Bringing a business into this world is much like bringing a life. You watch others nurturing and caring for their business. Encouraging you to have a business of your own. Until one day you decide you’re going to do it and jump in with both feet. Once your business takes its first breath of fresh air there’s no turning back. That’s exactly how Harness Magazine started.
I had a feeling I just couldn’t shake. It was bad timing. I was in the beginning stages of my job, learning to live under the same roof as my now husband and raising a puppy simultaneously. But this feeling overtook me. I was desperately searching for a place to read stories from real women going through real life with real problems. I didn’t care about the latest nail color or which celebrity was going through their tenth breakup. I wanted to know if other women were struggling with relationships or wondering about their careers and what made them feel alive. After speaking with friends, I realized they were looking for the same sort of content and outlet. No one in the media was reflecting these real, heavy, joyful, challenging, mundane experiences that women are faced with on a daily basis.
I decided I would change this by writing a piece and getting it published. I began searching for an outlet, but I couldn’t find one that fit me. I had to be an expert writer. Submit sample pieces. I had to have been published before. Worst of all, I had to write about something they wanted me to write about. Wasn’t there a place for real women to share what they are going through? Even if it was unpolished? Even if it was far from perfect? The answer kept coming up no.
And that’s when that longing feeling inside of me bubbled up.
It felt like something I had to do. The more I tried to convince myself not to create the platform, the more reasons popped in my head on why I should. So after weeks of stewing and trying to talk myself out of starting another project, I convinced myself the only way to shake the idea was to bring it into the world.
Since that moment I haven’t turned back.
Harness Magazine is now a digital and print publication that publishes articles, artwork and poetry of women around the world. Harness has published over 800+ digital pieces in less than two years. We are eagerly looking forward to the launch of our second print Issue of Harness Magazine (July 13, 2018). It includes 112 pages of beautiful stories, photography, artwork, illustrations and mixed media from women around the world. We are happy to represent women from ten different countries in this issue.
The Harness Magazine mission is to empower women by giving them the opportunity to share what truly matters in their lives. You don’t have to be an expert writer or artist, you just have to be willing to share your story.
While we may come from different parts of this earth and have very different experiences, we share one thing in common: our emotions. I can empathize with your love of art, heartbreak over a relationship or sense of pride over your successes. The most important thing Harness does is bringing women together. I hope you’ll check us out and submit your story today.
ABOUT ASHLEY RECTOR
Ashley Rector is the editor and founder of Harness Magazine. Ashley is a serial entrepreneur with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Doctorate of Law degree. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and her two dogs Beaux and Winnie. She believes baptism by fire is often the best way to turn passion and dreams into reality and strives to be a guiding light to women all over the world.