During the six and a half years I’ve worked at San Diego Magazine, I’ve received approximately trillions of pitches about successful men and male-owned businesses. Ninety-five percent of the publicists composing and emailing these pitches are women. My oversimplified takeaway: women sure are good at bragging about men! Obviously a lot of factors go into this gender imbalance, but one of the things that comes to mind is a 2013 study published in Psychology of Women Quarterly showing that women have a hard time overcoming modesty in order to brag about themselves—especially in the workplace.
But at San Diego Magazine—a company that’s 86 percent women, including our associate publisher, chief content officer, and yours truly—we love to celebrate women, and this month we’re celebrating them from cover to cover. For the first time ever, we are deliberately putting women at the forefront of every story. You might spy men in a few photos, but we didn’t specifically shoot or feature any. We used some male writers because, well, have you read Troy Johnson and Dan Letchworth? But for the most part we’re ladies first this issue. We’re not anti-men. We’re pro-“uplifting people who often fall by the wayside.” And when you read these powerful stories, you’ll understand why.
Take Edie Littlefield Sundby, who beat stage 4 gall bladder cancer with less than one percent odds of survival and became the first person to walk the 1,600-mile El Camino Real Mission Trail in its 250-year history—all with one lung! And how about Brittney Reese (pictured above), a track coach at Mesa College who’s won eight World Championships and an Olympic gold medal in long jump despite facing a debilitating injury? Our very own Sanna Boman Coates profiled these women. She says, “I thought I was adventurous until I met Edie, Vivian, Chrissie, and Brittney. These are some seriously inspiring women, and we should all strive to be a little bit more like them.”
If you need still more inspiration, join us at our Celebrating Women 2017 event at the Westgate Hotel, September 26. Our keynote speaker will be Mallika Chopra, an entrepreneur, author, and expert in meditation, the power of intention, and parenting. Guests will include nonprofit leaders, military service members, businesswomen, and more, connecting over bites, beverages, and live music overlooking downtown.
Please come and be sure to say hello. No special handshake required.
The Ultimate San Diego Summer Guide 2017
Letter from the Editor: Behind Our Magazine Redesign
Letter from the Editor: Wonder Women
Erin Meanley Glenny posing with Olympian Brittney Reese at Mesa College
