May 7: Fresh Conversations for Real Women

Twenty-somethings Kara Eschbach and Janet Sahm felt disappointed that modern women’s magazines didn’t reflect their own lives, hopes, and values.  As an alternative, they launched Verily magazine in summer 2012 to “start fresh conversations on what it means to be real women” and focus on inner beauty as well as fashion and appearance.

As Eschbach explained on Christopher Closeup, “Women today are more unhappy than ever.  There’s a statistic pointing out that 70 percent of young girls feel worse about themselves after three minutes of reading a fashion magazine” because they compare their bodies to the models and feel they don’t measure up.  Verily aims to be a positive influence on young women.

Though the magazine is secular, it’s grounded in the values that its co-founders learned growing up.  Eschbach admits that she went to church on Sunday, but lived in ways that didn’t reflect her beliefs: “For me, it’s been this slow journey of [discovering] how I reconcile the person I want to be with [how] I’m living…of trying to come closer to God’s truth in the decisions I make every day.”

Strive first for the kingdom of God. (Matthew 6:33)

Jesus, help me see authentic beauty in others.