her with open arms.

These days, she practices and works one day a week at Skatepark Pumpwerk, where she hones her skills on the vert ramp as often as possible. And she’s happy to put in the time, especially since she competed in last year’s International Skateboarding Federation World Championships in Boston. She competes as often as she can, and over the past nine years she’s built up an impressive resume of vert ramp sessions, World Cup contests, and skate festival appearances. As the only European woman competing in vert-skating at the World Cup level, she’s quick to point out that being a professional doesn’t come with a rockstar lifestyle.

“I’m living in a very small rented apartment, I don’t have a car or a driver’s license, and I’ve had to pay for everything myself: traveling, accommodations, the starting fee at all contests,” she explains. But that hasn’t slowed her proverbial roll. This past fall Franziska started being sponsored by Santa Monica Airlines Skateboards, a company founded by Skip Engblom of Dogtown and Z-Boys fame. Her next contest is in Malmö, Sweden in January, and she’s extremely grateful that her sponsor will alleviate some of the financial pressure that comes with competing.

Over the past fourteen years of skating, Franziska is happy to report that she’s only had two major bang-ups: a serious concussion and broken nose the day before the Slam City Jam World Cup in 2004, and a torn ligament in her right knee during a hand-plant attempt in 2008. Even with these scrapes, Franziska refuses to let anything stop her.

“I want to get a vocational education next summer, maybe in another country, but there needs to be a good vert ramp in town. I want to get better and learn new tricks, but it’s hard to do that here since I feel like I’m stuck at the level that I’ve been at for a long time. It would be amazing for me to learn some new skills in a new country where I can also skate on a decent vert ramp, but I don’t know if that’s possible,” she says. “I hope so!”

When she’s on the train, Franziska knits beanies, i-Phone cases, and other knicknacks that can be scoped at her online shop. And if you’re looking for some ‘boarding badassery, you can check out her personal sites www.vertskatefranzi.blogspot.com, www.franziskastolz.de.tl or that of her sponsor, www.smaskateboards.com.

For being unafraid of breaking skateboarding boundaries, we think that Franziska Stolz is a super Cool Girl!

Name: Beth Brownlee
Age: 54
Location: Reno, Nevada
Occupation: Founder -Trust Your Journey

Name: Ruth Nichols
Age: 49
Location: Reno, Nevada
Occupation: Co-Founder of Trust Your Journey

Beth Brownlee and Ruth Nichols have made it their mission to give all women a voice. As Beth battled breast cancer, a friend gave her a gift that displayed the words “Trust Your Journey.” It was then that she realized that she could use her survival to bestow the same inspiration and motivation for women across the globe to share their tales of sadness and triumph with one another. She envisioned an online community where women could draw strength from one another and where they could obtain clothes, jewelry, and other goods that could serve as reminders of this message.

Beth teamed up with her colleague Ruth, who worked with her at Columbia Sportswear as a fellow sales manager. As Beth explains, “It just so happens that the greatest challenges of our lives happened while we were at Columbia.” Ruth had been through tough times as well, she was raising her young son after losing her husband to chronic health problems. So the two women, united in their strength and resilience, founded Trust Your Journey, an company that works to bring women together to honor their courage and to revel in life’s triumphs.

“Life’s challenges come in all sizes, shapes and colors,” Beth says. “You already possess the inner strength to deal with any situation. We want to make sure all women honor that strength.” All of Trust Your Journey’s products are deeply linked to this mission, while also relying on socially and environmentally responsible practices.

With a message board, a newsletter, a store, and a vibrant community of women who reveal events that have tested and influenced them, no two days are alike…but all are busy! “We wear a lot of hats, but each day we are juggling account management, social media (we love Facebook), product development, finances,” she explains. “You name it, we do it.”

The interaction with the women who join in the kinship of Trust Your Journey is what truly moves both women. It’s also been a revelatory process. “We get constant emails and postcards from women sharing their journeys with us,” she says. “We’ve learned that no one is ever alone, someone else has already traveled that road. The other thing we’ve learned is how much we can do as owners of our own business. We have strengths, and a weakness here or there, that have come to the surface of our lives because we had to do the job.”

With patience and a vision of their continued success, Beth and Ruth help to facilitate women communicating with one another across miles and differences, fortifying and comforting one another in times of need. “We try to always let others know, no matter what the struggle, it is just a part of their journey and not their entire journey. Our greatest challenges provide us with our greatest opportunities.”

When asked about organizations that Trust Your Journey admires, Beth doesn’t hesitate. “We love what Dr. Susan Love is doing to prevent and ultimately eradicate breast cancer. We donate to that foundation through several of our Share® Jewelry Items. Share® is a special set of two for sharing the journey with others,” she explains. “You give one and keep one. It let’s the other person you know you are there for them.”

For their work connecting women and giving them a platform to share their stories, and for promoting cancer awareness along with the strength to surmount all of life’s various struggles, we think that Beth and Ruth – and the entire community of Trust Your Journey – are very Cool Girls!

Follow them on Twitter @TrustUrJourney or find them on Facebook and share your journey with others.

Name: Gayle Wheatley
Age: That’s top secret!
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Freelance artist and writer

At the age of five, Gayle Wheatley would paint in the studio next to her father. This early creative influence echoes across her paintings today. “My favorite subjects back then included purple unicorns with manes of fire, and underwater worlds. To this day if you look closely, fragments of those early obsessions are still present in much of my work, in updated form of course!”

Gayle also began journaling early, at roughly the age of seven, and it’s a practice that she has rigorously maintained since that point on. “I’ve got stacks of notebooks,” she says. “They definitely make for some entertaining reading when I get bored!”

She also writes poetry inspired by her voyages, blogs about art and travel at CultureVixen.com, and she’s in the process of compiling a book of her paintings, photography, and poems inspired by her time in Iceland.

Although she’s a California native, Gayle has lived in Florence, Italy and Osaka, Japan, and her wanderlust has taken her to five continents, thirty countries, and over three-hundred cities. This international exploration has had a tremendous impact on her art and writing, keeping her invigorated and challenged. Next stop: New Zealand and Australia, the sixth continent on her list, followed by an artist residency in one of her favorite countries, Iceland!

Perhaps the most distinctive thing about Gayle’s multinational quest for stimulation and fodder for her work is the variety of situations she’s found herself in while on the road. She’s driven her car into quicksand in Iceland – “Boy does a car sink fast!” – been stranded on a Greek Island, gotten scammed into taking a fake floating market tour by a monk in Thailand, and she was picked up by German police in Munich when she got lost at Oktoberfest. Her adventuring often has been mouth-first; while gallivanting across the globe she’s consumed poisonous pufferfish, skewered salamanders, “stinky tofu,” putrefied shark, and the still-beating heart of a snake tossed in a shot of vodka in Tapei!

When she’s not traveling, eating exotic delicacies, playing her pineapple ukulele, drawing space ninjas, or practicing the martial art of Jeet Kune Do, Gayle sets out on individual artistic missions. “I’ve pushed boundaries with my creative goals,” she says. “One year I challenged myself to paint 100 paintings in under a year. I reached my goal in just ten months and have been painting up a storm ever since.” She credits those months with spurring a ton of personal growth, as her ambitious painting schedule forced her to overcome many of her weaknesses and to explore her strengths as a painter.

Most days, Gayle rises early in order to begin work in the studio. “I make sure to get in time for painting and writing when my mind is the most fresh,” she says. After lunch she buckles down and starts what she refers to as “serious work time,” where she tends to various freelance projects, marketing, and the details of maintaining her business and brand. Although it’s grueling, the rewards are great. “I think the biggest challenge to being a freelance artist is facing rejection on a daily basis, maintaining a healthy ego, and mustering up the courage to continue to follow an unconventional course in life,” she says. “You just have to accept the fact that not everyone is going to understand the need to put everything aside in order to dedicate yourself to creating art.”

For her tenacious traveling and artistic endeavors, we think Gayle Wheatley is a Cool Girl! Check out her art and writing at GayleWheatley.com, and follow her on Twitter @gaylewheatley

Twenty-two year old Floridian entrepreneur Jill Fontaine wants to make your life a little sweeter. This baker and marketing maven has a sugar-coated proposition for everyone stressed out from the daily grind: “Stay calm, have a cupcake!” And she’s looking to help you do just that with Stay Calm Cupcake Shop.

Jill’s creativity in the kitchen began at a very young age, when she’d sit on the counter and help her mother by stirring the brownie mix. But that doesn’t mean that Jill chalks up her baking ability simply to her love affair with the culinary arts. “Baking is a practiced craft, and either you have it or you don’t,” she says. “I like that not everyone can pick up a whisk and call themselves a baker.” Her customers know how lucky they are that Jill has turned her well-honed talent into Stay Calm’s cupcake crusade.

“I started baking cupcakes more seriously about a year and a half ago. Up til then, I was a novice baker and baked anything and everything that my friends and family would agree to eat,” she says. But sweet snacks aren’t her only pursuit. When she’s not making tiny treats, she works as a marketing director, helping companies to better package themselves for success. “I like the creativity that marketing requires,” Jill explains. “It’s a great job to have while I’m waiting to open up my own store-front bakery.”

Most of Jill’s days are spent at the marketing company’s office from 8AM till 5PM, then she goes home and starts concocting her confections. “By 10:30 at night I usually have flour, frosting, and sprinkles all over my face and hair!” Jill says. These days come at a price, though: sleep. “If there were 34 hours in the day, I would be set. It’s hard because I can’t quit my day job and sustain myself financially, so that means all of my Cupcake Shop stuff has to be done in the evenings. I don’t have a lot of free time, or sleep time. But that’s okay. We can sleep when we’re dead, right?” she jokes.

Courtesy of the Internet’s magic, Stay Calm Cupcake Shop doesn’t come across as the type of business that’s run by a lone woman working 8-5. The online storefront features an array of cupcake kits, cupcake jars, mini cupcakes, and custom orders in a variety of frosted flavors, from red velvet to dark chocolate orange, peanut butter chocolate to Bailey’s Irish Cream. All of her dainty cakes are decorated in a way that makes them seem almost too pretty to eat…almost.

Jill’s involvement in marketing has definitely given Stay Calm a distinct advantage. Her use of Twitter, blogging, and Facebook have allowed her to cultivate relationships with her customers that go beyond that of the traditional store-front bakery. Her customers have digital access to all the flavors, colors, and sizes that Stay Calm offers, courtesy of Jill’s Etsy shop.

It’s her goal to have a cupcake truck within the next year, and to open up a store-front cupcakery in the next three. “I love everything about cupcakes, and can think of nothing else sweeter than owning my own shop!” Jill says. “I love selling on Etsy now, but I want to expand Stay Calm Cupcake Shop into the great business I know it can be.”

For frosting her creative and professional cakes, we think that Jill Fontaine is a totally Cool Girl! Check out her blog that features recipes, party ideas, and delicious freebies at Stay Calm, Have a Cupcake! (www.fontgirl.wordpress.com) or find her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stay-Calm-Cupcake-Shop/175155575862669) and Twitter @staycalmcupcake

Name: Allyson Lister
Age: 35
Location: Newcastle, UK
Occupation: PhD Student and Researcher in Bioinformatics

Allyson Lister grew up fascinated by space. But unlike most kids who dream of becoming an astronaut, Allyson was more specific, hoping to one day become a doctor in the cosmos. Perhaps her natural inclination to lean towards something that united both science and technology was a sign of what was to come. “Once I was old enough to understand what biology was, I realized that’s where my interests were,” she says.

Growing up in Monterey Bay, California, Allyson grew up playing on a Commodore 64, a Nintendo Entertainment System, and an old IBM computer. Her mother instructed her on the art of typing, and her father taught her how to write simple programs, including how to print out her name over and over again under DOS. Her parents’ encouragement stoked her love of technology, and these early computer systems lay the groundwork for her future interests.

Allyson’s love of biology also started young, after she received a Christmas gift of a microscope. “Mr. Clark, my biology teacher in high school, was one of the greatest inspirations to me, and solidified my interest in the science,” Allyson reveals. “It wasn’t until graduate school, and my Masters in Bioinformatics, that I realized I could combine my love of biology with the capabilities of a computer.” 

Today, Allyson’s job is to cultivate useful, precise communication when it comes to biological data. If data can’t be cohesively described and shared, it’s ineffective. So Allyson uses something called ontologies to help researchers to be able to work together and speak a common language when it comes to that data. These ontologies also help computers process and analyze the same information. She also uses the Internet and social networks online in order to share the latest research and news with the scientific community as a whole.

For Allyson’s work, communication is key, and ontologies are like the key-ring. “To ensure everyone is talking about the same thing, you build ontologies and share them, creating a common basis of understanding,” she explains. “You can build an ontology of whatever topic you want: cars, movies, biological pathways. They’re what dictionaries or thesauri dream of being: ontologies define words by relating them to other words, and by placing constraints on those relationships. They’re used to precisely describe data with the aim of preventing misunderstandings, either by humans or computers.”

Outside of work, Allyson is an avid swimmer who also knits and enjoys geocaching, hiking, and computer games. She has also worked with a variety of educational programs, including some that have given her the opportunity to explain bioinformatics and genetics to elementary school students.

With such a large amount of data in the world, and thousands of researchers adding to that huge pool of information every day, Allyson’s expertise is in high demand. She spends much of her time in front of her computer, creating experiments and analyzing data that will further enhance new concepts in biology. “Facilitating the communication of scientific data is key to the advancement of science, and it is a integral part of doing science that every researcher should think about,” Allyson says.

For proving that ladies can kick butt on a computer while being in the scientific sphere, we think Allyson Lister is a very Cool Girl!

Check out more of Allyson’s endeavors on her blog – The Mind Wobbles – or on Twitter @allysonlister

If you’re interested in learning more about ontologies, check out the article “What is an Ontology?” More information on open access and open data for science can be found at http://creativecommons.org/science and http://cameronneylon.net/

Name: Hope Boykin
Age: 39
Location: New York City
Occupation: Choreographer, Dancer, Teacher

Hope Boykin spends her days with grace, both demonstrating it on stage and teaching her students how to best embody it. A New York transplant by way of Durham, North Carolina, Hope is a longtime member of the legendary Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She’s a ballerina and a choreographer with an ardent love of helping others to better express themselves through dance.

Activity has always been important to Hope, so it’s no surprise that her career became a product of movement. “Dance and gymnastics were a part of my life since I was about three years old. My mother has always said that, after taking me to see a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a young child, I imitated the movements and danced around the house,” she says.

Becoming a member of Ailey was a long path, fraught with difficulties that she’s grateful for in hindsight. After studying at Howard University and working as an apprentice with Lloyd Whitmore’s New World Dance Company, Hope was invited to visit studios in New York while on winter break. She was determined to succeed in Manhattan, so she committed to studying at Alvin Ailey’s school for over a year, and auditioning as a way to broaden her educational horizons. At this point she danced with other companies, including Complexions and Philadanco, but she returned to New York, doggedly in pursuit of a spot with the Ailey company. In 1999, she auditioned…and didn’t make it. Ambitious, undaunted, and filled with the meaning of her name, Hope returned the following year to audition and was accepted. “I would absolutely live my story all over again,” she says.

Her work with Alvin Ailey has given her the opportunity to visit different places all over the globe. “The most interesting part has been seeing so many different cultures, and to learn that dance plays such a strong role in breaking language, cultural, and even societal barriers. Two weeks after 9/11 the company traveled internationally, and the loving response we received from anyone who knew we were American was amazing.”

Nowadays, Hope continues her quest, traveling the world with the Alvin Ailey troupe and bringing the joy of dance to audiences everywhere. When she’s not dancing or practicing a routine, she’s teaching her students and choreographing other works. “I have always thought that the way one’s lives their dance, is the way he or she will live their lives,” Hope says. “I often tell my students, that we are first human, then women and men, and then dancers.”

Hope has definitely dealt with struggles, even after her dream began to be recognized. “My career has always had “body issues” linked to it,” she says. “I remember a review in a noted periodical even stating, “…with her un-orthodox physique,…” and “…she has honed thighs, a football player would be proud of.” There will always be those critics who want us to fit into a mold or a category, but I am glad to be able to demonstrate that even without the so-called “perfect” dancer’s body, anything and everything is possible.” Anyone who is blessed enough to see Hope perform will bear witness to the union of elegance and expression through a body’s movement. It’s breathtaking, and it’s why we think Hope is a very Cool Girl!

Hope is about to start her twelfth season as a dancer with Alvin Ailey, and she’s recently been commissioned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to choreograph a new piece for her former dance company, Philadanco, also known as The Philadelphia Dance Company. You can see her at HopeBoykinDance.org,  on Facebook, and, of course, on AlvinAiley.org. If you also happen to be in Oslo, you’ll have the opportunity to attend a workshop series taught by Hope when Alvin Ailey travels to Norway at the end of June.

Name:  Alexandra Levit
Age: 35
Location: Chicago, IL
Occupation: Business and Workplace Author, Speaker, and Consultant

Alexandra Levit wants to put you to work. She’s made a career out of guiding twenty-somethings onto the right track, teaching them how to market themselves and get hired at the job of their dreams. By combining her natural creativity and her love of writing, she’s become a highly-lauded business and workplace author and a sought-after consultant. She spends her days advising young people about how to get out there and blaze their own professional trail, even in these tough times. Part of the reason why she’s so darn good at it is because she’s struggled, too.

“I had also been an over-achiever, and when I graduated from college, I was hell-bent on skipping up New York City’s corporate ladder. But after six months on the job, I was so stressed out that I was ready to ditch the business world completely and head to law school. Eventually, by sticking around and paying attention to the few people around me who weren’t dropping from stress-induced coronaries, I developed many of the qualities crucial to staying sane and building a career, and I wanted to share what I’d leaned so other twenty-somethings could avoid the agita I experienced.”

And it was from of that desire to share her knowledge that her first book, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, was born.

Every day for Alexandra is action-packed, since she’s not only a marketing leader and successful author, but also the mother of a three year-old and a newborn. She will meet with a client, or her business partner, after her children are taken care of, and the rest of her day is spent writing, doing consulting work, partaking in online and offline speaking engagements, and contributing to a wide assortment of marketing activities. It’s a challenge, but her goal is to continue to have a flexible career that allows her to balance her professional passion with her growing family.

Although she’s an expert in figuring out how to craft a career that feels more like a calling, less like work, all of her jobs haven’t been warm ‘n fuzzy. “The worst job was my first PR position,” she says. “My boss hated me so much I thought I had killed her relatives in a past life.”

These days Alexandra is grateful to have a gig that makes her happy, and broadens her horizons. She travels around the world to speak to young people – and their managers – and she helps to contribute to research that strengthens intergenerational communication in the workplace. Her work brings her in contact with different cultures, different fields, and different professional environments, but her message is the same: a meaningful job is out there, waiting for you.

But what about the economy? How on earth can you find a job in this icky climate?
“It’s getting better, but miraculous improvement isn’t going to happen overnight,” Alexandra says. “Job seekers must continue to be proactive by developing personal relationships with people inside the companies at which they want to work rather than relying on online job postings.”
For this good advice, and for working to get people to work, we think that Alexandra Levit is a super Cool Girl!
If you’re a college student or a recent graduate looking for a crash course on the work world, check out www.jostart101.org. To read more about Alexandra and how she can help you, click on her website, www.alexandralevit.com. Or you can follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/alevit.