By: Emma B.
Marnye Hall has run the Lime Green Giraffe for 16 years now. Confident, wonderful and kind, she’s been an inspiration for all of us and helped so many of us grow. Furthermore, without her, the Lime Green Giraffe would be nowhere near as incredible as it is today. However, I wanted to know more about one of my greatest inspirations. No one becomes such a hard-working person overnight. I wanted to know how she did it, and how she came to be the person she is today. So, I decided to interview her. My first couple question related to Marnye’s inspirations, and what she does beyond Lime Green Giraffe. Mostly, because I wanted to grasp how her life outside of the Lime Green Giraffe shapes her personality within Lime Green Giraffe leadership.
Who is your biggest feminist inspiration?
I am inspired by my Great-Grandmother, Alma Ross Lorimer. She graduated from Monmouth College in 1899 then travelled 1,806 miles from Illinois to Washington State, on her own, to teach school. She inspires me to be courageous. Second, I am inspired by Juliette Gordon Low. Juliette Gordon Low's actions in creating opportunities for girls in 1912, inspires me to think of new ways to empower girls living in 2019. Finally, I am inspired by British comedian, Miranda Hart. Miranda is very funny but she inspires me because she encourages people to be cool with who they are and to not make excuses for their awesomeness.
What childhood memory shaped you the most?
When I think about my childhood, I always think about a trip my family took to Alaska the summer after my senior year in high school. This trip shaped me for two reasons. One, in preparing for this trip, I learned so much about goal setting. As a family we saved for years to go on the trip. It was very cool to achieve our goal and see all of the places we had been saving to see. The second reason is, on that trip, there was this feeling that my family could do anything, solve any problem and that was a feeling I will never forget.
What do you do outside of the LGG?
I work full time as Creative Director for CNN Creative Marketing. My job is to lead the strategy around the promotion for CNN's international network as well as CNN's daily prime time and CNN created documentaries. When I am not working or volunteering with Girl Scouts, I dearly love spending time with my friends, supporting art in Atlanta, advocating for safe accessibility and reading.
These questions gave me an immense amount of insight. It allowed me to see that Ms. Hall is not only the runner of the Lime Green Giraffe, but a powerful woman. She uses her heritage and Girl Scouts to inspire her, which is something amazing. It’s a lesson that we can find inspirations even in our own families. However, I wanted to know more about the actual process of running the Lime Green Giraffe. Running a magazine can’t be easy, and I wanted to understand what it was like being empowering and running an organization.
What drew you to the LGG?
I am passionate about empowering girls and young women to use their own words and voices to change the world. I think that the Lime Green Giraffe gives me the opportunity to create a space where girls can feel safe to express their opinions, try new things and find their own voices. I also think the Lime Green Giraffe staff members are some of the coolest people I know. So, I just like hanging out with them.
What is the hardest part of being the Lime Green Giraffe’s figurehead?
I think the hardest part is keeping on all of our deadlines and thinking ahead about what we need to do at a meeting or at an event. The Lime Green Giraffe staff might only meet in person, once a month but as many Lime Green Giraffe staff members can tell you, we are all doing something for the Lime Green Giraffe before and after meetings.
What is your favorite LGG-related memory?
I am not sure I have a specific favorite Lime Green Giraffe memory but what I love, every year, is watching the girls on the staff grow and become better writers, storytellers and creatives. I feel very lucky that I get to be a part of the life of each girl on the staff.
Do you have any advice for those seeking to become figures like you?
It is really fun to build something together. Do not isolate yourself. I am successful leading an awesome group like the Lime Green Giraffe because I collaborate with lots of different people. I collaborate with the other two Lime Green Giraffe volunteers, Melissa Gerrior + JoAnne Ofoli. I also collaborate with the incredible girls on the staff and women who work for the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta.
Ms. Hall’s answers gave me some valuable information into what it’s actually like to run a professional magazine. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it to inspire so many. Such a lesson is an important for aspiring creators – what you do and say has meaning. However, I wanted to know Ms. Hall’s plans for the future. Even though it’s good to live in the moment, it’s equally good to plan for the future.
What are your plans in the future?
My creative goals for the future are to finish writing a podcast based on a road trip I took with my Dad, to write a performance piece around the things I learned while helping my sister do scientific research and to create a documentary from the interviews that my boyfriend and I did with the original cast members from Village Theatre.
What advice do you have for girls trying to decipher their futures?
Know yourself. You know what you like to do in your free time or what you have the most fun doing. Explore the different ways that you can do whatever that is. Don't be afraid to reimagine how you engage with that passion. When I was a young person, I loved reading, writing, telling stories and making my little sister perform in plays that I created. Today, I still love those things and I am happy that I found a way to make a career out of writing and creating. But, I do think it might take a bit more convincing to get my sister to be in a drama that I wrote.
All the incredible things Marnye’s involved in are amazing to read about. It inspires me to create my own works and make more of myself. Hopefully, I hope that’s what all of you that are reading this remember. Those who we work with inspire us, and sometimes it’s nice to see what inspires them.
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