happy anniversary: panache turns 1!

Today, we celebrate one year of People with Panache!

We traveled through 6 states, conducted 52 interviews with 61 people, attended street fairs, special shop events, a play and even a few Chicago rooftop landscaping sessions—all to meet and have fun with these wonderful, wild women and men. Our “panachies” are inspiring, encouraging, grounding, brave and bold. And they made 2013 the richest, most motivational and fun year of our lives so far. Thank you to everyone from Jon-Girl (our first interview!) to Elizabeth (our latest). Thank you to our Internet providers for not slacking on us while we host our weekly meetings remotely from Milwaukee and Chicago. Thank you to Lucca for brightening every week with a fantastic GIF. And a special thanks to each and every one of you for reading—one or all 52 interviews.

For our anniversary, we’ve put together a list of 15 of our favorite quotes from the past year.

1. “I’ve always believed that if you step off the cliff, the bridge will appear. I’m really afraid of heights, and now I feel like I’m on a parachute trying to get across because the bridge is very faulty. But I have to keep believing I’ll get there.”
– Courtney Berne, saver of the apes

2. “I just decided, this is my shot, and I’m not going to put on pantyhose and fetch coffee for someone anymore after all the things I’ve accomplished in my life. I put my house, my car and everything else I had in my possession on the line for collateral, wrote a business plan and went full force. I thought, if I fall, I’m going to fall big, but I’m going to try.”
– Lindsey Meyers, artist and art gallery owner, Beauty and Brawn Gallery

Courtney Berne

Bridgett Blough

3. “I let fear control me, and I wouldn’t do something because I was afraid someone would think I was stupid, or I’d fail or be rejected, but once I went full-time and decided not to let anything stop me, it changed everything. Take that, fear!”
– Lauren Wakefield, photographer, Lauren Wakefield Photography

4. “Don’t follow my no-business-plan path. Have a business plan; have financial goals. I have short-term and long-term goals that I try to achieve. And don’t give up. I would hate for someone to have a sparkle in their eye for a business but they’re stuck in a boring job staring listlessly out the window.”
– Kimberly Eberl, owner, Motion PR

5. “They think I was granted this special ‘whatever’ that they weren’t, but what it really comes down to is that I understand that everyone else is given the same opportunity to manifest whatever they truly want in life. Part of it is the really strong intention, and the other part is the work behind it. Positivity, hard work, creative problem-solving—it’s kind of American idealism. You can be anything you want to be!”
– Bridgett Blough, chef, driver and everything else, Organic Gypsy food truck

6. “In any job, if you’re losing track of time because you’re loving what you’re doing, that’s when you know you probably should be doing that thing. And like I said, the naysayers kind of pushed me toward it. I always want to prove people wrong.”
– Leslie Barlow, artist, Leslie Barlow Art

7. “It was hard to find a community of people. Through having my shop, I’ve kind of created it for myself. I now have this community of artists that are part of the space that inspire me and help me feel a purpose in what I’m doing—more like I’ve made a spot for myself here.”
– Steph Davies, artist and owner, the Waxwing

Lisa Ludwinski

Heidi Keyes

8. “We’re like modern-day mystics. I mean, we don’t possess any mystical powers, but we’re into manifesting our own destinies. Thoughts become things. If you think all day long, ‘This sucks, this sucks…’ that’s what you get. The craziest things have happened in our business because we decide they’re going to happen and talk about it a lot. I mean, why are you two here and two other girls aren’t? You’re putting actions into your thoughts.”
– Julie James, owner, Drought juice

9. “The thing about being an entrepreneur or following a dream is that you have to give it your all, and there’s no time as an adult when nothing will distract you. Someone older and wiser told me: If you can figure out the basic action that you want to do and that makes you happy, then you can do any career as long as you know what that is.” 
– Lisa Ludwinski, baker, Sister Pie

10. “Sometimes you’re going to make crappy work, and you can paint over it. You have to make bad work to make good work. Everyone has something different to teach you, even if you don’t work in the same medium, same style.”
– Heidi Keyes, painter, Heidi Keyes Art

11. “I went into the job market just like you did, out of need of sustenance, because I had to. But it didn’t feel right. It felt like I was wearing a different size shoe or something. And you begin to learn about yourself. I refuse to admit that my deck of cards was already laid out when I was born. Anything could change; anything can change.”
– Jon-Girl, owner and fencer extraordinaire, RedStar Fencing

12. “I think in society there used to be this belief that if you followed this one defined journey you’d achieve the American dream. Now job stability isn’t always there. Job descriptions and duties aren’t as defined as they once were. For our generation that’s sort of a blessing and a curse because it’s allowed us to really find what’s interesting for us and try different things, but we have to work harder to sustain ourselves.”
– Jen Ede, publisher and editor, Edible Milwaukee

Jen Ede

Sarah Moshman

13. “Always find a way to be doing something that you love—even if it’s just on your own time. Let’s say you want to be a writer, but for the moment you’re a restaurant server. Make sure you’re writing and reading and figuring out ways to accomplish those goals.”
– Cristina Daglas, magazine editor, D Magazine

14. “I sat at my desk thinking, this isn’t fair to my job. I can’t do this any more; I’m burning at both ends. I’m so passionate about [Ginger P Designs], it would be silly to close the book on it—it was blossoming! I would hate to tone it down or stop it.”
– Gina Peterson, creator and designer, Ginger P Designs

15. “It’s really exciting to say to the world, this is my dream, this is my ultimate. What would I do if I weren’t afraid? I thought, if I wasn’t afraid I would make this film, and I would see where it would take me. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. Knowing what you want to do at any age is so powerful. Being comfortable with yourself and knowing what you’re passionate about and what you want to do—that makes you unstoppable.”
– Sarah Moshman, filmmaker, Heartfelt Productions (and The Empowerment Project!)

[Photos by Alysse.]

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