S.H.E. | For Girls, By Girls, & About Girl Culture

“A fully integrated, multi-platform lifestyle brand for teenage girls”
– Entrepreneur Magazine, April 2009
“SHE is here to remind you how itʼs done”

“With itʼs DIY style, SHE stands for a lot more”
– Cosmo Girl, 2008

I took a leap of faith to start Sugar Hooker Entertainment (SHE) in 2004 - feeling that the only way to fill a void I was feeling in young feminism, music, fashion, and entertainment in general was to do it myself.

I started playing guitar at 10 years old, growing up in a very musical household. It wasn't until I left home at 14, that I realized that the exclusivity in the guys music scene in San Diego wasn't just specific to me or the city I grew up in. I couldn't grasp what my gender had to do with the things I wanted to be, create, and do with my life, however other people seemed to be fixated on this.

I decided that anyone who told me I couldn't, just didn't know. I set out not necessarily to prove them wrong, but to completely forget about them - those words heard, negative messages, stereotypes, assumptions - and just set out to be myself, pursuing what I love simply because I love to do it.

When I lost my best friend in 2001, my entire childhood flashed before my eyes in the most coherent way. Her death reminded me of why I had to fight against the life our society had outlined for me, and decide for myself which of that I'd like to live. I knew that my passion for art and activism kept me on a focused path that might have saved my own life. If I knew then what I think now, I would have encouraged her to do the same. That's why we say we promote healthy lifestyle through hobbies. "Getting a life" might just save your life.

I knew there had to be a way to help girls get out of the box they are forced into, and to show them a way to celebrate that box by opening it up themselves. Being a girl comes with benefits that we sometimes overlook: the quality of friendship and community we can provide for each other can be inspiring and fulfilling. But there are some things that we might not even consider in our lives, simply

because we are told we can't do them. We might even discourage each other, because we can't imagine the opportunity exists for us. I wanted to reach out and find the positivity me and my best friend had looked for our entire lives.
That is the heart of Sugar Hooker.

The shape, size, and gender of positivity is as varied as its interpretation. We've had amazing support from the guys in our lives. Without female and male support, social change isn't complete. We love and appreciate the guys who support us - because we know that equality means men and women standing side by side. The men who stand by S.H.E. send a message to other men about the importance of supporting women.

My personal relationship with sugar seems to reflect many people's relationship with sugar. I can't even count how many times someone has run up to me laughing about how they are a "totally a sugar hooker" excitedly listing the sugar items they had consumed already that day.

Can you imagine a world without sugar? Can you imagine your body without processed sugar? The obsession, the excitement, and the marketing of sugar dominates us and we like that. Does that make us sort of...hooked on sugar?

I grew up in a house that had absolutely no sugar! My early childhood was spent in dark gyms with my bodybuilder parents. Later on, their body concepts changed and shaped the rest of my own values: they went from shaping the body from the outside to working on the body from the inside. This shaped my concept of health in regards to Sugar Hooker Entertainment - from the inside out.

When I left my healthy home, I ate all the junk food I could get my hands on. This had an immediate impact on my body, my health, and my emotions. I was very sick. One day, I quit sugar completely in a drastic move. The symptoms I faced resembled coming down off of any toxic substance, which blew my mind. I would have done anything to get my hands on candy or anything sweet. I was, obviously, hooked.

Have you ever noticed how much media markets towards women's addiction and obsession with sugar? Everywhere I turn, I'm being told to "indulge" or bond with my friends over _______ (insert sugar brand name here). We are taught to turn to sweets instead of each other when we are sad.

So, I wrote the song, Sugar Hooker. I was "hooked on sugar" and all I could think of, all that I wanted, all I would do anything for was that 5 letter word: S.U.G.A.R.

Through these "Sugar Hooker" glasses, I saw a world of sugar products that markets mostly to women and their insecurities, isolationism, and so on. I also saw its impact on our bodies, our insecurities, and our isolationism - wait, is there a link here?

When the health food store looks like a candy store (just start checking food labels for grams of sugar), it's hard not to ask yourself: Do we really need all this, or are we just that hooked?

But - Is the media to blame? When women excitedly run up to tell me about all of the sugar they consumed in the day thus far, I never think to myself "this woman is a victim of entertainment marketing media", but rather that she is shaping it. We have to remember that we are not victims when we are consumers. We make our choices, we form our opinions with the dollars that we spend. And if you don't like something you don't have to buy into it, and you don't have to buy it.

This is where I developed my own politics on health with regards to Sugar Hooker Entertainment. When it comes to longevity and living a full life, there's just one trick to the concept: health.

My politics are shaped by who I am. I look to my politics to make sure that they are helping me make choices in my life that will benefit my health. I thought that if I was struggling this much, as someone who was raised living and breathing healthy lifestyle, what are other kids going through who aren't raised like that? And what will happen to us if we continue to eat the way we do?

We want to help give you information and resources and support so that you can know the abundance of lifestyle choices there are for you out there as a woman. There are so many different ways to live - so let's explore that.

Sugar Hooker is about making health fun, your choices heard, information known. We are realistic and we know that you are, too. We just want to show you some more options and turn you on to some cool stuff.

I'm on a mission within a mission: If we can create community by identifying our passions and hobbies, support each other in a positive way, and talk about longevity by means of health and diet, I think we can help each other reach an honest truth about who we are, what we want to do with our lives, and how we can be active participants in our own future. Fashion and Entertainment is the machine which forms our philosophies. We can have fun and do it our way. Information and exploration is power - dont wait to be empowered,

TAKE IT! Live Long! Change the world. Start a REVOLUTION! Change yourself. Do it Yourself (D.I.Y.)