Creating a strong, vibrant and engaging community of women supporting one another is the vision that propelled Kimberly Minor to create Spiceteria.
“I wanted to focus this group on women in their 40s and 50s who are either looking for a little more spice in their lives or who want to find that cohort and camaraderie of sisterhood to help them in a stage of transition,” Minor says.
Feeling overwhelmed as a working mom, Minor began writing as a way to decompress. She started Spiceteria as a blog in 2009, which quickly turned into a shared space where women discussed the recipes of their lives through flavorful stories and experiences, all while feeling the warmth, laughter and support they needed to bring out their best selves.
“I wanted to write about balancing my work life with looking after my kids in a way that stood out, so I started replacing my emotions with a spice,” says Minor. “I would then give it more depth. For example, I wrote, ‘I feel salty,’ whenever I was bitter or upset. Then I wrote about the different types of salts and how they represented each of my emotions.”
In 2018, Minor was in New York when someone recognized her from a picture she uploaded on Spiceteria. After learning what an impact her blog had made on working moms, she decided to get more creative and expand her outreach so more women could join the Spiceteria community.
“I did my first event in Columbus in May 2019. I did a screening of the Netflix movie Juanita about a woman trying to find herself,” says Minor.
SHELLEE FISHER
Spiceteria is a shared space where women discussed the recipes of their lives through flavorful stories and experiences, all while feeling the warmth, laughter and support they needed to bring out their best selves.
Minor hosted several other events, inviting special guest speakers such as a menopause specialist, hair stylist, makeup artist and dermatologist. Before COVID-19, she also connected with women in Georgia and New Jersey to expand her community. During the pandemic, she has been hosting events virtually and the Spiceteria community has continued to grow.
“One of the things we talk about extensively during virtual events is social justice. It typically has to do with understanding policies around women’s bodies,” says Minor.
Social work has also been a big part of Spiceteria’s mission during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Minor created the initiative Spiceteria Serves to raise money to support three woman-owned catering companies: Freedom a la Cart, 36Sweets Desserts & Catering, and Modern Southern Table. These companies provided meals to human service providers so that those in need were fed and the companies could stay in business.
“I’m an only child and understanding the power that community has on your mental health and spirit is something I definitely understand,” says Minor.
Within the New Albany community, she’s on the board of the New Albany Community Foundation. She’s also on the diversity, equity and inclusion committee for the school district, and in the city at large, she’s involved with the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Action committee.
“I’m humbled every time people reach out to me and say that they found connection and support through Spiceteria. Spice means different things to different people and that’s what’s so beautiful about it,” says Minor. “It feels good to know it’s something that can enhance your life, so I’ll be really excited when it’s safe to do live events again.”
Sanaya Attari is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
