We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Day and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, how does your business help the community?
I was influenced to create Being A Girl Is Hardcore by a variety of factors. The first was seeing my close friend coming forward about her abuser, who was within our music community and friends with all of us. The next was seeing women rip each other apart for so long and then seeing a new wave of younger ladies helping each other crowd surf at a show. I knew that I wanted to create something to bring women together to support each other and aid in creating a safe space within a music scene that often has predators and abusers.

Being A Girl Is Hardcore is impacting the community and the other places we’ve reached around the world because we are providing a one stop place of resources, community, and support. We offer resources for sexual assault, domestic violence, and mental health so that way someone can find us and have a starting spot. I have been so fortunate to hear so many stories from amazing women all over about what happened to them and what empowers them.

Recently, we were able to be apart of Northglenn High School’s STEM program, where 9th grade students had to find a solution to bring their peers together for mental health benefits. We are branching out from our music scene circle into many different parts of the world that needs us.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Most days it feels like I live a double life- an edgier Hannah Montana, if you will.

I am a high school English teacher, who brings the ideas and practice of mental health into my classroom everyday. Then my second life is my involvement in the music scene. From going to shows, working merch, and now having Being A Girl Is Hardcore.
My organization has mostly lived remote which has had its own challenges of figuring out what that means for us. I have struggled to find a balance of my job, grad school, and the organization. I have also struggled with figuring out what our role is in the social media world because we are not influencers, but we want to create posts that allow people to have mental health reminders and know we are here. This can be overwhelming, especially when I am teaching because it always feels like I’m never doing enough. So I try to remind myself every day to not be hard on myself and that the organization is up and running, so it is doing what it was meant to. I have also learned to delegate responsibilities because I have an amazing support system. I have crazy talented friends, such as CJ, who offers to create amazing piece for us. I also have an amazing friend, Darian, who helps me pack orders, run the Instagram, and bounce ideas around.

Now that places and shows are opening back up, I want us to be involved more in real life. Nest Tattoo does have our stickers and information in their shop, which has been an amazing first step. Next is to reach out to bands, venues, etc. and have our own booth set up since we were created for the music scene. We are always ready for whoever wants to work with us!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I actually just had a friend come into town from Texas! I took her to Munity Café on South Broadway, then from there we explored other bookstores, record shops (Twist & Shout of course!), and some places for drinks. We ended our day of exploring at the Denver Horror Bar- recently re-named Slashers!

The next day we hit one of my favorite venues, The Summit, for a show. One spot we missed was Marquis for their pizza, but that is also a must downtown!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout everyone who supported my crazy idea of starting Being A Girl Is Hardcore. My friends who were like, “hey that’s a cool idea- how can I help?” to the ones who bought stickers and shared us so we can grow. I created BAGIH at the start of the pandemic and through the amazing support of my husband, friends, and music scene we have been able to grow so much bigger than I ever imagined.

Website: https://beingagirlorg.wixsite.com/website

Instagram: Personal: jessicasofar Organization: beingagirlishardcore

Image Credits
Photos with pink hair: done by Casey Jack (insta: @caseyjack Photos with yellow hair done by: Korie Boren (insta: localpoppunkgirl_

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.