With the Turtle, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

And just like an actual turtle lives inside of its protective shell, Peggy Dyer, the driver, lives inside of her camper.

“It’s been a crazy ride,” says Dyer. “Literally.”

Dyer, who came up with the nickname “Turtle” because of the camper’s slow speed, is a local photographer who also uses the camper as her mobile art studio. And despite the fact that she is basically homeless, Dyer is philanthropic through her photography. She considers her living situation just a small speed bump on a road to make a difference.

“I just want to change the world, basically. That’s pretty much it,” says Dyer, 36, who parks every night outside of her office space in south Boulder after traveling around town taking pictures. “I want to inspire people to connect.”
Her avenue: the One Million Faces project.

On Feb. 26, Dyer was driving as Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” came on the radio. As the lyrics “I’ve seen a million faces and I’ve rocked them all” crackled through the old speakers, Dyer got an idea.

She wondered if she could photograph 1 million faces to raise money for local charities, and change the world by building community through art.

Less than a week later, Dyer set up her first One Million Faces photo shoot and shot the first 28 faces. Angie Wise, of Boulder, one Dyer’s closet friends, was the first face.

“It’s not just about me taking a bunch of pictures,” Dyer says. “It’s about telling the stories of people.”

For a $10 donation, Dyer takes several black and white portraits of each person. First, just smiling and posing. Then, with your name and number on a white board. And finally, with any message you want.

Messages have ranged from “Hi Mom” to “Anoint the world in dance” to “Cancer, you messed with the wrong bitch.” Everyone has something to say, Dyer says, and every message benefits a good cause.

After taking the photos, Dyer pastes them next to each other on large pegboards. The faces and messages stand together in a stunning collage of human experience.

Currently, however, the pegboards live in Dyer’s rented storage space. When the One Million Faces project progresses, Dyer hopes to display the pegboards in different galleries and coffee shops around Boulder, thereby furthering the sense of community they create.

Dyer has photographed more than 1,000 faces since February. The faces have come from a variety of events, such as “the Vagina Monologues” at Boulder Theatre in February and the Boulder Creek Festival in May.

Still, the money has hasn’t exactly piled up. At first, Dyer asked for a small donation instead of charging a specific amount for the photos. Bad choice, she says. At the Boulder Creek Festival, for example, Dyer shot more than 150 faces, but at the end of the day there was only $183 in her donation jar. The money has increased since she initiated the $10 flat rate, but expenses, such as paying an assistant and gas, drain the funds.

“I haven’t paid myself ever,” Dyer says. “I don’t even have money yet to donate back to my charities. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that it is coming.”

She is only one woman, living in her camper, and 1 million is a lot of faces. Her financial struggles prevent her from focusing on the project full-time. She pays the bills doing private jobs, which occupies most of her weekday 9-to-5’s. Currently, she is looking for sponsorship and volunteers so she can dedicate more hours to her project.

When Dyer started One Million Faces, she dove into it like a cannonball in a swimming pool. It was quick, made a big splash, and many people got wet. Still, she hasn’t had time to fully work out the details of how she is going to accomplish her goal.

If Dyer were to spend the next 30 years working on One Million Faces, she would have to photograph more than 30,000 faces every day. At the rate she is going, it would take her 666 years.

But she doesn’t let the uncertainty — or the seeming impossible — frighten her. Things have a way of working out, she says. If the project grew large enough, she could set up One Million Faces offices all over the country and hire a full-time staff. She wonders if she could work out a deal with Bon Jovi and shoot massive crowd photos at his concerts. Maybe Toyota will sponsor her.

“When I get really scared I just have to tell myself, ‘OK, I can do this,’” Dyer says. “I’ll be fine. Like really, how much worse can things get for me?”

The little things add up

Each board brings faces together and creates a community. Creating a sense of community is what matters, Dyer says, much more than having a roof over her head.

Each person is one in a million. Everyone has a number. Yet there is a sense of connection in that you are a part of something larger. As an individual, your contribution is small, but as a whole, the contribution makes a significant impact.

“When you start putting these messages side by side, they start to tell a story,” Dyer says. “You can kind of get lost in what’s happening with the messages. I can look at all these faces and remember a story about every single one of these moments.”

She wants her work to bring out the true essence of each person. And there is a sense of warmth in the portraits, like these faces are sharing something intimate and personal with you.

Amy Howard is the executive director of the Boulder-based Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s, a charity on Dyer’s list.

“Her ability to capture people is unbelievable,” says Howard, who has also posed for One Million Faces. “She is able to capture greatness in people. I’ve never seen a photographer like her.”

‘This is what I’m here to do’

Despite a steady income photographing special events like weddings and bar mitzvahs, when Dyer started the project, she had less than $500 to her name.

Her financial troubles followed a canceled photography event and a subsequent lawsuit, which Dyer lost, costing her about $20,000 and the home she lived in. Shortly after, Dyer found the Turtle, and she bought it for $3,500 with borrowed money.

“I didn’t want to give up my dream,” Dyer says. “This thing, right here, that I do, taking pictures, telling stories, being with people, this is what I’m great at. This is what I’m here to do.”

Still, when she isn’t behind the lens of a camera, she worries about more than money. Despite eating well and exercising constantly — she teaches a spinning class at Mountain’s Edge Fitness Center — Dyer is overweight. She says she has been rejected by six health insurers who say she is “uninsurable” because of her height-to-weight ratio.

Dyer says she has always struggled with self-esteem and body issues. That’s why the One Million Faces project has meant so much to her personally. It has changed her own beliefs and expectations of herself.

“You go back to that body image stuff, and it’s like I’m an elephant,” Dyer says. “And I’m standing here, as an elephant, just wanting to be a giraffe. I’m never going to be a giraffe. But I can be a really good elephant. And elephants are strong. And I’m very strong.”

So she chooses strength.

She says she has developed a sense of perspective since she started One Million Faces. When she thinks of her charities, she can’t complain about her “morbidly obese” designation.

Take her friend Chanda Hinton, of Denver, who was shot in a hunting accident when she was 8 years old.

The spinal cord injury confined her to a wheelchair. Still, she founded the Chanda Plan, a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Dyer also plans to support to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. Rett Syndrome is the most physically disabling of the autism spectrum disorders, according to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust Web site. The disorder, which affects mostly women, strips people of their verbal capabilities. Maybe Dyer lives in the Turtle, she says, but at least she can talk.

“The fact that I have all my faculties and that I have my health and that I have the strength to stand, walk, communicate and to create — all those things, that’s a gift that every single day for a really long time I took for granted,” Dyer says. “I don’t take it for granted anymore.”

In addition to the Davis Phinney Foundation, the Chanda Plan and the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, Dyer also hopes to raise at least $20,000 for Moving to End Sexual Assault and the Shjon Podein’s Children’s Foundation.

“This is my life and this is how I choose it to be. I’m not going to sit here and be a victim. I’m not going to sit here and cry about losing some lawsuit,” Dyer says. “I get to bring a lot of joy to the world through my work. And that is what I want to focus on.”

A million miles away

As the Turtle heads from shoot to shoot, the engine coughs like someone trying to clear her throat. Like someone who is trying to start a conversation.

Dyer wants the One Million Faces project to open up a dialogue between people who would not have communicated otherwise. Through the messages, Dyer engages people in a conversation about their beliefs surrounding themselves, their lives or their community.

Get your hopes up.
Sacred Earth.
The world is my family.

Posterboard messages like this are what Dyer says lead to real change in the world — just as the project has lead to real change in herself.

When you start to listen to people, you have a better understanding of your community, Dyer says. So she is slowly painting a portrait of America creating connections all across the country.

“I love the idea of it being art that connects people,” Dyer says. “At the end of the day, if everybody — if the community of culture, the world — rises up and changes the conversation, we start talking about something different.”

The Turtle moves unhurriedly, barely reaching speeds above 65 miles per hour at full throttle. Still, no matter how slow the progress, it’s headed in the right direction.

Dyer needs help. But she believes in the power of her community to support her. She already sees herself standing in the Oval Office, shaking hands with President Obama, as she prepares to take his picture as the 1 millionth face.

The end may seem like a million miles away now, Dyer says. But life is fleeting, and you have get in the driver’s seat to have any hope of arriving at your destination.

Even if it’s in a rusted old camper.

“You want to change the world, this is how you do it,” Dyer says. “You figure out what it is that you’re brilliant at, and you show up, and you shine.”

To learn more about how you can help the One Million Faces Project and upcoming events, visit www.onemillionfaces.org.

— By Jessica Warnock

At that time, firefighters didn’t receive formal training. Unlike today, where trainees complete a rigorous 14-week academy, then you trained on the job.

“My lieutenant just said, ‘This is where you sit and do what I tell you,’” Peterson remembers.

One of Peterson’s first calls was a medical shooting call. Enthusiastic and with his adrenaline pumping, Peterson grabbed the medical bags and ran on the scene to help a victim who had been shot in the stomach. After a few moments, he realized he was the only one to have left the truck.

His lieutenant waved a finger for Peterson to come back over.

“I forgot to tell you,” the lieutenant told Peterson. “On shootings we wait for the police to come so we don’t get shot.”

Fortunately, the shooter wasn’t around and Peterson wasn’t injured. Ever since that day he’s been hooked. In fact, he still works for the Longmont Fire Department.

Still, nearly three decades of service isn’t enough for his servant’s heart.

In 2007, Peterson traveled with his wife, Katie Peterson, to Ciudad Mante, Mexico, on a mission trip. From the moment they first visited the city’s orphanage, they were touched. Before the two-week trip was over, the Petersons were drafting plans to start a nonprofit. They wanted to continue helping these children.

The result is Orphan’s Bridge. Since 2007, Orphan’s Bridge has traveled to Mexico three times to work with orphans. They have also raised about $5,000, all of which has gone directly to benefiting children in need.

“We saw the need and feel in love with the kids.” Jeff Peterson says. “We do whatever we can to enrich their lives.”

Orphan’s Bridge makes a big impact in small ways. They installed a swamp cooler to battle extreme temperatures in the orphanage. They put a door in the girls’ room so they could have privacy. Orphan’s Bridge also gives scholarships to older children so they can continue school past the 10th grade, when they have to start paying for education. The goal is provide these disadvantaged children with whatever tools necessary so they have an opportunity to succeed.

Women’s Magazine wanted to know more about Jeff Peterson, so we asked him four questions about love, orphans and Español. We then asked the same questions to Katie, his high-school sweetheart, wife of 30 years, and co-founder of Orphan’s Bridge.

1. What would you be doing if you weren’t a firefighter?
Jeff: I’m kind of a closet artist, so something creative. Architecture really interested me early on. But I’m sure there would be a service aspect to it. If I were doing architecture, I would want to be working in developing countries coming up with inexpensive housing or something along those lines.
Katie: He would be some kind of an artist. A graphic artist or something. That was kind of the road he was going on before he became a fire fighter.

2. What is the most rewarding aspect of working with orphans?
Jeff: Probably their need for attention. You can imagine an orphanage with 44 kids and three staff members. They just don’t get enough adult attention. We walk in the door and two or three of the braver ones are wrapped around your leg. Just that raw need for love.
Katie: Just making a difference for kids. It’s just so hard to see these bright kids in these circumstance that they didn’t ask for. If they were raised in a healthy environment where they had opportunities they would have the world by its tail. These kids are stuck in boundaries that hold them down. Having the opportunity to move those kids past that is the most rewarding.

3. How is your Spanish coming along?
Jeff: (Laughs) Horribly. I took German in junior high and high school. Bad choice. I probably should have been taking Spanish. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can understand what they are saying, and I might be able to answer with one word.
Katie: (Also laughs) About like mine. We work on it, then we don’t and we lose it. It’s a constant struggle. It’s just hard when you’re not in a place where you’re using it all the time.

4. Describe your ideal date.
Jeff: We both have a passion for travel so a perfect date would be in another country. A bottle of wine in the south of France in some little village in the middle of nowhere. But just going out to dinner and spending time together is always great. That’s a little more reachable.
Katie: I guess where we don’t have a lot of distractions, where we’re outdoors and we can just have a nice conservation.

On the Web
To learn more about how you can help Orphan’s Bridge, visit www.theorphansbridge.org.

— By Jessica Warnock

In 2008, the US News and World Report called Boulder the fittest city in the United States. In this land of spandex-clad bikers and hikers, being overweight can make you feel like an outsider.

Sara Sullivan, 31, moved to Boulder last year with her family from North Carolina. At 275 pounds, she hoped Boulder’s ubiquitous athleticism would encourage her to lose weight. However, she quickly learned that getting healthy doesn’t happen by osmosis. After a year, she hadn’t lost any weight.

She needed help.

That’s when she came up with the See Sara Shrink campaign. With the help of her sister, in April she started a Web site where others can follow and join her weight loss journey. Her goal is to lose 100 pounds. Sara doesn’t have a specific deadline to lose the weight. Instead, she focuses on one pound at a time.

Still, with the support and accountability of an online community, Sullivan has already lost more than 30 pounds. She has about 1,500 distinct visitors to the site each month and boast more than 2,700 followers on Twitter.

For this month’s special beauty issue, Women’s Magazine has joined Sullivan’s movement. Each month, we will update you on Sullivan’s progress, struggles and successes. With a little encouragement, she says, we can all get healthy.

“Beauty is all about confidence,” Sullivan says. “Confidence comes from feeling great about who you are on the inside and being accepting of who you are on the outside.”

For more information about Sullivan’s journey, visit www.seesarashrink.com for blog posts, giveaways and more.

By the numbers
55 percent — Of women would refuse to gain 30 pounds in exchange for $250,000
22 percent — Would consider gaining 10 pounds for $25,000.
Source: More magazine

— By Jessica Warnock

Elturk creates classes that serve the local community, especially marginalized members, like refugees and immigrants. All of the classes are free and range from Conversations in English to an Arabic Literature Discussion group.

“The program is very helpful,” says Cintia Ventura, originally from Brazil. “I’ve been improving my English a lot since I came to Boulder in 2007. Also, it is a great opportunity to make friends.”

The library should be the meeting place for different cultures, Elturk says. It exists to advocate civic participation and encourage diversity through information.

“The library is the natural place people from all walks of life to be valued,” Eltruk says. “The library belongs to the community.”

When Elturk moved to the United States from Lebanon in 1985, she was surprised by the extent to which people were segregated from each other.

This is unfortunate, she says, because there is an inherent value in learning about other cultures. When you listen to other’s experiences and ideas, you open your mind and challenge racism. And you find yourself through others.

“I think the most important thing is that we are open to learning, instead of being entrenched in who we are and trying to make the other change like us,” Elturk says.

To learn more about the Boulder Public Library’s Multicultural Outreach Program, including how to donate or volunteer, call Ghada Elturk at 303-441-4941, or e-mail her at elturkg@boulderlibrary.org.
For a list of classes, visit www.boulder.lib.co.us/services/multicultural.

— By Jessica Warnock

But Woods’ Photoshop editing isn’t the only reason Vincent is glowing. She’s also six and a half months pregnant.

Photo by Iman Woods

“Up until the photo shoot I felt really big and fat,” says Vincent, 31, of Boulder. “During the photo shoot, I felt much more normal.”

It can be hard to feel beautiful when you’re carrying a watermelon at your waist. Like Vincent, many pregnant women feel huge, bloated, lethargic. Like a roly-poly.

But Woods, an artist living in Erie, works to make all women feels as beautiful as she sees them. One of her photography ventures, called Red Hot Mamas, makes pregnant women sexy pinups. Woods, 28, says every woman is as beautiful as a glamour model, and she enjoys showing women that side of themselves.

“The way I see women is the way loved ones see them,” Woods says. “We are trying to create a process that lets you lift that self-conscious self and embrace a woman that feels power in her beauty.”

And pinup art is the perfect medium for feeling sexy. We all struggle at times to feel beautiful, Woods says. But with pinup, you tap into a confident part of yourself.

“Part of being a pinup is totally embracing your beauty and acknowledging that you glow,” Woods says. “I tell every woman that they need to embrace their bodies and themselves right now — this moment.”

Woods says her photography sessions are like having a “girlfriend day.” At the beginning, the client has her hair and make-up done by professional stylists. During the shoot, Woods poses the models to show off what they love most about themselves. Once the photos are shot and edited, Woods has a “premiere” night where the models can see their shots on a “big screen” projector to music. The whole experience is a process of breaking down negative self-image.

Woods simulates the airbrush style of traditional pinup photos by highlighting and shadowing key parts of the face and body in Photoshop. The photos are celebratory of a woman’s beauty, Woods says, featuring shining skin and flawless locks.

Woods’ vintage art grew out of her own insecurities. When she started to gain weight in 2005, she searched for a way in which all women could feel beautiful. That’s when she discovered pinup. Now, she earns a living by making other women feel sexy.

Although she also takes photos of women who are not pregnant (and men), Woods says she enjoys Red Hot Mamas photo shoots the most.

“I hate to play favorites, but there is something about a belly that is just stunning,” Woods says. “This is a great way to really celebrate that part of you and that stage of your life.”

Vincent agrees. After the shoot, says she felt confident, sexy and proud to be a red hot mama. Now she can’t wait to show the photos to her children and grandchildren some day.

“It definitely helped me remember that this is a beautiful process,” Vincent says. “It made me feel proud to be pregnant.”

To learn more about Red Hot Mamas and the rest of Iman Woods’ photography, visit www.imanwoods.com.

— By Jessica Warnock

Camp Bow Wow is a doggy day and overnight camp. Heidi Ganahl, 42, opened the first location in December of 2000 with her brother. She says it’s different than traditional dog kennels. At Camp Bow Wow, the dogs run around and play all day long. They are never cooped up in a crate. Each night the dogs sleep in private “cabins” and receive a campfire treat.

“I always thought we’d have four or five locations in Denver and that would be the end of it,” Ganahl says. “I’m glad I didn’t limit myself.”

Since 2000 Ganahl has opened 100 Camp Bow Wow locations and sold about 200 franchises all over the country. They have cared for more than half a million dogs.

Ganahl came up with the idea of Camp Bow Wow with her first husband Brian. The couple enjoyed watching dogs play at a doggy day care next to her father’s business in Monument, Colo. The couple took this idea and evolved it. They came up with the camp concept and developed a business model.

However, Ganahl’s life and business plan shattered when she was 27. After the couple had been married for a couple of years, Brian was killed in a small plane crash. Ganahl felt paralyzed.

Still, Ganahl received one million dollars in a settlement from the crash. Using the money, she opened two businesses that quickly failed. She also loaned a lot of money to friends and family. After a while, all she had left was $80,000 and nothing to show for it.

Ganahl struggled with guilt after losing most of the money. She wanted to earn it back to honor Brian and what they had dreamed of building together.

“I definitely felt like it was something that was our vision that I wanted to see through after not doing so well with managing the settlement,” Ganahl says. “I wanted to make that money back to show people I could do it. So my goal was always to get Camp Bow Wow to be worth a million dollars.”

This year, the company will make four to five million dollars just in revenue from selling franchises. The total system sales will be around $35 million.

“I’m really proud that I was able to see our vision through,” Ganahl says. “It’s been a wild ride. It’s more than I ever thought it would be, but there’s still so much to do.”

This “adventure” hasn’t been without its challenges. There was one time when Ganahl’s friend embezzled from the company. There is also the challenge dealing with dozens of dogs at one time, each with unique personalities and problems.

“I thought I knew a lot about dogs, but I didn’t have a clue what canine cough was, or all the different diseases, or all the things that can happen,” Ganahl says. “It was a big learning curve. You can’t just expect to throw a bunch of dogs in a room and expect everything to be OK, which is kind of how we went into it.”

The business also has the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, which pays for the camps to sponsor “foster dogs.”
The foundation also provides funds to the Colorado State University animal cancer research center.

Ganahl lives in Louisville with her husband Jason her 13-year-old daughter, Tori, and their two dogs. As of this writing, she is pregnant with another daughter who is due in August. She also has a book coming out in November called “Tales from the Bark Side,” which chronicles her life as a single mom and entrepreneur.

Women’s Magazine wanted to know more about Ganahl, who was named one of Entrepreneurs.com’s top 50 leading ladies in business. So we asked her five questions about her life as top dog.

1. What message do you have for women entrepreneurs who are just getting started?

Don’t be intimidated. Really believe that you can succeed. One statistic that really bothers me is that there are only half as many women-owned companies that earn more than $1 million in a year as there are men. I think that’s because women don’t aim as high. They’re happy with less success or they have a lower bar. I say raise the bar and go after the big success. There’s no reason you should be any less successful than men are.

2. What is something you’ve learned from experience that you wish your teenage daughter knew?

Probably that you really have to love yourself before you can be in love with someone else or be in love with your career. You have to be really grounded and understand yourself. And that just takes time and going through experiences. So you have to get beat up a lot before you get to that point.

3. Which is more difficult: starting a multimillion-dollar company or raising a daughter?

(Laughs.) The teenage thing is hard. It’s really hard. Probably raising a child, but in effect owning a franchise company is a lot like being a parent. I mean, I’ve got my 30 team members that I keep organized and on track, and I feel like a mom in that aspect.

4. What is the best quality about dogs that humans don’t have?

The ability to listen. To just shut up and listen. I think that’s why a lot of people like dogs. They don’t talk back.

5. What are you most looking forward to re-doing as you raise a second daughter?

It’s just so fun watching them change and grow, like the first time they talk and developing a personality, and I’m really curious to see if she’s going to be like Tori or not. So that’ll be interesting. Having kids is an adventure.

To learn more about Camp Bow Wow or to find a camp near you, visit www.campbowwowusa.com.

—By Jessica Warnock

Photo by Garry Knight, Flickr user garryknight.

Most wired women could learn a lesson about online anonymity from the playful notes they wrote in middle school.

Picture this: You are 13 and bored in third-period geometry. You decide to write a note to your best friend who sits in the desk next to you. The note’s sparkly purple ink shines with all the intimate details of your day, including how much you secretly love Jimmy Gardner and how much you really hate this class. You fold the note with your intrinsic teenage note-folding origami skills. Scrawled across the top of the note are the words “For your eyes only!!!”

And yet this is the eighth grade. Despite your careful maneuvers, your BFF probably isn’t the only person who will read the note. You teacher might catch you mid-pass. Your best friend could betray you and show the note to Jimmy Gardner. Or she might throw it away, leaving the note available for any curious trash-digging third party.

The point is, once you write it down, you don’t have any control over where the information ends up.

All of these scenarios easily translate to the Internet. Another person can potentially view almost all that we do online. Despite most people’s confidence in secrecy, it’s rare that we are ever completely anonymous on the Web.

Take work, for instance. It’s likely your boss has access to your “private” employee e-mail account. You’ll feel like a silly schoolgirl when she catches you bad-mouthing her in an e-mail, the grown-up version of note-passing.

Or take your private life. As you sip your iced chai and access the free wi-fi at Panera, any computer-savvy customer can follow what you are doing by hacking the open network.

Even on secure severs, your Web movements are constantly tracked by companies. Every time you google something your search inquiry is stored in a Google database along with your IP address.

Still, anonymity on the Web isn’t something to lose sleep over.

Geek for Hire Inc. is a computer troubleshooting and repair company based in Nederland. The “principal geek,” Chris Eddy, says your private information is protected just by the sheer number of Internet users.
Most of the time there is so much data flowing in cyberspace that the chances of a hacker picking you out of a crowd are pretty thin. Users are “hiding in plain sight,” he says.

Still, there are a few precautions you can take to better protect your identity.

1. Every week you should clear out your cookies.

Think of Web cookies as thrown-away school notes; even after you leave a Web site or throw away a note, the information still exists, even if it is sitting in the trash can. Web sites plant bits of computer code on your computer in order to gain information about the sites you visit. On your Web browser, open your privacy tab through the tools menu and erase the stored cookies.

2. Check out sites such as www.torproject.org and www.anonymizer.com that offer browsing tools to make your search inquiries anonymous.

3. Finally, make sure that you don’t use work for personal e-mails. Sign up for a free and private account on Hotmail or Yahoo.

And as far as e-mail goes, in general it’s best to remember your mother’s advice. Don’t write and send any notes that you wouldn’t mind the entire class reading.

For more information on computer security or troubleshooting, call Geek for Hire Inc. at 303-258-8175.

— By Jessica Warnock

Each month, we feature a different shop in town. This month: Jah Vintage, 3330 Eldorado Springs drive, Eldorado Springs, 303-494-5262, www.jahvintage.com.

Women are complicated creatures. We multidimensional, to say the least.

At Women’s Magazine, we love clothes that express women’s eclectic personalities. Fashion is about options. Clothing and accessories are just two of the ways we convey individuality.

That’s why hit up Jah Vintage. The shop has everything from vintage Gucci tops to handcrafted Mayan necklaces. Jah Vintage’s accessories collection features local and international artists whose pieces are original and never mass-produced.

The store’s full of little treasures from all over the globe. Whether it is a shark tooth necklace or snakeskin stilettos, you’re bound to find something as fierce as you are. Here are Jah Vintage’s ideas on how to combine high fashion vintage style with one-of-a-kind accessories so that every outfit is as unique as you are.

[Show as slideshow]

We all know the frustrated feeling of standing in line, taking off your shoes, emptying your pockets and taking out your laptop. Finally, a company has designed a bag to take away this frustration.

With the checkpoint-friendly laptop bags by Aerovation, you never have to take out your laptop going through security. The Transportation Security Administration-recognized bag has two padded compartments that open like a butterfly so you can lay it flat on the x-ray conveyer belt without removing your computer. Bags start at $79.95 and are available at www.aerovation.com.

“Peanuts” 1960s collection
Everybody has her favorite Charlie Brown television tradition. Some add “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” to their Halloween scary movie marathon. Some families watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” every holiday season.

Starting this July you can throw out your old Charlie Brown VHS tapes. On July 7, Warner Brothers will release “Peanuts 1960s collection,” a DVD set of six popular Peanuts television specials. The collection also includes special features, like a short documentary on Vince Guaraldi, the composer of Peanuts music, $29.98.

Colorado Shakespeare Festival

If you haven’t yet checked out the Boulder’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival, this is the year. The festival, which Time Magazine has called one of the greatest Shakespearean festivals in the country, runs from July 1 to Aug. 15 and attracts as many as 40,000 visitors each year.

Enjoy the warm night air at the beautiful Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on the University of Colorado campus, where all of the performances take place. Head to “Hamlet” on July 3, or try “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” on July 28. For more information on festival events or to purchase tickets, visit www.coloradoshakes.org.

— By Jessica Warnock

However, this hasn’t happened by the natural progression of history.

Rather, it happened because smart, strong and independent women didn’t see why they, too, couldn’t be a lawyer, or a pilot or a politician. Each woman who never let her gender hold her back from what she wanted to do improved the quality of life for her daughters.

That’s why for July, Women’s Magazine is celebrating the lives of three inspirational women who embody women’s independence. These three Colorado women were historic pioneers in their fields. Their professions — and certainly opportunities for all the women who followed  — wouldn’t have been the same without them.

A supreme leader

When Jean Dubofsky, of Boulder, went to Harvard Law School in 1967, women did not become judges. In fact, even women lawyers were uncommon.

In Dubofsky’s law class, there were only four women out of 125 students. She remembers one professor who said the women couldn’t raise their hands and they would rarely be called on.
But Dubofsky was confidant in her capabilities, which she says is key to being successful. You cannot be afraid to take risks, especially in a male-dominated field.

“To be an independent woman, it is really important to have self-confidence,” she says.

Dubofsky made history thanks to her own self-confidence. In 1979 she became the first woman and the youngest person ever elected as a Colorado Supreme Court justice.

Her career reflects Dubofsky’s belief that it is important to take care of people in need.
“People are not just responsible for themselves,” she says. “They are responsible for the well-being of the community.”

After retiring from the bench, in 1988 she opened a law firm in Denver where she continued fighting for Colorado’s disadvantaged populations. She has worked on some of the nation’s most important civil rights cases.

And she won most of them.

For instance, Dubofsky was the lead attorney in the first gay rights Supreme Court case, which challenged Colorado’s Amendment 2. The amendment said homosexuals could not receive redress for discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dubofsky won the case in 1996.

Now 67, Dubofsy continues to work as a lawyer, mostly in appellate cases. She operates the Dubofsky Law Firm with her husband Frank.

Because she was often the only woman in her field, Dubofsky says she worked especially hard. She says her this was the fundamental factor in her achievements.

“Nothing is given to anybody. There is no such thing as totally innate talent,” she says. “When you’re doing something that people don’t expect you to do, you really have to work hard at it.”
Nevertheless, when she looks back at all that she has accomplished, she says she can’t help but to think, “Wow. I did that?”

Emily Howell Warner broke the flying frontier for women, literally.

When Frontier Airlines hired Warner in 1973, she became the first woman pilot in the United States to be hired by a commercial airline.

As a little girl, Warner didn’t dream of becoming a pilot. After graduating from Holy Family High School in Broomfield in 1957, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life.

Working at a Denver department store called May Company, Warner watched as glamorous airline stewardesses passed through the store. She thought that would be a great job.

But at 18 years old, Warner fell short of the stewardess age requirement. Nevertheless, one of Warner’s coworkers suggested that she buy a roundtrip ticket to Gunnison, Colo., to see what an airplane ride was like. Warner splurged on the $28 ticket and became the first person in her family to ride on a commercial airline.

Because she was the only passenger on the way back from Gunnison, Warner was allowed in the cockpit with the pilots, where she sat for the whole flight. The experience was thrilling, she says, and she immediately fell in love with flying. One of the pilots, sensing her delight, suggested that she take flying lessons.

“It was like my whole world changed,” Warner says.

The equal rights movement of the 1960s influenced Warner greatly. She knew there weren’t any women airline pilots, but she couldn’t help but think, “Why not?”

Still, it wasn’t easy becoming the first woman pilot. Warner was a flight instructor at Clinton Aviation after becoming a certified pilot. She was frustrated when airlines hired her male-counterparts before her, even when they had less experience. She eventually made enough contacts at Frontier that she was given an interview.

Tears fill Warner’s eyes even today as she remembers the day she was finally hired.

After Warner got the job, other airlines started to hire women, as well. Despite the pressure and constant media attention, Warner says she knew she was a good pilot so she never worried about failing.

“Airplanes don’t know if you’re male or female,” she says.

Warner, now 70, has won numerous awards and has been inducted into both the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, as well as the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She lives in Denver and is still flying. She now has more than 21,000 hours of flying time.

Gloria Tanner has been active in the community since her mother used to take her door to door posting fliers as a young girl in Atlanta.

Whether it was petitioning for street lights on their block or speaking out against inequality, Tanner’s parents taught her to believe in the value of activism.

Despite the challenges of growing up as a black woman in the segregated and deeply racist South of the ¤’40s and ¤’50s, her parents also taught her to never doubt herself or her capabilities.

Of course, living on the same street as the Luther family — as in Martin Luther King Jr. — didn’t hurt either.

However, Tanner didn’t grow up with the dream of entering politics. In fact, she had something slightly different in mind.

“I wanted to be a nurse and go to Paris to enjoy life,” Tanner says.

Nevertheless, despite her original plans, and fortunately for women everywhere, Tanner ended up breaking barriers. She became the second black person to be elected to a leadership position in the Colorado House of Representatives as well as the first black woman in Colorado to serve as a state senator.

Tanner moved to Colorado with her husband Ted when she was 18. Although she dropped out of college when she was young, she always knew she would go back someday. After her third child enrolled in first grade, she finally went back to school just before turning 40. She graduated magma cum laude from Metro State College with a degree in political science in 1974. Eighteen months later she received her master’s in urban affairs at CU.

Following graduation, Tanner continued to fight discrimination and inequality. She eventually became the executive assistant to Colorado Lieutenant Governor George Brown, one of the first black lieutenant governors since Reconstruction in the United States.

Eventually, as Tanner became more and more involved, her supporters convinced her that she should run for office. She was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1985, where she served nine years. She later served on the Colorado Senate for seven years before retiring in 2001.

“It was a historic thing,” Tanner says. “I hope I opened some doors for other black women to run for office. As I walked through those senate doors, I carried every woman in the state on my shoulders. I was proud of that.”

Tanner passed several monumental bills while in office. She was responsible for the Colorado’s abandoned baby bill, which said parents could leave their children at hospitals or fire stations without punishment. She also created a marital discrimination bill that prevented women from being fired after marrying someone in their workplace. Another important bill Tanner created gave adoptive parents the same rights as biological parents.

Tanner, now 73 and living in Denver, is the executive director of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women. The organization provides educational workshops that train black women to find leadership positions and run for office.

“If I leave any legacy it’s that I tried to make a difference and encouraged others to the same,” Tanner says.

– By Jessica Warnock