A Look Back On 2017 | The Good, The Bad, The Meh

White Cane Safety Day in Market Square, Pittsburgh
The 2017 year-end review, just the thought of it makes my heart race. It’s during this time I get to see how far Bold Blind Beauty has come since the start of the year.
2017 got off to a remarkable start with two focus groups. What was so exciting to me about these sessions was the ability to gain valuable insight into my target market. Receiving confirmation we are on the right track was so gratifying it spurred even more creativity.
What Were Some Of The Biggies?
People
- I created a Steering Committee to bring together multi-talented community leaders to set our direction.
- I worked with a designer to create more images of Abby and images for store merchandise.
- I’m working with a web designer to update several elements on the site.

Gift basket for 2017 PCB Conference Raffle
Website
- Upgrading from WordPress Premium to the Business Plan gives more flexibility in managing the site.
- The Business Plan has a built-in e-commerce solution, so we no longer needed a separate online store.
- Blind Beauty, the weekly mock fashion magazine highlights phenomenal blind & visually impaired women.
- Abby’s Corner, presents fashion tips, techniques, Q&A, and reviews.
- Cane Enabled, speaks to white cane safety, usage, and personalization.

One of my friends sent me this photo of her Bold Blind Beauty bracelets.
Events
- Designed Bold Blind Beauty teal and white wristbands.
- Bold Blind Beauty was at Pittsburgh and Milwaukee’s White Cane Safety Day Awareness Events.
- Developed the White Cane Rules of the Road, a card (printed in large type for low-vision persons—and in braille for blind persons) as part of an information packet about boldblindbeauty.com
- Bold Blind Beauty was at the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind (PCB) Annual Conference and we donated a gift basket full of BBB swag and cookies.

Abigale Cookies
The biggest accomplishment to date aside from the completion of the Business Plan was these fabulous Abby cookies made by my friend and Woman on the Move, Nicole Schultz-Kass. I’d love to say I shared these cookies with others but I’d be lying. Except for the three included in the gift basket, I wolfed down the remaining nine cookies.

Abigale (Abby)
While we didn’t hit all of our targets for the year we made huge inroads and put things in place to make next years’ goals. As long as we keep moving forward we’re headed in the right direction.
Thanks go out to all of you for sticking with me. It’s my hope that next year I will be able to spend more time on WordPress visiting you and making new connections.
Have a Safe and Happy New Year!! ~Steph