Paisley Goddess - Art, Apparel & Accessories-Serving the Goddess within every Woman

Posted by Ash on December 4th, 2007 in Goddess Spotlight

The Spotlight “Goddess” is Gretchen, the creator and owner of Girls Can’t What?

About Gretchen:
Have you ever been told you can’t do something because you are a girl? My name is Gretchen and I am not your traditional girl. You won’t find me in a dress picking flowers and talking about cute shoes. I am most likely out doing something that someone said couldn’t be done.

I was born and raised in small town in Central Illinois and I live about 30 minutes away from there now. I grew up in a neighborhood of all boys (except for my little sister) and I can throw a football and race BMX bikes with the best of them. I played Little League baseball every summer and in the 6th grade I was one of two girls to make the boys basketball team. I played all kinds of sports until my sophomore year of high school when my family was hit by a drunk driver and my back was broken (long story). Shortly after recovering from my injuries, I started playing drums and I never stopped playing. After graduating from high school I went to Millikin University where I graduated with a BS in Music Business.

Today I am married to a great guy, Doug, and we have two awesome daughters named Katelynn and Kirstynn. We also have the best dog in the whole world, a pug named Quest. I still play drums and am currently in an all-girl band called Amplified417 . Besides drumming, I like to work out, swim, play basketball, read and play on the computer. This web site is my full-time job. I also volunteer as a youth and children’s leader at my church.

My interview with Gretchen:

1. Is there an event or story behind the creation of “Girls Can’t What?”

There are a LOT of stories and I share them from time to time on the site. It seems that all of my life I have run into some roadblock where I was told I “can’t” do something because I was a girl. It started early in sports when I tried out for little league teams and an all-boys basketball team when there were no alternatives for girls to play. I made the team every time I tried out, which meant I took a lot of heat from the boys who didn’t want me there. My experiences with gender discrimination continued in college when I chose to major in percussion and was the only girl there for the first couple years and later in life I had several job experiences where I was offered less money or a job promotion promised to me was instead given to a guy with less experience.

2. How long have you been online?

Hmmm…I think since around 1996-1997. I have had a computer since the 7th grade and I have been programming them and learning about them ever since. My Girls Can’t WHAT? business has been up and running for just over a year.

3. What inspired the artwork for your online shop?

After leaving a disappointing job, my husband and I were trying to think of something I could from home so I could stay flexible enough to juggle the kids’ schedules and still earn an income. He suggested I do some kind of online business and sell something. I had no clue how to even start that process, but as we talked, he jokingly said I should make T-shirts that say “Girls Can’t WHAT?” on them. I laughed it off, but later that night I woke up with the idea to put the characters under the phrase and I actually sketched out a couple on paper. I can’t draw anything but stick people so that’s what they looked like. Next, I started building a web site (at least I knew how to do that part) but I still didn’t know how to draw. So I did what I always do when I don’t know how to do something…I went to the library. I checked out every book I could on art, drawing and digital design. After a few months, I came up with my first character, which was a drummer of course.

4. Is there a career field that is predominately filled by men that you feel should have more women?

Ha - there’s more than just one, but the one that sticks out in my mind right now is the technology field. Programming and web design are sorely lacking in the numbers of females who choose this field. I don’t know why, but it has been a hot topic recently since the number of women choosing technology and programming courses in the academic realm has been declining.

Also, I think a shout-out is in order for true all-girl bands. By “true” I mean bands where the instrumentalists and the vocalists are all females - not a group of females who sing and then hire a backup band with guys in it. There just don’t seem to be very many of these around anymore. Woo-hoo - go Amplified417! (that’s my band ).

5. Besides your artwork, what else does GCW seek to provide?

Above all else, GCW was created to provide a support network for women of all ages and from all walks of life. Everyone has “been there” at some point and by that I don’t necessarily mean gender discrimination. Everyone has dreams and we have all hit roadblocks to those dreams at some point.. GCW serves to help women find away to remove those roadblocks, get inspired and get back on the path to making her goals happen.

6. Have you seen a specific field or activity recently that girls are really wanting to get into?

Nothing specific stands out in my mind, but as the mother of two girls, I have been very pleased that my kids have a lot better opportunities than I did growing up. They are into soccer, basketball and lots of other activities that were not available to me when I was growing up. I know a lot of girls who are into hockey and football as well. Golf is another sport that is seeing an increase in female participation. If I may wager a guess as to what a popular field for women might be, I would say law enforcement. I seem to sell a lot of the Girls Can’t WHAT? Police Officer, Sheriff and Crime Scene Investigator designs. Hunting is another hot selling design. Girls must be fascinated by guns or something. Thank you Annie Oakley.

Check out Gretchen’s great designs for Tees and other fun merchandise at her Girls Can’t What shop! Inspire the females in your life (of any age!) to follow their bliss and do what they have a passion to do!