Passion Projects
I created my first web site in 1995 because I was travelling the world and wanted to be able to share what I was learning and seeing with my friends and family far away. I loved the ability to connect and share online. And so, as my travel continued, my online community expanded and my interests grew, I developed more and more sites to service both my passions and my communities.
The following projects were all based on the same idea; be useful by creating and sharing content that creates community and helps people live extraordinary lives offline. And with all my projects averaging well over 150,000 uniques per day, continuously garnering press/awards and – most importantly – really connecting and helping people online – I’d say that I had a few good ideas.
All of my passion projects are 100% non-profit. I do not accept advertising or funding for any of them. As such, some of them haven’t been updated for a long time due to time and resource restraints. But luckily, a lot of content is evergreen and you can always find something of value in them.
Here are some past and current projects below.
Site: Girls Got Gumption
Genre: Creative Female Entrepreneurs
Launched: January 2002 (as Another Girl at Play)
Description: Over 30 successful female entrepreneurs share how they made their creative dream a reality. With a 2003 SXSW Design Nomination, constant media attention and over 80,000 daily visitors, this site proves that women artists can be interesting and successful.
Site: Girls Guide to City Life
Genre: Travel/Retail/Women/Food
Launched: Summer 2005
Description: Aimed at dishing the best of what cities have to offer to a global audience but with girlish flair. Giving information from the best restaurant and dressing room to how to travel on your own. A Yahoo Pick of the Day and a 2006 SXSW Web Finalist for “Best Blog.”
Site: Hygge House
Launched: January 2007
Genre: Home/Women
Description: A lifestyle site geared towards bringing the European love of life, simplicity and style to American homes with a blog, a shop and ideas to keep one inspired with life.
Site: Anywhere Everywhere
Genre: Travel
Launched: Summer 2003
Description: Love to travel? So does Alex. This site features a collection of her travel writings which have been featured in international magazines and newspapers.
Site: Pet the Pretty Things
Genre: Shopping/Decor/Review
Launched: 2004
Description: A personal review sites of all things pretty – or useful, or edible, or just downright dreamy.
Site: alex the girl
Genre: personal site
Launched: 1994
Description: I built my first personal site using Netscape Navigator and far too many animated gifs. It was created as a way to keep in touch with family & friends as I travelled. The only problem? None of them had internet access back then. But it did become popular with those that were as it was one of the few personal sites with writing at the time (there was no word ‘blog’ back then). I’ve keep it up over the years and it’s gone through many incarnations. Now it’s just a simple site to write simple musings. And if you’re wondering where the name came from, it’s a childhood nickname born out of having a male Alex classmate.
