Q&A with Beautifully Said authors Pauline Weger and Alicia Williamson

Pauline Weger and Alicia Williamson are authors of the book, Beautifully Said and the upcoming book, Grit & Grace. Pauline is the founder and Alicia is the chef editor of Quotabelle, which creates products that add missing voices back into history and ensure today’s remarkable female thinkers and doers aren’t overlooked going forward. We got a chance to chat with them about how Quotabelle came about and how they’ll make history in 2018.

Pauline Weger

Can you tell us a little bit about Quotabelle.com? 

Pauline:
Here’s what we believe: the world is filled with great female role models. You just need to know where to find them. At Quotabelle, we discover the ideas and stories of remarkable women & girls. And, make them shareable. To spark innovation. To create connections. To bring balance to the world. 

Alicia:
Through books, print goods and our patented online discovery platform, Quotabelle.com, we’re uncovering often-hidden stories and amplifying inspiring voices. We want to ensure ideas and stories from past history-makers come off the dusty shelves, and today’s thinkers and doers don’t get overlooked in the mountain of content that’s churned out every day.  

What led to the founding of Quotabelle? 

Pauline:
Did you know that less than 15% of quotations shared daily are words and ideas from women? It’s a stat we uncovered during research. In fact, of the more than 19,000 quotes in one of the oldest, most respected resource books, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, only 5% were attributed to women. More quotes were attributed to “Anonymous” than to women. Quotabelle is fixing the quote supply problem! Importantly, we’re using quotations as entrées to discovering the stories of the remarkable women & girls behind the words.  

Alicia Williamson

 Which heroes inspire you? 

Alicia:
There are way too many to name! We often refer to Quotabelle as a “personal inspiration gallery,” and pretty much everyone I’ve researched has been added to my ever-expanding list of muses. A few of the awesome ladies I keep going back to in Beautifully Said are university founder Mary McLeod Bethune, computer programming legend Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, and crowdfunding pioneer Danae Ringlemann. 

Pauline:
For our new book, Grit & Grace: Uncommon Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders, which will be released in early Fall 2018, we’ve come across a woman who travels the world as the captain of a massive cruise ship; a roboticist who is envisioning the day when personal robots will be as common as smart phones; a photographer who inspired creatives around the world to collaborate under the guiding principle #communityovercompetition. These modern-day sheroes are in the book alongside some of history’s greats.  There truly are many inspiring stories, and we’re delighted to share them. 

What led to the publication of Beautifully Said? 

Pauline:
We ran a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund the production of prototypes of Quotabelle print goods: coloring cards, letterpress cards, and stylish little boxes filled with sourced quotes. Our colorful box filled with an assortment of goods ended up in the hands of Quarto’s publishing team…and it led to our first book, Beautifully Said! 

 Do you have message for young girls growing to be strong, independent women? 

Pauline:
Take time to creatively capture your own ideas and story ~ and share those far and wide. You’ll find people will begin to collaborate with you…and, then watch what happens! Your thinking will inspire the world to move forward. 

Alicia:
There are so many wonderful female role models out there to help you imagine and build the future. Seek them out, and when you find ideas and stories that inspire you, say them forward. If you do, it’ll help create a culture of strong, independent women and girls. 

How will you make history in 2018? 

When Grit & Grace is published in Fall of 2018, we will introduce 90 new stories and sourced quotations. When you add in the 110 females featured in our first book, Beautifully Said, that’s 200 stories or remarkable women & girls we’ll have shared working alongside the creative professionals at Quarto Publishing Group. We’re making history together.  

The first book is already sold through hundreds of stores along with national retail chains, which means the stories are in the hands of people on four continents. The books are also used in workshops with students, Girl Scouts, corporate teams, entrepreneurs and elected officials. We hope to imaginatively reach thousands more people in 2018 and beyond.

Thank you both so much for taking the time to chat with us. Enter to win a copy of Beautifully Said below!

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Beautifully Said is a female-forward collection of 21 themed chapters of quote from strong, successful, intelligent women. Perfect for hand lettering artists of any age!

Looking for a quote to inspire your daughter, sister, mother, teammate or friend? Beautifully Said is a personal inspiration gallery, containing 21 themed chapters spotlighting women and girls who believe, build, discover, explore, heal, invent, laugh, lead, and more.

Quotabelle’s first book is a serendipitous result of the startup’s Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. This female-powered company creates products that add missing voices back into history and ensure today’s remarkable thinkers and doers aren’t overlooked going forward.

You’ll love seeing quotes by incredible women from bygone eras, like Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Fitzgerald, Harriet Tubman, and Audrey Hepburn, as well as contemporary figures like Serena Williams, Amy Poehler, Malala Yousafzai, as well as noteworthy up-and-comers, including an Everest-scaling mountaineer, a space archaeologist, and a serial entrepreneur. Because sharing ideas and stories is how passions get sparked and role models emerge.