I am so blessed to still have my mother—she is 98 years old. She has been the most influential woman in my life, and this International Women’s Day, I want to honor her incredible journey and the impact she has had on me.
Long before “gap years” were a thing, my mom, Ruth Scholz, took one. As a teenager from a tiny town in Wisconsin, she set out for Washington, D.C., to earn money for college. She answered an ad for young women to work at the FBI during World War II. When they asked if she could type, she said no—even though she could—because she didn’t want to be stuck at a desk all day. Instead, she worked in the fingerprint department as a file clerk.
Moving to a big city on her own wasn’t easy, but she figured it out. She learned how to take the bus, (no Ubers back then) how to navigate new surroundings, and how to make friends. She stayed in a boarding house with other women who looked out for her, forming a sisterhood of sorts.
One story she often tells stands out to me. One day, she got in trouble for sitting down and chatting with the bathroom attendant—a Black woman. My mother was simply curious about her life, wanting to hear her story. Coming from a small town, she had no idea that, at the time, it wasn’t culturally “acceptable” for a white woman to have a casual conversation with a Black woman. But that was just who she was—kind, curious, and payed no mind to following ridiculous social norms.
After her time at the FBI, she went on to earn a degree in Home Economics from UW-Stout and worked as a home agent. She has always been a woman of gumption—creative, confident, and willing to forge her own path. Her example has guided me as I’ve built Soak iT Up and she's always my biggest cheerleader and helping me push through the challenges of entrepreneurship.
This International Women’s Day, I’m proud to be a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow alongside so many incredible women business owners. It’s a reminder that when women support women, we all rise.
I encourage you to take a moment today to celebrate the strong, fearless women in your life. And if you’d like to support women-owned businesses, check this list of amazing brands with deals for International Women's Day. You can enjoy 20% off at Soak iT Up with code: Women! at soakitup.shop.
Let’s celebrate the women who paved the way for us and those who continue to make history every day.
