By Sophie Leonard
Today we celebrate Laura Oland, Founder of her new blog “The East Coast Girl” designed to cater to girls living on the East Coast of Canada. There are 11 East Coast Girl contributors from Saint John, Halifax, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and even Germany. On the blog, these girls share stories about their life, including fashion, travel, fitness, beauty, and so much more. I absolutely love reading about young women pursuing their dreams to the fullest here in Atlantic Canada. Thank you, Laura, for creating this platform and we are eager to see where you take it! Link to blog https://theeastcoastgirl.ca/
Laura’s idea for The East Coast Girl Blog started when she realized there was a void that needed to be filled here in Atlantic Canada. “There are so many amazing local shops, winning restaurants, small businesses, and the list goes on,” Laura says, and she wanted to write about them! But she knew she couldn’t do it alone, so she recruited some amazing, ambitious, and creative women here in Atlantic Canada with lots of valuable insight and stories to share to help her kick start her new blog.
“My goal is to inspire people to try something new and to never say no to something new, whether it’s a trip, a themed party or a new trend.” – Laura Oland
I especially loved one of the recent blogs, titled “Why I am Not Limited as a Women from the East Coast” written by Hannah Wallace who was born and raised in Saint John, NB. Hannah is a proud scientist, living in St John’s Newfoundland working towards her PhD at Memorial University. She explains in her blog how being a woman from the East Coast has not at all limited her and that it has actually been an advantage in her eyes. One example she shares is that people from the East Coast will always support you, and you always have a team of cheerleaders rooting you on! Link to her blog post: https://theeastcoastgirl.ca/blog/why-i-am-not-limited-as-a-woman-from-the-east-coast.
“Please don’t ever think you’re limited by being from the East Coast of Canada. You might just have to create your own path to get where you want to go. And don’t forget to enjoy the scenery if you happen to get lost for a bit along the way.” – Hannah Wallace
I want to shine some light on Laura because she is an NB superstar! She is a 24-year-old Art Historian living in Saint John, New Brunswick. She got her Bachelor of Arts degree at Acadia University and did her Honours in History Minor Classics. She then went on to receive her Master’s in Literature Art History at the University of Glasgow. And it doesn’t stop there. She was recently accepted to start her PhD at Concordia University in Art History in the fall.
She has decided to write her thesis on the courageous woman - Alice Webster. In her personal blog, Laura writes; “Alice Lusk Webster is an extremely important woman in NB, however, the majority of New Brunswickers have never heard of her before.” Laura is on a mission to change that reality through the publication of her thesis, and she also filmed a video for the New Brunswick Museum, check it out! https://lauraalyre.com/2019/04/16/nbm-curator/.
This is just the beginning of The East Coast Girl blog and we are excited to watch it grow and you can always count on UP+GO to be an avid reader! Thank you, Laura, for being an inspiration to women to follow their dreams, and we are thrilled to celebrate your new blog as part of our SeeMore.BeMore campaign for International Women’s Day 2020!