Nancy Magsig on Celebrating Women Every Day
By Denise Tong
Celebrations are often confined to major events or holidays, but Nancy Magsig and Nancy Murrah want to show that every day is cause for celebration. Co-founders of Here’s to Good Women, Inc. and HeresToGoodWomen.com, “the Nancys” encourage everyday women to exalt their daily accomplishments.
Launched in 2007, the site subscribes to the belief that the hardworking women of the world should take a little time each day to relax, applaud themselves, and find inspiration in each other. The site’s atmosphere is inclusive, supportive, and warm. The Nancys write about what they’re currently celebrating and invite readers to nominate a woman they know to be listed on the site as a Featured Good Woman. They also offer relaxation tips, party ideas, jokes, contests, and a gift store.
The site’s positive spirit has appealed to women of all ages and lifestyles; its readership varies from young students to professionals to seniors. Even men visit and write about the good women in their lives.
Nancy Magsig chatted with CurrentVine.com about running the site and how women struggle to juggle.
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CV: What spurred you to create HeresToGoodWomen.com?
NM: The site was inspired by Lynn Santa Cruz, Nancy Murrah’s sister-in-law, who died of cancer in 2006. Lynn exemplified how good women can stay positive in spite of life’s hurdles—and boy, did she have them. She and Nancy used to toast themselves everyday after wound care, nursing visits, and taking care of family. They’d say, “Here’s to the good women we are!” and celebrate themselves and getting through each day.
At the same time, the press seemed to become obsessed with rich, self-involved, and out-of-control young women. Frankly, it made us mad. Women like Lynn seem to be invisible, but Paris Hilton wears a new shade of nail polish and it’s front page news.
We think there are millions of good women who deserve to be recognized and celebrated. Our mission is to help women celebrate who they are and what they do, every day.
CV: What’s next for the site? Has it spawned any offline plans?
NM: We’re always adding new content like great celebration and relaxation tips, as well as new gift items.
We’re also working on a schedule for “Life’s a Banquet, Pull Up a Chair” workshops. They’re fun, high-energy, and designed to help women figure out what they really want and how to get it.
We also have an idea we’re working on for a Good Women Celebration in Florida, where we can get good women together in person. We’ll be announcing plans on the Web site and in our free newsletter.
CV: Has anything about running the site surprised you?
NM: The biggest surprise has been the learning curve. Who knew we’d get hands-on with HTML coding and SEO? It’s been fun to learn some new skills and we’re excited about learning more.
CV: How would you describe the response from your visitors? What do readers contribute most often?
NM: Responses have been overwhelmingly positive. We hear things like “About time!” and “Hooray for us!” We love to get e-mails and calls. It’s gratifying to hear from women who realize they really do deserve to celebrate every day.
Mostly we hear from women who want to honor and recognize a woman they know and love. We also hear about what women are celebrating, which has inspired some of the things we celebrate each day on our home page.
CV: What do you consider the greatest challenge for women in their daily lives?
NM: We think the biggest challenge is finding time to juggle all the different roles that most of us play: Wife, mother, daughter, friend, employee, and so on. Most women race through every day and sometimes it feels like we’re just slapping on Band-Aids and not really doing as well as we’d like. That can be frustrating.
Women are also plagued by the “yabbut” syndrome. We honestly believe that if a woman discovered the cure for cancer tomorrow, she’d say, “Yeah, but I didn’t make the bed this morning and I need to lose 10 pounds!” We want women to celebrate themselves and what they do, every day—with no yabbuts!
