Welcome to SOWN

A year ago, I was on a career sabbatical traveling through Southeast Asia when I pressed publish on something I wasn't sure anyone would read.

It was a blog. I called it WokenHeart. If I'm honest, I chose that name because it sounded cool and symbolic for where I was at the time. Waking up to a new chapter. Leading with heart. Starting something from nothing during a sabbatical that was equal parts terrifying and overdue.

I didn't have a content strategy nor did I have a brand deck. I wasn't even sure what I wanted the blog to be. My intention was to document my travels but that didn’t quite capture the breadth of what I was witnessing and feeling. I just knew I wanted to share my experiences and create a space for hope, connection, and expression, so I did.

Those first posts reached a handful of people…Friends, family and a few strangers who found me through Instagram. I remember refreshing my subscriber count like it was a vital sign. Every new reader felt like proof that maybe this thing had legs.

And it did but not because of a follower count or number of subscribers but because it was mine. An idea I had the courage to bring to life…Truly the only validation needed.

Over the past year, WokenHeart grew from a blog into a newsletter and became something I didn't fully plan for. I wrote essays about friendships stretched across oceans. I spotlighted women doing extraordinary work. I shared travel adventures from the places that shaped me. I wrote about growth, transformation, and how we can take care of ourselves.  

Every month, I sat down and wrote to you like I was writing to a friend and you wrote back. You replied to my emails, you shared my work, and you told me my words made you want to do something with your life. That one I’m still sitting with. 

Somewhere along the way, I started to feel a gap between the name and the thing I was growing.

WokenHeart was personal. It was the right name for the version of me who started this but the vision kept getting bigger. I wasn't just writing a surface-level travel blog, I was writing about life. I was spotlighting women with real and powerful transformational stories. I was planting something that felt like it could become a real platform. A place women come back to every month because it feels like theirs.

WokenHeart was the seed but it wasn't the garden.

So I'm changing the name.

Welcome to SOWN.

SOWN is a word that means exactly what it sounds like. To sow is to plant with intention. To put something in the ground and trust that it will grow. That's what I've been doing for the past year. That's what I want this platform to help you do too.

The tagline is "Where women take root." Because that's what I see happening here. Women who are done waiting for permission. Women who want to be free, to explore, to get everything they want out of life and not apologize for wanting it.

This is a space for her. The woman who knows that life is sweet and life is hard and life is best when it's experienced in community. The woman who wants to travel and read and take care of herself and surround herself with other women who are doing the same. The woman who is planting something and wants to be around others who are planting too.

So here's what's changing. The name. The look. The colors. The energy. Everything got an upgrade because the vision demanded it.

Here's what's not changing. Me. My voice. The essays you told me you loved. The spotlights on women who inspire me. The travel adventures. The culture picks and my latest wellness kick. All of it stays. It just has a home that fits now.

If you've been here since issue one, thank you. You watched me figure this out in real time and you stuck around. That means more than you know.

If you're new and this is your first time reading, welcome. You just walked into something good. Pull up a chair and let’s chat.

This is still the same woman writing to you. Still the woman who planted herself across four continents and over 40 countries before deciding to put roots down in a different way. Still the woman who believes it takes a village to grow a life worth living.

The name is new. The heart is the same.

Keep planting. xx Ashlee