We couldn't have done it without Verizon (+ a starbies double shot tbh)

*Our first photoshoot as Co-Founders! December 2016.*

This month, Gold Hand Girls will be two years old. Although Coco and I launched it in January of 2017, what most of you don't know is that GHG actually formed in late April of 2016. It was then that we took time to truly diagnose what we wanted to do with this idealistic projected focused on empowering women. Starting a business is hard, it's not just building a logo and launching a website. It's business plans, teamwork, opinions, marketing tactics, legalities, time management, and so fourth. I'm writing today to re-introduce you to the passion that sparked Gold Hand in the first place, in addition to saying a quick thank you to those who have helped us get here.

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The first thing I do when I wake up is check my email. Most blogs and magazine's that I've read say this is incredibly unhealthy, but I've always found emails to be quietly thrilling- each encrypted with their own interpersonal relationship, and/or potential opportunity. However, this morning when I opened my email I found something rather sad. With the subject being "Live Nation's Gender Pay Gap is 46% in The UK" I was eager to read the following statistics. Here are the main points-

Mouth open, my eyes gazed over the analytics I had already assumed to be true. How can this be okay? How can women in the music industry, Live Nation specifically, encounter a bonus 88% less on average than their male co-workers? What can I do to change this?

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our first co-headlining house show in Norman, Oklahoma

Gold Hand Girls started as an empowerment platform specifically focusing on empowering women throughout the music business. I had found this passion amongst working for different record labels in London and being one of, if not the only, female in the room. I knew there had to be more of us out there, and Coco was that proof. Together in January of 2017, we hosted house shows. We helped women be the boss of their own team, all for the congregation of music. This worked, but Coco and I both chose to extend our platform to women across the country. Thus, allowing for not only women in the music business, but female creatives left and right to share their work on goldhandgirls.com.

Gold Hand Girls is now a team of 30 women ranging from states such as Oklahoma to Oregon to Virginia, Texas, Rhode Island, New York, and so on. We're tight- we support each other. We found each other through the limitless extension of the world wide web, and have come together in different cities to meet in person and truly make a change. This is the future of the music industry. We are the future of the music industry. Gold Hand Girls started as two girls hoping to help women share their work, and now there's 15x what we expected. Again, I'm sharing this post to aware our readers of just how tangible starting a business (revolution) is when passion burns at your core. Statistics will never end, so don't try to stop them. Try to change them. Watch us.

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This post is sponsored by Verizon. Personally speaking, Verizon has stapled confidence on my forehead and walked with me hand in hand the last few months. As some of you may know, because of Verizon and their Rewards Program I had a chance to sit down with Lady Gaga face to face. What she said changed my life forever, and not a day goes by that I don't thank Verizon for this opportunity. For real. No sponsorship in the last couple of sentences. Pure honesty. You can read my blog post about meeting Lady Gaga here.

Since then, they've also helped Gold Hand Girls to stay fresh, and motivated. Such as, providing us with a portable speaker so that no matter where we are we can listen to (Gaga) wherever we want in hopes of furthering motivation. More so, Verizon's given us an Allure Selfie Case to giveaway to one of our lucky followers. They've helped us to build a community, pursue dreams, and to not let our inner flame burn out. Verizon supports Gold Hand Girls, and my goodness, we can't thank them enough.

With over 200 contestants... congratulations to our Allure Selfie Case Winner @remy_young!

In case anyone's wondering (which we obvi know you are), here's a link to the speaker Verizon gave us. I literally use it when I get ready, when I'm writing, when we're hanging out at music venues, and so on. Everyone needs a good speaker and Gold Hand Girls recommends The Bose Soundlink Revolve. Getcha groove on, girl.

Thank you to everyone- I mean everyone- who's helped to grow Gold Hand Girls the past two years. Thank you to coco for being the best co-founder. Thank you to my mom for teaching me how to build an LLC. Thank you to Nick Ley of The Flaming Lips and Scott Marsh for the endless advice and support. Thank you to Verizon for being our biggest, and best sponsor yet. Thank you to our community, our readers, contributors, and submissions. Lastly, thank you to our team- you are what makes Gold Hand Girls who we are today, and there aren't enough hugs in the world to show my appreciation.

Love to you all

xx

Alexa Ace

CEO/ Co-Founder of Gold Hand Girls