Saima Adil Zafar, founder of True Homecare. (Credit: Courtesy of True Homecare)

1,000 Stories

Her Agency Offers Personalized At-Home Care

Saima Adil Zafar founded True Homecare after struggling to find the in-home help she needed for an older loved one.

April 15, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

When Saima Adil Zafar was looking for in-home care for an aging family member, the British entrepreneur struggled to find a company that provided the specialized services she sought. In 2012, Adil Zafar decided to launch her own company to fill that gap – that’s when her business, True Homecare, was born. Today, the Stockport, England company continues to provide their ever-growing roster of clients with individualized care where “each person is treated with respect, compassion, and dignity,” Adil Zafar tells us. “My passion for making a real difference in people’s lives and the drive to fill this market need pushed me to leap into entrepreneurship.”

Here’s our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project.

How is your business different from others in your industry?

Our deep commitment to personalized care. We don’t just provide services – we build meaningful relationships with our clients. We tailor our care plans to each individual’s unique needs to ensure that they feel heard, seen and valued. Our focus is not only on providing physical support, but also on emotional and social well-being, which truly sets us apart in the home care industry.

Tell us about your biggest success so far. 

The trust we have earned from our clients and their families. Watching True Homecare grow from a small family-run business into a recognized name in the community has been incredibly rewarding. 

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?

Balancing the growth of the business with my personal life. As a family-run operation, I found it difficult to separate work from personal time in the early days. To address this, I’ve learned the importance of delegating responsibilities, setting clear boundaries, and creating time for self-care. Balancing both has been an ongoing learning process, but it’s key to sustainable success.

Have you experienced any significant personal situations that have affected your business decisions?

Being a full-time entrepreneur and running a domiciliary care agency – whilst still trying to be the best wife, mother, daughter-in-law, daughter and sister – is still quite challenging. 

What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? 

Be patient and persistent. Starting a business takes time, and there will be challenges along the way. Learn from your mistakes, surround yourself with a supportive team, and always remember why you started. Persistence is key to overcoming obstacles and building something meaningful. 

How do you find inspiration on your darkest days?

I remind myself of the difference we’re making in people’s lives. The feedback from clients and their families, along with the relationships we’ve built, keeps me focused. I also lean on my team and family for support, as they are my greatest motivators. Taking a step back and focusing on the bigger picture always helps me reset, too. 

What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days?

“Survivor – The Moment of Truth” by The Karate Kid OST. It’s an anthem of strength and perseverance, and it always helps me push through challenging moments.

Who is your most important role model? 

My mother. She taught me the importance of compassion and integrity, as well as the value of hard work. She always emphasized that it’s not just about what you do, but how you make people feel in the process. Her guidance has shaped both my personal and professional life.

Facebook: @TrueHomecare
X: @TrueHomecare

Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-up
Watch our latest videos
Subscribe to our podcast

The post Her Agency Offers Personalized At-Home Care appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Viktoria Mihaylova, left, and Gabriela Partovska, right, co-founders of ViPart School. (Credit: Courtesy of ViPart School)

1,000 Stories

Their Art School Helps Students Find Their Own Unique Voice

Viktoria Mihaylova and Gabriela Partovska launched ViPart School in Bulgaria to teach performers of all ages. 

March 30, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

Viktoria Mihaylova and Gabriela Partovska launched ViPart School in 2023 with the goal of helping voice students of all ages gain confidence. Mihaylova told us, “We wanted to fill a gap in the arts education community — a place where learning is personal, expressive and transformative.” Mihaylova’s own journey in the arts began on the stage, where she learned that the voice is more than sound – “it is emotion, presence and truth.” As Mihaylova began to teach music, she realized that guiding others to find their own voices was one of the most powerful things a person can do, and thus, ViPart School was born. Today, Mihaylova and Partovska have expanded into additional locations, and now teach dozens of students. 

Here’s our lightly edited Q&A with Viktoria Mihaylova, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project.

How is your business different from others in your industry?

We combine vocal and instrumental training with a completely modern approach to teaching. Our methodology integrates physical exercises, stage presence techniques and personalized guidance, creating a fully immersive learning experience.

Beyond teaching, we act as mentors and friends, supporting our students not only during lessons but throughout their artistic journey. This allows children, teens and adults to grow as performers and as individuals, building confidence, self-expression and a love for art that goes beyond traditional instruction.

Tell us about your biggest success so far. 

Expanding into two additional branches in Bulgaria. We are exploring new horizons both within the country and abroad, and we now have over 100 students.

Related

Weekly Walks for Connecting Women to One Another

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?

Managing operations across multiple branches while ensuring that every student and staff member receives proper support. To address this, we constantly adapt our strategy according to the market and the needs of our students. Flexibility and clear communication are key — by staying organized and maintaining an open line with our team, we ensure that lessons run smoothly and students continue to grow creatively.

Have you experienced any significant personal situations that have affected your business decisions?

My previous professional experience as a vocal teacher in other schools and educational institutions has greatly influenced my business decisions. Teaching in different environments taught me patience, and how to adapt to each student’s needs — knowledge that I now bring to our own school.

At the same time, balancing work with family life has been an important factor in shaping how we run the school. I have learned to organize schedules, support my team and remain flexible, ensuring that both professional responsibilities and family commitments are met. This balance has taught me empathy, resilience, and the importance of creating a nurturing environment for both students and staff.

Related

A Burnt-Out Founder Built a Sanctuary – For Herself and Others

What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? 

Stay flexible and listen to both your team and your market. When we started, we had lots of knowledge and skills but almost no money. Our dream began in a small, under-renovation room, yet through hard work, creativity and perseverance, we have grown it into a thriving school in a large space.

How do you find inspiration on your darkest days?

By returning to the heart of why we started — the voices, the music, and the dreams of our students. I remember shy children learning to sing for the first time, teens discovering their confidence on stage, and adults reconnecting with their passion. Their courage, curiosity and joy remind me that even in the hardest moments, art can heal, uplift and transform.

I also draw strength from the love and support of my business partner and dear friend, Gabriela Partovska. It is this friendship and shared passion that fuels us to keep going, to believe in possibilities, and to remember that every small note, every shared melody, is a light in the darkness.

What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days?

I love all kinds of music, and the songs that motivate me really depend on the mood of the day. On tough or dark days, I pick a melody that lifts my spirit, reminds me of why I started, and gives me the energy to keep going.

Who is your most important role model? 

Leaders who combine vision with teamwork and mentorship. I am inspired by people who know how to guide large teams, collaborate with partners, and empower others to grow. As directors, Gabriela and I strive to embody these qualities every day.

Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-up
Watch our latest videos
Subscribe to our podcast

The post Their Art School Helps Students Find Their Own Unique Voice appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Margaret Bourke White, taking a photo from the top of the Chrysler building in 1934. (Credit: The Library of Congress)

She Shot Factories, Dictators and History – Up Close

The groundbreaking photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White grabbed her camera and headed to the frontlines.

March 30, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

Editor’s Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing profiles of influential women in journalism.

Margaret Bourke-White is arguably one of the most influential photojournalists of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, she photographed factories and skyscrapers, world wars, poverty in the American South and political violence across the globe. She famously photographed Mahatma Ghandi hours before he was assassinated, and captured a rare smiling image of Joseph Stalin. Along the way, she blazed trails for women in the media, becoming the first female photographer for LIFE Magazine, the first Western photographer allowed in the Soviet Union and one of the first journalists to document the Nazi concentration camps in 1945. 

Born in 1904 in New York City, Bourke-White studied at several universities, including Cornell, where she began serious experiments with photography. She discovered that the camera could translate her fascination with machines, structures, and patterns into striking visual images (many of which are now owned by the Museum of Modern Art).

In the late 1920s, Bourke-White opened a studio in Cleveland, Ohio, and began specializing in industrial subjects, such as the Otis Steel mill. Undaunted by the difficulties of photographing in physically challenging conditions, where molten heat could literally melt her film, she documented steel production and American factories. She quickly attracted national attention and corporate clients. 

The publisher Henry Luce hired Bourke-White in 1929 as the first staff photographer for his new business magazine Fortune. There, Bourke-White produced ambitious photographic essays on American industry, architecture and economic life. While her work demonstrated the immense power of American industry, Bourke-White also chose to expose the human cost of technical advancement – particularly in the American South. 

In the mid-1930s, she worked with novelist Erskine Caldwell (whom she would later marry and divorce) to document the lives of poor sharecroppers and rural families in the Dust Bowl. The resulting photos became the book, You Have Seen Their Faces, which was published in 1937. Portraits of stoic subjects, and landscapes of desolate farms and makeshift homes, drew attention to the profound inequalities of the era. Historians note that her use of the photographic essay—sequenced images that built a narrative—became a hallmark of her style and a model for later documentary work in film and journalism.

Related

The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler

By 1936, Luce was getting ready to launch his next venture, LIFE Magazine, which would be centered around visual storytelling. Bourke-White became the magazine’s first female photojournalist, and her image of Fort Peck Dam in Montana graced LIFE’s inaugural cover. Bourke-White worked for LIFE until the late 1950s, becoming one of the magazine’s defining visual voices. 

Early on at LIFE, Bourke-White was assigned to photograph industrialization in the Soviet Union, a project that would see her make a number of trips behind the Iron Curtain at a time when access to Russia was extremely guarded. Bourke-White somehow managed to obtain official permission to travel through the country’s factories and construction sites, producing images of steel mills, the construction of the Dnieper Dam, but also snapshots of everyday life, like peasant women eating Borscht. Her most notable visit came in 1941 at the beginning of World War II, when Moscow came under Nazi attack – Bourke-White was there covering the invasion. It was during this visit to the Soviet Union that she photographed Stalin himself. 

According to The New York Times, Bourke-White wrote of that meeting, 

“I made up my mind that I wouldn’t leave without getting a picture of Stalin smiling…I went virtually berserk trying to make that great stone face come alive…I got down on my hands and knees on the floor and tried out all kinds of crazy postures searching for a good camera angle. Stalin looked down at the way I was squirming and writhing and for the space of a lightning flash he smiled—and I got my picture. Probably, he had never seen a girl photographer before and my weird contortions amused him.”

During World War II, Bourke-White’s career entered a new, perilous phase, as she became the first American female war photojournalist. She covered the siege of Moscow, flew on bombing missions over North Africa, and later accompanied General George Patton’s Third Army into Germany. She survived torpedo attacks at sea, enemy fire, and a helicopter crash, earning the nickname “Maggie the Indestructible” from her colleagues at LIFE. Her photographs of the newly liberated Buchenwald concentration camp—gaunt survivors, piles of corpses, the stark infrastructure of genocide—were among the first images to confront the American public with the full horror of Nazi atrocities.

In the late 1940s, Bourke-White’s attention turned toward the upheavals of decolonization and racial injustice. She covered the 1947 Partition of British India into the new nations of India and Pakistan, producing graphic images of mass migration and communal violence. She also photographed Gandhi by his spinning wheel only hours before his assassination in 1948. Shortly afterward, she reported from South Africa, documenting the early years of apartheid. She later covered the Korean War for LIFE.

Related

She Reported on World War II – Over the Airwaves and In Photos

In the 1950s, Bourke-White’s output slowed as she began to suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Even as her health declined, her work continued to circulate widely in books, exhibitions, and magazine retrospectives, cementing her reputation. She died in 1971 at the age of 67. 

Today, historians credit Bourke-White with helping invent the modern photographic essay. Her photos are not just works of art, but important artifacts in their own right. By capturing war, conflict and modernization from the front lines, Bourke-White created some of the most valuable visual documentation of the 20th century. 

The post She Shot Factories, Dictators and History – Up Close appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Courtney Boylan, Founder of Le Lolo. (Credit: Courtesy of Le Lolo)

1,000 Stories

She’s Transforming the World of Postpartum Accessories

Courtney Boylan is the founder of Le Lolo, a modern postpartum accessories company making beautiful, functional products for new moms.

March 26, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

When Courtney Boylan became a mother, she noticed a huge gap in the postpartum market for needed personal items like nipple guards and body care products. The products available to new moms at the time were often clinical, sterile – utterly lacking in any sense of style. As a mom herself, she knew how transformative the postpartum experience could be, and how much a simple, beautiful item could lift one’s spirits in those early, exhausting days. So in 2024, the Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland-based entrepreneur launched Le Lolo. Boylan told us her drive to start up, and to keep her business going, comes from a desire “to make postpartum care both functional and beautiful, and to remind every mom of her strength, beauty and worth during one of life’s biggest transitions.” 

Here’s our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project.

How is your business different from others in your industry?

While many postpartum brands focus solely on practicality, we’re redefining what the essentials can look and feel like. Our goal is not just to create products that work, but to create products that feel good to use. Each item is designed with intention, style and emotional connection. We aren’t just selling postpartum products – we’re selling a feeling. Every item we make reminds new moms that they are beautiful, strong and worthy – even on the hard days.

Tell us about your biggest success so far. 

Reaching a double-digit sales month – a huge milestone for a brand that just launched our full line in June 2025. I’ve built Le Lolo to be extremely lean, doing most of the work myself while staying focused on two key goals: Driving sales and building brand awareness. Not only are we achieving revenue growth, but we’re profitable each month. It’s been incredibly rewarding to test, learn and grow scrappily while seeing real traction and connection with our customers.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?

As an entrepreneur with no prior experience in product-based e-commerce, business know-how has been at the heart of nearly all my challenges. I didn’t know how to do any of this at first, but I’ve been figuring it out as I go. If I had a blueprint, I might be farther along. That said, I’m deeply grateful for this journey, the mistakes I’ve made, and all I’ve learned along the way. Each month brings new lessons and steady growth. I’m continuing to educate myself, strengthen my business acumen, and build the strategies needed to scale Le Lolo with confidence and purpose.

Related

Weekly Walks for Connecting Women to One Another

What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? 

In the beginning, you’ll have no idea what you’re doing – but you will figure it out, I promise. Besides, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to entrepreneurship. Every journey looks different. Read books, listen to podcasts, and find a community of other entrepreneurs who are willing to share their experiences. You don’t have to pay to learn! There are amazing people out there who will offer guidance simply because they’ve been where you are. Seek those people out first, and build your support network early. It will make all the difference.

How do you find inspiration on your darkest days?

I remind myself why I started. Le Lolo isn’t just a brand – it’s a movement to remind new moms that they are amazing, and deserving of care. On the hard days, I think about the moms who are in the thick of postpartum life, feeling unseen or unsure of themselves, and it reignites my purpose. This brand is about shifting the focus back to mom.

Related

Her Tech Makes Ultrasounds More Shareable

What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days?

I don’t have a specific song or artist, but I love listening to Activations on the Activations App. They’re short, powerful motivational talks that instantly shift my mindset and help me see challenges as opportunities. They’ve truly been life-changing for me as an entrepreneur.

Who is your most important role model? 

I’ve been blessed with several. My grandfather was an entrepreneur, and I believe that’s where my entrepreneurial spirit comes from. He built several successful businesses that set our family up for success, and I’m endlessly grateful for his example. My dad helped run the family business, and I loved visiting his office and watching him work. As a kid, I felt so proud knowing my family owned a business. That pride planted a seed that’s driven me to take risks and build something of my own.

My husband is also a huge role model for me. He’s taught me so much about leadership, trusting myself, and leading with heart. He has a natural ability to make people feel seen and valued, and his success as both a leader and entrepreneur inspires me daily. I feel lucky not only to be his wife, but also to keep learning from him. He truly makes me better every day.

The post She’s Transforming the World of Postpartum Accessories appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Patterson, Amsterdam, c. 1940. (Image Courtesy of Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson papers, Library of Congress)

She Reported on World War II – Over the Airwaves and In Photos

Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson was the lone woman in the group of foreign correspondents known as “Murrow’s Boys.”

March 18, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

Editors Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing profiles of influential women in journalism.

Mary Marvin Breckinridge Patterson was a pioneering American photojournalist, cinematographer and broadcaster whose adventurous life traced many of the political and social currents of the 20th century –  from Depression-era rural America to wartime Europe to post-war diplomacy. Though born into privilege, Patterson used her access and education to carve out a career as a foreign correspondent at a time when few women did so. 

Patterson was born in 1905, into the prominent Breckinridge family of Kentucky. Family members included Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge and tire factory founder Benjamin F. Goodrich. Her family moved often when she was young – she attended a dozen schools before enrolling at Vassar College in 1923. While there, she helped start the National Student Federation of America and met another young organizer, Edward R. Murrow, who would be crucial in her later career. 

After graduation, Patterson did not opt for the predictable path of society debutante, but rather set out to study photography across several continents. She took classes at the Clarence White School of Photography in New York, the University of Berlin, the Catholic University of Lima and the American University in Cairo. In 1931, she turned her new skills into a silent film, “The Forgotten Frontier,” which documented the Frontier Nursing Service’s midwifery and healthcare mission in rural Kentucky. Decades later, the film’s observational style and focus on women and children’s lives in the Appalachian Mountains led to its inclusion in the National Film Register in 1996, cementing her legacy as a pioneer in the documentary space. 

Related

The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler

By the late 1930s, Patterson was a successful freelance photojournalist, traveling widely and shooting for magazines such as Life, Harper’s Bazaar, and Town and Country. She also learned to fly, becoming the first woman to get her pilot’s license in the state of Maine. In 1939, while on assignment in Europe, she found herself in Switzerland when Germany invaded Poland, a turning point that shifted her trajectory from magazine photography to wartime broadcast journalism. 

Her old friend Edward R. Murrow, who was working for CBS in London, invited her to contribute radio pieces about how the war was reshaping everyday life in British villages. Though she was new to radio, her training in multiple mediums helped her learn quickly. She became the lone woman in the original cohort dubbed “Murrow’s Boys.” 

During the tense early months of World War II, Patterson shot the first images of civilians in air-raid shelters as well as haunting scenes of children being evacuated from the capital to the countryside, according to the Library of Congress. On radio she filed roughly 50 reports from seven European countries, including Germany. In one famous segment about the Nazi newspaper Völkische Beobachter, she noted that its motto was “Freedom and Bread” and then added, “there is still bread,” a subtle suggestion that freedom had vanished, which slipped past German censors, according to Tufts University archives. 

Related

Ten Days in the Madhouse: Nellie Bly’s Undercover Mission Inside an Insane Asylum

Despite her growing prominence, Patterson’s time as a war correspondent was cut short – not by a lack of ability or opportunity, but rather by marriage and official policy. In 1940, she married Jefferson Patterson, a U.S. diplomat serving as the first secretary at the American embassy in Berlin. Anticipating that she could return to photojournalism even as a diplomat’s wife, she resigned from CBS, but State Department rules effectively barred her from publishing anything that might reflect her husband’s work. 

Patterson was determined to reinvent herself within those new boundaries, though. As she accompanied her husband on postings in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, she started writing handbooks and guides for Americans navigating foreign societies. In “The Peruvian Way,” “Living in Egypt: From the American Angle,” and “At Home in Uruguay,” she blended her observations on local social etiquette, customs and history. 

In later decades, Patterson devoted herself to philanthropy. In 1974, she donated her family estate in York, Maine, to Bowdoin College, where it became the Breckinridge Public Affairs Center. In 1983, she and her husband gave their 550‑acre farm on the Patuxent River in Maryland to the state, creating what is now the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. 

Patterson died in 2002 at the age of 97, having lived long enough to see her early work rediscovered and celebrated. In the 1990s, the Library of Congress showcased her photographs and broadcasts in the exhibition “Women Come to the Front,” which highlighted eight women who had broken barriers during World War II. Today, she is remembered as a trailblazer who insisted on doing serious work in spaces that were not designed to accommodate women, and who, when blocked, found new ways to turn her vantage point into service—whether through images, words, or the quiet gift of land.

The post She Reported on World War II – Over the Airwaves and In Photos appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Editors Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing profiles of influential women in journalism.

In 1931, journalist Dorothy Thompson became the first American to interview Adolf Hitler. The resulting article she later published, I Saw Hitler, was scathing. She described him as “formless, almost faceless…a man whose countenance is a caricature, a man whose framework seems cartilaginous, without bones.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, her work also resulted in her becoming the first American journalist to be expelled from Germany. However, her warnings to the rest of the world about the rise of fascism would solidify her status as one of the most influential journalists of the 20th century.

Thompson was born on July 9, 1893, in Lancaster, New York, the daughter of a Methodist minister. She attended the Lewis Institute in Chicago and then enrolled at Syracuse University, where she studied politics and graduated in 1914 – a time when relatively few women completed four‑year degrees. 

After university, Thompson became involved with the women’s suffrage movement and contributed op‑eds on social justice issues to major newspapers. This early activism set the tone for how she would write and report for the rest of her career: She had a fundamental conviction that politics were inseparable from questions of justice. 

After the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, Thompson sailed to Europe to make her way as a foreign correspondent. She was drawn to stories about nationalist movements, reporting on events like the Irish struggle for independence, even securing a final interview with Sinn Féin leader Terence MacSwiney before his arrest and death on hunger strike.

Related

Ten Days in the Madhouse: Nellie Bly’s Undercover Mission Inside an Insane Asylum

By 1925, she was the head of the Berlin bureau for the New York Evening Post, a rare position for a woman journalist in that era. There, Thompson became a close observer of the rise of Nazism. In 1931, she managed to secure a one‑on‑one interview with Hitler—at that point a rising but not yet dominant political figure—that would become her famous interview (for Cosmopolitan, then a general-interest magazine) and later a book. 

During their interview, Thompson asked Hitler, “When you come to power will you abolish the constitution of the German Republic?” To which he responded, “I will get into power legally…I will abolish this parliament and the Weimar [German Reich] constitution afterward. I will found an authority-state, from the lowest cell to the highest instance; everywhere there will be responsibility and authority above, discipline and obedience below.” 

Thompson, who clearly recognized the threat Hitler posed to the German Republic, would later write a warning to Americans, of the possibility of something similar occurring in the States:

“No people ever recognize their dictator in advance…He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model. If anyone turned up here in a fur hat, boots and a grim look he would be recognized and shunned…But when our dictator turns up you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American.”

Her reporting was sharp, critical and filled with contempt for the “very prototype of the Little Man.” The vehemence and reach of her writing angered Nazi leadership and in 1934, by Hitler’s personal orders, Thompson was expelled from Germany, becoming the first American journalist formally forced out of the Third Reich, according to the New York Times and the Holocaust Memorial Museum

Back in the United States, Thompson transformed her exile into a powerful platform. She began writing “On the Record,” a thrice‑weekly political column, syndicated to as many as 150 newspapers during its 22-year run, reaching up to 10 million readers. She also regularly appeared live on air for NBC radio, reporting for 15 straight days after the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. Time magazine put Thompson on its cover that year, calling her the second most influential woman in America – after Eleanor Roosevelt, of course.

During the war, Thompson became a high-profile advocate for Zionism, sympathizing with Jews who sought a homeland. However, after visiting Palestine in 1945, and witnessing Palestinian refugees forced off their land, she began to criticize aspects of Israeli policy, calling it a ‘recipe for perpetual war,’ according to historians.

Related

She Exposed the Darkest Aspects of American History

Thompson married three times, most famously to novelist Sinclair Lewis, whom she met in Europe and married in 1928; the two apparently shared an intense, often stormy relationship and had a son, Michael. Their marriage, marked by Lewis’s alcoholism and the strains of two demanding careers, ended in divorce

She continued writing and speaking into the 1950s, though her prominence gradually waned as the political landscape shifted from anti‑fascism to Cold War debates. Thompson died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 66, her career standing as a landmark example for future generations of female journalists. As one of her contemporaries once said of her: “Not only does she cross the ice but [she] breaks it as she goes.”

The post The Voice Who Warned America About Hitler appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Ida B. Wells, journalist and civil rights activist in the 19th century. (Credit: WikiMedia Commons)

She Exposed the Darkest Aspects of American History

Ida B. Wells investigated lynchings in the South and campaigned for justice.

March 5, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

Editors Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing profiles of influential women in journalism.

In 1895, Ida B. Wells, a young Black journalist, published a harrowing and groundbreaking anti-lynching pamphlet, The Red Record. Widely regarded as one of the first comprehensive investigations into the brutal reality of lynching, she wrote, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” Wells would spend the rest of her life shining a light on some of the darkest aspects of American history.

Born into slavery in 1862, Wells would become one of the country’s most fearless journalists. She grew up in Mississippi and came of age during Reconstruction, a period that briefly promised expanded rights for formerly enslaved people, but was instead marked by racial injustice and violence. 

When the Civil War ended in 1865, Wells and her parents were emancipated, according to historical accounts. Her parents became active in politics and encouraged their children to attend school as a path toward advancement. In 1878, a yellow fever epidemic killed both of her parents and one sibling, leaving 16-year-old Wells responsible for her six remaining brothers and sisters. To keep her family together, she worked as a rural schoolteacher.

In the 1880s, Wells moved to Memphis, where she continued teaching and began writing articles under the pen name “Lola.” Her early journalism focused on education, racial equality and the daily struggles of Black Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. A defining moment came in 1884, when she was forcibly removed from a first-class train car despite holding a valid ticket, according to the New York Historical. Wells sued the railroad company and initially won her case in a local court, though the decision was later overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The experience further motivated her to challenge racial injustice through the press.

Related

This One-Time Maid Marched With MLK and Became a Powerful Voice for Domestic Workers 

By the early 1890s, Wells had become co-owner and editor of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight, a Black newspaper that gave voice to the concerns of the African American community. In 1892, three local Black businessmen—Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and Henry Stewart—were lynched by a white mob after their successful grocery store competed with a white-owned business. Moss had been a close friend of Wells. The brutality of their deaths profoundly affected her and marked a turning point in her career.

In response, Wells launched an investigative campaign against lynching. At a time when many white newspapers justified lynchings as punishment for crimes—especially alleged assaults on white women—Wells meticulously gathered data, examined case records and interviewed witnesses. She argued that lynching was not a form of justice, but rather a calculated system of racial control. The “old threadbare lie that Negro men rape white women” was deliberately repeated to justify mob violence, she asserted. 

Wells’s reporting resulted in violent backlash. While she was traveling in the North, a white mob destroyed the offices of her newspaper and threatened her life. Unable to return safely to Memphis, she relocated to Chicago. From there, she published two pamphlets, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1892) and The Red Record (1895), emphasizing the role of the independent press, nothing that in the South, “those who commit the murders write the reports.” Her use of data and documentation was particularly groundbreaking.

In 1895, she married attorney Ferdinand Barnett and eventually had four children. Balancing motherhood and her career, she continued to write and organize in Chicago, according to the University of Chicago Library. There, she worked on issues such as housing discrimination, education and employment opportunities for Black residents, becoming a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 

Related

She Advocated for Intersectional Feminism – in the 19th Century

Wells was also an active participant in the women’s suffrage movement. She insisted that the fight for women’s voting rights must include Black women and challenged segregation within the movement itself. In 1913, during the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C., organizers asked Black women to march at the back. Wells refused. Instead, she joined the Illinois delegation mid-procession, publicly asserting her right to stand alongside white suffragists. Wells made it clear that she was committed to confronting injustice wherever it appeared—even within reform movements.

Wells died in 1931 at the age of 68. Though she was largely unrecognized by the broader American public in her time, her legacy has grown in recent years and she is now widely acknowledged as a central figure in the early civil rights movement – and one of America’s first investigative journalists. In 2020, she received a posthumous special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board for her courageous reporting on lynching. Although federal anti-lynching legislation would not pass during her lifetime, her activism laid the intellectual and moral foundation for future civil rights campaigns.

The post She Exposed the Darkest Aspects of American History appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Editors Note: In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re sharing profiles of influential women in journalism.

In 1887, a young woman named Nellie Bly faked insanity to gain entry to New York City’s notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island (now known as Roosevelt Island). Just a few weeks earlier, she had sat in the offices of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World newspaper and been given the assignment: feign mental illness, get committed, spend 10 days in the madhouse, and then report on her experience. The articles she published after she got out would catapult her to fame and land her the title of America’s first female investigative journalist. 

Bly was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran on May 5, 1864. She grew up in rural Pennsylvania, where her father ran a relatively successful mill. When she was only 5 years old, her father died, leaving Bly, her mother and two older brothers in a precarious financial situation, according to the National Women’s History Museum. In a time when women had few financial opportunities, her mother’s primary option for supporting the family was to remarry – which she did. Bly enrolled in the Indiana Normal School (today, Indiana University of Pennsylvania) but was forced to drop out after just one semester, when her mother’s second marriage ended in divorce. There were no funds for schooling, and so Bly and her mother moved to Pittsburgh in 1885 to look for work. 

There, Bly came across the Pittsburgh Dispatch article “What Girls are Good For,” which railed against women in the workforce and advocated for them to stay home and birth children. Outraged, Bly channeled her frustrations into a letter to the editor, opining that there should be more work opportunities for women, especially those responsible for supporting their families. Bly signed the letter “Lonely Orphan Girl.” George Madden, the editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch, was reportedly so impressed he asked for the author to come forward, and soon offered Bly a full-time reporter position. She began using the pen name “Nellie Bly” – inspired by a popular song — as pseudonyms were common for women writers at the time.  

Related

Her Photos Captured a Side of War Not Seen Before

As a journalist, Bly continued to focus on women’s issues, exposing unfair divorce laws and the harsh conditions faced by women and children at a copper cable factory (which she discovered by going undercover). When the factory complained, the paper backed down quickly (that’s according to a Library of Congress account) and relegated Bly to the women’s pages – work that she did not enjoy. 

At only 21, Bly left the Pittsburgh Dispatch and its women’s articles behind, traveling to Mexico where she spent six months writing about the country, its people and its culture – which eventually became her first book, Six Months in Mexico. 

By 1887, Bly was in New York City looking for a new paper to write for. According to the National Women’s History Museum, she was turned down by paper after paper, but determined as ever, she somehow talked her way in to see New York World editor Joseph Pulitzer (yes, that Pulitzer). She left with the mission to infiltrate the Women’s Lunatic Asylum.

Bly’s plan to get committed involved showing up at a boarding house and pretending not to know who she was or where she’d come from. Within a few days and a police-ordered mental evaluation, she found herself on a boat to Blackwell’s Island with a doctor’s note deeming her “insane.” 

During 10 days at the asylum. Bly documented severe mistreatment of patients, including physical abuse, inadequate food and freezing temperatures. She also found that many of the women had been committed because they were poor, immigrants or unable to speak English. 

At one point, she witnessed a German woman who did not speak English get committed because the staff were too lazy to get a translator.

“Here was a woman taken without her own consent from a free world to an asylum and there given no chance to prove her sanity. Confined most probably for life behind asylum bars, without even being told in her language the why and wherefore. Compare this with a criminal, who is given every chance to prove his innocence….Mrs. Schanz begged in German to know where she was, and pleaded for liberty. Her voice broken by sobs, she was led unheard out to us.”

After Bly was released (one of her colleagues came to her rescue) her exposé caused public outrage. Eventually the asylum was investigated – reforms were instituted, and funding was increased. Bly’s articles also had long-term impacts on the care provided for people with mental illness. 

Bly’s reporting was groundbreaking but also reflected the fierce competition in the 1890s between William Randolph Heart’s New York Journal and Pulitzer’s New York World. The rivalry fueled “yellow journalism,” a style marked by sensational stories, and Bly’s work certainly helped sell papers. 

Related

She Exposed the Darkest Aspects of American History

By age 23, Bly was one of America’s most famous journalists. While other papers hired undercover “stunt girls,” Bly’s ability to infiltrate various spaces remained unmatched. She posed as a domestic employee, a chorus girl and an unwed mother, and in 1889 traveled around the world in just 72 days – a response to Jules Verne’s recently published Around the World in 80 Days –  briefly setting a world record.

In 1894, at age 30, Bly married millionaire businessman Robert Seaman despite a 43-year age gap (though by most accounts their marriage was a happy one). After he died in 1903, she successfully ran his iron business until it folded in 1911 due to employee embezzlement. 

Bly later returned to her journalistic roots during World War I. She reported from the frontlines in Eastern Europe for Hearst’s New York Evening Journal. After the war, she continued to write a popular column in New York until her death from pneumonia in 1922 at age 57.

The post Ten Days in the Madhouse: Nellie Bly’s Undercover Mission Inside an Insane Asylum appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Maddie Scales, founder of No Girl Walks Alone. (Credit: Courtesy of No Girl Walks Alone)

1,000 Stories

Weekly Walks for Connecting Women to One Another

Maddie Scales launched No Girl Walks Alone to create communities of women who bond through weekly walks around Austin, Texas.

January 27, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

In 2022, Maddie Scales moved to Austin, Texas from Oxford, Mississippi. Her job was fully remote, and she didn’t know where to begin to build a new community for herself. On her evening walks, she would often see other women strolling alone, which gave her the idea to start a walking club for women – an idea that became No Girl Walks Alone. Scales has been hosting weekly evening walks through her nonprofit for three years, and has brought together women from all ages and walks of life during each outing. Scales told us her biggest success is watching women show up every week – to chat, to make new friends, to catch up with old ones, and be a part of the community she has built. 

Here’s our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project.

How is your business different from others in your industry?

We are the largest walking club in Austin, Texas. We are also the first walking or running club (that we know of) to go down the nonprofit path.

Tell us about your biggest success so far. 

When women show up to our walks and tell us it’s the first time they left their house all week. Or, when we overhear someone being vulnerable with a stranger on one of our walks. Or, when someone messages us online to tell us they met their entire friend group through our walks. We measure success in smiles and connections.

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?

Sustainable growth. We have considered scaling through marketing efforts – for example, partnerships with brands to support our walks, or efforts to engage more often with our audience. However, this community exists to create time to disconnect from the noise of the world. We know our walkers do not want to be advertised to. They want to tuck their phones away and find connection with new people. This is part of why we are exploring a nonprofit model. 

Related

A Burnt-Out Founder Built a Sanctuary – For Herself and Others

Have you experienced any significant personal situations that have affected your business decisions?

I have multiple family members who struggle with mental health challenges, and I have lost family members to suicide. This motivates me to create opportunities that allow others to take care of themselves and feel less alone.

What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? 

The most important thing is your “why.” Why are you doing what you are doing? Get clear on that, and let it be your compass.

Related

She Brings Her Art Gallery Experience to Her PR Firm

How do you find inspiration on your darkest days?

By slowing down, spending time in nature, and reminding myself that it is a rare privilege to lead this organization.

What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days?

“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.

Who is your most important role model? 

Taylor Swift. I have been watching her in awe since she first released her debut album in 2009.

Instagram: @nogirlwalksalone
TikTok: @nogirlwalksalone

Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-up
Watch our latest videos
Subscribe to our podcast

The post Weekly Walks for Connecting Women to One Another appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Mariana Santos, founder of Animame Algarve. (Credit: Courtesy of Animame Algarve)

1,000 Stories

A Burnt-Out Founder Built a Sanctuary – For Herself and Others

Mariana Santos launched Animame Algarve, a refuge for retreats, workshops and regenerative farming, in the Portuguese countryside.

January 20, 2026

By Victoria Flexner

For over a decade, Mariana Santos led the Chicas Poderosas movement, a global community empowering women in media. While Santos’ work in this space resulted in tangible change, it also left her exhausted. Santos told us she was “personally depleted,” and in pursuit of a life change, she “decided to return to my roots in the Algarve, Portugal, to a piece of land that belonged to my ancestors.” When Santos arrived in this passed-down haven, located in the southern region of Portugal, she found the land was “as burnt out as I was.” Thus began a project to not only regenerate the land, but also her nervous system. In 2022, Santos launched Animame Algarve, a wilderness sanctuary that offers retreats and workshops focused on getting guests back in touch with nature through gardening, yoga classes and wild swimming in the nearby Atlantic Ocean. 

Here’s our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project.

How is your business different from others in your industry?

In the Algarve, tourism is often an “extractive” industry in that they largely involve big crowds and shallow wellness experiences that disconnect people from the local culture. We are the antithesis of this. Our experiences focus on three main pillars: Land, by restoring biodiversity through agroforestry; people, by facilitating deep reconnection through nature and sport; and culture, by honoring local traditions and slow travel. 

Tell us about your biggest success so far. 

Experiencing a profound shift in my metric for “a life well-lived.” After being forced to drop the corporate pace due to burnout, I successfully transitioned to a life connected to the wild. The first time I harvested a meal grown entirely from toxin-free soil – which I had nurtured myself – I felt a level of achievement that no corporate board room win ever could have provided. Today, that success is mirrored in the eyes of the people who attend our Wild Women Retreats or our open-water swim gatherings like the Swim Party 10km. Seeing someone arrive “stuck” and leave with a regulated nervous system and a sense of community is my greatest professional point of pride.

Related

She’ll Turn Your Family’s History Into a Book

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?

Redefining “impact” in a world obsessed with traditional KPIs, or key performance indicators. It is difficult to quantify the “return on investment” of a rejuvenated ecosystem to traditional stakeholders. I address this by treating my business as a living laboratory for systemic change. Rather than focusing solely on monetary gain, I focus on the “wellbeing economy.” I am building a business model that proves kindness, humanism and a slower pace are not just “nice to have,” but essential for a sustainable future. 

Have you experienced any significant personal situations that have affected your business decisions?

The fast-paced nature of my previous career eventually broke me. That collapse was the catalyst for every decision I make today. I have intentionally decided to reject shortcuts and the hustle culture that dominates the startup world. This personal history makes me a very different kind of founder. I choose to take things slowly, as I believe that real, lasting growth takes time – much like the soil I tend to every day.

What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? 

I often use the phrase “fail fast, succeed soon,” but I would take it a step further in this case: Embrace failure as a gift of insight. Real growth only happens outside of your comfort zone. If you are trying to create something truly original or groundbreaking, you will likely stumble. Don’t let that stop you. Those moments of failure are actually the most honest teachers you will ever have. They provide the specific data you need to make your next attempt even more powerful.

Related

She Brings Her Art Gallery Experience to Her PR Firm

How do you find inspiration on your darkest days?

I turn to the wild. I go to the ocean. Open-water swimming in the cold, salty Atlantic acts as a total reset for my nervous system. It forces me into the present moment, because you cannot worry about the future when you are focused on your breath and the rhythm of the waves. I also practice radical gratitude – I remind myself that every day is a second chance, and I take it with both hands.

What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days?

“Unstoppable” by Sia. 

Who is your most important role model? 

I am deeply inspired by Ernst Gotsch, the Swiss farmer who revolutionized syntropic agriculture in Brazil. He taught me that we don’t need to fight nature to be productive – we need to work in harmony with it. I apply his agricultural philosophy to my journey in that, if we can view humanity as a degraded system, we can use his principles of regeneration to bring our communities – and our individual souls – back to life.

Instagram: @Animamealgarve

Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-up
Watch our latest videos
Subscribe to our podcast

The post A Burnt-Out Founder Built a Sanctuary – For Herself and Others appeared first on The Story Exchange.