Only 3.6 percent of creative directors in the US are women. If you’re familiar with the Guerrilla Girls, then you probably know that while less than 4 percent of artists featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Modern section identify as women, 76 percent of the nudes are female.

Plenty of women are interested in pursuing art—yet despite the fact that women earn half of all MFA’s in the US, just a quarter of solo exhibitions in New York galleries are by women. So why is there such a representational disparity between men and women in creative fields?

Megan Leigh Barnard and Hilary Buchanan of Columbus, OH are working towards changing these statistics with Creative Babes, a company built to inspire community amongst female creatives.

It was actually an unintentional beginning, brought on when Hilary designed business cards for Megan Leigh’s photography business.

“We’ve been friends for a long time, not super close, but we had been spending more time together so we went out one night for drinks,” Hilary says. “We start talking about the creative women in our lives, and as I’m mentioning these women to Megan, she’s like ‘I don’t know who these people are!’”

The feeling was mutual: as Megan Leigh began rattling off the creative women in her life, Hilary didn’t know any of them. As the friends kept chatting over drinks, an inkling of an idea began to form.

Hilary explains, “We decided we should just get them all in a room together. And instead of just saying it, two Manhattans in we go back to Megan’s place and just write up the kind of event that we ourselves would want to go to.”

Megan Leigh adds, “A ton of high fives later as we’re writing all this stuff down, we realize that this could really happen, we could have all these women in one room.”

From there, Megan Leigh and Hilary knew they needed a tagline, a phrase to guide their new idea. And that tagline became “fuck competition, build community.”

“We even thought about it, like should we use the word ‘fuck?’ And we decided we’re very serious about this, we mean this so much, so we decided to go with it,” Megan Leigh shares.

The friends created the event on Facebook and invited 11 friends to come along. The event was open invitation, and guests were encouraged to invite any creative women that may be interested in attending.

“The night of the event came and we were blown away with the amount of women in the room, and the wide areas and fields that were represented. We had 35 people end up coming to the first event, which it was in my backyard. We had a make your own Manhattan area, and we sat on blankets under twinkly lights,” Megan Leigh remembers.

When Megan Leigh and Hilary think back to their beginnings at Creative Babes, it’s those same startling statistics about women in creative fields that first inspired them. Hilary pointed out that as an art director herself, she is amongst only 9.6 percent of all art directors that are women.

“But we want more. And because there’s such a small percentage, there can be this underlying competition between female creatives. It’s something that nobody wants, it’s just kind of there. So we decided, let’s get rid of that. At least between the women that we know in our community,” says Megan Leigh.

The budding business partners were not alone in their wish. They took surveys of attendees at Creative Babes events, and it was clear from the start that other female creatives were looking for the same thing.

Hilary explains, “It was super clear right off the bat that people didn’t want portfolio reviews, they just wanted connection, and inspiration—”

“—and more backyard magic,” Megan Leigh adds.

“I don’t want to become more

like a man, I just want to

become a better businesswoman.”

It’s been a whirlwind for the pair ever since. They’ve made Creative Babes an LLC and have hosted numerous events. From art and music markets to yoga and writing workshops, these ladies are working to make the creative world a more inclusive place for everyone.

“We’re very excited to become better businesswomen and creative community builders. We want to encourage other women to get paid what they’re worth, and be paid for their skills, and we want to set that example,” Megan Leigh shares. 

But starting up a business has come with some life lessons as well.

“I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that I’m not for everyone, and we’re not for everyone. I know I’m a people pleaser, and when we have people who weren’t necessarily interested in what we were doing, that was really hard for us,” Hilary says.

“It’s so hard not to take things personally, because this is all very personal to us. It’s our passion, it’s our side hustle, and we care deeply for it. So any time there’s any negativity, it does hurt. We’re learning to have thicker skin, but not lose our sensitivity,” Megan Leigh adds.

Throughout the growth of Creative Babes, the pair has learned how to remain themselves while also becoming the sort of businesswomen they wanted to see in their respective industries. 

“It’s like feeling the heartbeat

between what’s happening…

there’s thought behind every

decision we make, and that thought

comes from this partnership.”

“That’s probably the greatest lesson, is that we’ve learned to balance everything. It’s all about remaining the women that we are, while seeing things through a business-minded perspective. I don’t want to become more like a man, I just want to become a better businesswoman,” Megan Leigh explains.

The success they’ve had so far is evidence that their strategy is working. Hilary and Megan Leigh make a conscious effort to holistically address any issues that arise at Creative Babes.

“What I like about our partnership is that we talk a lot about what we’re going through and how we’re feeling. We tackle the business side of things, but we’re also very attentive to our instincts and how we want to respond to certain people and things,” Hilary says.

Megan Leigh explains further, “it’s like feeling the heartbeat between what’s happening. Expressing what we’re going through is huge, because there’s thought behind every decision we make, and that thought comes from this partnership.”

As creative women themselves, Hilary and Megan Leigh are constantly looking to the world around them for both inspiration and solace. The pair both find comfort and self care in loved ones, nature, and travel. 

“The last few years, mindfulness has been a huge part of my life. I really love the teachings of this one Buddhist [nun] named Pema Chödrön. I’ve been learning to wrangle in my thoughts and emotions, not to stifle them, but to control them and to see why I respond to things the way I do. I think there’s so much power in that, especially creatively,” Hilary says.

Megan Leigh is similarly inspired by TED talks like this one and other sources of spirituality. 

“I was in Arizona recently on a mindfulness retreat, and there was a certain morning prayer that was said, it was ‘I pray for all.’ Because you don’t even realize that the things that you’re putting into the world are affecting everyone around you. I’m typically a pretty positive person, but when negativity slips in it takes hold,” she shares.

“Everything that we do,

the core of it is caring for

the women in our community.”

These practices, alongside their work at Creative Babes, have helped Hilary and Megan Leigh to impact their community in significant ways. One friend came to Hilary with the idea to create a coloring book for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH.

“I mean I think I cried, because I realized we can totally do this through Creative Babes,” Hilary remembers, “I think it’s cool to see women feel comfortable to create and come to the table with their own ideas. And [the coloring book] is going to be so badass, it’s going to be so cool.”

And that’s not the only dream that’s coming to fruition through Creative Babes. Megan Leigh and Hilary have realized that not every Creative Babe can make it to their in-person events. To expand their reach, the business partners will be starting their own podcast, as well as expanding the kinds of events they do.

“Everything that we do, the core of it is caring for the women in our community and figuring out ways to help them grow, and us grow, and grow together. We just want to be chill and real,” Megan Leigh explains. 

The pair aim to work with their community rather than against it, as all of their best partnerships have come about organically.

“We don’t like to force things because we want to let things ride with the community. Even though Hilary and I are leaders, we stay very much in tune to what the people around us are saying,” Megan Leigh adds.

And these two Creative Babes have got similar words of advice for all Tote readers.

“Don’t let society put restrictions on you, and don’t let yourself put restrictions on you. Just follow your curiosity… if there’s a goal you’ve been following but it doesn’t capture your interest anymore, let it go and chase what interests you today,” says Hilary.

Megan Leigh adds, “the hardest decision to make is the first one, which is deciding to actually commit and put yourself out there. We all go through the same things, we all have the same struggles, so instead of having competition with one another we should have community.”