Feminist

Propaganda
[Issue 01, Dropbox Design]

Ladies
Who Create
 06 14 40 104

Welcome
[ From one feminist to many others]
[ Welcome to Ladies Who Create ]

Feminist uprising
[What is feminism?]
[The meaning of feminism]
[Impact of Ladies Who Create]

Artist features
[Elizabeth Gilmore]
[Emily Simms]
[Lori Novak]
[Emma Highley]
[Olga de la Iglesia]
[Berenice Méndez]
[Jen Murse]
[Jen DiZio]
[Charlotte Ratel]
[LaDonna Witmer]
[Kavya Sivaraman]
[Emily Suvanvej]

Closing
[Make work human]
Table of Contents

From one
feminist

to many
others
Welcome
to

Ladies Who
Create
Ladies Who Create is a forum that brings Note: In this publication, we use the word womxn
together womxn and non-binary people in design, as an alternative form of the English words
plus their allies. We are writers, researchers, women and woman. Womxn explicitly includes non–
designers, program managers, illustrators, and cisgender women and functions in a manner similar
more, encompassing the broad range of creatives to the words womyn and wimmin — as a rejection
in our community. Founded by Anisha Jain in of the sexist etymology of the words women and
2017 — when she was just one of three womxn on the woman. As we evolve, so too does our language.
Dropbox Design team — this community has grown
to include hundreds of womxn around the world.

Our goal is straightforward. We provide

supportive community programming to help womxn in
design grow. We succeed when our members feel a
sense of possibility and accelerated progress in
what they’re able to achieve. We seek to gain
and generously share knowledge, create meaningful
relationships, and help people achieve their
career ambitions.

We believe that the best investment we

can make is in the future of womxn. And we know
it pays off! Last year, Dropbox Design tipped
the scales, with a team that was 57% womxn and
leadership that was 61% womxn. We hosted intimate
events around the world to connect womxn in
the community. We published killer pieces like
Ladies Get Loud, Permission to Speak, New
Hymns, and this lovely piece of propaganda. And
we’re just getting started. Our ambitions
are bigger, and the stakes are higher than ever
for womxn. The time to link arms and grow our
community is now.

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06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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The
feminist

uprising
fem i nism

The advocacy of
womxn’s rights
on the basis
of equality of
the sexes.
 to vote maternity
to work leave

health care equal pay

hold office
rape and
Feminist movements have pushed for progress with

assault own property

receive gender
education roles
 01 02 03

Ruth Bader bell Michelle

Ginsburg hooks Obama

01 02 03

04 05 06

Toni Gloria Oprah

Morrison Steinem Winfrey

04 05 06

07 08 09

Ida Shirley Malala

B. Wells Chisholm Yousafzai

07 08 09
Feminists we are inspired by

10 11 12

Madeleine Grace Cheris

Albright Hopper Kramarae

10 11 12
 13 14 15

Christine Frida Joan

Blasey Ford Kahlo Jett

13 14 15

16 17 18

Tarana Dolores Indira

Burke Huerta Gandhi

16 17 18

19 20 21

Rupi Maya Chimamanda

Kaur Angelou Ngozi
Adichie

19 20 21
Feminists we are inspired by

22 23 24

Hillary Alexandria Laverne

Clinton Ocasio-Cortez Cox

22 23 24
What does
feminism

mean
to you?
 “Feminism means
equality. It means
having the right to “Letting
take up space. It
means owning my voice. my talent
It means walking tall.
and character

LaDonna Witmer Willems

It means lifting up
other womxn. It means
telling my daughter
earn your
respect, not

Lori Novak
she doesn’t have to
smile just because
a man told her to.” my gender.”
“That I’m an “Rebecca West said,
‘I only know that
independent people call me a
person who can feminist whenever
hold my own I express sentiments
Sydney Goldstein

and I don’t “Celebrating that differentiate

me from a doormat.’
the unique

Amanda Miller
need to be Feminism is
catered to.” power vouching for equal
opportunities.
of womxn.” Being able to ask and
answer the question:
‘Would this situation
“Equal be any different if I

rights for were a man?’ is a good

Elizabeth Gilmore

start towards change

men and and equality. It’s

Charlotte Ratel
not just about rights
womxn.” anymore; it’s about
changing stereotypes
and values.”
 “Feminism to me means that
I support anything womxn do,
even if it doesn’t align “I appreciate what the
with my own views or ideas, scholar bell hooks
or when I simply don’t says: ‘Feminism is a
Frederique Matti

understand. This is tricky, movement to end sexism,

but it’s so needed that sexist exploitation,
we stop excluding people and oppression.’ By that
who need the support.” standard, my ‘job’ as
a feminist is to bring
together and advocate

“As the for ideas, people, and

Jen DiZio
policies that support

saying goes, this movement.”

womxn’s
rights “It means questioning,
Kavya Sivaraman

opposing, and
are human revising ideas and
practices that
rights.” dampen the voices,
abilities, and
contributions of
womxn in society,

Berenice Méndez
and teaching
“Feminism means we this practice to the
all have a seat next generation
at the table. This is of womxn and men.”
Michelle Morrison
Constance Wellman

something I believe
in my core, and I
strive to work every
day to make this
more of a reality.” “Equality.”
How has
community

impacted
you?
 “Ladies Who Create has
brought me so many kick-
“It really helps to see
ass female friendships how other womxn deal with
and helped me grow as the same stuff; we’re in
a person. Words can’t
describe the feeling this together. It’s also
when you have a team of so cool to see people
badasses cheering you
on — you really feel like
cheer each other on and
Emma Highley
you can do anything. grow together, instead

Frederique Matti
Everyone deserves to of the big competition
feel that way.”
thing we are so used to
doing as womxn.”
“Sisterhood
is always
Olga de la Iglesia

welcoming for “When you’re growing

your career and

all of us.” developing new skills,

it really matters
who you’re looking up
to for establishing
“It’s allowed me new habits and
to feel free perspectives into
your practice. Having
and comfortable circles like Ladies
being just myself, Who Create helps to
with all the share best practices
and advice among
weird quirks and
Elizabeth Gilmore

creatives who I can

Berenice Méndez
traits that my relate to, and who
are invested in
past career told making the industry
me to soften.” more inclusive.”
 “Ladies Who Create has given “It’s been amazing to
me a community that I
can rely on for support
connect with womxn in
the industry. Coming
Constance Wellman

and encouragement as I
navigate the day-to-day of
work. It has allowed me
together to just
to develop connections with mix and mingle and form
womxn in design.” a network has been
so magical. I appreciate
“Sometimes all
being a part of this

Jen Murse
you need is
amazing group of womxn.”
to know that
there are people
out there who “When I joined Dropbox,
I was really inspired
give a damn, by Anisha’s vision
and communities for womxn growing and
lifting each other
like Ladies up. As a lead for
Emily Simms

Who Create are Ladies Who Create,

I’ve been honored to
doing just that.” work with such an
incredible group of
“These groups “Just knowing creative womxn to

Bev Achterhof
this community grow not only this
are so is here has a
huge impact
community but our own
careers as well.”
important for on my work and
psyche. I feel
keeping us that there’s
a tribe of
connected womxn behind me,
Lori Novak

Jen DiZio

pushing
and human.” me forward.”
Artist

features
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a mother and
creative director in San
Francisco working at Dropbox.

Gilmore From the Midwest to the

great West, she respects good
people, good color combos,
and bad action movies. Former
plant mama, road-trip junkie,
and photographer. Currently, new
baby mama, NPR power listener,
and patterned-dress collector.
ig: @elizabethgilmore

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01
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work? Another way to navigate anxiety about work is
to really lean on and trust in your team and
Early in my career, I had to fight really hard for my
coworkers. This can be a scary approach, but for me,
opinions and recommendations to be heard. So as I’ve
building empathy for each other has this
led design teams, I take a very inclusive and open
calming effect, where isolation starts to disappear
approach. This applies not only to the work in reviews
and camaraderie really triumphs! Lean on each
or design sessions — making sure everyone’s voices are
other!!! And if work sucks, at least you kinda like
heard and shared — but also in how I manage my reports.
the people you get to be around!
I always ask for feedback and have spent a lot of
time learning how to better communicate, listen, and
allow my reports to be heard and seen. 04
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
02
community?
Can you share any stories from your creative career when Know your worth and fight for it relentlessly. Never
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse? let someone tell you that titles don’t matter,
Actually, other than Dropbox, I’ve always started work because it’s usually a man who is saying that.
at companies that were definitely a “boys’ club”
Stop apologizing. Lift each other up.
and had to fight really hard to infiltrate and influence.
I’ve failed at speaking my mind when it mattered,
many times. I learned to find allies (womxn and men) 05
who help empower and lift up my voice. And then, What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
once I was able to navigate that, I worked to use my
perspective as a womxn to better recruit, redefine
my team’s culture, and mentor my designers.

03
How do you navigate anxiety about work?
I used to get all of my emotional gratification from
work, and that quickly turned unhealthy and
unsustainable. So I’ve made real efforts to make sure
that I understand that my job is my job and it’s
only one part of me, not everything. Since having a
son, I’ve worked hard at compartmentalizing areas
of my life so they’re not bleeding into one another.
It’s a learned skill, and I’ve definitely failed at it

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multiple times, but in that failure you learn more
about your own boundaries and priorities. I’ve realized
you can have different priorities for different parts
of your life too!
Emily Emily specializes in art
direction, visual identity,
still-life photography, and set

Simms design. In image creation,

her work focuses heavily
on conceptual thinking and humor
manifested through rich
textures and tones. In visual
identity, her work focuses
on a strong sense of color and
form with a minimalist approach.
ig: @emlysmms

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 02
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?
I’ve worked for many different womxn, with many different
personality types. I think the key to success,
individually and as a community, is vocalizing praise
and admiration and truly supporting each other. We
need to celebrate each other’s wins. When the goal is
to get ahead and to be seen, you’re not making
your best work. When you are creating for others
through your own lens, the opportunity for conversation
and growth is insane.

03
Who do you look up to for career inspiration?

David Byrne. I have a deep admiration for his constant

curiosity, willingness to explore new territories,
and the sense of humor paired with intelligence he
brings to his work.
The color palette in the True Stories scene where
John Ingle is singing “Puzzlin’ Evidence” inspired the
first logo I designed for myself.
René Redzepi, the chef behind Noma, is someone
I grew to admire greatly after reading his journal.
Through his honesty, I was able to learn a lot
about leadership.
01
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?
04
Less than the work itself, my identity informs how I How do you navigate anxiety about work?
approach my work. Having heard things like, “If you
were a man, you’d be a creative director by now,” and Patience and empathy. This is something I am
being on dates where someone feels threatened and constantly working on. When things feel uncertain or
makes comments like, “With the work you’ve been doing, overwhelming, I find myself catastrophizing to
you must be saving for, what, your third house by prepare for the worst. I worry that I am not doing
now?” I’ve had to maneuver conversations and approach enough, that I’m not good enough, that I’m not
growing at the rate I thought I would, and it can

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things with caution.
become pretty consuming. The reality is, there
 is so much that goes on behind closed doors and things
that amount to a greater picture beyond work and
beyond the day-to-day. Focusing on the things I can
control and letting go of the things I can’t has
been my recent mantra. That, and giving myself the
space to step away, breathe, and rationalize. We
live in times of instant gratification, which I think
might lend itself to feeling the need to create
immediate solutions. But the reality is, very few of
us are saving lives and we can benefit from taking
a beat on the things that need it.

05
What do you want to be doing in five years?

Truthfully, I find it incredibly difficult to set long-

term goals for myself. I definitely have pipe dreams
beyond the world of design, but I also know that where
I am now is not where I thought I would be five years
ago — in the best way. I’m working on the mentality of
being better tomorrow than I am today and celebrating
the small wins. I’m sure those will amount to a big
victory — whatever that may be.

06
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
community?

07
What is the best career advice you’ve received?

dropbox.design
Get over yourself.
Lori Lori is a designer in San
Francisco who is very interested
in spaces, places, and mostly

Novak having fun. She is currently a

designer on the black ops
team at Dropbox.

ig: @lorienovak

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01
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?
Inherently. So much so that it’s hard to put
into words.

02
Who do you look up to for career inspiration?
Harry Styles, because he politely does whatever he
wants. He’s not a womxn, but he does bend gender norms
pretty gracefully.

03
How do you train your creative muscle?
Constantly coming up with ideas. Ideas for anything.
I keep them all in my phone.

04
How do you navigate anxiety about work?

Perspective always helps my anxiety seem small. Why am

I freaking out when there are way more people going
through much worse? Deep breaths. Be present. One thing
at a time.

05
How do you overcome a creative rut?

I get really pissed at myself and call my mom.

Stepping away completely and doing something else
usually helps. Clean, read, or take a walk!

06 07
What message do you have for womxn in the creative What do you want to be doing five years from now?
community?

dropbox.design
We are the hardest-working people I know.
dropbox.design
Emma Emma is a product designer at
Dropbox by day, yoga instructor
by night, and a dog mom in all

Highley the space between.

ig: @emmahighley

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 stress. I’ve learned there’s a beauty in balance when
it comes to the feminine intuition. While it can
feel rewarding to take care of your team, there is
power in taking care of yourself first. When you
show up for yourself, you are better prepared to show
up for others.

02
Who do you look up to for career inspiration?

I admire every person who speaks up in the face

of fear and owns their power and their voice. There’s
something uniquely beautiful when someone is truly
living their purpose and voicing their truth.
It’s inspirational, and empowers others to do the same.

03
How do you navigate anxiety about work?

If I ever feel anxiety start to creep in while at

work, I take a moment to breathe, ground down, and
take a moment to myself. I’ve found just taking
a step outside can be extremely healing — the fresh air
helps get oxygen pumping through your lungs,
and changing your atmosphere physically allows your
01 mind to reset. By taking a few moments to settle
Can you share any stories from your creative career when my thoughts, I’m able to be a better person, coworker,
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse? and friend.

Womxn are naturally more intuitive, and I’ve always

04
found this both an advantage and a disadvantage in my
What do you want to be doing in five years?
career. A womxn can walk into a conference room and
immediately know someone is upset before anyone opens CEO.
their mouth. This innate ability to be attuned to
the world around you is an unspoken strength that can
05
help build strong, trusting relationships, allow you
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
to hold space for others, and create clarity in chaos.
community?

dropbox.design
But it can also be a double-edged sword, because
it can be easy to take on the emotions of others and
carry the weight of responsibility for your team’s
Olga de Olga is an artist and
photographer who lives and works
in Barcelona and New York. Her

la Iglesia work explores the boundary

between fashion and documentary
photography. She merges two
languages to generate visual
narratives that, through
colors and shapes, maintain a
close connection with
social structures.
ig: @olgadelaiglesia

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01
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?
It’s very natural for me to communicate with people on
the set while shooting; as a womxn it is easy for me
to create relationship ties with just a look or gesture.
On the other hand, it was difficult for me at first to
avoid some lewd glances and comments from assistants
or photographers I worked with.

02
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?

In my work, womxn have different shapes and colors that

contribute to the global beauty of humanity. I accept
those differences and work with models who aren’t from
agencies exclusively, so I can bring the viewer
closer to the reality of the world — not just what the
media wants to show.

03
Who is your favorite female artist or photographer?

Hilma af Klint.

04 06
How do you train your creative muscle? What do you want to be doing in five years?
Dance naked in front of the mirror. Walk in nature. Same but bigger, with bigger budgets. I would love
Run by the beach. Do yoga and meditation. Read. Laugh to do furniture and sculpture. I also have the
with my friends. dream to help young creatives develop their creative
capacities and believe in themselves.
05
How do you navigate anxiety about work? 07
What inspires you?
Transmitting the values in which I believe, and giving
light to and provoking emotions in others without

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receiving anything in return — only hope for the world.
I try to believe in what I do with all my heart.
I try to not look at what others are doing and compare
myself to them, but admire them instead.
Berenice
Berenice is a designer and
illustrator. She was born
and raised in the US–Mexico

Méndez
border city of Ciudad Juárez.
She has always been interested
in visual arts and crafts
and earned her BFA in graphic
design and painting from the
University of Texas at El Paso.
She worked in advertising
before making her way to the
Bay Area in 2015 to work in
tech, which led her to HelloSign
and Dropbox. She doodles
almost every day and loves
spending time with her rescue
ig: @berenesque

greyhound, Grover.

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 03
How do you navigate anxiety about work?
I talk about it. In the past, I used to conceal
it because I feared it would make me look incompetent
or inexperienced. Now, I share it with my peers and
ask for help when I need it.

04
How do you train your creative muscle?

I have a tote bag full of art supplies that I carry

with me on the weekends to coffee shops. I spend a
few hours developing a concept, illustration, or just
plainly sketching what I have in front of me. In
the fall, I really enjoy taking part in Inktober, which
allows me to be very consistent in my drawing. Lastly,
I really enjoy toys and interior designs, so I
like visiting galleries, showrooms, and museum gift
stores to look at beautiful objects and publications.

05
Who is your dream collaborator?
01 Definitely a writer. Mainly because I’d love to
How do you overcome a creative rut? witness and experience some of their creative processes
Going on long walks with my dog. Cleaning my apartment. and because a good piece of writing can really get
Solving a puzzle, playing a game. Slowing down me inspired.
and doing something creative in a different field.
06
What do you want to be doing in five years?
02 I’m eyeing art direction as my next step, so
How would you describe your creative practice? hopefully that.
I’m a communications designer, which means I have
a broad spectrum of work and can immerse myself into, 07
say, content design for web as much as crafting What message do you have for womxn in the creative
illustrations for an ad campaign. I concern myself community?

dropbox.design
with the way an audience receives, interacts with,
and thinks about the message we put out, and get to Share your work, your struggle, and your learnings.
craft its visual form. Our power lies in our ability to be masters of our
craft while elevating other womxn as well.
Jen
Jen is a multidisciplinary
designer and former small-
business owner based in San

Murse
Francisco. She currently
leads design for the Brand
Communications team at Square.
When she’s not working, she
enjoys a good cup of coffee,
riding her bike around the city,
and tinkering around on
projects with her husband, Garth.
ig: @jenmurse

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01
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?
I’ve worn many hats during my career, and one of
those hats was running my own small business where
I designed and sold jewelry. Being a womxn selling
jewelry was very fitting and perfect, and it was
pretty much my identity for quite some time. I felt
very proud to be a female small-business owner
doing it day in and day out. I also think it allowed
me to connect with my customers better. They felt
like they could talk to me honestly.

02
Who do you look up to for career inspiration?

There are so many. Paula Scher is one of the legends

in design, at the top. A true inspiration. Meg Lewis
is amazing because she’s paved her own way and
helps others do the same. Jessica Walsh is young and
yet so incredibly successful. And even my friend
Alex, who isn’t a womxn but is a design executive in
tech and from an immensely humble background, just
worked really hard to get to where he is.

03
What do you want to be doing in five years?

This is tough, since five years ago I had my own

05
business, which was one of my life goals. In another
What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
five years I don’t necessarily know where I’ll be,
but I definitely want to be surrounded by an amazing Always get louder.
team doing amazing work. It could be big or small.
I just want to believe in what I’m doing and know that
06
the people I’m working with also believe in it too.
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
community?
04

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How do you navigate anxiety about work? There’s no one direct path. Everyone’s story is unique.
Pave your own way.
dropbox.design
Jen
Jen is a qualitative product
researcher specializing
in international growth. Prior

DiZio
to joining Dropbox, she led
strategic research initiatives
at Instagram.

ig: @jendizio

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 02
Is there a cause or political platform that you’re fired
up about?
Ummm... all of them? If I had to choose, I would say
that ensuring quality and well-rounded education for
ALL citizens is my primary cause. This includes funding
early childhood education, and secondary school for
anyone who elects to go. But this education should be
well-rounded and include the arts, music, philosophy —
fields that will help our young people become critical
and engaged members of the community.

03
What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
From Anna Wintour: “Stop focusing on what everyone
around you is doing. Set a goal and see it through.”

04
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
community?
Find your tribe. Support your tribe. Thank your tribe.

01 05
Can you share any stories from your creative career when How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?
As a researcher, I often find that I can connect with
my subjects, especially my female participants, better
because of my gender. For example, the research I
led on womxn in emerging markets for Instagram likely
would not have been possible if I hadn’t been leading
it. That is, we were talking to womxn and teenage
girls about their experience with social media in some
regions where just being on social media as a young
womxn was a crime. So establishing the connection — from

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one womxn to another — was imperative.
Charlotte
Charlotte is an idea generator.
She’s interested in making
sensitive and conceptual work

Ratel
as a film director, art
director, designer, painter,
and set designer.

ig: @charlotteratel

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01
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?

I’ve been asked to join teams on the basis of being

a womxn. I’ve experienced sexism and have seen
coworkers experience it too. I’ve been told that I
couldn’t do a job because I “wasn’t strong enough.”
I’ve been asked in a job interview if I could
take male criticism. The questions linked to gender
often come up in my field of work.

Recently, I was part of a meeting of 13. I had just

joined the team of 10 men and two other womxn. People
were talking loudly over one another and interrupting
each other, yet when the womxn creative director
found some space in the conversation to speak, she
whispered. Everyone listened because there was
no other way of hearing her point. Until they cut her
off again.

Would she have said more if the men had let her speak?
Did they realize that she had been waiting for
them to stop speaking so she could speak? Was I the
only one to notice this?

One of the womxn who walked out of that meeting

with me qualified it as a “BDE” meeting. Embarrassed
that I hadn’t made myself familiar with all the
work terms yet, I timidly asked what it meant. “Big
d!ck energy,” she said. It seemed the three womxn
in that room had lived this event the same way.

02
Who do you look up to for career inspiration?

I fell in love with the work of filmmaker and

artist Agnès Varda. Her way of seeing life is so
poetic, beautiful, and refreshing when you take

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into consideration the times she had to live in. She’s
a great inspiration for me. I also look up to Adi
Goodrich, Debbie Millman, Jessica Walsh, and my mom.
 03
Is there a cause or political platform that you’re fired
up about?

Female and diversity representation in the advertising

industry is very important to me. Womxn represent
85% of product consumerism, yet their interests are
being communicated by (let’s be honest) mostly men!
Including multiple genders and diversity in our images,
videos, messages as proportionally as they truly
exist in our society can only add credibility, and make
our work human. So why not work together towards that?

04
How do you train your creative muscle?

My workshop is filled with leftover paint and materials

from set-design gigs, and I love spending time making
things and color palettes, murals, illustrations.
My last food-pun painting series was born during a time
of unemployment due to a last-minute cancelation, so
I hired myself to challenge my creativity. I keep
a notepad with project ideas. COVID-19 quarantine might
be the perfect time to start going through that list.

05
What do you want to be doing in five years?

I love being part of the creative field and couldn’t

imagine my life (now or in five years) without
it. In five years, I want to be taking on more
responsibilities, projects, and resources to make
a difference in exceeding the limits of our own
imaginations.

06
What message do you have for womxn in the creative

dropbox.design
community?
Let’s get in touch and come together! Let’s start
the conversation.
dropbox.design
LaDonna
As one of the editorial gurus on
the Brand Studio team, LaDonna
helps create or facilitate

Witmer
the best and most powerful
expression of the Dropbox brand
voice in all its forms. On
the journey to finding her own
voice, she’s been a newspaper
journalist, advertising
copywriter, poet, and public
speaker. She’s also a mom to
ig: @wordsbyladonna
9-year-old Lucette.

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01
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?
In many ways it makes me more attuned to the outsider
or minority perspective — who is in the room, who
is speaking, who is the audience, who is missing? Once
I became a mother, that absolutely changed the way
I looked at many work assignments as well. Suddenly
my future encompassed more years than just my own
lifetime. I began to look at the world as a place that
my daughter would inhabit after I was gone, and
that changed the way I’d answer the question: “How does
this work matter?”

02
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?

I first began my career as a newspaper reporter, and

was often encouraged by older (male) editors to use my
“feminine wiles” to cajole sources into giving me
intel. I was also dubbed “the sensitive reporter,”
which meant that I was asked to call grieving families
whose child or parent or spouse had just died in
a newsworthy manner and ask them how they felt.
03
When I was a young copywriter, my (male) boss told me
Is there a cause or political platform that you’re fired
to “unbutton your shirt one more button if you want him
to like what you wrote” when going in to present copy up about?
to the (male) CEO. I’m pretty passionate about womxn getting a seat at
the table. I was really excited about all the smart
And then there are a lot of stories about being
and capable womxn in the presidential race this year.
interrupted, spoken over, or silenced in some way. But
But then, one by one, they dropped out. I’m not feeling
we all have those stories, don’t we?
very good about that. I’m also pretty fired up a
bout environmental issues, about climate change, about
finding ways to make the world a more sustainable,
livable place.

dropbox.design
04
How do you train your creative muscle?
I just keep writing. In my off-hours, I’m writing a
book. And though I dream of long, Wi-Fi–free days spent
racking up an impressive word count from a picturesque
cabin in the forest, the reality is that most of my
writing gets done in 20-minute sprints. Early in the
morning before my people get up. Late at night when
they’re in bed. In-between times in waiting rooms, at
lunch hours, in transit. Wherever I can grab the time.

Reading is another great way — it’s like writing

research. Reading not only opens doors to other
worlds, perspectives, and ideas, but I get
inspired and challenged by other voices, by other
writers’ techniques, by the topics people choose
to write about, and the way they tell their stories.
If I’m always reading, and always writing, then
I’ll always be learning.

05
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
community?

dropbox.design
Kavya
Kavya is a visual designer,
a feminist, and often described
as “sarcastic and loud.” She

Sivaraman
strives to make everyday
problems uplifting — and make
the world seem a little less
scary while showing that
design can move things forward
for the better.

www.kavyasivaraman.com

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01
How would you describe your creative practice?
Organized chaos. I am the kind of person who wants
to test each and every single thing before I
land on a direction, to make sure no stone has been
left unturned.

02
How do you overcome a creative rut?
Step back, reassess, and come back with fresh eyes.
I also love scribbling every single idea that pops into
my head in my ratty little journal.

03
Can you share any stories from your creative career when
being a womxn was a focus, for better or worse?
Growing up in India, a nation steeped in patriarchy,
I constantly rebelled against the idea of womxn being
suppressed. This continued all the way into graduate
school, where I focused the three years of my portfolio
on highlighting different womxn’s rights movements,
with emphasis on womxn artists, type designers, and
filmmakers. This work culminated in my yearlong master’s
thesis focused on equal pay for womxn.

From there, I pivoted straight to working for a

nonprofit focused on womxn’s rights and helping womxn
advance in the workplace. It was a dream gig for
me — getting to do what I was truly passionate about
and hearing womxn’s stories from all over the
globe. I have been lucky so far in my career to have
some badass female bosses who have empowered me to
want to do what they do someday. I cannot think of a 04

time when being a womxn wasn’t a focus in my career — What message do you have for womxn in the creative
and, to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. community?

dropbox.design
Don’t apologize for who you are and what your
message is. You are a badass person and we celebrate
you, just as you are.
Emily
Emily is a multidisciplinary
artist working in animation
and editorial illustration.

Suvanvej
Taking inspiration from master
designers like Eizin Suzuki,
Milton Glaser, Moebius, and
Yukio Kitta, she works in both
tactile and digital mediums
to create whimsical, striking,
and elevated visuals. Current
obsessions include: retro
devices, sci-fi landscapes, ’90s
nostalgia, cats, and coffee.
ig: @emy_su

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 much of a character designer, so it’s easier for me
to stick to abstract backgrounds, shapes, and scenes
that don’t necessarily have a gender.

03
How do you overcome a creative rut?
My creative ruts are usually caused by me overthinking
and putting unnecessary pressure on myself, so I start
by trying to let that pressure go. The perfectionism
I tend toward is actually counterproductive to my
creativity, so it’s a constant battle. But once I
learned to do this, my momentum shot up and I started
creating better work than I ever did before!

04
What message do you have for womxn in the creative
community?

This is a beautiful time to be a womxn in a

creative field. We’re still swimming against a strong
current, but things are only getting better and
better — and all the communities like Ladies Who Create
are strengthening our cause! As long as we keep
01
supporting each other and lifting other womxn up, soon
How do you train your creative muscle? we’ll shatter those stubborn systems that are holding
us back. And they won’t even know what hit ’em.
Creative fulfillment is super-important to me, so
I try to create something just for myself (not for a
client or work) every single day. Whether it’s just
a sketch or something bigger, keeping that momentum
fuels my creativity and boosts the quality of my work!
And it also just makes me happy.

02
How does your identity as a womxn inform your work?

dropbox.design
I’m sure I have more feminine sensibilities when it
comes to color and detail, but I do try not to inject
too much of my gender identity into my work. I’m not
dropbox.design
Make

work
human
 “Work with
“If you can, become
friends — not just
kindness and
colleagues. Really
care for the
equality;
people you spend your
whole days sitting
none is better

Olga de la Iglesia
next to in the office. or less than
It will make your
time in the office better, you; we are
and I truly believe
all unique.”
Fiona Rolander

that will make

communication, and
thus the product you
make together, better.” “By including
as many diverse
perspectives

Elizabeth Gilmore
and inputs as
“Give it a possible, to make
the work created
personality. by all of us,
not just a few.”
“Work feels more
human when I feel

Have fun seen as a whole

person — and also when
with humor. I see others as
whole people. So
Serious topics things like this zine,
where we are sharing
don’t always our stories and
Sydney Goldstein

getting to know each

need serious other in a deeper,

LaDonna Witmer

dropbox.design
more meaningful way —
design.” that goes a long
way toward making
work more human.”
 “EMPATHY. Humans feel
things in a unique
way. When we start to
“I think we could understand each
all benefit from other on a deeper level,
Emily Simms

f*cking up a we can start to

empathize with how
little bit more.” someone feels,
thinks, and works. Once
we see things through
their lens, we can
start to build solutions

Emma Highley
that feel the way
“Get more they feel and work the
way they work.”
people in
the field
to talk to “Relatable ideas!
Creating concepts,
our customers. with heart and
Let them intention, that
see, hear, and strike some chord
in the viewer is so
feel what our important in design.
customers Anyone can make
Jen DiZio

are doing.” a pretty picture,

but it must have
Emily Suvanvej

dropbox.design
an idea behind it to
be successful.”
You can’t
be

what you

dropbox.design
can’t see
LWC
Leadership Michelle Morrison, Sarah Lin

Design Kavya Sivaraman

Production Erica Lopez

Pureprint Group

Copy LaDonna Witmer

John Mikulenka

Contributors Bev Achterhof

Berenice Méndez
Charlotte Ratel
Chris Behroozian
Elizabeth Gilmore
Emily Simms
Emily Suvanvej
Emma Highley
Fiona Rolander
Frederique Matti
Hayley Bramble
Jennifer DiZio
Jen Murse
Ksenia Mikhailova
Lindsey LaMont
Lori Novak
Megan Bayley
Olga de la Iglesia
Sydney Goldstein
Eva Blue
Carl Van Vechten
Gage Skidmore
Angela Radulescu
Getty Images
Dropbox.Design