When Brooklyn-based writer Grace Bonney clicked “publish” on her blog seven years ago, it was meant solely as a passion project; a way to express her love of design and decorating. Or, as Grace explains, an outlet to help “feel less like the crazy girl in the room who’s always going on about cool wallpaper.”
To Grace’s surprise, she was hardly alone. Today, the founder of Design*Sponge writes for a daily audience of 75,000 people — all as eager as her to chat about wallpaper and find original yet attainable design ideas. Posts on Design*Sponge range from do-it-yourself and before-and-after projects to home tours, food and cocktail recipes, city guides, flower arranging and more. And many of those favorite posts are now available in her book, "Design*Sponge at Home," published last year.
Yes, Grace has killer style, loads of passion and impressive business chops. But we also admire her efforts to support others' successes. In addition to her blog, Grace founded a series of national networking and support meetups for women running design-based businesses called the D*S Biz Lady Series. When she discovered many women were hampered by not knowing basic business techniques and tools, she expanded the series to include free advice in the areas of PR, marketing, production, retail and legal concerns, and later turned it into an online column. She also began the annual Design*Sponge Scholarship in 2007 to support up-and-coming art and design students.